I love to listen to podcasts while walking or doing yard work. I thought I’d share my current list that I listen to regularly and ask my fellow CFI’ers what podcasts you like. Here are mine:

Point of Inquiry (naturally!)
The Human Bible (a fairly new CFI podcast hosted by Robert Price)
WYNC’s Radiolab (From NPR)
This American Life (Also from NPR)
The Humanist Hour (AHA)
The Thinking Atheist
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe
You are Not So Smart

I’ll watch a TED presentation through my Apple TV once in a while, but I no longer listen to any podcasts.

Point of Inquiry (CFI)
The Human Bible (CFI)
Skepticality (Skeptic Magazine)
MonsterTalk (Skeptic Magazine)
Little Atoms (The Skeptic)
Skeptoid
Intelligence² (NPR)

The human bible sounds interesting Free, what’s it about?

Cap’t Jack

It’s pretty good. Robert Price is a biblical scholar. He explains biblical scholarship in terms any layperson can easily grasp. Like all good scholars, he approaches the bible as a human endeavor (hence the name) rather than a religious authoritative text. He gives context to the bible and points out all the problems with the texts. He can be annoying at times when he tries to be entertaining—I cringe when he reads OT passages in a terrible Charlton Heston voice—but at least he is not dry like many scholars.

George - 22 June 2012 08:24 AM

I’ll watch a TED presentation through my Apple TV once in a while, but I no longer listen to any podcasts.

TED is freakin’ awesome.

It’s pretty good. Robert Price is a biblical scholar. He explains biblical scholarship in terms any layperson can easily grasp. Like all good scholars, he approaches the bible as a human endeavor (hence the name) rather than a religious authoritative text. He gives context to the bible and points out all the problems with the texts. He can be annoying at times when he tries to be entertaining—I cringe when he reads OT passages in a terrible Charlton Heston voice—but at least he is not dry like many scholars.

Thanks for the review Free, it sounds as if he’s putting the passages in an historical context and I can get into that for sure. The Charleton Heston voice sounds cool. I think of the 10 Comandments movie! “Behold his mighty hand”! And the Red Sea parted!! Or was it the reed sea??? Anyway, he parted something with that amazing staff that turned into a snake. Come to think of it, I liked Spartacus better. Kirk Douglas kicked ass.

Cap’t Jack

NPR Programs
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!—A silly quiz show where people make fun of current news stories.

Le Show—Harry Shearer (aka Mr. Burns from The Simpsons/Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap) takes a rather scathing look at the week’s news.  (He really hates Rupert Murdoch and the Army Corps of Engineers, BTW.)

RadioLab—A rather eclectic single topic show, which examines things in art, science, technology, etc.  One of the hosts just one a MacArthur Genius Grant.

Hearing Voices—A similar style of show, with less formal narration.

99% Invisible—Its a show about architecture and design.

Science Friday—The title pretty much explains it all.

Freakonomics Podcast— The authors of the books with the same name discuss a wide range of topics from an economist’s point of view.  Way more interesting than you might think.

Science/Technology
Tech News Today—A discussion of technology stories which have broken in the past 24 hours or so.

The Infinite Monkey Cage—Demonstrates what happens when you put together a panel consisting of a stand up comic, top people in a given scientific field, and a studio audience.

This Week in Tech—Leo Laporte and others discuss tech news of the past week.  Covers some of the same ground as the above mentioned TNT, but with different folks, a longer run time, and has digressions into things far outside of tech (like wine).

Science in Action—One of the many BBC science podcasts.  This is a weekly program, which covers current news.

Discovery—Another BBC science podcast.  This one is a single topic podcast and covers things you’re unlikely to hear on other podcasts.  (For example, the multi-part series titled Thin Air talked about Europe’s version of HAARP.)

Dr Karl and the Naked Scientist—In the US people call into ‘tards on C2C, in the UK, they call in and talked to scientists.

Click—A consumer (though not strictly limited to such) tech podcast from the BBC.

The Guardian’s Science Weekly Podcast—The UK’s Guardian newspaper’s science podcast

Skeptoid—Taking a skeptical look at things like the Loch Ness Monster.

MacBreak Weekly—An Apple centric podcast from the TWiT Network.

Windows Weekly—A Microsoft centric podcast from the TWiT Network.

Android Central—More than you ever wanted to know about Android.

BBC Focus Magazine—This is a mix of things like hard science and new technology like the latest iPhone or what have you.

Weekly Daily Giz Wiz—Mad Magazine’s Dick DeBartolo and Leo Laporte share their favorite new gadgets, as well as one dud of a gadget from the past.

Nature—Podcast of the science journal Nature

PRI’s The World: Technology—An interesting look at how technology is changing the lives of people around the world.  This isn’t about how cool the newest iPhone/Android device, etc., is, but what people are doing with them.

Science Magazine—Podcast from the American Academy for the Advancement of Science

Science Talk—Podcast of Scientific American

Science Update—Another AAAS podcast

Security Now—A discussion of current computer security news.  Can be dull as hell sometimes, but other times, you’ll wind up shitting your pants from fear.

