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by Blabby
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A Disappointing Gabfest
I often tout the great Slate.com’s Political Gabfest as one of my favorite podcasts. I usually love the interesting legal insight of Emily Bazelon, the timely and often historically-based (and poll-based) comments from John Dickerson and the quick wit of David Plotz. However, this week was a sad exception. John is exempt from my criticism because he was absent. His stand in, Josh Levin seemed as perplexed as me, so he’s also excused.
Emily and David spent a considerable amount of time lamenting the Olympics - using words like “boring” and “tedious”. As they wondered aloud why someone hadn’t come up with a better way to move through water than the butterfly or backstroke, I was thinking, “idiots.” As they went on and on about “who cares if the gymnasts are too young? The older gymnasts better come up with a new program!” I knew that had not seen the heart-warming story of the 33-year old German gymnast. I knew they didn’t know that Micheal Phelps has double-jointed knees, which helps him achieve that perfect butterfly - a ridiculously difficult feat of coordination and timing - but it’s really his life-long dedication that’s made him the most-medal winning Olympian of all time.
They seem to be missing the point. The Olympic spirit, if you will. It’s not about sitting through each heat - unless that’s your thing. It’s not even about these awesome photo finishes - like when Phelps won the gold or Torres won the silver (which both made me cry!), it’s about appreciating the life long dedication and awesome athletic skill of these Olympians. The fact that they represent our country to the world, when we could really use the good press and the good will! The fact that they work their asses off not just for their own glory but also for ours.
I totally hated David and Emily’s lame, small-minded, decidedly un-athletic commentary on the Olympics. I’ll be glad when they get back to talking about politics.
addictions iPod Nano: craft escape pod pod castle podcasts politically incorrect PRI pri selected shorts public radio international radio diaries sew forth now slate political gabfest the moth This American Life threadbangers veracifier zaproot
by Blabby
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I heart podcasts
Jay left me a nice comment explaining that she also enjoys podcasts while sewing. I was going to just reply to her comment, but I was going on and on, so I figured I should make a post about it.
To me, listening to a good podcast while sewing (or driving or grocery shopping when I’m alone) is like heaven. Especially if it’s good. I feel the same about a good audio book, although, I’ve been picking duds lately. So I thought I’d share all my favorite podcasts with you. I hope you’ll share a favorite here too if you don’t see it listed! I included links to most of their websites, but I get all my podcasts on iTunes.
Here are my free favorites in the strictly audio category:
- This American Life
- Slate Political Gabfest
- The Moth
- PRI Selected Shorts
- New Yorker Fiction
- Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher
My favorite video podcasts are Zaproot and Threadbangers. And sometimes, I love Veracifier, but I don’t like to subscribe anymore, because they post a million podcasts, and I can’t keep up with them.
For crafting, Sew Forth Now is cool because she highlights good links on the internet for sewing. I find it frustrating because I’m not usually near a computer when I’m listening to a podcast. But her blog has all the links.
I’m testing out some new Sci Fi podcasts - Escape Pod and Pod Castle. I haven’t listened to much, so I’m going to reserve judgement, but I like the idea of good Sci Fi stories on my iPod.
Finally, Slate has a cool textcast called Slate Magazine’s Today’s Paper. Someone writes up and summarized all the major headlines from the day’s big newspapers - NYT, WSJ, LAT. I like to keep a few in my iPod so I have reading material if I’m stuck waiting somewhere. Textcasts are a little tricky - you press the center button on your iPod 3 times fast, and the text pops up, and you can scroll through and read it. I kind of wish they’d just read it, then I’d keep up with the news in a more timely fashion, but I like the idea of it.
