What Podcasts do you listen to?

[sheeny]

Podcasts are steadily becoming more popular, so what Podcasts do you listen to? For those of you who don't listen to podcasts but are podcast curious, this might give you some leads as to which ones to try.

I haven't made an exhaustive list (there are too many!) so if I missed one that you listen to, post it's name.

Thanks,

Al.

[cattikins]

Astronomy Cast is the best podcast i have found to listen to.

[iceman]

Thanks Al, that's given me a few leads. I'm sure i'll find some time at work tomorrow to download a few ;)

[ballaratdragons]

OK, I give up. What's a Podcast? :shrug:

Whatever it is, it comes in good titles.

[acropolite]

I downloaded a 16 part (non Astro) series called Prisoners of war, Australians under Nippon, from the ABC. I always thought I knew the story of the Australians who suffered under the Japanese during WW2 but this series by Tim Bowden with narrative by survivors puts a new perspective on that suffering.

[ballaratdragons]

Ahhhhh, my new 'Next G' mobile phone has payTV on it. Is that Podcast?

[astroron]

I have never heard or seen one,or an mp3 player:shrug:

[rogerg]

Thanks for the useful list of casts! :thumbsup: Sure helps a newbie to podcasting such as myself.

I only voted on the 3 I have watched/listenned to sofar.. sure to be more soon. I'm quite enjoying listening to and watching this stuff, but there's so much more out there than I could possibly digest....

[sheeny]

Ah...no... Ken:P :) .

A Podcast is basically an MP3 (compressed audio file) that you can listen to on an MP3 player such as an iPod (hence the name) or on your computer. It is usually similar to a radio show in format.

Videocasts are the video version (obviously) using usually the MP4 protocol to provide a compressed video show that you can watch on your computer, video iPod or MP4 viewer.

I sometimes listen to them on the way to work (OK I don't have to drive far so I listen to them for a while after I get to work too... you know... while I'm poking about the office checking emails, and doing the morning ritual stuff) and sometimes if driving in to Bathurst.

I quite like Starstuff. Astronomy 161 and 162 are actualy recordings of Astronomy lectures from university. I don't have the details with me at the moment but 1ponders may chip in there... I'm sure he's where I found out about them from!:thumbsup:

Al.

[iceman]

What (free) software do people recommend to "subscribe" to these podcasts so that they alert you of new files when they become available?

[Ric]

Sorry, I'm a podcast Neanderthal.
Still using my Walkman and cassettes :whistle:

Cheers

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Al.

Cheryl has an MP4 player but none of us know how to use it. I'm with Ric, I'm still a cassette user. CD's and DVD's still seem space-age Jetsons stuff to me!

[rogerg]

Wish I could help Mike but my experience is very limited. I just use the Zencast Organizer software that came with my Zen. Interestingly, you can download Zencast Organizer free from their site, (zencast.com) and I would be surprised if it relies upon having a Zen, as it's only at the last stage (if your zen is plugged in) that you can choose to transfer the files to the player.

I did see a list of free subscription software on one of the podcast sites... but I can't find it now.

[iceman]

I downloaded Zencast, seems ok. Nothing to compare it against, but it does what I need. I found a list of others, and you could try www.digitalpodcast.com for a list of loads of podcasts, managers, players etc.

I'm busy downloading lots now. Got enough listening data to keep me busy for weeks!

[duncan]

I watch anything on Discovery Science and the like on pay tv but thats about it. Prefer to be out looking through the scope.

[sheeny]

Because I have an iPod I use iTunes. Apparently it's free to download from the Apple site regardless of whether you have an iPod or not (I just checked). I still use media player as my default player on my PC, but I use iTunes to keep my PODcasts up to date and interface with the iPod.

Al.

[sheeny]

Yes, well... there's more out there than I think one person could reasonably listen to!;)

Al.

[iceman]

Thanks Al. I guess in terms of managers/organisers, they're all the same in what they can do.. subscribe, download, info etc.

Zencast will do me for now. I'm just manually copying the mp3's i've downloaded (using zencast) to my cheapo mp3 player now.. at USB1.1, so slow! :)

Astronomy 161/162 look great!

