Tuesday, June 29, 2010

First Contact

Here's an awesome This American Life, every act is great. The stories are about first encounters with unknown: beings, girls, foreigners, and perhaps even aliens.

This episode is no longer available on itunes, but you can listen now by clicking here.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Icelander's campaign is a joke, until he's elected

Have you heard about the new mayor of Iceland's capitol, Reykjavik? He's a comedian/punk rocker who founded what he called "The Best Party." In his words "It is the best party. If it wasn’t, it would be called the Worst Party or the Bad Party. We would never work with a party like that." And according to him I would qualify for being part of his coalition government since I've seen all five episodes of The Wire.

Adam in New York sent me this article from the New York Times.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

World Cup

Here's two short but interesting podcasts about the world cup, each is less than 10 minutes.

The first is from The Economist, and discusses how France's football woes are somewhat of a microcosm for the rest of the issues they are currently faced with. You can listen now, or download it from itunes. The itunes release date was 6/23/10.

The second is from Freakonomics Radio, and gives some statistical analysis about penalty shots and home field advantage. Listen now, or download it from itunes. The itunes release date of this episode was 6/10/10.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Indians

I've always yearned to learn more about the differences between North American Indian tribes, and here are two great podcasts about two remarkable tribes: the Comanche and the Apache.

The first podcast, about the Comanche Nation, is from Fresh Air. It is no longer available on itunes, but you can listen now by clicking here.

The second podcast, about the Apaches, is from Dan Carlin's Hard Core History. Either listen now, or download this episode on itunes. The show is #19, and its itunes release date was 3/14/08.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

LCD Soundsystem

I had never even listened to LCD Soundsystem before, but I still loved this interview on Fresh Air with the leader of the band, James Murphy.

This episode is no longer available on itunes, but you can listen now by clicking here.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Overnight bike trips

Yesterday I bought a new bike then listened to this podcast, sent to me by Colin in San Francisco (release date 9/22/08). This one is done by The Bike Show from Resonance FM. All I've got to do now is get out and do one of these 24-hour bike trips.

Either listen now, or download it here on itunes. The itunes release date was way back on 9/22/08.

Oh, and the song at the beginning of this episode is awesome.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Limits

This might be my favorite podcast episode of the last year. The topic is "limits," and it discusses the limits of the human body, and the human mind. With stories about the Iron Man Triathlon, a bicycle race across America, and a man who remembered everything (literally, everything), this is an action packed hour of podcasting.

To download click here. The release date of this episode was 4/5/10.

After you listen, here is the video of Julie Moss falling apart at the end of her Iron Man Race.

This episode of Radiolab was passed along to me by David Phillips in London.

Iran

Yesterday's Fresh Air interview gives a great perspective on what's going on in Iran right now, from a political prisoner who just got released last month.

It is no longer available on itunes, but you can listen now by clicking here.

Prison life

Here's my first post, from the Vanity Fair's Writers Reading podcast. I've always been kind of intrigued by what prison life is like, but this reading by Wilbert Rideau about his time in prison is the most raw-dog account I've ever heard.

Listen now, or download it here from itunes. The release date on itunes was 4/27/10.