It looked for a while that podcasting was on its way out along with the now-discontinued iPod it was named after, but thanks to factors such as Serial, the phenomenally popular podcast which follows Sarah Koenig’s re-examination of a Baltimore murder trial, and the fact that more people are streaming web audio in their cars, the online audio format is seeing something of a resurgence. Serial has set new records for podcasting and it can only be bringing more listeners to podcasts. Also, it’s rumoured that Spotify will soon include them in its product. A record 15% of Americans now say they’ve listened to a podcast in the last month, and Google Trends shows search results for ‘podcast’ are at their highest level since January 2007!
So, time to get involved. Here are the podcasts you need to be listening to:
About A Minute – an interesting interview, lasting about a minute
The Bugle – John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman give their unique, satirical take on the world’s events
TED Talks – presentations from inspirational people
The Godless Spellchecker – an atheist explores spirituality and religion through interviews
Sodajerker on Songwriting – exploring the craft of songwriting through interviews with the very best
Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything – modern human stories
99% Invisible – design and culture
Radiolab – great radio documentaries
The Moth – true stories, well told
Reply All – exploring the interweb
Freakonomics Radio – as in the books, a look at how we could optimise society
Documentary on One by RTE – archive of radio documentaries
Longform – a look into non-fiction writing through interviews
On Being – what does it mean to be human?
And here are some of the best BBC Radio 4 shows as podcasts. Even the ones that might sound boring are brilliant due to R4’s world-class presenters and production:
The Moral Maze – exploring moral questions in a classic format
Thinking Allowed – on society and how we live today
The Digital Human – how we live with technology
On The Hour – ridiculous spoof radio spots from Chris Morris
A History Of Ideas – ethics, law and philosophy
The Bottom Line – business with Evan Davies
More Or Less: Behind The Stats – tearing apart stats reported in the news
The Infinite Monkey Cage – great balance between humour and hard science by Brian Cox and Robin Ince
Any podcasts you love not listed? Tell me in the comments!
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