Best Podcasts of 2009
We don’t have a tv, so we listen to and watch a helluva lot of podcasts. This list comprises our picks for the “best of” podcasts from this year. They’re our two-thumbs up recommendations. Here’s how ‘best’ is defined for the purposes of this list, there are two criteria:
1. The episodes get listened to by us with regularity.
2. The podcast consistently publishes new episodes. A brilliant podcast that hasn’t had a new episode since spring won’t be included on this list.
my list:
The Minimalist (video) – New York Times food writer Mark Bittman’s podcast about preparing food. The focus is shifted to quality ingredients, personal preferences, and guestimating measurements rather than strict adherence to recipes.
FRONTLINE/World | PBS – Incredibly well-produced documentaries seen for years on PBS. I haven’t missed an episode since Frontline first made its appearance on my iPhone.
CNN In Case You Missed It – In these brief daily podcasts, CNN simply uploads raw camera footage of the day’s news events. No host and no analysts and certainly no Lou Dobbs. Just raw footage. If only the rest of CNN’s programming were like this I might actually want to watch it.
BBC Documentaries – These episodes are outstanding, period. I highly recommend the two-part series reporting on Rwanda blood diamonds and Oana Lungescu’s account of returning to her native Romania to read, for the first time, the State’s files that were kept about her.
BBC From Our Own Correspondent - These vary from the lighthearted to the serious and everywhere in between. The episodes feature the Beeb’s reporters discussing their personal experiences of being stationed around the world and the humor and sentiment that goes with that.
APM: Robert Reich Commentaries from Marketplace – I’ve been a fan of Robert Reich’s perspectives since he was the Labor Secretary in the Clinton Administration. That probably makes me a socialist. Anyway, at Marketplace, he pops up each week to deliver a brief, concise, and focused viewpoint on a topic of economic importance. In each, he quickly identifies the problem at hand, the choices to be made, and which solution he recommends.
Best of YouTube- This podcast is actually produced rather poorly, but the videos they find are, well, you can imagine.
The Moth – Modern storytelling in front of a live studio audience.
Monocle – Although these can be trite, the production is second to none. Beautiful to observe on the surface level, just don’t go any deeper than that.
NBC Nightly News - Brian Williams is the man.
President Obama’s Weekly Address – These are a bit too scripted to truly enjoy, but the president gets a high-five from me for embracing all forms of media including the internet and iPhones.
TEDTalks (video) – Because it’s TED and it’s on my phone.
Today in the Past – John Hodgman’s daily dose of made up history. Never not funny, mostly.
Washington Post HD Video Podcast- Really well-produced documentary segments. Better-produced than the NYT’s. Only complaint is that they need to publish with more regularity. Skip the ‘Scene In’ fashion segments.
Wine Library TV – Best use of podcasting on the intertubes? Almost certainly.
New York Times US News (video) - The NYT videos are always interesting. Every single one.
and here are Kate’s:
“because it’s not just entertainment people who come in to to pick their songs. From chefs to drag racers to actors to architects. And because the “five songs” is such a horrible question”
“i like Radiolab because it reminds me that I actually do like science. It’s exerising a part of my brain that’s not usually engaged on a daily basis.”
“I like the moth because I like the restrictions. I like it that they’re in front of an audience and they can’t use any notes. It’s kind of carrying on the storytelling tradition. I like it that they’re not all smooth and polished and perfect.”
“I really like Bob Boilen and Carry Browstein and I feel like those shows are curated really well.”
“Because Terry is awesome and I usually miss it when it airs live because I’m always busy at those times.”
“It’s great listening to people who are passionate about music. And they have great in-studio guests”
“Dan Savage is just so smart yet totally inappropriate and also he’s just really good at dealing with people that call in with totally fucked up sex stories.”
“I’ve been listening to This American Life since before there were even podcasts, I listened to the stream from the website. For me at least it sets the standard for storytelling on the radio.”
Publication Fair (cont.)
So, last week I worked the Pinball Publishing table at the Publication Fair which took place at Portland’s Ace Hotel. Stand Up Comedy, OMFG Co, and pretty much everybody else there had stacks of really good publications on display. Even Stephen Malkmus stopped by for a bit. We brought back a few things which brightened our rainy holidays, such as…
Apartmento Issue 04
I’ve been wanting this issue primarily because I’ve wanted to check out the feature on Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon’s house.
