Podcasts are Fun

So, I’m a podcast addict.  There, I said it.

I currently have 5.8 GB of podcasts downloaded in iTunes.  To be honest, a lot of those will never be listened to, but I thoroughly enjoy listening to an entertaining podcast while driving, doing work that doesn’t require a lot of thinking, mowing the yard, etc.  There are some podcasts that are incredible.  They tell great stories, make me laugh out loud, make me think about things in whole new ways, and make me want to produce audio stories (really).

Here are some of my favorite podcasts…

• This American Life – This public radio broadcast, hosted by expert sigher Ira Glass, devotes an hour each week to telling stories about life…in America.  From hilarious tales told by comedians to incredibly profound stories that go deeper than probably anything else on radio or television, this podcast should be required listening for anyone who thinks.  (Oh, and I kind of want to be Ira Glass.)
  [ Website | Podcast | iTunes ]
• Radiolab – I first heard about Radiolab during an episode of This American Life.  Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, this WNYC public radio gem explores mostly scientific topics…in a rather beautiful way.  Yes, the stories they tell are fascinating, but the way they tell them is just as important.  Jad is a sound artist – he creates masterpieces from incredibly brilliant and interesting examples of an explorations into basic science topics, such as Words and Memory and Forgetting.
  [ Website | Podcast | iTunes | Twitter ]
• The Adam Carolla Show (Explicit) – Wait, what? So, I know this podcast is about as far as one can get from the prior two.  TAL and Radiolab are sophisticated and refined; Adam Carolla is not.  However, Adam Carolla is funny – very funny.  Adam’s observations on life and rants on topics  – such as having to wait 30 seconds until the 9am time he can legally be served a beer at an airport in St. Louis – are as true and insightful as they are hilarious.  Adam also has great guests as well as the every day co-stars Alison Rosen and Bald Bryan (this man is scary quick at playing sound effects). I disagree with Carolla on probably 85% of his political views and 100% of his religious views (he’s atheist), but that doesn’t get in the way of him being hilarious.
  [ Website | Podcast | iTunes | Twitter ]

Here are some of my other favorites/regulars (without the detail description).  Check them out…

• Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me
• Nerdist
• Freakonomics Radio
• The Moth

What do you think of these podcasts?  What are some of your favorites?  Please let me know in the comments section!