Brain Juice (Podcast/Website Recommendations)

[Pkia]

Now that we are all older and wiser, I think that a lot of us have flourished into some nerdy, intellectual individuals. Or at least people who are interested in learning.

My personal catch-phrase is "fun fact" - and a lot of my fun facts come from the Stuff You Should Know podcast from HowStuffWorks.com (you can find it on iTunes). I strongly recommend it. The hosts are hilarious and have a great banter, and I think they genuinely do a good job putting a light-hearted spin on some touchy topics, do plenty of additional research and generally make it fun to passively learn. I started listening to them a few years ago but now that I am spending a lot of my time commuting/traveling/cleaning, I love to throw them on my iPod while I go about my mindless business. They vary from talking about freemasons, breathalyzers, Route 66, voodoo, genetics... I strongly recommend "Can your grandfather's diet shorten your life" about epigenetics. For your first listen, look for something in the 20-30 minute range. They do tend to get very tangential/distracted and you may not enjoy that as much in the 30-40 minute episodes until you like Chuck and Josh.

Another great one from HowStuffWorks is Stuff You Missed in History Class. The hosts aren't as awesome as SYSK, but interesting stuff, they stay on topic, they do a really good job explaining convoluted stories. They do a lot of fun topics, too, like the Boston molasses flood, the Champagne Safari, incorruptible corpses and the race to the South Pole. They like to do series, as well, like on the Borgias or the Tudors. They tend to pick an individual and really spend a long time introducing you to them.

A general rule with both of those podcasts are that their titles may sound bland, but I have never listened to one I didn't enjoy. Even SYSK's how ticks work was great (although gross), despite their protestations at the beginning that it would be their worst ever.

If you listen and like, let me know! I'm sure they'll be the instigation of many a good discussion on here! ;D

If you have any good recommendations, please share!

[Pkia]

Oh, also - HowStuffWorks.com has a lot of other podcasts. I think SYSK (Stuff You Should Know) is their best one, and the History one is my personal interest. They also have:

• Stuff They Don't Want You To Know (conspiracy theories)
  
• Car Stuff
  
• The Stuff of Genius (how inventions were thought up/developed)
  
• Stuff from the B-Side (music)
  
• BrainStuff (3 minute explanations of natural science. Good, but you can't listen to many at once)
  
• TechStuff
  
• Stuff To Blow Your Mind (science, heard it was good)
  
• Coolest Stuff on the Planet (geography, travel)
  
• Stuff Mom Never Told You (falls under philosophy, focus on woman)

It's a great company in general. They were bought by Discovery, actually, so that kind of justifies how good they are.

Also, no. I do not work for them or get money whenever you subscribe to their podcast

[Pkia]

Ok, last one, I swear! I didn't realize how much I listened to these, but I suppose between commuting at least an hour and a half a day, sitting on planes, getting ready in the morning, cooking (I tend to make elaborate things)... well, I get through at least one if not more a day...

Skeptoid: Critical Analysis by Brian Dunning is also a great one. I really appreciate that he promotes critical thinking and is very fair. He goes against just debunking and takes a very measured approach to every topic, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Everything is well researched and he posts all of his citations afters. He does a lot on science, medicine, aliens and unexplained events (i.e. Amityville, crop circles).

My favourites are definitely the science and food related ones. I recommend Locally Grown Produce, Organic vs Conventional Agriculture, High Fructose Corn Syrup, SUV Phobia, Homeopathy, the Incorruptibles, The Truth About Aspertame. I think glancing through his Podcast titles you'll easily see a few things that you have conceptions about and will be very interested to hear his scientific and critical analysis of it.

If you listen and decide you like it, after a few, listen to #150: Screwed! (amazing! it's a musical!)

[Lianne]

These sound really cool P!! COuld you link me or somehting? I have never used a podcast before so i don't really know how they work but there seem to be things in there that would interest my boyfriend and i... in fact he spends his time on youtube some nights looking up consipracy theories, or if not that UFO/alien footage hahah so maybe skeptiod would be a good one for him But the sciency ones might be good for me!!

[nancy]

I love The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. I've listened to it on and off for maybe 4 years. They tackle 3 or 4 recent, relevant news items, then they have a segment called science or fiction, in which one of the hosts presents the others with 3 news items, one of which is fake, and then they have to guess which one that is... that's one of my favourite parts. The hosts include a neurologist and the woman from skepchick.org. It's a long podcast, more than an hour and 15 minutes or so long, but it's definitely worth it.
I'll check those ones out pkia... with school coming up next week, I need all the podcasting I can get.

[Pkia]

To get a podcast from those, Lianne, you'll need to have iTunes.

1) click on the iTunes store
2) write the podcast title into the search bar at the top right
3) you can narrow your search results by clicking podcast in the box that'll show up on the top left with the different kinds of media
4) click on the image of the podcast you want
5) it'll have a description of the podcast and list the episodes. You can click Get to download just a few of them or click Subscribe to get the new ones automatically downloaded, but you'll have to select Get All in the podcast that will appear in your Podcast section on the left bar of your iTunes to get all of the previous ones, as it'll only download 5 or something

You can also browse Podcasts by different categories in the iTunes store the stuff that you can download from universities is usually pretty good and often you can find audio books (classics that no one owns, mind)

[Lianne]

Sweet, thanks!! Maybe i can learn some stuff

[En]

My two favourites right now:

Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt (usually aired on KCRW, available free via the iPod store)
An incredibly smart man interviews authors of fiction, poetry, plays, and sometimes graphic novels, each week. He picks absolutely amazing people who have written spectacular books and has thought-provoking conversations with them. (Famously, he has made points to authors like Toni Morrison about the entire body of her work that changed her own perspective on her oeuvre.)

The History of Rome with Mike Duncan
This witty, concise retelling of Roman history from Aeneas forward is divided into 15 minute episodes and delivers not just the overall story but details about controversies, doubts, and other skefuffles in current scholarship. Bonus points for coming up with ways of describing the history in terms that make it relatable, such as explaining the increased complexity of issues, duration of fight, and bigger budget problems facing Gaius Gracchus, younger brother of Tiberius Gracchus, by referring to Gaius' career as "Gaius: Revenge of the Gracchi." Also I liked his comparisons between the origins of the Roman state and the American Revolution, which included clever points about the gradual mythologizing process.