Do you have any really good podcasts you can suggest?

Have I got a site for you, Chuckie!

Open Culture

Right side of the page has a list of educational podcasts.

It’s Your Ship by Dr. William J. Perry. Here is the description:
Dr. William J. Perry, former Secretary of Defense discusses lessons in leadership reminding us that a pivotal point in management is realizing that “It’s your ship” and your own “crew”. Perry draws parallels from his experience in business as an entrepreneur and in the government in various critical technology development roles and most recently as the Secretary of Defense (1994–1997). Perry ends with an incisive management principle applicable both in the corporate world and the government – “Take care of your troops and they will take care of you.”

I haven’t listened to the whole podcast, but listened to the book with the same title on CD, and found it inspirational.

As for humorous, are you familiar with Dave Barry? The man makes me weep from laughter. It looks as if there are some podcasts of his, but I couldn’t immediately locate any.

The Survival Podcast. “Helping you live the life you want, if times get tough, or even if they don’t”

The Guardian: Science Weekly

http://365daysofastronomy.org/

Zombiepodcast.com
Astronomycast.com

I have a bunch, but those are two off the top of my head.

I wonder if I will ever understand what a podcast is.

@Jeruba A podcast is a radio show on the internet. It’s called a “podcast” because most people have ipods, and itunes can subscribe to the podcast. When a new episode comes out, your software downloads it and then you listen to it at your convenience. I rarely listen to the radio anymore.

I love History of Rome. You should definitely check out 12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownworth, the inspiration for History of Rome (it’s only twelve episodes or so).

Here are the podcasts I currently listen to all the time:

Smodcast – Kevin Smith and friends just shooting the shit.
Stuff You Should Know – Random topics discussed by two quite likable dudes from the howstuffworks.com website.
TechStuff – Same company as above, with a focus on tech. The hosts are less charismatic and slightly more annoying than the SYSK guys, but it certainly fills you in on some interesting tech topics.
Jay and Silent Bob Get Old – Kevin Smith again, this time with Jason Mewes, mostly talking about funny stuff that happened while they were making movies
Escape Pod – Current science fiction stories by popular authors.
WTF with Mark Maron – Though I’ve never heard of Mark Maron, apparently he knows most of the top comedians in the business. He’s really quite good at getting good interviews out of a lot of them.

@Rarebear,
your software downloads it
You mean all by itself, while you’re not looking?
Honestly and truly, DO most people really have them?

Muah. I kissed you while you weren’t looking.

<blushing>

@drdoombot- I used to listen to Mark Maron when he was on Air America. I’ve heard about WTF before and have been looking to check it out. I understand his guests really open up and say candid things they never say on traditional talk shows.
And I’m looking forward to listening to 12 Byzantine Rulers. (I see that there are actually 19 episodes.) That’s right in my wheelhouse.

There are a couple of good ones which I found on the Open Culture site. I can’t do links from iPhone but they’re easy to find.

The editorial staff of Boing Boing do interviews with creative people in fringe culure at Get Illuminated.

And another fav of mine,
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics.

There are also lots of PBS podcasts from Bill Moyers, Terry Gross (Fresh Air) and Garrison Keilor.

Ted Koppel is also available for those of us who miss Nightline.

There’s so much on that site, you’ll never run out of fascinating stuff to learn about.

And I assume you know about iTunes University?

I’m really just commenting so I can find this great question again, but to add my 2c http://www.qi.com/ is intelligent and humorous.
That link may or may not work for podcasts I dont know,(I avoid Apple as I do Satan) but you can view all the shows here

@Jeruba It depends on how you have the software set up. You can have it set up so that it downloads everything you want automatically, you you can set it up so you pick and choose. I prefer the latter.

Then, when you hook up your ipod to the computer it automatically uploads the stuff to the ipod.

@Jeruba

You can also listen to podcasts on your computer, so an ipod is not even necessary, strictly speaking.

But, yes, lots and lots of people do have iPods and iPhones (which contain iPod functioning) because of the convenience of portability.

You can listen to music and podcasts literally anywhere, walking, driving, etc. It’s a brand new world of convenience :)

And NPR podcasts practically everything, so if there’s a show you like, say Car Talk, you can listen to it whenever you want.

I do like Car Talk. And quite a few other NPR shows that I usually hear in the car. I might have to look into this. I think I get it—it’s like a VCR for radio?? Thanks, guys. Sorry for the digression, @AC. And now back to your regular programming.

@Jeruba Exactly. Like a VCR for radio.

@Jeruba VCR for radio? Yes, I suppose it is at that, but instead of recording the shows when they happen, you download the show when it is convenient for you.

A VCR for radio? What is this, the 20th century? I’d say it’s more like a DVR for radio.

Kind of.

@AstroChuck I was willing to cut her slack on that one.

You guys are just too wonderful. >> smooch << Thank you.

My husband and sons are actually fairly proud of me for getting caught up to the 20th century.

I like Adam Corolla too. I also listen to:

WTF with Mark Maron
Hollywood Babble-on, or any Kevin Smith Smodcasts
The Joe Rogan Experience
The Big O & Dukes Show

All of these are available online or via Itunes.

@Jeruba I don’t know that most young people have iPods or iPhones, but we do mostly have a way of some sort to listen to podcasts, which most of us find preferable because it puts everything in one place, to listen to at your leisure, instead of debating if you want to go out and have dinner with a friend or catch the latest episode of a show.

@Jeruba You do know that we’re 10 years into the 21st century, right?

Thanks, @Rarebear, I have a nice paper calendar on my wall that tells me so. But it took me most of the 20th to get out of the 19th. I still read 19th-century novels. And the calendar—well, it’s Impressionists.

Well, I’m a big fan of Monet myself so I can’t fault you there!