Shows have gotten me through countless hours of my day job. If I know I'm going to be stuck at the computer for the next 2 hours, out comes the ipod and it's like I'm not even working—I'm just hanging out with a few of my faceless friends yapping in my earbuds.
I want to highlight some of my favorite podcasts. The podcasts are informative, geeky, hilarious, or just plain stupid. If you are new to podcasts, I hope I can open you up to a whole new world of entertainment. If you are an old pro, maybe there are a few new gems in here for you. If you like all the same ones I like, I will validate that your taste is as finely tuned and correct as mine.
On media (movies, comic books, video games)
TRS covers all the main fields of geek entertainment. It's a video show that comes out five times a week. Each episode runs about fifteen minutes. The three hosts: Jeff, Alex, and Dan highlight a movie, video game, or other rad thing each day and give their honest impressions. The production values are pretty stellar with cool graphics and interstitials. They just had their five year anniversary and I've been with them every step of the way. Jeff and Alex have improv backgrounds so the laughs come frequently while Dan is an emerging movie director and his insights into film are top notch. I respect their reviews and point-of-views. Their show is one of the highlights of my day.
I used to follow many video game podcasts. I spent countless hours listening to different people on different shows say pretty much the same thing about the same games. It got kind of ridiculous how much of my time was spent listening about games I'd probably never play. I still listen to talk about games I'll probably never play but now it's just one group of people. It's the best group, though. Anchored by video game journalist superstar, Jeff Gerstmann, the Giant Bombcast is the one podcast I listen to above all others. Jeff, Ryan, Brad, Vinny, and Patrick make up the best video game commentators in the business. All my video game knowledge comes from them. All my energy drink and dubstep information comes from them too. Their conversations can get hilariously derailed at any time but they always come back to the games. This is the best video game podcast from the guys behind Giant Bomb, one of Time magazine's top 50 websites of 2011.
iFanboy iTunes
The guys at iFanboy put out two shows. Their video show used to come out once a week but it now doesn't come out very often. Still, there is a big backload of videos with lots of cool information about the world of comics—very much worth checking out. The pick of the week podcast is my mainstay. Each week one of the three guys behind the site picks their favorite book that came out that week. They spend about ten minutes talking about the book and then do quick hits on another ten or so books before answering questions from their listeners. I've tried many books on their recommendation and since I don't have the budget to follow every comic out there, this is a great way for me to know what's happening in books that I can't pick up.
More on media (books and music)
iTunes Weekly Rewind and Celebrity Playlist Podcast iTunes for Celebrity Playlist
Sadly, both of these podcasts are now done. However, there are literally years of backlog to go through and if you have any interest in music, I highly recommend you at least check out the iTunes Weekly Rewind. The Rewind came out for years and they used the highlights of that week in music as a springboard into bigger conversations about artists. These guys know their stuff. There is such a grand world of music out there and I learned so much about artists from the 50s all the way up to the most recent obscure indie acts.
The Celebrity Playlist is just what it sounds like. You can cherry pick which shows interest you. You may not care what Snooki has to recommend but when someone like Neil Diamond recommends music, you listen.
Update—It seems that iTunes has pulled the archive of the Weekly Rewind. I can't discover why the show was cancelled in the first place and now with the archive being gone, the mystery deepens. The show descriptions are still up and worth going through and they list the great music featured in each episode. Show List
The guys and girls on this podcast are all booksellers and bloggers. Each show starts with them talking about what they are currently reading. They read tons. Most of them are juggling 2-4 books at a time so you get a lot of content. They tend to focus on mainstream new release literature but they branch out plenty. Each show has a theme that prompts them to talk about more than just what they are reading. They are passionate about books and my personal 'to read' list has grown exponentially since I started listening.
I'm going to break this into two posts since this is the end of my media podcasts. My next post will cover podcasts about Disney, screenwriting, snacks, and more. I'll have it up soon so please come back.
Part 2
I really miss the iTunes Weekly Rewind podcast. I would really like to see it return. The hosts were so knowledgeable an passionate about the music they were talking about.
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