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.