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After a short explanation of podcasting, Motormanmark.com offers the ten greatest podcasting sites on Earth.  (This is an update for those of you who read last year’s entry.)

 

New to podcasting?  Well, a podcast is a sound file you can get off the internet—anything from interviews to reviews to informative shows or lectures.  All you need is an mp3 player. 

 

An mp3 is a sound file you have on your computer or in a device you carry (like the old Walkmans.)  Music is sold on the internet in mp3 form, but it is also sold in other forms—like mp4, which are designed so that the person selling it can keep you from listening to it for too long or giving it to a friend.  If it is a file with the extension “.mp3,” though, no one but you has control over it.

 

Your mp3 player doesn’t have to be a $150 I-pod or such.  You can start with a little $10 item  you get off Ebay or at the local drug store.  You may not be able to use certain online music stores if you don’t buy a certain player, but don’t sweat it—there are loads of places to get free mp3’s.  See motormanmark.com’s essay on intellectual property.

 

Anyhoo – here I am just addressing the spoken word podcasts that are good for playing on your computer while you are puttering about–or on your headphones while you are riding the bus or whatever.  To download an mp3, go to the link below, right click the “mp3” or “download” area on the podcast’s web page, then select “save target as.”   Save the file to your computer or directly to your mp3 player if you have it plugged into your computer.  You can click on some podcasts and save them as “feeds,” so that every time they’re updated, reminders for new shows will be automatically loaded into your Explorer page’s, next to your favorites menu.

 

I shall now list the top ten BESTEST PODCASTS, from the tenth to the first best, Letterman-style:

 

#10  An Evening With – This interviewer is not at all critical, but his guests sure are!  and, oh, what great theme music!

 

#9  From Boston… On Point – This guy is a great interviewer—when you least expect it, he asks a question that cuts through all the crap and leaves no room for pasty-faced escape.  He has a great Friday recap of the week’s news.

 

#8  New York Times Tech Talk – a fun, concise show for the technology lover (even though they do spend a bit too much time talking about cell phones.)  The host grows on you like ivy.

 

#7  New Yorker Magazine podcasts – Intelligence matters!  Just like the New Yorker, some of these are a bore for less-than-genius people like moi, but the episodes that hit the mark (most of them) reward handsomely.

 

#6   Two-Way Tie:  Mainstream v. Underground 

NewsHour – Great daily mainstream news stories, individually downloadable, followed by a fun politics discussion every Friday between Shields & Brooks – two very insightful mainstream pundits.

and…  Democracy Now! – Would you like to know the real news??  The news the mainstream media will not tell you for fear of offending corporate America?  Or would you just like to hear Walter Cronkite channeled by a female?  Dig in and dig it!

 

#5  The World – World news was never so entertaining!  This is a really special show, even if you are intimidated by international news.

 

#4  Tim Russert is dead.  Throw them Sunday news shows in the trash heap.  This one comes out two days earlier and is a hell of a lot better: Left, Right and Center!

 

#3 The Ethicist!  It’s only about 4 minutes a week, but this hyper-witty New York Times column is a hundred times more entertaining as a podcast than in print, thanks to the charming vocal ‘tude of its host, ethicist, Randy Cohen.

 

#2 On the Media – You’d think a show about the media would be a bore at least sometimes, but this show rocks every week (you’d be surprised how many topics can be fit under “media!”)  Fascinating insight.  Reporters never overlook an angle.

(…would’ve easily hooked the numero uno spot if not for…)

 

#1 BESTEST PODCAST ON EARTH IS….  Hearing Voices!!! Hands down, the very best podcast on Earth.  Find your way into their archives, and you’ll be mezmerized, an hour a shot!

 

And BOOM!  That’s it. 

 

Please leave a comment if you have an objection to any of these sterling choices or maybe to offer a better idea—something maybe Motormanmark has yet to learn the greatness of.