Heard Any Good Podcasts Lately?

2014-10-18 14.55.53

The recent computer troubles meant that I lost all of the podcasts I’d saved on iTunes. And somehow, despite the year being 2014, Apple hasn’t figured out how to associate podcast subscriptions with Apple IDs. This meant that, just as I had to write down all the software on my computer before wiping the hard drive, I had to write down all of my podcast subscriptions before as well. Turns out to be a fairly long list: 55 podcasts.

The computer troubles also has finally pushed me to abandon my ipod as well… I’m hoping to keep the thing for workouts but I’ve finally bit the bullet and sat down and put all my podcasts on my Android phone (I’m using Doggcatcher to manage them.)

So what is it I listen to? here’s the list:

99% Invisible – Roman Mar’s talks about architecture and history
America’s Test Kitchen – The podcast of the TV show and magazine. I especially love when the hosts answer questions.
The Angry History Podcast – Two guys from New York talk about random bits of history
Benjamin Walker’s Theory of Everything – Hard to explain, I’ve found it compelling.
Bible Geek Show – Robert M. Price answers questions about the bible.
Buddhist Geeks – Interviews and discussions with Buddhist practitioners.
The China History Podcast – The history of China.
Common Sense with Dan Carlin – Political discussion from a center left libertarian. I usually don’t agree with Dan but it’s always interesting.
Decode DC – In depth reporting on Washington DC and US politics.
The Egyptian History Podcast – The history of ancient Egypt.
Fear the Boot – A podcast about roleplaying games
Freakonomics Radio – The podcast of the books.
The Game Design Roundtable – Game designers interview other designers and discuss the ins and outs of table top and digital game design.
GastroPod – A podcast about food and science
Good Job Brain – Trivia quiz show
Hardcore History with Dan Carlin – Dan Carlin’s take on crucial times in history.
The History of Byzantium – The history of the Eastern Roman Empire. Picks up where the History of Rome (below ) ends.
The History of English – History of the English language, lots of etymology here!
The History of Rome – Complete now, but this tells the history of Rome from the founding of the city to the fall of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century of the Common Era.
The Human Bible – Robert M. Price discusses the bible from a secular point of view.
I Don’t Even Own a Television – Reviews of terrible books.
Infinity Monkey Cage – Science debate podcast.
Idle Thumbs – Taking video games seriously.
In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg – BBC’s Bragg brings together experts to discuss topics ranging from history to science.
Inquiring Minds – Discussions of current events and science.
Intelligence Squared – BBC’s debate podcast
Intelligence Squared USA – NPR’s copy of the BBC’s debate podcast
Isometric – Video games from a different perspective (Women’s)
Jim Harold’s Campfire – Spooky and scary stories as told by those who they happened to (it is October!)
Life Scientific – Interview with scientists
Love + Radio – I’m still trying to figure out what this is. Compelling listening.
The Lovecraft Geek – Robert M. Price answers questions about H.P. Lovecraft’s work and mythos.
MonsterTalk – Skeptical talks about paranormal topics
Paranormal Podcast – Think newscast and Coast2Coast AM combined. This will have to do until Art Bell gets a podcast.
Planet Money – Financial news and investigation from NPR
Snap Judgement – This American Life with a beat. That means stories about and by minorities
Oh No! Ross and Carrie – Ross and Carrie explore fringe claims and report back. Funny, educational, and interesting.
On the Media – Exploring how the media represents the world
Philosophize This! – Exploring philosophy
RadioLab – Like This American Life but covering the sciences.
Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean – College course on the history and development of Christianity.
Retronauts – Talking about old video games.
Revolutions – Podcast about revolutions throughout time
Roderick on the Line – I don’t know how to describe Roderick on the Line but you should be listening to this.
The Secular Buddhist – Buddhism without the spiritual kruft.
Serial – This American Life’s new podcast that covers one single story from beginning to end.
Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe – Skeptical news every week.
Slate’s Lexicon Valley – Talking about language.
Studio 360 – Interviews with artists and technologists.
The Tetrapod Zoology Podcast – This podcast is about tetrapods of all types. It’s a fantastic and fun biology podcast.
This American Life – Do I need to explain?
Three Moves Ahead – Exploring strategy games
The Truth – Fifteen to thirty minute radio dramas.
Watch out for Fireballs – In depth talk about old video games.
You are not so Smart – Exploring all the ways human minds are broken. So, so broken.