This Week in Google—A panel discussion of the latest news about Google, Facebook, and similar online services.

Tree Hugger Radio—Environmental News

Sci-Fi Podcasts
Slice of SciFi—Dedicated to keeping you up to date on what’s happening in science fiction.  Has a weekly feedback show which generally will have you pissing in your pants with laughter at some of the comments.  (“Chewie had bitch tits.”)

Relic Radio Science Fiction—Classic science fiction radio programs from the English speaking world.

Scifi Friday—Plays some of the same classic SF programs as the above, but has some different ones as well.

Current Geek—This is just what the hosts think is the “Nerdiest Story of the Week.”  It could be something related to science fiction, or it might just be a new science breakthrough or an impressive piece of technology.

Frame Rate—This deals with movies, TV, books, and online video, mostly aimed at SF, but other things as well (they’ll have discussions of Breaking Bad along with Walking Dead, for example.)

Old Time Radio SciFi—A mix of old radio serials from the 30s to the 70s.  It has some of the same programs as the others, but different ones as well.

sciFi Old Time Radio—A mix of old radio serials from the 30s to the 70s.  It has some of the same programs as the others, but different ones as well.

X Minus One—A SF anthology radio program from the 1950s.

Zero Hour—An anthology radio program from the 70s hosted by Rod Serling.  Most of the episodes are suspense/murder mystery, but a few are SF/horror.

Old Time Radio Adventures—A grab bag of radio serials from the 30s to the 70s.  A few SF ones, as well as a mix from a number of other genres.  You never really know what you’re going to get.

History

Archaeology Channel—News of some of the latest archaeological discoveries.

History Extra—BBC’s History Magazine’s podcast.  Tends to have a UK bent, but will talk about other things as well.

Pritzker Military Library Podcasts—Primarily focused on US military history and most of the podcasts are one hour lectures by authors promoting their current work, but well worth a listen if the subject is even remotely interesting to you.

Stone Pages—Concentrates on Stone Age archaeological news, and is hosted by someone who does field work, so you get a rather interesting perspective on things.

Secularism/Atheism

Point of Inquiry—A podcast from the Center of Inquiry, and while primarily focused on atheism, they often do have religious folks on who firmly believe in the separation of church and state as outlined in the US Constitution. 

American Freethought Podcast—All atheism, all the time.

Ask an Atheist—A radio talk show about atheism.

Living After Faith—Interviews and discussions about what its like to no longer be religious.

Miscellaneous
NASA has a metric buttload of audio and video podcasts covering manned and unmanned missions as well as environmental news and much more.

Librivox—Volunteers read books in the public domain.  You won’t find any of the latest best sellers here, but if you’re looking for a first person account of the Civil War, WWI or any number of things, as well as literature, and other writings 50+ years old, this is a good place to check.  (Lots of stuff by the Founding Fathers.)  The quality of the readers varies wildly, but some of them do work for Audible as well.

Magnatune—They’re a small record label which puts out podcasts that contain samples of the various artists on their label.  While its doubtful that you’ll have heard of any of their artists in things like rock and roll, they do cover every genre of music you can think of, from classical, non-Western, and various modern genres as well.  Undoubtedly you can find something you like well enough to have as background noise.  Beats things like Pandora and similar web services as you don’t have to worry that some generic tune which you can hear on any over the air radio station will show up in your feed.[

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I can’t believe no one has mentioned Reasonable Doubts yet!  Of all of the religion/atheism podcasts I listen to, it’s consistently one of my favourites.  These boys really know their stuff and the quality of topics/discussion is consistently high. If you’d like to sample, i’d suggest the episodes “Don’t Fear the Reaper” or “From Darwin to Hitler”........they recently did an ep called ‘Debunking D’Souza’ in which they dismantled Dinesh D’Souza’s performance in a recent debate, bit by bit ~ for anyone who dislikes debates (because they’re not really about facts and/or evidence and more about who can present what sounds like a more compelling argument) this ep was pure bliss :)

Some of my other regular faves are:

The Atheist Experience - the phone callers get a little old after awhile, but Matt Dillahunty and Tracie Harris are 2 of the most articulate argument-makers around

Godless Bitches - atheism, politics, etc from a feminist perspective

Rationally Speaking - “the official podcast of New York City Skeptics. Join hosts Massimo Pigliucci and Julia Galef as they explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense, likely and unlikely, science and pseudoscience.” (i’ve just recently discovered/started listening to this one and it’s GREAT!)

The Brain Science Podcast - if you have any interest in the current science behind things like consciousness, memory and how ‘mind’ emerges from brain, this is the podcast for you.

And I’ll ditto the love for Radiolab!

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Thevillageatheist - 22 June 2012 10:05 AM

It’s pretty good. Robert Price is a biblical scholar. He explains biblical scholarship in terms any layperson can easily grasp. Like all good scholars, he approaches the bible as a human endeavor (hence the name) rather than a religious authoritative text. He gives context to the bible and points out all the problems with the texts. He can be annoying at times when he tries to be entertaining—I cringe when he reads OT passages in a terrible Charlton Heston voice—but at least he is not dry like many scholars.

