Listen up!

What we need more of is debate podcasts. Given that debate podcasts are being produced at a rate of roughly zero per day, rain or shine, week in and week out, more is a rather easy number to envision.

I am, of course, a big podcast fan. For that matter, I’m a big fan of talk, period. I like music, and listen to plenty of it, but there are times when I prefer talk, and there is certain talk that I actually seek out and make time for.

Let’s start with audiobooks. I am a rabid fan of audiobooks, but I am extremely selective. The reason I like them is, primarily, because they can be very entertaining. So I am unlikely to listen to, say, Plato’s Republic if I can get a copy of The Magicians (which I just finished listening to, btw, and really enjoyed). There’s a combination of plot and writing and performance all mixed up together. I have a half-hour commute in each direction, so it takes me maybe 2-3 weeks to listen to a complete book that way. That works pretty well. While my favorite audiobooks tend to be on the adventure side (e.g. SF, fantasy, that sort of thing), some of the best I’ve heard have been anything but. In Cold Blood, for instance, has to rank as one of the all-time best on all counts. So a good book per se will work, if the performance is also there. Still, I do gravitate toward lighter material. In any case, I see little difference between reading a book and listening to a book in many respects. Good writing = good use of language, and good use of language ought to be able to engage me through the ears even more than through the eyes. Granted, though, there are hermeneutic differences, but they are beside the point when you just want to have some fun. Anyhow, I listen to maybe one audiobook a month, in my car, commuting. That’s one batch of talk.

Podcasts are different from books in obvious ways. Mostly podcasts are an extension of radio programming (and in many cases are simply time-shifted radio programming), but usually more narrow in scope. I listen to a handful religiously, including Wait Wait (general), This Week in Tech (tech, obviously), and WDWRadio (the Mouse). I collect and occasionally listen to This American Life and Lake Wobegon. I’ve got BMI’s show music program (a limited series I’m halfway through), and a couple of others like that. They are all good for morning exercise and while cooking. Video podcasts like DiggNation are good for the occasional train or bus ride.

Come to think of it, I also listen to the news on NPR. That’s about the only live radio I listen to, though. I do it in the morning while I’m reading the newspaper. Mental stereo, I guess. I’m also eating breakfast at the same time, but there is no news printed on a bran flake.

I have, of course, done some audios via the View from Tab link. And I did a bunch of Nostrums until I just ran out of steam on them (they’re still there if you’re interested, which you might be, given how much other debate fiction is out there to listen to). Early on I bought a pretty good microphone, so the quality is not terrible. For a while Bietz was podcasting, but he seemed to lose steam. I liked listening to him and his guests talking about the latest topics, and I miss it.

Anyhow, all of this is prelude to my thought that I want to get back into podcasting again, maybe with a little more vigor and regularity. I’m thinking that if I were to get Skype and the software for recording conversations, I could talk to people about this and that and then edit it and run it up the old flagpole. I’m working on getting O’C as a starter on this, but pinning down JelloMan isn’t easy. But I think he and I could do a good job together, talking about debate stuff. So, I’ll keep at him. Maybe I'll talk to him more about it this weekend at his RR (which, according to his emails, has no starting time). Whatever.

I’ll keep you posted.