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Staff Picks: The Best (our favorite) iTunes Podcasts

Posted by Miles Evans on 01/31/08 in Featured, News, Utilities, Web

Best Podcasts!I remember way back in the olden days (circa 1999) driving into the city meant an hour of sitting in traffic in the back of a taxi, likely spending some quality time reading a good book or magazine. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good read, but enduring that commute can be a lot less boring when you throw podcasts into the mix. Best of all there is some really amazing stuff out there, including some very professional video based shows, and of course I needn’t mention that all of this is completely gratis.

I asked the MacApper staff recently what their favorite podcasts were and decided to tally up a list for you guys. Sound off in the comments if we missed the good ones!

Editor: Most of these link directly to iTunes, which in hindsight I guess is kind of annoying. Sorry about that.

Miles Evans

  • Diggnation - The uber popular digg discussion show hosted by Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht.
  • Dan Meth Minute - Dan provides regular releases of hilarious flash style cartoons pulling in tons of pop culture references.
  • Ask a Ninja - Surely you’ve seen this guy? Ninja answers questions from the audience. Hilarity follows.
  • The Totally Rad Show - Another good show from Revision3 with Alex Albrecht. This time the subject is games, movies, and uuuh, all things rad.
  • Comedy Central - Comedy Central releases regular clips of live comedy performances.

Michael Mistretta

  • TWiT - This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, John C. Dvorak, and other tech luminaries in a roundtable discussion of the latest trends in high tech.
  • MacBreak Weekly - The latest Mac news and views from the top journalists covering Apple today.
  • TWiM - Each week Alex Lindsay and other experts in content creation and the media get together to discuss the week’s developments.
  • Macbreak Tech - a technical discussion about all things Macintosh.
  • Geekbrief.tv - Shiny happy tech news with Cali Lewis.

Taylor Sternberg

  • NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me - NPR’s weekly hour-long quiz program.
  • Tekzilla - Yet another new tech video podcast by Revision3.
  • Net@Nite - Amber MacArthur spends every waking moment combing the net for cool sites, viral videos, and funny and moving moments online.
  • This American Life - Official podcast of the weekly radio show ‘This American Life’ by Chicago Public Radio.
  • 1UP Yours - Intimate coverage of the video game industry and community.

Van Lam

  • Back Story - Interviews with NY Times reporters on the major stories of the moment.
  • fxguidetv - A high definition video podcast featuring fx and design work in movies, television, and commercials.
  • Security Now! - Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte take you through the world of computer security in this TWiT network audio podcast.
  • New Yorker: Comment - A weekly audio podcast from the magazine with the same name.
  • Onion News Network - A regular audio podcast from the satirical news agency, The Onion.

Mark Milian

  • SModcast - SModcast is an ongoing conversation between Kevin Smith (Clerks) and Scott Mosier. Comedy.
  • APM: Sound Opinions on Demand - A Rock & Roll talk show with opinions on music, interviews, and news from the industry.
  • Flight of the Conchords - A hilarious video podcast from New Zealand’s fourth most popular digi-folk paradists. HBO.
  • thebroken - thebroken is an online video podcast focusing on software hacking, computer intrusion, and other “questionable activities”. This is an older show by Revision3 (no longer very active).

Emily McCutcheon

Austen Saltz

  • Mugglecast - Almost certainly the number one Harry Potter podcast online.
  • Film Spotting - Film Spotting is a podcast that features the latest and hottest movies and DVD releases.

Scott Myles

  • Buzz Out Loud - Buzz Out Loud is a daily podcast about tech related subjects, produced by CNET
  • Mac OS Ken - Welcome to a slightly skewed look at all things Apple and Apple related by Ken Ray.
  • Typical Mac User - This is Victor Cajiao’s regular audio podcast about everything Mac featuring reader call-ins and high profile guest interviews.
  • NPR 7am 5 minute news - National Public Radio’s daily news show.
  • Macworld Podcast - This is, you guessed it, the podcast from the guys over at MacWorld magazine.

Well that about does it. I hope people have some others to offer up, but I think this is a good start. What are the rest of you listening to/watching?

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16 Comment(s)

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  • 1

    Scott H said on

    January 31st, 2008 at 10:30 am

    I listen to a lot of podcasts. Many of my favorites are repurposed from other mediums:
    NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross
    PRI’s “This American Life”
    HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” (the entire show, audio only).
    KMOX’s “Paul Harris Show” is 10-20-minute clips of various interviews from this highly entertaining, very well-rounded and usually non-political radio talk show from Kansas City.

    But I also like podcast-only shows.

    “The Bugle”, from times.co.uk, with John Oliver (known for “The Daily Show”), is a very funny weekly half-hour of news commentary and comedy.

    “The Savage Lovecast” is from Dan Savage, who also writes the “Savage Love” sex/relationship advice column and edits Seattle’s “The Stranger” independent newspaper.

