Podcasts

[csearle]

Ok, so podcasts aren't mentioned in this board's title but they could just as well be.

I have relatively recently discovered podcasts. I find them great. Unlike Radio 4 they can be paused if there is an interruption and often have hundreds of back episodes. they are a life-saver for long boring car/motorbike journeys.

I thought maybe this thread could be used for suggesting podcasts that you consider have merit.

My favourites at the moment are:

There's no Such Thing as a Fish
(Four QI elves share one amazing fact each and chat about it, usually with much hilarity, for about 15 minutes per fact.)

Black Box Down
(Two Americans, one PPL, one lay individual) go through aircraft crashes with the help of the investigation results.)

Something Rhymes with Purple
(Susie Dent and Giles Brandreth delve into the etymology of words associated with a particular theme.)

Coffee House Shots
(Fraser Nelson and other Spectator journalists mull over any political goings-on - they've had to do two a day for while such is the current turmoil.)

Hidden Brain
(Fascinating investigations into pshycology presented by Shankar Vedantam + guest expert.)

I hope to discover some more good ones from fellow Fools.

Chris
[Edit: apologies to John if this in anyway detracts from his thread about podcasts, which I hadn't realised/remembered existed until our servodude pointed it out.]

[servodude]

I hope to discover some more good ones from fellow Fools.

There was a decent thread a while back that you can probably mine for info

[torata]

The other advantage of podcasts is you can go right back to the beginning of series 1 and listen from then

The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry
It's not so much the science, but the genuine interaction between the two that makes this a great listen.

My Dad Wrote a Porno
This one you have to listen to from the beginning. Three friends read through the pornographical 'business' novels that a father wrote. And laugh. Dame Emma Thompson is a big fan.

torata

[Urbandreamer]

The trouble is that Podcasts are great.

Why is that a problem? Well, you can find a podcast on just about any subject, or genre.

I use to subscribe to
The infinite monkey cage
but I've only got so much time.

I still subscribe to
More or less.

Other than that I tend to subscribe to "financial" podcasts.
FT news briefing
Investors Chronicle
Money Clinic (FT)
Money and Markets (A J Bel)
Money Makers
..
Coin Bureau
Stephan Livera
Bitcoin Audible
Rabbit hole Recap
What Bitcoin did.
...
The Inquiry
Crowd science
Baen Free Radio hour.

I seriously doubt that many will find that list interesting. Though the great thing about Bitcoin Audible is the concept. Guy Swan found that he didn't have the time to read articles about bitcoin and wished that someone could just read them to him while he drove......OH business idea born.

The philosophers alms was good, and still available.

Another idea is to actually download mp3's to listen to like podcasts. It is also possible to automate the process using get_iplayer.
https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer
I use to have a script that searched for new topics of interest and download them, but don't do so anymore.

Downloading from iplayer opens up good oldies like
Old harry's game
Simon Evens goes to Market
or even
Modesty Blaise - A taste of death

[Fluke]

I discovered podcasts as a means of entertaining myself on long boring journeys when I walked the Camino de Santiago in about 2016. I've been using the same app ever since, Overcast. I often fall asleep at night listening to an episode, and one of the features I love but wasn't available at the beginning is you can set it to stop playing at the end of an episode or after a set time, e.g. 30 minutes, to prevent it rolling on to the next episode long after you've drifted off.

My current favourite because it is so full of good information and sound science is ZOE Science and Nutrition. Every episode is fascinating for example the latest one is about Tim Spector's new book Food for Life. There's a chapter in it on mushrooms, bottom line mushrooms are the way forward. Did you know for example that mushrooms make vitamin D when exposed to sunlight in the same way that we do? And that even works after they've been picked because they're still living, he says they're closer to animals than they are to vegetables. Anyway I could go on but that's a good podcast.

Another one that keeps me entertained when I'm on the bike in the gym is Against the Odds, about people who've survived incredible feats of endurance. EG the Chilean coal minors, the Thai football team, the Fukushima disaster. Edge of the seat stuff and it really takes my mind of the tedium of pedalling.

A good political one is Choppers Politics with the Telegraphs Christopher Hope, and there's also The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish.