[sheeny]

We've all been there, Ken!:) Then one day... you'll take that critical step... and it's all downhill from there!:lol: You're very close if you've already got the MP4 player!

Al.

[sheeny]

USB1.1... work computer, no doubt?:lol: Mine's the same:rolleyes: .

There's lots of stuff in the Astronomy 161/162 lectures. Good to refer to when I realise I've forgotten something or some neurons go rusty...

Al.

[iceman]

Saw someone else browsing this thread and it reminded me I wanted to update my experiences..

For the past 2 or 3 months I've been listening to Astronomy 161 - solar system, night sky, history of how things were learned in astronomy. Only 1 lecture to go. What a brilliant course. It's been very refreshing and interesting to listen to. It gives a great background and more depth to stuff which I knew, but didn't know how or why I knew it. Next is Astronomy 162, which is galaxies, nebula etc. Richard Pogge (the lecturer/professor) is very interesting and easy to listen to. I'd encourage everyone to listen to this.

Other times I've been listening to Science@NASA, Nature Podcast (occasionally), StarStuff - although this hasn't been updated since June 3, Dr Karl's greatest Moments and This Week at NASA.

It's keeping me busy and interested during my commute and I really look forward to listening to them!

[rogerg]

Ahh .. yes, I was hunting for this thread to find what more there were out there. In particular I've been trying to find more video casts of atronomy topics.

I listen to Astronomy Cast as soon as it comes out - on my drive to work on Tuesday mornings, and look forward to it each week.

I haven't stuck to any of the other audio casts as strong as that one - I sometimes listen to the ABC one and Space.com's one, but that's about it.

HubbleCast would be good if it came out more regularly - hasn't been one for a while.

I've just found the NASA ones (via this thread) and am transfering them to my Zen now to watch later tonight on the TV, looking forward to that..

Roger.

[iceman]

What's this one? Link me please! :)

I don't watch the video ones at the moment, but one day if I get an ipod I might get into them. Although they might be a bit hard to watch while driving ;)

[sheeny]

Yeah, I reckon if I was commuting I'd be listening to a lot more podcasts than I do.

Al.

[iceman]

I was able to squeeze in an Astronomy 161 lecture today while doing the gardening and blowervac :)

[rogerg]

http://www.astronomycast.com/

It's great, their last 2 episodes weren't the best but they are still good.

And yeah - video casts are good for my lunch break at work, or other various times when I happen to be bored, but not for the drive to work :)

[iceman]

I'm finally up to date with astronomy cast. Took me a few weeks but now i'm current (caught up on the back catalogue ;)).
I enjoy it very much, thanks for the heads-up.

I've also just discovered a couple of new ones:
- Keck Observatory Podcast Page (http://www.keckobservatory.org/podcast.php) which has some great podcasts featuring scientists who use the Keck Observatory.

- Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures (http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html). The only problem with this one, is that there's no RSS/XML feed so you have to download the files individually. I just finished listening to the one by Dr Janice Voss (http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/voss.mp3), who has had a very interesting career as an astronaut on the space shuttle (5 times) and now a scientist on NASA's Kepler Mission, searching for extra-solar planets.

btw in-case you haven't seen it yet, there's a list of astronomy-related podcasts on IceInSpace under the Resources section - Podcasts (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/?podcasts).

[Dooghan]

I glad you brought this thread back up to the top iceman. There is a number of podcast in this thread that I already listen to. There are also a few others that look interesting.

[iceman]

Cheers Dooghan. Are there any others you can recommend?

[Dooghan]

Bad Astronomy: Q & BA (http://badastronomy.libsyn.com/) by Phil Plait was quite good. He only made 6 or 7 podcast and vidcast episodes. Get the vidcast if you can watch MP4 on your computer.

Another one that is just general science is Science Talk Australia (http://sciencetalk.libsyn.com) by Darren Osborne. He does a good show that I enjoy listening to.

[DSO]

Don't listen to podcasts. Maybe I should.

[iceman]

If you have time, I'd recommend it. A great way to get information into the grey matter while doing something that is normally a time-waster (eg: commuting, grocery shopping :))

I'm hooked on them.

[DSO]

I've downloaded some and have started listening. They're pretty good and a nice alternative to music.