5 Favorite Podcasts

...in the order that I find time to listen to them.


Real Time With Bill Maher

Bill Maher is one of the most politically astute humorists in America today. His unflinching honesty and commitment to never pulling a punch have garnered him the respect and admiration of millions of fans. Each week, Bill's hilarious opening monologue, incisive interviews and stimulating panel discussion, as well as his extremely popular "New Rules" segment, serve to wrap up the week's most important events in a way that makes you think, as well as laugh. I listen to this one every week.


The Best of YouTube

This one is pretty self explanatory. They put out a new one every five days. It's what inspired me to start YouTube Tuesday.


TedTalks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

The TED Conference, held annually in Monterey, is still the heart of TED. More than a thousand people now attend indeed, the event sells out a year in advance and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn't work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker "ideas worth spreading," talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world's most inspiring voices.

You can listen to many of the talks on their website, but I prefer keeping them on my iPod and listening while I'm making dinner or watching soccer practice.


Mr. Deity

This one started out really funny, but I'm not enjoying it as much as I used to. The irony used to be wonderful, but now it's getting silly. Mr. Deity is a semi-monthly video series (every two weeks) that looks at God and the Universe with a smile (and sometimes, a wink). It's a video podcast. You can watch them right online (on YouTube), but again, I prefer to put mine on a little credit card-sized computer to watch when I can. I do still watch it regularly, but I don't know for how much longer.


Thoughts on Photography

Exploring what it means to live a photographic life. I don't have time to get to this one every week, but I enjoy it when I do. I love taking pictures, and this inspires me to consider it my art instead of just a hobby.