Those are a few I'd suggest giving a listen to some time.

[Sunnypad]

Fluke "I discovered podcasts as a means of entertaining myself on long boring journeys when I walked the Camino de Santiago in about 2016".

Hmm. An unexpected sentence.

I'm not a big fan of podcasts but will suggest Cabin Pressure, if that counts. Comedy gold.

[Fluke]

Fluke "I discovered podcasts as a means of entertaining myself on long boring journeys when I walked the Camino de Santiago in about 2016".

Hmm. An unexpected sentence.

Why?

[pje16]

Does football count
I have been a fan of this since lockdown first began
Radio5 Football daily
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrs ... /downloads

[Clitheroekid]

I have relatively recently discovered podcasts. I find them great. Unlike Radio 4 they can be paused if there is an interruption and often have hundreds of back episodes.

But Radio 4 can be paused, and also has lots of back episodes.

I'm a R4 addict, but rarely listen to it live. If you download the BBC Sounds app - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds - you can listen to virtually any BBC radio programme whenever you want.

It is a truly brilliant app, and one I use constantly. I usually go for a walk after work, and I often use it as an opportunity to listen to one of the fantastic audiobooks / documentaries / dramas that are on R4. There's also a huge amount of archive material available, so you can listen to Hancock's Half Hour, or old editions of Desert Island Discs or I'm Sorry I haven't A Clue.

I also use it to catch up on R4 programmes that I love but can never listen to live, because of their timing, such as From Our Own Correspondent, or Point Of View.

I now use it for almost all of my BBC listening, including in the car, and even if I'm listening to a live programme I can and do regularly pause it so that I don't miss any of the programme.

Although I do listen to some commercial podcasts (this one being particularly good - https://wondery.com/shows/british-scandal/) there would probably be enough on the BBC site to keep me entertained indefinitely.

Incidentally, I recently bought some Bose noise cancelling earbuds, and if you listen while out walking, as I do, I can throughly recommend them - https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/h ... ds-ii.html. They're not cheap, but they're worth every penny. They're far more comfortable than any I've had before, and the noise-cancelling is fantastic. In fact, it was brought home to me just how good it is when I lent them to a friend recently and had to make do with some old Apple buds without noise cancelling.

[JohnB]

Cold War Conversations

The Life Scientific

Witness History

In Our Time

DoggCatcher android app

[csearle]

I'm a R4 addict, but rarely listen to it live. If you download the BBC Sounds app - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds - you can listen to virtually any BBC radio programme whenever you want.

I too listen to BBC sounds app, but when I'm working I often use ear-defenders. These have an FM radio built into them. I suppose I could probably get ear defenders with a Bluetooth interface - I'll take a look. C.

[servodude]

I'm a R4 addict, but rarely listen to it live. If you download the BBC Sounds app - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds - you can listen to virtually any BBC radio programme whenever you want.

I too listen to BBC sounds app, but when I'm working I often use ear-defenders. These have an FM radio built into them. I suppose I could probably get ear defenders with a Bluetooth interface - I'll take a look. C.

For those situtations I use in-ear buds with foam tips (which themselves give pretty good isolation) and them passive defenders over the top.
- there's a wire between the earbuds (an after market thing which handles the BT) but it gets easily absorbed in the cushioning of the defenders

Works surprisingly well - if you don't mind not hearing anything external

-sd

[Urbandreamer]

For those situtations I use in-ear buds with foam tips (which themselves give pretty good isolation) and them passive defenders over the top.
- there's a wire between the earbuds (an after market thing which handles the BT) but it gets easily absorbed in the cushioning of the defenders

Works surprisingly well - if you don't mind not hearing anything external

-sd

Alternatively if you do want to be able to hear external stuff, you can get a single bluetooth ear bud.
The one that I use looks more like a 60's hearing aid than a Cyberman conversion, but has day's of battery life.

