Brain Food Dude Podcast-Sports Episode

This week we did a special episode about sports. Listen here, or subscribe to our podcast on itunes.

This week's show includes the following clips:

Doug Glanville being interviewed about baseball on Fresh Air.
Freakanomics Radio discussing home field advantage.
John Wooden giving a TED Talk about basketball, coaching, and life.
The 1904 Olympic Marathon on The Memory Palace.
Andre Agassi being interviewed on Fresh Air.
A bike race across America on Radiolab.

Crazy bike race across America

This was the first podcast I ever posted on the blog, but it's so good I'm posting it again (and because I mentioned it on the Brain Food Dude podcast this week).

It's an episode of Radiolab titled "limits." As a whole it was probably my favorite podcast of 2010.

You can download it on itunes, the release date was 4/5/10.

Andre Agassi

Does Andre Agassi hate tennis? A little. Listen all about it on the Fresh Air podcast from last year. It's no longer available on itunes, but you can listen here.

If you want to learn more, read his book:

World Cup & Freakanomics

I once asked an NFL player about his thoughts on home field advantage, and his answer was "It doesn't make any difference...well, maybe it helps to know where the sprinkler heads are, but other than that it doesn't matter."

The good fellows at Freakanomics Radio beg to differ. Listen to why they believe home field advantage exists.

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

Doug Glanville

Doug Glanville, a.k.a. "The Rocket Scientist," has an interesting perspective on the game of baseball. Check out this interview with Glanville on Fresh Air.

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

1904 Olympic Marathon

The Memory Palace is an awesome podcast, and one of my favorite episodes is about the marathon ran in the 1904 Olympics in Saint Louis (how on earth did Saint. Louis get the Olympics, I have no idea).

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 2/24/10.

John Wooden

John Wooden, one of the best coaches in the history of sport, died last year at the age of 99. Check out this TED Talk of the "Wizard of Westwood."

Brain Food Dude #17

Brain Food Dude #17 is out now. Listen here, or subscribe on itunes.

This week features the following clips:

A brief history of the bicycle, and the perfect bike, on NPR.
Online poker discussion, on the On Point podcast.
An interview with linguist Robert Lane Greene on The Economist.
Laboratory meat on the New Yorker Out Loud.
Area 51 on Fresh Air.

You Are What You Speak

How many languages do you speak? Five? Six? Well Robert Lane Green has you beat, he speak nine! And he just wrote a book called You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity. Listen to what Mr. Green has to say about such topics as German, and Shakespeare, on The Economist Podcast.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date is 5/10/11.

Online poker

Ever wondered what all the fuss is about with online poker? Check out this episode of On Point.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date is 5/10/11.

Laboratory grown meat

What if they started growing meat in a laboratory? Not like, chickens or cows, but just meat. No brain, no bones, just lab meat. I kind of thought KFC was already doing this, but you can learn more on The New Yorker Out Loud.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/16/11. Or read the article in the New Yorker Magazine.

It's all about the bike

I have a special place in my heart for bicycles, and so does Robert Penn, author of It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels. Listen to what Penn has to say about the history of bikes, and the perfect bike, which he had built for himself.

Listen to the interview with Robert Penn here.

Area 51

What really happens at Area 51? Find out in this crazy episode of Fresh Air, with Annie Jacobsen, author of Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date is 5/17/11.

Brain Food Dude #16

#16 of the Brain Food Dude podcast is now out. Listen here, or subscribe on itunes.

This week features the following clips:

Interview with a Navy Seal on How to do Everything.
Interview with the conductor, James Levine, on Fresh Air.
Discussion about "anonymous" on To the Best of Our Knowledge.
Interview with Greg Laden about life spans, and myths, of our early ancestors, on Skeptically Speaking.
Junk food, on the New Yorker Out Loud.
Economics of the Middle Ages, on Planet Money.

Interview with a Navy Seal

Navy Seals are probably the baddest-ass bad asses in the entire world. Listen to this former interview with a Seal, about the killing of Bin Laden, on the How to do Everything Podcast.

Find it here on itunes, the release date of this episode was 5/5/11.

I'm so glad I don't live in the middle ages...

Famine, disease, no internet, no burritos...and now I find out that Knights were actually just a bunch of bullies. I am so glad I don't live in the middle ages.

Find out what life and the economy were like back then, on this excellent edition of Planet Money.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/6/11.

Who is anonymous?

To the Best of Our Knowledge did an interesting segment on anonymity on the internet. Just who is "anonymous?" Hard to say.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/6/11.

Junk food

Check out this great discussion about junk food, and pepsi, from the New Yorker Out Loud.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/9/11.

Or to dive deeper, read the full article in the New Yorker.

James Levine

Fresh Air did a cool interview with conductor James Levine.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/4/11.

A history of childbirth

Skeptically Speaking did a show about this history of childbirth. This episode also features a great segment with Greg Laden, which explores some common misconceptions about life expectancy.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/1/11.

Brain Food Dude #15

Brain Food Dude #15 is now out. Listen now, or subscribe on itunes.

This week's episode features the following clips:

3D sound on Studio 360.
The history of myspace, on Planet Money.
An intellectual discussion about reality television, on the New Yorker Out Loud.
Interviews about education with Diane Ravitch & Andrew Rotherham, on Fresh Air.
A TED Talk about education with Sir Ken Robinson.

The history of myspace

Back in the olden days, human beings used to use a bizarre form of communication known as "myspace." Learn more about this odd mating ritual/music-sharing service, on the Planet Money Podcast.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/3/11.

3D Sound

3D sound? That's right, take a listen on Studio 360. Finally, Pink Floyd fans can enjoy Dark Side of the Moon without the use of drugs.

To listen on itunes, the release date was 4/29/11.

Education

Fresh Air did a great set of interviews about education last week. The first interview is with Diane Ravitch, the former U.S. assistant secretary of education. The second is with Andrew Rotherham, the author of four books about education reform. Ravitch and Rotehrham have differing viewpoints, but both make some very good points about education reform.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 4/28/11.

Education with Sir Ken Robinson

One of my all-time favorite TED Talks is this speech about education, by Sir Ken Robinson.

Reality TV

Only the New Yorker could have a serious, intellectual discussion about something as low brow as reality TV.

Listen now, or download on itunes. The itunes release date was 5/2/11.

Or read the full article in the New Yorker Magazine.