John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Podcast turn

I wrapped up a couple of weeks as the morning news producer for CBC Radio here in St. John's; one of the duties of the job is putting together the weekly podcast, Newfoundland and Labrador This Week, which is released first thing every Saturday morning. Help yourself to it right here.

Clearing the decks: when podcasts pile up

[Surf's Up, as published in the St. John's Telegram on Thursday, June 7, 2007, and posted rather late. Click here to read more columns.]

Here's something that didn't happen over the last week: I didn't listen to any podcasts. Not a single one.

That makes me utterly unremarkable, in that most people don't listen to any podcasts in any given week, either. Despite quite a bit of buzz, and an undeniable burst in the range and quality of podcasts available for download, many people go happily through their daily lives without ever encountering one.

Here's my excuse. I was pretty damn busy last week, with a myriad of work projects, home demands and time constraints to juggle. Something had to give, and podcasts were one of them.

I didn't even notice until the other night, when I checked out my directory in iTunes, and realized I hadn't listened to anything new in eight days. Not only that, but I've been letting stuff pile up for months anyway.

I had a whopping 11 gigs of hard drive space dedicated to various podcasts, almost all of which I had not listened to yet. (That's enough audio, by the way, to play for 9.6 days straight, without a break.)

Clearly, I have some pruning to do. I was surprised (but really shouldn't have been) to learn I was subscribing to 79 different podcasts, ranging from song-of-the-day services from radio stations here and abroad to newscasts to comedy bits to plugs for popular shows to mercurial programs obviously recorded in someone's living room.

It's a snap to sign up for a new podcast. In fact, I all too obviously do it all the time. But just as I've had to be conscious about not letting the Inbox in my e-mail program turn into an outright mess, I've decided to let some podcasts go. As well, I've been deleting like crazy, and deciding to live with the consequences of never having heard that Irish documentary or all those great unsigned bands just looking for a break.

And yet …

I still keep signing up for new podcasts, just to try them out. This week alone, I signed up for two more. I've also reminded myself that the best way to keep up with this stuff is to move at least a few podcasts every day on my iPod; I'm much more likely to scan through new pieces while I'm walking or at work then when I'm at home.

Here are a few resources you may want to consider.

Onion Radio News
One podcast I couldn't part with is the daily slice of audio comedy from the Onion. It comes in under a minute, and is almost always worth a laugh. (A warning: the comedy can get a little dark and/or adult.)

NPR podcast directory
NPR offers a great, great variety of material from public radio stations across the U.S. - something for everyone, as it were. Poke around. I subscribe to the Most E-mailed Stories feature, some music podcasts, and a regular bit of cultural commentary called Martini Shot. Browse through the list, and sample away.

Buzz Out Loud
Buzz Out Loud beams every out weekday from the technology site CNET. It's introduced each time as the "podcast of indeterminate length," which is a nice way of saying that sometimes it runs a little long, sometimes a bit short. It's generally about a half hour, and if you follow tech news - from Apple's forthcoming iPhone to Dell's woes to makers and shakers in the field - this is a podcast worth signing up for. (I usually only listen to the first 10 minutes, anyway.) It helps that the hosts are breezy, conversational and often pretty funny. If you don't have time to listen, look for the Show Notes tab to keep up with the stories covered each day.

Memorial University podcasts
Memorial University runs a podcast called Studio 1024, named after the room number where it's recorded. New programs won't pick up until September, but an archive is available of recent programming.

John Gushue is a news writer for CBC.ca in St. John's. Site suggestions always welcome at surf at thetelegram.com. John is on Facebook right here.

Get yer podcasts

The weekly regional podcast from CBC Radio in Newfoundland and Labrador is out this morning - it drops early every Saturday - and this week has an interview with a sealer who (at that point) was ice-bound for 18 days. Terry LeDrew, my colleague from Corner Brook, handles the hosting this week; you'll also hear tape from the John Crosbie roast, climate change in Labrador, and much else. You can subscribe here.

Scope podcast

Elling Lien and the Scope have launched a podcast. The debut edition is about St. John's hip hop producer Hotbox (who's also a high school math teacher - there's a feature to be done there, news editors!). A sample tune is included, although it's not for younger ears. Elling says podcasts will be going out every two weeks. Details here.

Prosecast returns

Cathi Bond (who could pronounce the word "video" in a variety of ways during her stints on DNTO) is offering up new author podcasts for HarperCollins on Prosecast. Details here. (You can also keep up with Cathi and friend Nora Young at The Sniffer podcast.)

New podcast out...

My colleague Jon Soper looks after the weekly podcast from CBC Radio in Newfoundland and Labrador; the latest one went out this morning. Features include material on the legislative spending scandal, and features on a work exodus from Burgeo, a troop of aboriginal drummers in Labrador who are fighting substance abuse, and a profile of a women's hockey team who show it's never too late to get in the game. Details on subscriptions here.

Dead author discount

Rattling Books is getting in the Halloween spirit, so to speak, with a half-off discount and a tip o' the hat to some of the deceased authors whose works they carry ... specifically, Wilfred Grenfell, Dillon Wallace and Bob Bartlett. More here.

Movie notes

One. I've been listening to a podcast by CBC.ca writers Rachel Giese and Katrina Onstad about what they've been taking in at the Toronto International Film Festival. One thing about TIFF: movies that will set the fall schedule tend to roll out here. They ripped into one I've been waiting for, the remake of All The King's Men. Subscription info here.

Two. Aisha Tyler guest-subbed for the ailing Roger Ebert this weekend on Ebert & Roeper, and has been my favourite celebrity substitute thus far. She's funny and articulate, howls appropriately when Richard Roeper talks, and knows movies - especially the chopsocky stuff. She's back next week.

Ricky Gervais picks my pocket

Ricky Gervais' podcast was must listening early this winter, when London's Guardian newspaper sent it out into the ether, and millions of people downloaded it. A video podcast followed this summer. The third round is underway, but with a catch: this time, you gotta pay.

I signed up for the first one, via iTunes; I figure $1.95 for a reasonable guarantee of laughter is a pretty good deal. I listened to it last night while cleaning up some outstanding work, although my pace certainly slowed down. Again, cohort Karl Pilkington - can he be that dense? - steals the show. I have to confess, though, that having paid something (even a couple of bucks) had me thinking, Am I getting my money's worth here? And sure, I love Ricky Gervais' manic laugh ... but now that I'm paying for it, isn't it just filler? I'm being churlish; it's a hoot, and I enjoyed it. (If you're offended by naughty words and such, you may want to avoid this.)

More on Ricknomics can be read here.

Orphans that never were

On Friday evening, I received the latest documentary podcast from the Irish broadcaster RTE. Titled The Orphans That Never Were, it's an excellent piece (first broadcast this winter) on a 1943 fire that killed 43 children in the Irish town of Cavan. It's about 40 minutes; you can stream the doc live here, and read more about it. Heartbreaking.