Cabinet Magazine Issue No. 35- Dust
The newest issue of Cabinet is centered around the subject of “dust” which is why they’ve re-visited Cabinetlandia, an archive of every issue of Cabinet which is located in a desolate plot of arid scrubland in the middle of the New Mexican desert.
And there’s chess in this issue. I love chess.
Interestingly, online-access to Cabinet’s sold-out issues is now freely available to subscribers. Yet another reason I’m bummed that my subscription’s expired.
Ambit - The Jet Age Compendium
Kate picked up this a collection of reprinted articles and essays from Ambit Magazine
“From 1967, up until his death, Eduardo Paolozzi was involved with the innovative British literary magazine Ambit, using its pages as a space for some of his most experimental and innovative creations, pushing at the boundary between text and image. Collages, visual essays and fragments from novels, drawing on pop culture images from newspapers, magazines and advertisements.”
There are more publication-finds scattered around our house right now. I haven’t read them all, but if I come across anything particularly of interest I’ll post it up.
The Jet Age Compendium- Paolozzi at Ambit
Cabinet Magazine Issue No. 35
Apartmento Issue 04
Paul Rand / NeXT
This design blog has gone on long enough without a Paul Rand post. It’s time to fix that. I came across this video today of a 1993 interview with Steve Jobs on the subject of Paul Rand’s then recent work on the NeXT corporate identity. The internet doesn’t need yet another post about what a great graphic designer Paul Rand was (he was though). And yeah, so Paul Rand made the NeXT logo; old news. What I’d like to point out is Steve Jobs’ perspective on the client-relationship that Paul Rand brought to the project. It’s really a fascinating logic that Rand had arrived at. More right than wrong in my opinion. Note: when this paraphrased text is spoken by Steve Jobs it comes across as less severe than the transcript that follows.
“I asked him if he would come up with a few options and he said:
‘No. I will solve your problem for you, and you will pay me. And, you don’t have to use the solution. If you want options go talk to other people. But I’ll solve your problem for you the best way I know how and you use it or not, that’s up to you, you’re the client, but you pay me.’”
You can see in the following image what solution he arrived at and was indeed adopted by NeXT. This and more images from the identity presentation document are available at paul-rand.com
Publication Fair
poster by omfgco
If you’re in Portland this weekend, please come to the Publication Fair this Sunday, 11am-6pm at The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel (SW Stark between 10th + 11th). I’ll be there working the Pinball Publishing table and Kate will be there with her zines working at the Reading Frenzy Table. She’ll also have a handful of Food Journal Scout Books as well which she’s had a lot of requests for and we print at Pinball.
The participants include: Ace Hotel / Ampersand / Container Corps / Cooley Gallery / Dill Pickle Club / EM-SPACE / fourteen30 Contemporary / Hawthorne Books / IPRC / Mark Searcy / Marriage Publishing House / Publication Studio / Octopus Books / Official Manufacturing Co. / Ooligan Press / Peaches + Bats / PICA / Pinball Publishing / Reading Frenzy / Red 76 / Stand Up Comedy
I’ll be at the Pinball table from 4pm to 6pm, so stop by and say hi. You can either receive a fist-bump from me or a high-five. Your choice!
Update: Here’s a great write-up of the Publication Fair from the Portland Mercury.
Publication Fair | Sunday December 20, The Cleaners / Ace Hotel 1022 SW Stark St, Portland, OR
Merrychristmahanukwanzaaka
Grain Edit ’s 2009 Holiday Wish List is out which includes contributions from a host of sharp-eyed cats like Jim Datz, Frank Chimero, Gavin and Liz, Lab Partners, Jez Burrows, Kate. I’m on there too pointing out the things I’ve been somewhat obsessing about like the Best Made axes, all-things Auteurs, and the Art Lebedev Studio’s matryoshka dolls (pictured above). There were quite a few things I hadn’t seen until reading this list. A few of them popped up on multiple peoples’ wish radars. Frank and Jez both pointed out the Nelson Swag Leg Desk from Herman Miller which I’m pretty sure I need (great find, lads). And these Alexander Girard wooden figures were also getting big thumbs-ups.
Jump over there and see the list. Grain Edit did a good job of pulling together a bunch of fun stuff. And also notice that they just launched a job board. Now that’s really cool. Post some jobs on there why don’t ya?
