road trip06 Jul 07
Posted by M. Wright | Filed in: Entertainment
We’re headed east for the weekend, and I’m loading up my iPod Shuffle with some songs, books on tape and podcasts. One podcast I’m looking forward to catching up on is a series titled We The People Stories, a lectureship hosted by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. These are very high quality lectures and round-table discussions that provoke thought, unfailingly represent many sides of the issues, dig deep into relevant cultural, legal, religious, historical and political topics, as well as showcase new scholarship and research. I highly recommend checking it out. Are there any podcasts you find noteworthy?
July 6th, 2007 at 10:28 am
I’m a fan of the NPR “Intelligence Squared” program. These are Oxford style debates, with a stated proposition, a moderator, three debators for the motion, and three against. In addition, the audience is polled before and after the debate to see how the debate affects their opinion. Recent propositions include:
-Global Warming Is Not A Crisis (good)
-A Booming China Spells Trouble for the US (also good)
-America is Too Damn Religious (the least controlled and most vitriolic of the recent ones, but still somewhat interesting)
I also like Dan Carlin’s “Hardcore History” show and This American Life.
All are available from iTunes Store for free…
I’ll have to check out your suggestion as well.
July 6th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Where ya going?
July 6th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Well, they’re not technically podcasts, but if you’re loading up an iPod, I’d recommend some Peter Kreeft lectures. They make me think big, important thoughts about big, important stuff.
July 7th, 2007 at 5:47 am
All episodes This American Life are available for free download. You can hardly go wrong there.
July 10th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I’ve actually been subscribed to This American Life on iTunes for a while but never got around to listening, and when I tried to update the podcast prior to my trip, it was throwing up an error. I’ll definitely investigate it further.
As for the one I mentioned, the episodes with Gen. Zinni and David Stewart are outstanding. But the Tavis Smiley episode borders on absurd, particularly the introduction (the night’s fourth) offered by Sonia Sanchez — it’s a train wreck for your ears.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:45 am
I haven’t tried the TAL podcasts; I was thinking of the MP3 downloads on the website.