Thing 19 - Podcasts

Ooh, I love podcasts. I am a big fan of NPR programs like This American Life and The Splendid Table. However, it's not often that I have the radio on at the "right" time for catching these shows. I think podcasts are to Radio sort of what TiVo is to cable -- and, I love my TiVo, too. I find that I'm not real keen to set up RSS feeds however -- or else it's the same thing that happens with magazines and books on hold. We subscribe to several magazines, then I put others (as well as books) on hold, and sometimes I just feel buried under the avalanche of things I could use to amuse, educate, distract or alarm myself with. For me it works better to just know that the podcasts are available and then go seek it out when the whimsy strikes.

Work-wise, I appreciate the educational potential provided by podcasts and such. I've taken advantage of quite a few webinars and podcasts about various library topics. Some were great and some not so much. I was talking with a former coworker about this a couple of months ago, and I think that there are still a lot of creators of educational podcasts who haven't quite adapted to the medium. They deliver podcasts the same way they would an interview or lecture, completely forgetting that with the podcast they do not have nonverbal communication to support what they are saying verbally. They can't check in with the audience to tell if they are boring people silly, and they can't do dizzy signs over their heads to show that they are being ironic when they say something. So the end product suffers.

Regardless, the possibilities are endless. And thanks for the resources list. I rarely go further than NPR/MPR websites. I look forward to exploring these other sites more.

And, the link to one of my favorite episodes of This American Life. Should be required listening for all Americans, I think.