Sometimes music just doesn’t cut it. You can only hear the same Lady Gaga song so often when working out, and how many times can you play that Pretty Lights CD on a long drive? When both your iPod and radio fail you, podcasts are an alternative. Anyone can make a podcast, and the iTunes listing can be overwhelming. Here are five you should be listening to.
Take it from the CUI and check out these five podcasts that you should be aware of. (CU Independent/Robert R. Denton)
1. WTF with Marc Maron
You may not have heard of Marc Maron but he’s a veteran stand-up comedian. He never reached A-level fame, but he’s been around for a long time and is pretty funny. In “WTF” Marc conducts a very free form, improvised interview with a special guest. More often than not, the guest is another comedian, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler and Demetri Martin to name a few. For a little over an hour, Marc sits with his guests in his garage, named the “Cat Ranch,” and they just talk. They chat about philosophy, life, and work, whatever. It can get deep, it can get weird, but it’s almost always hilarious. Plus, where else are you going to hear Poehler recall a time, before she was famous, when her and Maron got in a fight on the roof of Zach Galifianakis’ apartment?
2. The Nerdist
Nerd Humor is everywhere. If it’s not hipsters wearing think glasses and shirts with math equations, it’s the constant re-runs of “The Big Bang Theory” on every channel. “The Nerdist” podcast is similar to “WTF” in the sense that comedian Chris Hardwick and his two friends host it, and it is a free-form interview set-up. This one is also hilarious, and a bit nerdy. They aren’t always talking about nerd things necessarily, (though you may want to brush up on the basics of “Doctor Who”), but they have the nerdy intelligence where they know everything about everything. This allows for some very interesting conversations with guests such as Neil Gaiman, Ben Folds, and Simon Pegg. If you read this and thought, “Nerd? That’s me!” Try the episodes with Matth Smith, (the current Doctor), and the cast of “The Big Bang Theory.”
3. This American Life
If you’ve never heard of This American Life until now, stop reading this article and go Google Ira Glass. Glass with his team of NPR-affiliate reporters are some of the best storytellers out there. The stories, all based around a general theme, are serious, weird, dark, funny and more. Told in the classic style of “acts,” “This American Life” brings the news to well, life. You may think, “NPR? How boring!” However, you would be quite wrong. “This American Life” is anything but. Besides providing great stories from all over the country, this show perfects audio production and editing to bring the best quality radio to your ears.
4. WYNC’s Radiolab
“Radiolab” is like “This American Life’s” cooler, hotter cousin. Like their not-as-cool cousin, “Radiolab” centers on the themes “Loops,” “Games” or “Lost & Found.” With broad interpretations, hosts Jad Abumrad (who just won the MacArthur grant) and Robert Krulwich explore the themes through interviews and stories. All of them take on a science aspect, but no worries, it’s all easy to understand. What’s more intriguing than the interviews is the production. This show is an auditory symphony. The use of editing, whether it’s vocals, sound effects or just basic laying is absolutely amazing. Their iTunes page also features many shorts if you don’t have the attention span for a full episode.
5. TEDTalks
If you ever need a bit of inspiration to get you through a bad week or a particularly difficult workout, TEDTalks is the answer. TED is a non-profit that, as they describe it, works to promote “ideas worth spreading.” They hire people who have these ideas to give short talks. There are a huge range of these, from music to health to design to business to well, anything you could imagine. It’s similar to an ongoing, global version of the Conference on World Affairs. The talks are informative, emotional, and often inspiring. There are also TEDTalks videocasts as well as a TEDtalks app for your iPhone. My personal favorite is Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love,” discussing the idea of nurturing creativity.
Contact CU Indpendent Breaking News Editor Isa Jones at Alexandra.i.jones@colorado.edu.
