Podcasts - Entertain, Enlighten, Educate
Bad habit I enjoy
I basically listen to podcasts twice a day–while eating breakfast and supper which is 30-45 minutes each session. I know it’s much better too be attentive to the food, but I’m not there yet. To make matters worse, I actually play Solitaire on my computer at the same time. There are a few podcasts that I listen to at other times with more concentration and note-taking (Some casts produce transcripts which are great for review)
How I manage podcasts
I use gPodder gPodder: Media aggregator and podcast client) to gather audio podcasts. It is available for Linux, Mac, and Windows. In Preferences I choose VLC Media Player to play the podcasts, because it can save the playlist with the time where I stopped if I am unable to finish. I use Linux, but gPodder is available for Windows and Mac. Here is a screenshot from gPodder’s website - not showing my list of audio choices, although in the past I’ve listened to “The Moth” and “Radio Lab” and enjoyed both:
How I listen in segments to long podcasts
I mentioned earlier that I use VLC to play podcasts so that I can mark stopping points.
- Stop play
- Ctrl-B to open Edit Bookmarks
- Click Create
- Media/Save Playlist to File
- To restart later, click on the saved file, Ctrl-B for the Bookmarks, and click on the bookmark to go where you left off.
My podcast choices
- Axios Today: loved it, but it is no longer on. There is a weekly version coming soon on the same feed.
- Up First: Daily News in short
- Short Wave: Short science story (2 per week)
- Origin Stories: Anthropology from Leakey Foundation (periodically)
- Science Friday: Weekly Science in 2 1-hour segments. Variety of topics and current news/discoveries
- Throughline: Weekly where “we go back in time to understand the present” (1 hour)
- Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson Isaacson talks about some form of technology and development over time.
- Turning to The Mystics with James Finley: Several sessions over various mystics.
- On Being with Krista Tippett: “Wisdom to replenish and orient. Conversations to live by.” I download from the website from time to time. There have been so many wonderful guests and the archive is well worth browsing.