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Podcasts

This has nothing to do with Switzerland. It's a leftover from when this was a personal blog. I'm leaving it here anyway for my own reference.

I'm a fan of Podcasts. For those who don't know, these are something like radio shows that you download to your phone or computer. They often focus on a small area where they have passionate interest. They're perfect for long walks, drives, or bus rides.

These are the podcasts that I've been listening to lately:

  • NPR Hourly News Summary because radios are hard. I own a dozen computers and cell phones, but there's not an FM receiver to be found in the place.
  • The ISC Daily Stormcast is a daily brief overview of current events in computer security.
  • Planet Money tries to figure out why financial markets work the way that they work. 
  • Hidden Brain looks at some of our less-than-rational decision making processes.
  • 99% Invisible covers the reasons and impact of design decisions.
  • Futility Closet discusses unusual and sometimes forgotten episodes in history.
  • No Such Thing as a Fish allows several of the writers from the excellent Qi television show to riff off of one another's obscure trivia findings. 

There are a few others that I fit in when I can, but I'm less diligent about keeping up:
  • This American Life is almost always superb, but it's long, it's often quite serious, and it requires active listening. I don't always feel like I can give it the attention that it deserves.
  • Stuff You Should Know bounces all over the place. Some episodes are great, and some are terrible. 
  • The Allusionist talks about language and etymology. It's often clever and interesting, but it also requires a lot of attention, so I tend to fall behind.

I've been listening to these with Pocket Casts. It doesn't have all of the features that I want, but it does synchronize nicely across devices.



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