Monday, February 18, 2013

some of my favorite podcasts

I love podcasts. They're like the magazine version of audiobooks. I enjoy listening to them while I'm knitting, and sometimes they're also just the thing to make a dull chore like doing the dishes go just a bit faster.

Here are my favorites:

1) Writing Excuses: this one's so good that after I discovered it, I went back and started listening through the archives. If you're an author, you definitely want to give it a go, but if you might like it even if you're just someone who enjoys reading stories, not creating them, because despite their tagline ("fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry and we're not that smart"), this podcast is all about smart and funny people saying smart and funny things about how books work.

2) The City Online - this one is smart, funny, and devout people saying smart, funny, and devout things about . . . well, I'm not sure they have an outer boundary that defines their subject matter. Maybe "culture, generally"? Their last episode was about love and marriage, and the one before that was about the higher education bubble. I've liked all I've listened to from them.

Next, a few knitting podcasts:

3) Stash and Burn - one of my favorite podcasts to listen to on Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and a lapful of knitting. Two San Francisco knitters discussing their latest projects. Good for knitterly daydreams about yarn much more expensive than I can actually afford.

4) Ready, Set, Knit! - this podcast from the owners of yarn.com features good interviews with crochet and knitwear designers, and the husband-and-wife team that hosts are awfully cute together.

And a few more random ones:

5) The Dave Ramsey Show - I don't listen to this religiously, but there are times when I just want to hear someone talking common sense for awhile, even if it's just about money.

6) Do I Dare to Eat a Peach? - the Wells brothers dissecting top 10 (and 20, and 30 . . .) lists about various bits of pop culture. This one's nice to have on if I'm roaming around the house, trying to get it straightened up, because I can miss a minute here or there without missing the flow of the show. Sometimes an episode will be about a bit of pop culture I don't care about, but more often than not I enjoy listening to them argue about the best jail breaks in sci fi or the best movie musical of all time. (This is one my husband likes too, btw.)


Got any you'd recommend?

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, but what are your kids doing while you're listening to podcasts? Help me figure this out, because the first three sound like something I'd really enjoy. I don't seem to have any self-contained time when I can plug in to listen without the kids asking me to engage with them.

Jessica Snell said...

Well, when we do after-supper chores, Adam and I usually split it up so that I'm doing dishes and he's doing pick-up. If it's before the kids' bedtime, he'll direct them through it (they're still little enough they need a bit of prompting). Either way, I can listen to a podcast while I wash dishes - not with earbuds, but with speakers.

Then, most enjoyably, sometimes I get to just sit with earbuds and knitting on a Saturday morning. Honestly, it's something I look forward to every week. :) Again, it's a time when I'm not the only parent at home, and Adam really enjoys playing with the kids on Saturday morning, after a long workweek. :) We do really relaxed Saturday mornings, when we get the chance at it.

But the nice thing about the first three (well, almost all of them, really), is that they don't have much objectionable content, so I don't mind having them on speakers when the kids are doing their work and I'm doing mine.

Ed said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ed said...

Two that I’ve come to love and look forward to: 99% Invisible about design (generally, and often more specifically architecture and/or city planning), and A Way with Words, about grammar and language.

Jessica Snell said...

thanks for pointing me towards "A Way with Words"! looks good!