I've written before (and before that) about podcasts and they are certainly more popular than they were back then. This month several podcasts I'm listening to are saying I should let people know what I am listening to with the #trypod hashtag. Podcasts are really like your own radio DVR or streaming network. You can set up your own playlist and get the most out of your listening time. So I will go down my current list of subscriptions (at least as far as the ones I have time to listen to.
I still use DoggCatcher Podcast Player on my android phone, currently a Nexus6. I'm generally listening to the podcasts over Bluetooth in my car or my headphones walking to work or while I'm exercising.
Jeff's Podcasts, March, 2017
NPR: Hourly News Summary Podcast
Lasts about 5-7 minutes and is updated hourly.
Since I'm not catching the news on the radio (or TV, or newspapers), I like starting my morning and afternoon with this podcast.
NPR: Planet Money Podcast
15-25 minutes about 2-3 per week
This podcast started right after the financial crisis in 2008 and has been really interesting to listen to ever since. Turns out I like economics and its interesting how often the stuff in here is stuff i use in my life.
Radio Lab
30-60 mins about 1/week
Great science stories. Pretty much always is telling a story and usually with a scientific bent (sometime social or political sciences..)
Invisibilia
Seasonal, about 60 minutes
In depth news/stories science stuff that affects human behavior that is "invisible".
Roman Mars/99% Invisible
1-2 a week about 30-60 mins
Usually about design but can be about other things that are hard to see and touch. Design can cover everything from architecture, furniture, fonts, flags, airport carpet. Great stuff.
The Allusionist
about 30ish mins, about 1 a week?
This is a recent pickup of mine. Its a podcast about words and word origins. Very funny and the host has a British accent so that always great to listen to.
Freakonomics Radio
1 a week, 30-60 mins
Great show, great books, great movie. Behavior economics. This is stuff that affects your life whether you know it or not.
More Perfect
Seasonal, about 30-60 mins
By the producers of Radio Lab, stuff about SCOTUS. (Supreme Court of the United States).
This Developer's LIfe
Pretty much no new casts, about 60 mins each?
This was a great series of podcasts and I keep holding out the dream they will make more. They are really well done podcasts in the style of This American Life but by developers about developers. They required a lot of time editing and I think the show runners just ran out of that time to produce the show.
Lexicon Valley
About 2/month - about 30 mins?
Another show about language and words. Its changed significantly in the last year but I still like it. John McWhorter is a professor of language and he is doing a good job carrying on the show.
This American Life
60 mins , 1 /week
Stories/in depth news, from America. Terrific.
How I Built This
30-60 mins, Once a week
Interviews with entrepreneurs and people starting or who have started prominent movements and businesses.
On the Media
1/week + smaller extras, 30-60 mins, extras are in the 10 minute range
News about News. Generally covers how the press and media cover the news. This is especially interesting right now (and for the next 4 years? )
Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Seasonal, about 60 minutes
Game show style with interesting facts and stories.
This Week in Google
Weekly, 1-2 hours
Not as about Google as the name would imply. About the "cloud" and about news about the "cloud" wide range of technical topics
The Sporkful
weekly? about 30-60 mins
This podcast i don't listen to as they come out - i'm listening to in order since its less about current stuff. Its about food, great restaurants, how to eat good food.
Here's The Thing
1 every couple weeks, 30-60 mins
Alec Baldwin interviews famous people from lots of different places.
This Week in Tech
1/week, about 2 hours
I rarely make it this far down my list in a week.
Kinda more of the same as This Week in Google... maybe a bit broader, and more chatty and goes on tangents. Fun listen about the tech world/ internet culture.
that lets me charge it and hook the audio output into the auxilary input of my car. So I listen to my podcasts with my car's speakers. Each morning I connect the phone and download the hourly NPR news, this usually takes about 30-60 seconds. Once I start listening, DoggCatcher will go down my list and any podcasts that have downloaded will play in the order have them set. So I get to listen to the ones I like the best first and then down the line. If I get a call, the podcast pauses and I can talk hands free, with my caller's voice on my speakers. The podcast will pick up where it left off when I hang up. Another feature Doggcatcher has (one that I asked for) is that when the phone no longer is under power, the podcast will pause. This allows me to turn off my car and not worry that I am missing some of my podcast with the speakers off. Its paused and ready to go again when I plug back in for the ride home.