Thanks for the review Free, it sounds as if he’s putting the passages in an historical context and I can get into that for sure. The Charleton Heston voice sounds cool. I think of the 10 Comandments movie! “Behold his mighty hand”! And the Red Sea parted!! Or was it the reed sea??? Anyway, he parted something with that amazing staff that turned into a snake. Come to think of it, I liked Spartacus better. Kirk Douglas kicked ass.

Ditto Spartacus. Loved that movie. The Charleton Heston voice was cool the first time he did it on a short passage. The trouble is, he does it all the time, even when reading lengthy passages. Believe me, it gets old fast. It’s just so damn distracting, you can barely follow the text. But other than that weird quirk, I like Price’s style.

Coldheart Tucker - 22 June 2012 09:25 PM

(Lots of good stuff…)

Dude! Do you really listen to all that? When do you have time for life? 

Seriously, thanks for taking the time to list them all and provide synopsis. Much appreciated.

Axegrrl - 23 June 2012 01:52 AM

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I can’t believe no one has mentioned Reasonable Doubts yet!  Of all of the religion/atheism podcasts I listen to, it’s consistently one of my favourites.  These boys really know their stuff and the quality of topics/discussion is consistently high. If you’d like to sample, i’d suggest the episodes “Don’t Fear the Reaper” or “From Darwin to Hitler”........they recently did an ep called ‘Debunking D’Souza’ in which they dismantled Dinesh D’Souza’s performance in a recent debate, bit by bit ~ for anyone who dislikes debates (because they’re not really about facts and/or evidence and more about who can present what sounds like a more compelling argument) this ep was pure bliss

Thanks. I’m going to check that one out. I had run across it once before but for some reason never listened to it. I’ll give it a listen and let you know what I think.

If you like history, Dan Carlin’s Hard Core History is the best. I listen to Reasonable Doubts, Caustic Soda, CiTR, Atheist talk, Ask and Atheist, The Atheist Experience, Astronomy Cast, Star Talk, Amateur Skeptics, Atheist Nation, Current Science, Desert Air podcast, Dogma Debate, ERcast, Godless Bitches, How to do Everything, The Human Bible, Inkredulous, Little Atoms, The Naked Scientist, The Pod Delusion, Rationally thinking, The reality check, Science times, Sidepodcast, The Skeptic Zone, Skepticality, Freethought Radio, Skeptically Speaking, Skeptics with a k, Strange Quarks, The Thinking Atheist, This American Life, The Token skeptic, WNYC Radio lab, 60 second science, The SGU.
I know I am missing some others…

Really, Coldheart Trucker? Those are your “favorites”? o_O

I’m a podcast nut; I can’t stand radio, and all the music I like is 30-50 years old, so podcasts are my favorite way of getting anything new into my brainpan. As a result, I’ve become pretty picky. The podcasts I’m likely to listen to more than once have to have good production values, sharp-witted hosts, and compelling content. I have a low tolerance for mindless chatting and har-harring on most shows, unless they are really good at it! Extra points for podcasts of local groups (of which there are a couple on this list) or shows which feature guests I know.

My absolute top, can’t-wait-for-the-next-episode titles:
MonsterTalk: Periodic. I fell in love with this podcast immediately for Blake Smith’s brand of happy-go-lucky, monster-curious skepticality. The balance of the three hosts is tip-top.
Caustic Soda: Weekly. An accidental discovery; not “skeptical” so much as ... gruesome. Each episode has a single-topic focus with a “caustic” edge. Very funny in that way only talented, artistic, nerdy Canadians can be.
Savage Love Podcast: Weekly. World-syndicated sex advice columnist Dan Savage’s recorded-calls show. Kids these days!

Heavy rotation:
Ann Arbor Science & Skeptics
Center Stage
Comedy Film Nerds
For Good Reason
The Human Bible
NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
NPR’s Intelligence Squared
Oh No, Ross and Carrie!
Point of Inquiry
Project: Archivist
Reasonable Doubts
Skeptoid

Rarely admit to listening to, but it’s always good to hear the “other” side:
Binnall of America
The Dr. Joy Browne Show
Skeptiko

Then there are a few work-related shows I listen to periodically, and some other palate cleansers, but these are my meat-n-potato-casts.

FreeInKy - 25 June 2012 07:14 AM

Coldheart Tucker - 22 June 2012 09:25 PM

(Lots of good stuff…)

Dude! Do you really listen to all that? When do you have time for life? 

Seriously, thanks for taking the time to list them all and provide synopsis. Much appreciated.

Yup!  I have a rather tedious and boring job at the moment, but I can listen to whatever I want in headphones, so rather than listen to radio (I can’t stand country, most of the radio stations around here that aren’t country, are either sports [blech], rightwing talk shows [double blech], or so laden with commercials and the same damned songs over and over that I quickly get sick of them) I listen to podcasts.

Oh I also meant to say, honorable mention to Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe. I’ve largely outgrown the show now, but it did much to focus my skeptical eye.