Diggnation

Digg.com is a special kind of website. Participants submit links to headline stories appearing on the web and others rate the stories according to their interest. The top rated links are then presented on the front page of the website - thus giving a clear picture of what the participants are interested in, each day.

The related podcast - diggnation - is an offspring of this online community. It is presented by Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose, two technologically informed (read: geeks) slacker types who go over the most popular stories and give us their take on them.

I have to say... this is not a bad premise and should make for a decent video podcast. The stories are varied and the presenters are extremely likeable, even funny at times. However, the production shows signs of the slacker mentality. The presenters are usually seated together on a sofa with a laptop each on their laps. They sip from beer bottles and do their best to wittily exchange banter.
Somehow, they don´t quite manage to pull it off.
They are informed, they are likable... but they need just a little bit more polish, genuine sharp humour and much better production. The "two guys with laptops drinking beer" just isn´t enough.

As it is... the video podcast doesn´t add much to the pre-existing audio one and they could have a superior product if they would step back and revise the whole presentation. Video is a totally different medium than audio and they will have to step up their game.
But they deserve credit for embracing the technology so early. It will be interesting to see how they will develop in this new arena.

http://revision3.com/diggnation

The Signal - A podcast dedicated to the TV show Firefly

There is a certain type of personality that seems to well suited for the podcast world. A type of personality that has the urge to spread their particular brand of information to the masses, however obscure and specific the subject matter. The geek has found a home in the broadcasting world and podcasting shall be his domain.
A good example of this is the Signal, a podcast dedicated to the now expired TV show Firefly.

Firefly was a sci fi show that met its demise in the middle of its first season but has now enjoyed a resurrection of sorts due to the release of the film Serenity, which is basically the pilot show of Firefly writ large. The Signal describes itself as... all about the science fiction show Firefly. Here you will find features, news, reviews, interview, chat, and anything else we can think of relating to Firefly. If you don't know anything about podcasting, don't worry, you can just download the individual MP3 files and then figure out all the podcasting stuff later. Go ahead and listen to - THE SIGNAL.

What surprised me was the level of professionalism of the show. This is one well produced, interesting and well executed show. Proof that nothing is impossible when geeks combine their powers. Of course, it helps if the listener actually is interested in the TV show. The podcast consists of interviews with the actors, script authors, famous fans and... long discussions on utterly obscure arcana such as the middle name of a minor character, chinese language lessons, soundtrack listings etc...

If you are a fan of the show, this podcast will be fantastic for you. It contains all the right elements and is a good example of the right way to produce a podcast.

Irritating Podcasting faults

No, this is not the name of a podcast show, this is just me ranting about things that have started to irritate me tremendously in these last weeks.

1. Podcasts that are shorter than 4 minutes - I mean.. what is the point? 2 minute interviews and somebody reading short snippets of information. This is the equivalent of podcast telegrams, short and irritating.

2. Podcasts that have stopped broadcasting with out informing anyone about their demise. People, its ok to quit but don´t just slink away. That stinks of slacking and is very very annoying.

3. Please stop snickering excessively into the mike! There is nothing worse than having to listen to 4 minute introductions to a mediocre show, interrupted by constant giggling and snorting. At least try to do this professionally.

May think of more irritations in the coming days but will try to focus more on the new phenomenon of Video Podcasts. Those are video shows available as podcasts, professional as well as amateur. We are rapidly approaching the video on demand age and I wish to keep well abreast of this development.

Minority report

A young and fresh podcast based on interviews of the latest software and web trends. The podcasts are rather short and to the point and I am excited about adding this to my list of regular podcasts. A more detailed review might follow later. For now go and listen to a show and see if it is something for you. Go here..Minority report.

NPR: Story of the Day

I´ve heard so many good things about NPR (National Public Radio) that when they became available, I subscribed to most all their shows.
I heard that they were professional, interesting and perfect for those longer walks where an iPod filled with podcasts is a necessity.
Professional, yes. Interesting, not really.
I will submit a review on each on the shows that remain in my podcast subscription - the rest were culled with an astonishing haste when I realized the nature of the shows. It seems that NPR is aiming for the 75+ market. The slow cadence of the narrator - the choice of stories that is designed to be non controversial and heaven forbid, exciting.
I take as an example the NPR: Story of the day. It claims to consist of little segments that the "NPR editors felt that you shouldn´t miss this story... today".
The last four shows consisted of stories such as:

1. NPR: Hula Hooping Gets Groovy Again Hula hooping isn't just for children any more. The jam band String Cheese Incident has spawned a hooping craze among its followers. Sean Cole went to take a lesson on the allure of the hoop.

2. NPR: A New Orleans-Style Send-Off for Katrina and Rita Residents of the French Quarter stage a classic New Orleans funeral parade for a visitor they're glad has departed: Hurricane Katrina.

3. NPR: In Italy's Wine Regions, a Return to Traditio Amid new economic challenges, some Italian wine makers turn away from the mass global wine market to develop wines that appeal to specialty markets. The emphasis is on skill and individuality -- and a return to grapes that had fallen out of favor.

