Two years ago I recommended three podcasts (and trashed another) because iTunes gained the ability to easily subscribe a few months earlier. Then last year The Onion jumped into the video podcast foray with their spot-on parodies of Fox News (if you could call it news), CNN, Bloomberg and the old networks. This got me hooked on to these plus we might purchase an Apple TV to replace the Dish TV we had turned off last Spring. Here is a new round of audio and video podcasts I’ve grown addicted to.
VIDEO:
The New Yorker Animated Cartoons: This publication has an enormous archive so they’ll never run out, I’ve seen the tome at Book People dedicated to just this. You don’t have to be a fan of the magazine or the city neither, the jokes are universal but there have been a couple which weren’t safe for work.
Onion News Network [ONN]: Most of the time, these are straight news-story parodies with a reporter at the desk commenting about the footage or communicating with a field reporter. Then there is the political roundtable show In the Know starring a host whose constant absence is usually a good joke and four panelists defending ridiculous positions. Lastly, Today Now! is the best jab at those annoying vapid morning shows starring the perky yet shallow hosts. These podcasts demonstrate how well The Onion is branching out from print and radio.
The Meth Minute 39: It’s named after Dan Meth, the show’s primary director, not speed. This is one of Channel Frederator’s online ventures to let its talent experiment and branch out since none of this is appropriate for its main client Nickelodeon. These cartoons are a mix of topics and styles: a geek’s revenge against a bully, two music geeks arguing, videogame parodies, etc. I can’t stop laughing at “Mike Tyson’s Brunch Out.”
AUDIO
Of the podcasts I plugged two years ago, On the Media is the only one of the three I’ve kept up with; listening to it is a Saturday-morning ritual at work. The other two (Podquiz and Coverville) I got behind on and they piled up into an ugly backlog. I stopped subscribing to Podquiz and I will be blowing over Coverville show by show if the host does something uninteresting. Of course, it hasn’t stopped me from getting addicted to other podcasts.
Astronomy Cast: After meeting Dr. Plaitt and Dr. Gay with Mr. Cain at the Astronomer get-together, I became a fan of AstronomyCast run by Dr. Gay and Mr. Cain. I have an amateur (at best) understanding of Astronomy being a Sci-Fi fan. Their podcast is great. It’s equal to taking a course on the subject with everything explained in layman’s terms. After I catch my weekly episode of OTM I listen to three episodes of this in my quest to hear every one until I make it to the current show; currently I’ve tackled 19, only 58 to go.
Alternative Classix: Tarsis Lopez of the Chicago area covers what would be called the “Oldies” for the Alternative genre. It’s not completely stuck in the past, he does a past/present segment on occasion (he explains the rules before he does it) which tells me that many artists are still viable, they just don’t receive any real support from the labels or traditional radio sources. The show is laced with soundbites or plugs with references to old movies, commercials or fads. Lopez is also generous, he takes requests, dedications and has guest sections listing upcoming tours or gossip on past artists (I had no idea Adam Ant had an autobiography out recently). Despite the host having a nasally voice, his showed is very polished and best of all, he finds real, rare, out-of-print gems I can’t normally buy at Cheapo on my CD searches.