Podcast addiction (part 1)

I love podcasts. Can't get enough of them. I liked podcasts before the term was even invented, literally. Many moons ago in the pre-podcast era, online radio was really taking off but you had to listen via streaming. What I wanted was an interesting talk radio show that you could download as an mp3 file and listen to on a CD in the car or on a mp3 player. Lucky for me I found April Winchell who was putting recent shows on her site in Real and WinMedia files.

Early podcasts by and large were crap but the number and quality of podcasts increased enormously in just a few years so we're at the point now where there are more quality podcasts than you could possibly listen to.

Check out the following list of podcasts that l listen to on a semi-regular basis depending on what takes my fancy that week. There are way too many for one post so I'll post the second part of the list later this week. Part 2 will include various other topics such as arts-and-society-type podcasts I enjoy as well as music podcasts and podcast novels. I love discovering new gems so if you have a favourite podcast not listed here do let me know.

Humour
April Winchell(KCRW) - I love April Winchell. She has a quick wit. She deserves to be more famous than she is.
Russell Brand(BBC Radio 2) - Russell Brand is an egotistical pervert but inexplicably that translates into bizarre humour, although he can definitely make you cringe. One of the most popular podcasts in the UK.
Keith and the Girl (I recommend starting with their Beginnings section) - Hard to say what the appeal is here. A comedian and his girlfriend talk crap and somehow it makes for great listening.
Harry Shearer's Le Show (KCRW) - A bit long and sometimes slow-going. My fave parts are the sketches, especially the Dick Cheney ones, and the songs are good too.
Jonathan Ross (BBC Radio 2)
Chris Evans Drive Time The Best Bits (BBC Radio 2)
Best of Chris Moyles (BBC Radio 1) - Ross, Evans and Moyles are not comedians but they can be pretty funny. I'd say the Moyles show is the funniest of the three.

Science and Technology
CBC Radio Quirks and Quarks - solid science show broken into segments which can be downloaded separately.
Berkeley Groks Science Show - interesting interviews with scientists and science writers.
Discovery Channel Features - an occasional listen depending on the topic.
SETI Science and Skepticism Very nicely put together podcast. Seth Shostak is a great host, funny and clever but never irritatingly so!
New Scientist Podcast nice podcasts but the frequency of output seems to be dropping off in recent months.
NOVA Science Now - NPR podcasts seldom disappoint. I particularly like this one.
NPR Health & Science - NPR do loads and loads of podcasts and the ones I've listened to all seem to be very well put together.
Pods and blogs - not bad. I throw these short podcasts in for variety more than anything.
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe - one of my favourite podcasts. These guys really know their stuff yet the tone of the show is light-hearted and often pretty funny in parts.
You and Yours - Health (BBC Radio 5) - covers some interesting science-related topics.
Science and the City - highly recommended. I download a high percentage of their shows. Check out their archive.
Science Talk (Scientific American) - different flavour to New Scientist: hard to choose between them because it depends on the topics being discussed.
Shrink Rap Radio (Psychology/ Psychiatry) - has some fascinating guests, authors and experts in the fields of psychology and psychiatry.
Skepticality - I prefer Skeptics guide to the universe above but this is still an enjoyable show.

Stay tuned for part 2 later this week.