Blog entries tagged with "podcast"

A while back I listed the podcasts I was listening to, given that it is almost the end of the year I thought it would be good to provide an updated list and note the changes.

Continue:

• The Little Dum Dum Club
• The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
• Geologic Podcast
• The Dollop
• Probably Science
• Don’t You Know Who I Am?
• Oh No Ross and Carrie
• The Infinite Monkey Cage
• Penn’s Sunday School
• TOFOP/FOFOP/Wilosphy
• Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project
• Steele Wars

Unsubscribed:

• I Love Green Guide Letters
  Technically I’m still subscribed in my podcast app, but it has been a long time since Steele has put out an episode, moving to LA and Star Wars took over…
• Comedy Film Nerds
  Wrapped up at the end of 2019, still looking for a replacement.
• Filthy Casuals
  Unsubscribed when I was
• Can you take this photo, please?
  Shifted to an irregular schedule, then offically ended.
• Stuff You Should Know
  Unsubscribed when I realised that I wasn’t listening to any episodes.

New subscriptions:

• The Weekly Planet
  I was aware of this prior to the launch of Planet Broadcasting, but that was when I started listening regularly. With the ending of Comedy Film Nerds this is my only movie podcast, and not all movies…
• Do Go On
  Similar to The Weekly Planet I was aware of this podcast by three Melbourne comedians about various topics, but it was the Planet Broadcasting launch that made me a regular listener
• Book Cheat
  A spin-off from Do Go On: “The book club podcast where Dave Warneke has read the book so you don’t have to.”
• Prime Mates
  Another spin-off from Do Go On: Matt, second banana Evan, and rotating guests explore primates in popular culture from Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z!
• Vic & Em’s Comedy Gems
  “Vicky Hanlon and Emily Tresidder are very different people, and both are great at talking. Join them and guests each week as they create comedy gems.”
• Well, Actually
  “… a podcast about defending the things you love the most. Each week Melbourne comedy sweethearts Katherine Allan, Donna Collins, and Vicky Hanlon invite a different guest to talk about their deepest passions, unexpected hobbies and secret shames.”
• Fitbet
  What happens when two comedians make a weight loss bet for $1000? The bet is over a lot quicker than they thought, but continue talking with guests about fitness.
• Kentucky Fried Chattin’
  A snack-sized podcast where three people (Bec Petraitis, Peter Jones and Xavier Michelides) chat about Kentucky Fried Chicken (not affiliated with Kentucky Fried Chicken). Currently waiting for them to start the next feast with a new menu.
• Oooh, Spooky
  “Each week @adamgknox, @lukacmuller and @peterthejones read five unexplained mysteries from a big book of Mysteries of the Unexplained.”>
• The Debrief
  Dave O’Neil talks with another comedian after they have done a gig together.
• Art of the Score
  “… an in-depth podcast series discussing the world of film scores. Hosted by Andrew Pogson, Dan Golding and Nicholas Buc.”
• Go Fact Yourself
  “A show that makes smart people feel dumb… and then smart again.”
• Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It
  “Historian and loudmouth Jason Scott shares stories of technology, retrocomputing, documentary filmmaking, and general schennanigans from his decades of travels and research.”
• No Such Thing as a Fish
  “A weekly podcast from the makers of QI”
• Star Wars Spelt Out
  “Josh Chapman wants to get better at Star Wars, so he is getting people he knows on the mic to podcast and their ideas and stories.”
• That Geek Pod
  “Catherine has a fun chat about anything and everything geeky! From Star Wars, Survivor to Game Of Thrones and much more!”
• Twinsies
  Andy Wood from Probably Science and TJ Chambers discuss pairs of similar movies that are released at the same time. Originally every two weeks, but no new episode for a while now…

Any way that you look at this list it is clear that I still tend towards podcasts made by comedians about trivia or other topics. There have been some other podcasts that I have started and stopped in the past four years, maybe I should have done this update earlier…

I have just arrived home from a weekend up in Sydney for the 33rd Australian Skeptics National Convention, branded as Skepticon Australia.

It was a great weekend, so what were my highlights?

We heard from Britt Hermes of Naturopathic Diaries about how she became a nauropathic doctor, how she came to understand why that was a mistake and finally what she is now doing about it. It was a shame she wasn’t able to be there in person due to illness, but the video conference was the next best thing.

