Animals & Nature

Here are two great podcasts, both about animals.

The first is a short one from a great podcast called The Memory Palace. It's about lobsters, how they came to be known as the fine dining cuisine they are today, and why they used to be considered on par with eating a squirrel (at the risk of giving it away, scarcity causes demand). This is hands down the most interesting podcast I've ever heard about lobsters (and yes, I've heard more than one).

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 8/25/10.

The second comes from 'To the Best of Our Knowledge' and includes stories about man-eating tigers, giant waves, and the savage side of nature. This is an awesome podcast.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 10/24/10.

Earth, Atoms, and The Universe

Boy, they don't make 'em like this anymore. IBM produced this video decades ago, and though the video is a bit outdated, the awesomeness is not. This shows the relativity of Earth to the massiveness of the Universe and the minuteness of an Atom. Check it out, and enjoy.

A tale of journalism and compassion

This story told by Phil Caputo is the best episode of The Moth I've heard in a long time. I won't say anything more than that, you just have to listen.

Listen now or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 10/18/10.

Baseball Freakonomics

I love freakonomics, and on their most recent podcast they had a great bit on statistics and baseball.

Listen now, or download it on itunes. The itunes release date was 10/7/10.

Pigs

This TED talk is about pigs, and what they're used for when they die. Of course some of the meat is sold as pork, but pig parts are often used in the production of soap, tooth paste, paint brushes, cheese cake, concrete, train brakes, sand paper and even bullets. Often the entire pig is used. This podcast is informative, fascinating, and makes the thought of going vegan sound nearly impossible.

Watch now, or download it on itunes. The itunes release date was 9/20/10.

What is a socialist? What is a libertarian?

The Planet Money Podcast recently had two informative episodes in which they interview a "real socialist" and a "real libertarian." I think it's interesting how often people misconceive what these two ideologies actually are. These podcasts are good 20 minute lessons on what they really stand for.

These episodes are no longer available on itunes, but for the socialist episode listen here, and for the libertarian episode listen here.

Jon Stewart

Great interview with Jon Stewart on Fresh Air this week. I feel like if the roll of the press is to act as a check against government and corporations, then the roll of The Daily Show is to act as a check against the press.

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

Here is Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer.

And just for fun, here's Stephen Colbert interviewing with Bill O'Reilly. The Stewart-Cramer interview is like watching someone get beat up, but the Colbert-O'Reilly interview is more like watching a master tennis player get totally picked apart.

What California was, and what it needs

Here's a great article from David Brooks of the New York Times about what is going wrong, and what used to be going right in California.

Data Visualization

I can't even attempt to describe this TED Talk by David McCandless, you just need to watch and check it out.

Watch now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 8/23/10.

You can also check out his website with tons of cool graphs and charts here.