blessings PRI This American Life: giant pool of money Ira Glass mortgage crisis new kings of nonfiction PRI public radio international This American Life
by Blabby
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This American Life
I know - I go on and on about This American Life. But they’re doing a little drive for donations because they’re trying to keep the free podcasts - that half a million people download every week - from costing Public Radio International any money. So I’m happy to pay a couple bucks to keep it free. But the reason I’m telling you about the fundraiser is that if you donate $20, you get a CD with the Giant Pool of Money show (the one about the mortgage crisis). I know a lot of people loved it as much as I did, and wanted to share it with people that don’t listen to podcasts (like my dad), so I thought I’d spread the word.
If you’re feeling extra generous, you can also get the New Kings of Nonfiction - which is excellent! I read it cover to cover.
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.
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by Blabby
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mortgage woes explained. finally.
As renters, my husband and I have been a little unclear on what all the hubbub is with the mortgage crisis. The other day, we saw a headline on the paper that said, “Crisis seeps into prime mortgages”…I took that to mean even people with 30-year fixed mortgages at reasonable interest rates were defaulting on their loans. Is this accurate? I don’t know, but my husband believed me :)
Our landlord owns a few other properties. One of them went vacant and he cleaned it and listed it on Craigslist on a Friday. He was telling me that he had 60 people show up to see it that Saturday. He spoke of how he felt terrible for the people because many of them were in foreclosure situations and desperate for an affordable place to live.
My husband and I were talking about how it must be difficult for a landlord to be in that position - do you rent your property to someone who has shown credit-unworthiness? Even if it was in unfair circumstances?
Well, the question of credit-unworthiness is really the clincher, isn’t it? Are the 4 MILLION Americans who are at risk of losing their homes all somehow delinquent or poor money managers. Surely not. But, as someone who has no first hand knowledge of the home-buying process, I made quite a few assumptions. Most of them based on television.
For example, I remember an episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show (her sitcom, not her talk show) where she was trying to buy a house. The prospective lender made her account for every late payment she had ever made in her whole life. It was a very serious and elaborate vetting. Basically, I assumed everyone that has a house went through a similar seemingly-painful and very thorough examination before they were granted a mortgage.
Then I learned about NINA loans. NINA stands for No Income, No Asset - meaning the hopeful homebuyer did not have to state any income or any asset, and could be approved for a mortgage. Regardless of employment status or past credit history!!! Who would do such a thing? Thousands of mortgage brokers across the country.
Here is a very enlightening podcast - every one should listen to it. This week’s This American Life podcast follows the trail of mortgages from homeowner to global money pool. Listen and learn. I love This American Life. If you don’t have any desire to listen to it on the computer, you can download it for free on iTunes, but get it now, because free TAL podcasts disappear after a week. You can purchase them later, but they’re only free for their week of publication.
Other 2008 TAL programs I highly recommend:
- 353: The Audacity of Government
- 324: My Brilliant Plan, specifically, Act Two.
- 358: Leaving the Fold - the very interesting story of Jerry Springer.