That’s a lot of listening! Is there something you listen to that isn’t on this list? Do you love it? Tell me about it in the comments!

False Four: Random Readings

Speculative Infrustructures – Interesting article out of Boom magazine on how the western United States, California specifically, helped shape and in turn was shaped by science fiction literature.

Neoliberalism and the Machinery of Disposability – Details how Consumer Capitalism is creeping into all aspects of our culture. And by doing so corrupting it. The disposability that drives consumerism begins to apply to people, places, and wildlife. All of which are sacrificed in order for profits to expand.

Leviticus Defiled Focuses on the two “clobber” verses in Leviticus that are used by anti-gay Christians to justify their position. This fetish of two verses out of an entire book of the Old Testament (Torah) is a form of bibliolatry. Worse it completely misses the point of the verses…

Computers are Providing Solutions to Math Problems that we Can’t Check I’m conflicted on this. On one hand it’s fascinating that we’ve constructed and programmed devices that can now solve problems that have so far eluded us. On the other hand I don’t want Skynet to be real…

Falling Behind: My Reading Backlog

I was recently looking at my Amazon wishlist, it has quite a few books on it, and wondering when, if ever, I’d get around to purchasing and reading them. See, I made a deal with myself, and I’ve mostly kept it, that I won’t buy anymore new books until I finish all the ones I already have on my shelves. But, it doesn’t seem to matter how many of the books I take off the shelf and read there are always unread ones sitting on the shelves waiting for their turn. If reading wasn’t so enjoyable the task might be Sisyphean…

So, I decided to sit down and see just how many books I have to read before I can get to those new ones… It took awhile but here it is:

171 books

Roughly, I didn’t count a lot of the genre fiction collections I have lying around (Dune, Stross, Stevenson, Weeks, etc…) If you want to get a glimpse at what I’m interested in go ahead and click through to the spreadsheet, I didn’t list authors but some simple googling should lead you to these books.

Anyone have any suggestions on whittling this down to something manageable?

 

Video Games Played in 2013

I own too many video games. I need to stop buying them. Then I should stop playing them. And read more…

January (4):
Nier
Dishonored
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus

February (4):
Knights of the Old Republic II
Aquanox 2: Revelations
Police Quest 1
Frog Fractions

March (5):
Crysis
System Shock 2
Syndicate (2012)
Donkey Kong Country 3
Dracula X

April (7):
And Yet it Moves
Cthulhu Saves the World
Rayman Origins
Donkey Kong
Super Mario Bros
New Super Mario Bros Wii
The Walking Dead Episode I

May (2):
Shank
Bioshock Infinite

June (1):
Tomb Raider

July (5):
Candy Box
The Walking Dead Episode 1
The Walking Dead Episode 2
The Walking Dead Episode 3
The Walking Dead Episode 4

August (4):
The Walking Dead Episode 5
Anodyne
Noitu Love 2 Devolution
Gunpoint

September (5):
Breath of Death VII
Persona 3 Portable
Contra
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Cookie Clicker

October (0):

November (3):
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templar
Hotline Miami
Diablo 3

December (10):
Eldritch
Monaco
Shadowrun Returns
Police Quest 2: The Vengeance
Puzzle Agent
Puzzle Agent 2
Organ Trail
Back to the Future: It’s about Time
Back to the Future: Get Tannen!
Back to the Future: Citizen Brown
Back to the Future: Double Visions
Back to the Future: Outatime

Total: 52

For 2014, I’m just going to play the games I already own as opposed to buying any new ones. *fingers crossed*

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