    “The Official LOST Podcast” from ABC and the “Battlestar Galactica” podcast from BSG creator Ron Moore are two of the best if you like the respective TV shows. They only have new podcasts when there are new episodes of the TV show, although I think the writer’s strike has prevented the “Lost” podcast from returning.

    I also like the relatively new “TIME Entertainment Podcast” from TIME Magazine.

    Everything else I listen to are audiobooks from Audible.com, which I hear was just today purchased by Amazon.com. I hope they leave it alone!

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  • 2

    Brandon said on

    January 31st, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    I wrote an blog post about a month ago about my favorites. Have to include Pardon the Interruption.

    http://www.medenwald4america.com/2007/12/current-podcasts/

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  • 3

    Jay Berkowitz said on

    January 31st, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    I listen to TWIT and Diggnation as well as the following business and internet marketing related podcasts: Daily Search Cast (Danny Sullivan, Search Guru), Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation, Joe Jaffe’s Juice, That Affiliate Thing (Shawn Collins on affiliate marketing)and we produce the Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing Podcast featuring interviews with internet celebrities like Craig Newmark, Founder of CraigsList.com, Time Westergren, the founder of Pandora and Google’s Matt Cutts and Avinash Kaushik http://podcast.tengoldenrules.com

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  • 4

    marieboyer said on

    January 31st, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    If you are interested in digital photography, I highly recommend The Digital Photography Show.

    A first-rate podcast with excellent information for newbies and more experienced photographers. The hosts are two incredibly nice and funny guys whose friendship, a study in contrasts, provides great background noise in this weekly radio show that is on my “must listen to” list.

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  • 5

    Victor Cajiao said on

    February 1st, 2008 at 1:21 am

    I’m very thrilled to be listed among these wonderful podcast. Thank you Scott for the incredible recognition .

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  • 6

    Kyle P. said on

    February 1st, 2008 at 6:39 am

    I would recommend the Adam Carolla Show.

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  • 7

    Barrie said on

    February 1st, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    I have to agree with the vote for Real Time with Bill Maher and Pardon The Interruption. Also, The BS Report with Bill Simmons is pretty good, and usually features some of his mates who are pretty funny; Jimmy Kimmel, Cousin Sal etc…

    The HBO Podcasts in general are pretty good, Inside The NFL being another sports-related one that I do keep an eye (ear?) on.

    KCRW’s Left, Right and Center is always politically entertaining, as is This Week with George Stephanopoulos

    And the new HBO vodcast; In Treatment is really good. They’re putting the episodes up on iTunes before they air on HBO… Time will tell whether this is a good plan or not…

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  • 8

    Alan Riddle said on

    February 2nd, 2008 at 9:26 am

    How could you guys forget The MacCast from Adam Christianson? It is great.

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  • 9

    Matt Harwood said on

    February 3rd, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    Excellent list - thanks for sharing, I have new ones to listen to. I’m an avid podcast listener, highlights include:

    TWiT, MacBreak Weekly
    Daily Source Code
    All In The Mind (Australian Psych Podcast)
    Citizen Garden (”The New Web”)
    Cranky Geeks
    DJ Cruze Podcast (Fantastic house music)
    Funky House London Style
    Leeds House Music Podcast
    LugRadio
    Mac OS Ken
    MacCast
    Typical Mac User (listening for first time now)
    Media Talk from the Guardian (not a leftie, honest)
    Money Talk from Fool.co.uk
    net@nite
    No Agenda (politics with John C Dvorak and Adam Curry)
    … or do you think that’s just bol!#*cks?
    Point of Inquiry (great science / atheism podcast)
    python411
    Risky Business (IT Security)
    Scott Mills Daily (BBC)
    Shrink Rap Radio (Psychology)
    tech5
    606 Football Phone-in (soccer, for the yanks)

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  • 10

    Bridget said on

    February 3rd, 2008 at 5:36 pm

    Nice review! I really LOVE listening to MuggleCast, I recommend it to anyone who even faintly likes Harry Potter. It’s just that good. Even better than PotterCast imo! Check it out guys!!

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  • 11

    Miles Evans said on

    February 4th, 2008 at 9:16 am

    Some great suggestions here, so thanks commenters. I have doubled my podcast library now ;)

    Another vote from me for the Bill Maher and Pardon The Interruption shows.

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  • 12

    SPOONTY said on

    February 5th, 2008 at 5:54 am

    DUDE! DUDE! Best damn podcast ever HEAT D GO!!!
    http://www.bestdamnpodcastever.com

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  • 13

    mitchell said on

    February 20th, 2008 at 4:15 am

    Mugglecast is the best!

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  • 14

    Mindy said on

    February 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    MuggleCast Rox! Glad you agree and can realize greatness when you hear it!

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  • 15

    Curtis said on

    April 4th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    I just recently did a post on my favorites as well. Check it out: http://www.jcurtiswatson.com/2008/03/podcasts-i-enjoy.html

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  • 16

    Tom said on

    July 1st, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    Podcasts I enjoy:

    Skeptoid http://www.skeptoid.com

    NPR’s Car Talk Weekly Show Podcast

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