A panel on journalism featuring Kathy Marks, Marcus Strom & Fauziah Ibrahim gave some interesting insights into how journalists are dealing with the news these days. Of particular interest to me was the information from Marcus about – in his time at the Sydney Morning Herald – the level of tracking that occurs on a news website. They monitor every click and how much you read, plus things like constantly running A/B testing on variations of headlines to determine which is more clickable.

The session about War On Waste with Craig Reucassel, Stephen Oliver & Jodi Boylan started off teasing what we could expect to see in the upcoming fourth episode, but then went deeper building on the previous day’s panel. When can you advocate for one side of an issue versus straight journalism and how to balance education with entertainment.

The most powerful talk of the weekend was from Ruth Ellison (who I knew from previous skeptic and tech conferences as a as a user experience person and maker of laser cut jewelery), speaking for the first time in public about what it was like to grow up in and then leave a religious cult. The entire room was stunned to hear about Ruth’s experience, so much support from people later in the day and via twitter.

The other big thing this year was a number of live podcasts recordings (mostly in “the other room” so I didn’t go to them as I went to talks in “the main room”), but there was only one that I was even slightly aware of, and had never listened to. This is not unusual as there a lot of podcasts out there, but the striking thing was that quite a few people I spoke to were at the convention they listened to one of the podcasts (mainly The Scathing Atheist). The two recording in the main room that I watched were Cognitive Dissonance and God Awful Movies (by the same hosts as The Scathing Atheist). They were enjoyable but not quite my taste so I don’t think I will subscribe. I have queued up a couple of their older episodes to listen to, I will see how they are…

I think my next skeptics event like this will be the Surf Coast Skepticamp in February, but much sooner than that I have a technology event, the third BuzzConf in two weeks time…

For the past year and a bit I have been listening to podcasts, either while commuting to and from work on the train, or while out for walks. I have known about podcasts for a long time, but it was the combination of having suitable idle time and the suggestion of two comedy podcasts that finally made me give them a go.

The list of podcasts I listen to has grown (and occasionally shrunk) over time, and there are some that I prioritise over others. Right now this is the list of podcasts in the app on my phone: (in roughly priority order)

• I Love Green Guide Letters
  One of the two comedy podcasts that were suggested to me, great to hear stories from comedians, and there is also commentary about the letters.
• The Little Dum Dum Club
  The other of the comedy podcasts that was suggested, some of the conversations can be quite serious and thought provoking, while others are hilarious.
• The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
  A very popular podcast that covers a wide range of science/skeptic topics, recent news through to historical events/figures.
• Geologic Podcast
  Usually a skeptical topic or two, but what I am really enjoying is the other topics such as music as that is something I wouldn’t normally be interested in
• The Dollop
  Despite this being two comedians (one telling the other about something from American history), I was surprised by how much I was liking the historical aspect of this. The live shows in Australia where they covered some Australian history stories really showed how you don’t learn the horrible details at school.
• Comedy Film Nerds
  This is now my preferred source of movie information, I find myself agreeing with their reviews. Plus the spoiler episodes either make a movie I have seen better or mean I don’t have to see it at all.
• Probably Science
  Interesting discussion between the hosts and the guest, but also coverage of recent science news that is weird or interesting.
• Don’t You Know Who I Am?
  This one is just fun, some unexepcted stories from the guest comedians.
• Filthy Casuals
  I haven’t played games for a long time and only started listening because of The Little Dum Dum Club, but it also can be interesting (as well as funny)
• Oh No Ross and Carrie
  Another skeptic podcast, Ross and Carrie go do the crazy woo things and report back on what they were like.
• The Infinite Monkey Cage
  Funny and informative at the same time about some quite serious scientific topics.
• Penn’s Sunday School
  Started listening because I am a fan of Penn and Teller, as well as Penn’s skeptical position. Interesting stories, sometimes science sometimes (US) politics.
• Can you take this photo, please?
  Open discussion between Justin Hamilton and (usually) a guest, interesting hearing the background and experiences of these comedians.
• TOFOP/FOFOP/Wilosphy
  I’m lumping together three Wil Anderson podcasts here, there are a lot I haven’t listened to, I pick out the ones that look interesting.
• Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project
  I’ve been a fan of MythBusters for a long time, but it is only recently that a few of the topics caught my eye…
• Steele Wars
  Another one I am selective about, while I like Star Wars, I’m not obsessed, so will check the description before listening. But the live reaction podcast after the midnight screening of Force Awakens (with Comedy Film Nerds) was worth it.
• Stuff You Should Know
  I have a number of these in the backlog, for when I want to learn something but don’t need to be amused…