Podcasts I like

If you're not tired of my book reviews, I thought I'd also give some podcast reviews. I listen to podcasts on the way to and from work, and that tends to add up to more time than I spend reading, usually. Anyway, it's hard to know what's good, so I thought I'd just say what I like, at least.

My favorite podcasts are the Agatha Presents Mysteries, radio shows from back based on Agatha Christie's books. I just stumbled upon these in itunes, and I haven't been able to find them again, but they're great if you find them. I love the guy who does Poirot's voice, it's perfect. These don't update very frequently, but whenever I have a new one I gobble it up.

I also like This American Life. These are hour-long programs, with a few stories centered around a theme. They can be hit or miss, though, and when they're a miss it's often a really really weird and scary miss. But, some are awesome. There was one episode about supers, which I highly recommend. That was on last year sometime, but it might be in the archives. More recently, I really enjoyed an episode called "leaving the fold," especially the first act that looked into the life of Jerry Springer, who was apparently by all accounts the most promising politician to come around since Kennedy. I'm in the middle of one called "nice work if you can get it." The "preface" part was an interview with various astronauts about the minutae of their daily grind, which actually sounds pretty boring. The first act is a recording of a speech by John Hodgeman (he's a PC to that other guy's Mac in those commericals) that had me laughing so hard on my way home from work I was worried the neighbors would look at me funny, laughing at myself.

You can also download Prairie Home companions from NPR, including the News from Lake Woebegon, which is always nice after a hard day. :)