[pje16]

For those situtations I use in-ear buds with foam tips (which themselves give pretty good isolation) and them passive defenders over the top.
- there's a wire between the earbuds (an after market thing which handles the BT) but it gets easily absorbed in the cushioning of the defenders

Works surprisingly well - if you don't mind not hearing anything external

-sd

I use Nuraphone earbuds on my way to and from work
The sound is great, but I am not a fan of noise cancelling, I have walk across roads, and it is beneficial to hear traffic

[Clitheroekid]

I'm a R4 addict, but rarely listen to it live. If you download the BBC Sounds app - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds - you can listen to virtually any BBC radio programme whenever you want.

I too listen to BBC sounds app, but when I'm working I often use ear-defenders. These have an FM radio built into them. I suppose I could probably get ear defenders with a Bluetooth interface - I'll take a look. C.

If you wear ear defenders then I would have thought you could easily substitute them with noise cancelling bluetooth headphones. You can then listen to any programme you like on BBC Sounds or any other platform at a time that suits you, rather than being tied to radio schedules.

I have a pair of these, which I use when flying to drown out the noise of babies squawking or Ryanair trying to flog me raffle tickets, and they're great - https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/h ... 5_ii_black - (and no, I don't get commission from Bose, I just like their products!)

They're extremely comfortable - I've worn them for several hours without any discomfort - and the noise cancelling enables you to just switch off the background noise even if you don't specifically want to listen to anything on your phone.

[servodude]

I too listen to BBC sounds app, but when I'm working I often use ear-defenders. These have an FM radio built into them. I suppose I could probably get ear defenders with a Bluetooth interface - I'll take a look. C.

If you wear ear defenders then I would have thought you could easily substitute them with noise cancelling bluetooth headphones. You can then listen to any programme you like on BBC Sounds or any other platform at a time that suits you, rather than being tied to radio schedules.

I have a pair of these, which I use when flying to drown out the noise of babies squawking or Ryanair trying to flog me raffle tickets, and they're great - https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/h ... 5_ii_black - (and no, I don't get commission from Bose, I just like their products!)

They're extremely comfortable - I've worn them for several hours without any discomfort - and the noise cancelling enables you to just switch off the background noise even if you don't specifically want to listen to anything on your phone.

They really got it right with the QC35s - only reason to get the newer ones would be the more modern USB-C port

Just watch out if you are relying on them in a situation where you actually NEED proper noise suppression
- I don't know of a pair of ANC headphones that yet have an "Noise Reduction Rating" (NRR ) approval
- they do a really great job of dropping the bass end of the spectrum but not so much the mids

They'll be fine for mowing the lawn but probably not so good if you're spending all day in a noisy workshop

-sd

[csearle]

They'll be fine for mowing the lawn but probably not so good if you're spending all day in a noisy workshop

In my case my head is usually six inches from a hammer-drill attacking brick. C.

[SebsCat]

Some of the podcasts I've been listening to:

The Adam Buxton Podcast
Generally light & humorous chat with musicians, comedians & authors.

The Album Years
Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness discuss releases from individual years. One for the music nerd! (if you know who Wilson & Bowness are, you'll probably like the discussion).

The Cider Shed
Irreverent chat about The Archers .

Philosophy Bites
Short 10-15 minute discussions.

The Rest is History
In depth discussions of historical subjects.

The Rest is Politics
"Disagreeing agreeably" from Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart. You're unlikely to enjoy this if you think the government have done well over the last few years!

Revisionist History
Malcolm Gladwell looking back at often overlooked but significant subjects.

RHLSTP (aka Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast)
Sometimes serious, often silly chat with mostly comedians.

Welcome to Night Vale
Surreal updates from a fictional US local community radio show.


I listen to podcasts whilst out walking, gardening, cooking, etc. I don't like having anything in my ears and don't want to be cut off from the world and find that Shokz 'bone conduction' headphones work very well for me.

[Redmires]

Just listened to this one. 'How To Steal A Trillion'. Oliver Bullough traces Britain's vital role in the growth of 'offshore' money laundering.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017t ... des/player

Well worth an uncomfortable listen. At least we are good at some things

[Clitheroekid]

I've just been listening to The Feud, on The Times podcasts - https://shows.acast.com/storiesofourtim ... -hole-pt-1

It's fascinating - the true story of the extraordinary and deeply disturbing efforts of Christ Church College, Oxford, to rid themselves of their Dean, Martyn Percy.