Podcast Possibilities

This post will be a change of pace from the TV focused posting I’ve been up to as of late. What I plan to do is give you a heads up on some free podcasts I check out on a regular basis.

I am in the car one and a half hours daily commuting back and forth to work so podcasts have filled a gap in my entertainment portfolio. They allow me to stay more informed on a wider variety of subjects than simply reading the paper or browsing the internet could. I’m going to go through my podcast feeds alphabetically and highlight some of the better ones.

First up we have “The Battlestar Galactica Podcast” which was recorded by Ron Moore the executive producer and creator of the new Battlestar Galactica. BSGP was unique because it was a weekly behind the scenes audio commentary of every single episode of BSG. If you are a fan of BSG you could check it out, but if you are interested in making television or movies it’s a must listen because Ron Moore goes through the process of writing, directing, then producing each episode. The podcast is archived from episode nine of season one all the way through the series finale and even has hours of audio recordings of the writers in the room breaking storylines for entire future (at the point of recording) seasons. The podcast runs as long as the episodes would minus commercials so about 42 minutes.

Next is “Buzz Out Loud” which is a darling of a show. Currently the hosts are Tom Merrit, Natalie DelConte, and Jason Howell with a rotating additional host daily. People ask me why I have so much technology information crammed into my brain, BOL is the answer. It is fun, it is informative and it is never boring. BOL starts every podcast saying they run and indeterminate length but they usually run about 35 minutes.

Every Friday I look forward to the “Friday News Feedbag” from the Discovery Channel. Hosts Will, Jorge, and James have a fun bantering quality with 6 science stories up for discussion weekly. The Feedbag usually runs about 25 minutes but can vary greatly with episodes being as short as 12 minutes and as long as 45.

NBC puts out “Meet the Press” in video form almost immediately after it airs. They also do the “Nightly News with Brian Williams”. I like to drive my Monday morning commute with MTP. MTP runs about 50 minutes and I can’t remember ever actually watching a full episode of the news but I think it’s about 22 minutes.

Speaking of news The New Yorker puts out the “Political Scene” which is a weekly conversation of events in Washington and NPR has a show called “It’s All Politics”. The “Political Scene” started out long ago as the “Campaign Trail” then transitioned into the “Transition” and has finally settled on the “Political Scene”, I’ve stuck with it and have been completely entertained and engaged the whole time. “It’s All Politics” is more a show about the horse racing in political circles and full of energy. Both political shows run about 12 to 15 minutes.

“The Official Lost Podcast” is a fun almost weekly rant from the shows co-creators Damon and Carlton. They have running jokes and occasionally drop insights about the show. I like it a lot but that makes sense because I like Lost a lot. The show runs about 15 minutes and only releases new episodes when Lost is in season.

“Real Time with Bill Maher” is released in podcast form by HBO, however, it is audio only so it is definitely missing something that you’d get if you caught it on HBO (the actual video). Real Time will run you about 45 minutes.

The online only magazine Slate.com puts out the “Slate Daily Podcast” with can be hit or miss like any story posted online. Fridays however, we get the joy of the Slate “Political Gabfest” which is a great conversation between three writers at Slate about politics and not to be confused with the “Culture Gabfest” which is not of the same seriousness of subject. If you are interested in politics it is the one podcast that gets my “Listen to this One” seal of approval. The Gabfest usually gabs for about 30 minutes.

I’ll round this out with two podcasts from Howstuffworks.com “Stuff You Should Know” and “Stuff You Missed in History Class”. Both shows are pretty good and worth a listen. “Stuff You Missed in History Class” tends to cover things I’m more interested in but “Stuff You Should Know” might be the better show for the average listener.

Hope I’ve given something free to listen to! All podcasts can be found in Itunes by going to the store and searching through the podcast section.