Thing 19_Podcasts

As a dedicated follower of This American Life (TAL), my devotion begins each week with listening to the podcasts. I also regularily listen to podcasts throughout my work day. My favorites include TAL, Speaking of Faith, The Splendid Table, The Sunday Puzzle and Radio Lab. However, in beginning my exploration of the world of podcasts I realized that all of my favorites have some common features - paid expert staff, radio equipment and very carefully developed scripts or pieces.

And so as I started poking through podcast.com and podcast.net, I felt as though I was poking around YouTube again, trying to find a few gems amongst the mounds of information. I finally watched 2 episodes of a video podcast called Zen for Life. Immediately, a friend watching with me pointed out several issues with their explanation of Buddhism and some of the basic assumptions being made. The video was really quite decent quality and I appreciated what they were trying to convey.

Next, I decided to head to iTunes U in search of some better scripted substance. I'd previously listened to a philosophy course from Stanford so this was not a new concept to me, but I hadn't poked around the site in over a year so I was excited to see how many new options were available.

Continuing on the Buddhist theme, I watched a video Podcast from an Intro to Religion course at Open University about Becoming a Buddhist Monk in Sri Lanka. Again, surprisingly good video quality and this was a very interesting and brief video.

Overall, I prefer the professional and education podcasts for the quality of the production. Though I definitely support semi-professional podcasters - I have a few acquaintances who produce regular podcasts and provide quaility material on topics of special interest. Based on my leaning, my preferred directories would be iTunes, American Public Media and other sites that list only professional podcasts.

I might consider putting together a podcast, especially for a special project but overall, I'm not inspired to get my voice out there unless it's well produced and edited. However, with that said - I think there's a plethora of opportunities for using podcasts in libraries, for tours, basic guides, providing instruction, etc.