Podcasting, July 2006

Podcasting:  A digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.

                                                                               --The New Oxford American Dictionary

The term podcast, like radio, can be the content or the process, a noun or a verb, the medium or the message.  “The New Oxford American Dictionary” labeled podcasting the new word of the year.  What pleases me is that the year was 2005.  Meaning I am not that far behind in at least this tiny portion of the rapid dissemination of information and entertainment. 

I still do not have a cell phone to instant message photos to my website/blog/You Tube/My Space page, but I really enjoy listening to quality podcasts.  In other words I am a fogey reaching out to other technologically fearful folks who have grown to accept the computer as a lightning quick encyclopedia/shopping guide/road atlas, but are still intimidated by the interactive facet of the Internet.  I do not make my own podcasts, but the process of downloading quality programs is incredibly easy and free. 

Podcasts are programs made available either on your computer or iPod (MP3 player) -- all right, now I am showing off.  It is an opportunity to Tivo (so to speak), or time shift and capture shows for later viewing or listening.  I do not have a video feature on my iPod and worry that too many people who are already busy on the phone will also attempt to catch up on re-runs of The Office as they barrel down the highway.

Public radio has jumped into the new medium and most of their programming can be automatically downloaded.  If you are like me and your eyes glaze over when you hear the word gigabytes, find a fourteen year old to get you hooked up. 

There are thousands of podcasts with the number growing exponentially.  Here are a few of the fun and quirky shows I look forward to receiving every time I update my iPod:

--The Cheap Seats also known as Bleacher Guy Radio is a weekly conversation between Rob Visconti in Detroit, and Eric McErlain in Washington D.C. about sports from the knowledgeable fans perspective.   They are two thirty-somethings who have real jobs, and do not claim to have inside information.  Their easy banter and clear love of all sports comes through.

--The President’s Weekly Radio Address is a dead-on parody of George W.  While truth is often stranger than fiction in this White House, this two-minute show is topical and humorous, and cuts eerily close to the bone.

--Slate Magazine Daily features excellent thoughtful essays contributed by the staff of the magazine and read by Andy Bowers.  The first class ideas on politics and culture delivered in a straightforward manner tempts me to get the magazine.

--ESPN Baseball Today is worth listening to for commentator Alan Schwarz.  If you download only one baseball show, try Schwarz.  He is knowledgeable, not a shill, and Twins-friendly, despite being based in New York.

--Filmspotting (formerly Cinecast) is a conversation between two young film lovers.  It is how Siskel and Ebert might have begun if they were starting out today.  I am not a film expert, but being thirty years older than these guys, I sometimes grimace at their knowledge gaps. They are smart, enthusiastic, and delightfully lacking in pretense, unlike some older jaded critics.

 --Martini Shot (KCRW) is a five-minute weekly rant about the vagaries of Hollywood by insider Rob Long, formerly a writer for Cheers.  Long tells inside stories of how the entertainment industry really works.  He does not gossip about individuals, but tells very funny self-deprecating horror stories.

--Driveway Moments (NPR)  are those exquisite times when the radio program is so captivating you sit in the car and listen, even after reaching your destination.  Now you can listen at you leisure, be on time for dinner, and save the car battery.  Yes, progress can be bittersweet.

--This I Believe (NPR)  is the fruition of an idea I thought I invented.  Individuals from all walks of life speak from the heart about what they have learned, and what is vitally important to them.  The statements are a succinct five minutes or so, but when the fluff and social niceties are eliminated that is plenty of time.  Turns out Edward R. Murrow had such a show on television before my time.

--The Onion Radio News with stern-voiced announcer Doyle Redlands is a satire on news reporting and those who listen to it-- in other words, all of us.  Like the newspaper formerly based in Madison, Wisconsin, The Onion reports news such as “Local man finds sweat shirt he’d given up on ever finding!!!”  Sandwiched in these daily one minute reports are short sound bites from either the “official spokesperson,” “hero,” “victim,” “bystander” or “noted authority.” 

Tom H. Cook still lacks a “web presence”.  He remains on tsunami alert in southern California.