Podcasts
Thanks to my Bluetooth Hearing Protection I can enjoy listening to podcasts while I muck around in my workshop.
Time to share a list of my current subscriptions in no particular order.
If you want, you can import them all at once into your podcatcher using this OPML file.
In our time
This BBC produced podcast covers all kinds of topics. History, Science, Literature, basically anything you can find scholars for. Every week the host Melvyn Bragg invites three of them to talk about a specific topic. There are no assumptions made that the listener has any previous knowledge about the topic, so its perfect to learn about new things you never heard about before.
Naturally, I find some episodes more interesting than others, but often am surprised how interesting a seemingly boring topic can be.
- Link: In our Time (RSS)
- Episode Length: about 50 minutes
- New Episode: weekly
1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories…
I'm a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories and even though I've read them all, saw them in various TV1) and cinema adaptations, I still enjoy them.
Jon Hagadorn reads the classic stories on this podcast. Longer stories are split into multiple episodes, the short stories are just a single one. The podcast also mixes in a few non-Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, which is fun because I often don't know those at all.
Jon has a couple of other story podcasts which I want to check out in the future.
- Episode Length: 30 to 60 minutes
- New Episode: weekly
The Bowery Boys
In this podcast named after an infamous street gang of New York, the hosts Greg Young and Tom Meyers talk about the history of New York one event, landmark or era at a time.
Even though I have been to New York only once, the podcast is super interesting. Episodes vary in lengths and there is a huge back catalog, so it's easy to find an episode that fits the time slot you have.
- Link: The Bowery Boys (RSS)
- Episode Length: between 15 and 60 minutes
- New Episode: weekly
Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
Yes, Alan Alda aka. Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H has a podcast. No, it is not M*A*S*H related at all.
The main theme of his podcast is science communication. He's interviewing scientists, authors and educators about their field of topic and how they connect with their audience. That sounds a bit weird but is actually super interesting and you can hear the genuine interest Alda has in all his interview partners.
- Link: Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda (RSS)
- Episode Length: about 40 minutes
- New Episodes: weekly
The Moth
The Moth is a storytelling podcast. People telling personal, true stories on stages around the world. With topics as diverse as mankind.
These stories are usually very emotional. So when you find me crying while sanding a piece of wood, or hysterically laughing over a glue job, I am probably listening to The Moth.
- Episode Length: main episodes are about 50 minutes, shorter episodes in between
- New Episodes: weekly main episodes, occasional small stories in between
Damn Interesting
This podcast is mostly a history podcast, but with a focus on the weirder or even mysterious parts of history you wouldn't usually find in a text book.
I actually found myself thinking “huh, that was damn interesting” quite a lot after their episodes.
- Link: Damn Interesting (RSS)
- Episode Length: between 10 and 60 minutes
- New Episode: sporadically, about every one or two months
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
While the “Damn Interesting” podcast takes a lighthearted approach to history, Dan Carlin is digging deep. He covers a certain topic in multiple hour long episodes, but in a way that you simply can't stop listening.
Not his entire back catalog is available for free. But I am thinking about buying some of his older episodes. Currently “Supernova in the East” is available, where he covers the Japanese involvement in the second World War - a topic that is barely covered in German history classes.
- Link: Dan Carlin's Hardcore History (RSS)
- Episode Length: between 3 and 6 hours
- New Episode: very rarely
Dark Histories
This is my current favorite podcast. Similar to the “Damn Interesting” podcast, Ben Cutmore picks curious incidents from the past to talk about. This covers things like serial killers and unsolved murders, sea monster and ghost sightings or ill-fated explorers.
The first part of each episode is a high production value and well-researched tale of the story. The second part is a more personal, unscripted evaluation of the story by Ben himself.
- Link: Dark Histories (RSS)
- Episode Length: 50 to 80 minutes
- New Episode: every two weeks
If you know of a podcast that would fit well into my little list above, please let me know in the comments.
I am also interested in podcatcher recommendations for Android. I'm currently using the free and Open Source Antennapod, but find their download management a bit lacking.