4. NPR: Debussy's 'La Mer' Marks 100th Birthday Saturday, Oct. 15 is the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Debussy's groundbreaking work "La Mer." This piece helped usher in the modern era of classical music and broke new ground in orchestration. Tom Huizenga reports.

Riveting stuff.

Slate Podcast

Slate is a remarkable presence on the internet - for approximately 10 years they have been publishing articles on their website - and in the process established themselves as a fully professional and relevant "web-magazine". They take on everything from news to arts and leisure - with great humour, insight and objectivity.

It should therefore not come as a surprise that when they embraced podcasting - they did so in a very professional manner. Their podcasts are published on a daily basis - and are not too short nor too lengthy (approx. 10m per show) and are extremely topical. You are treated to their Creme-de-la-creme of insightful articles on recent events, every day.

Their narrator - Andy Bowers - is supremely well suited to his task, possessing a clear, unhurried voice and an ever so slight flair for dramatic enunciation.
Subscribing to this production is a complete no-brainer and should be in the collection of every podcaster.

All in the mind

One of the great ones in my opinion. I have been listening to this one since day 1 of my podcast life (I guess 6 months ago). The podcasts is a scientific and sometimes sciencefiction account of all things of the human mind. It has great guests, nobel prize quality and is both educating and entertaining at the same time which is perfect for a podcast (for me atleast). Catch up with it here. This show gets 4 stars out of 5.

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW's Left, Right and Center is the rarest of creatures, a talking head show about politics where all the participants actually sound reasonable and knowledgeable. No hysteria, no grandstanding, no drowning out your opponent with a shrill diatribe - just a calm conversation on political matters among reasonable people.
As a result the participantas give you a truly balanced view on the events of the week and you will find yourself nodding in agreement with speakers, no matter what their political leanings.

The Participants are:

Matthew Miller (moderator and centrist) is a senior fellow at theCenter for American Progress, a nationally syndicated columnist; anaward-winning contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly,and now a bi-weekly columnist for Fortune.
Robert Scheer (left) is a syndicated columnist based at the LosAngeles Times.
Tony Blankley (right) is editorial page editor of The WashingtonTimes. During the "Contract withAmerica" years, he was press director and advisor for then-Speaker, NewtGingrich.
Arianna Huffington (progressive independent; formerly the right) isa nationally syndicated columnist and author of ten books, most recently "Pigs at the Trough."

Cinecast

Cinecast consists of two movie buffs, Adam Kempenar and Sam Hallgren, both freshly graduated from Film school and eager to give us their take on freshly released movies, as well as refreshing our memories on old classics.
They are geeky, enthusiastic and willing to communicate their knowledge to you, the listener. They delve into sub-texts, motifs, script layout etc... This could be disastreous but somehow they make it work. In part due to their considerable innate likeability but also due to the fact that they break up the show into several different segments. That makes the 40 minutes go by fairly quickly. There is the review of recent films, compiliations of movie lists (top 5 this and that) and even "guess the movie" game. The podcast is fairly professional and should make the jump to video podcasting fairly soon.

To get the podcast go here.

ITConversations

This is one of the big ones, hugely popular with nerds of every kind. There are so many podcasts available, biotech nation, Larrysworld, Technation. Each one deserves it's own big review but for now go and check out the selection.

ItConversations

Naked Scientist

The Naked Scientist is a BBC radioshow that somehow easily makes the
transition to podcasting. However unpalatable the title - the
premise of the show is quite simple; take one geeky Dr. Chris Smith,
one geeky Dr. Kristina and have them rant about random scientific
observations and then answer some audience calls of varying
intelligence levels.
The 60m show originates in the cradle of civilisation - Cambridge -
and sometimes it takes advantage of the local fauna and invites local
professors to pontificate on some obscure topics. Slightly
entertaining in a oh-so-wholesome kinda way but would be better with
a little bit more edge.

Answer Bitch

A relatively short podcast from the delightfully bitchy Leslie
Gornstein. She has volunteered her vast knowledge of all matters
Hollywood related and answers listener´s letters in her New York
twang, interspersed with put--downs, insults and outright slurs. All
delivered tongue-in-cheek with a nice witty banter with her
"bitchling" assistant.
All in all, she is quite forthright in presenting the "truth" in such
vital matters as "Do some stars lip-sync?" (one answer "That faint
leaking sound you heard on occasion, like helium escaping from a blow
up doll, that really was Renee Zellweger singing" ). Gornstein´s
expertise in this area is reinforced by the fact that she is a
professional gossip columnist for E! Online. As sterling a
recommendation as you would ever need.
Some listeners will be turned off by her manic behaviour and loud
unexpected outbursts - sometimes a bit inappropriate for a radio
presenter and this exposes her inexperience in the field. With time
- this could be one of the more entertaining podcasts around.

Podcasts are cool.

Listen to them all the time, while walking, running, on the airplane etc. So why not share my experiences, what is good and what is bad. Thats what this blog is doing here. Enjoy