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In respect for your experience and situation, we abstained from colliding cars whilst playing last night.

Well that is clearly a lie.

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The forumites over at selectbutton have started an interesting gaming podcast.

I've been listening to this podcast and it's great, but what the hell happened to selectbutton.net? It seems to have vanished into thin air.

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If you're interested in film, Filmspotting is the best podcast I've heard out there. They discuss current releases, big releases and indies, and frequently pick overlooked classics out of the backlog. They clock in most weeks at around a meaty 90 minutes and they often do extra "After Hours" casts as well. And they have pro sound quality.

Filmspotting was one of the first podcasts I ever subscribed to, but eventually I had to leave it behind because they were a little pretentious for my tastes. They didn't seem to have a lot of time for movies just being entertaining. Have they mellowed out a bit since?

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Filmspotting was one of the first podcasts I ever subscribed to, but eventually I had to leave it behind because they were a little pretentious for my tastes. They didn't seem to have a lot of time for movies just being entertaining. Have they mellowed out a bit since?

I've been listening to them for quite a bit now and I think they've gotten a little bit more casual. To tell you the truth, I attribute a lot of their being "pretentious" to their actual film education, which many film bloggers don't tend to have. I can give them a little bit of leeway to be particularly critical of a film if they cite it with insightful observations that I might not have picked up on.

But to get back to your question, they have been a little more prone to review popular films but their focus is still mostly art-house. If that's a primary factor in it being entertaining, not a whole lot has changed. But as far as general demeanor, I think they've been a lot more light and jokey, especially jabbing at each other a little bit more often lately.

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Oh, sorry for the double post, but I also wanted to do a little crowdsourcing here... we're going to try to whip up a handful of "podcast awards" at CastMedium, and we'd love any ideas for possible categories that we might not have thought of. Obviously, stuff like "best podcast" and "best produced podcast" come to mind immediately, but we were hoping for more obscure or even "wacky" ideas. If anyone has any input, that'd be fantastic.

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"Least overbearing theme song"

- While I do likes me some podcasts, the songs do get to be a bit much. Be they much too driving techno, or simply too self-indulgent in their length or lyrics, the theme song is a thing that needs a lot of improvement.

"Best use of an accent to make poop jokes seem classy"

- Admittedly, I have a winner in mind here (The Bugle) but it is something I find interesting. A North American ear can put up with a lot of disgusting jokes if they come from a suitably proper-sounding accent. I think it'd be interesting to think about the podcast that is actually one of the more disturbing, humour-wise, while not seeming so to someone from our continent.

Anyway, there's a couple for you.

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To whoever recommenced 'The Bugle': Thank you! Going through the archives and, even though it's 'old news' now, it's great. (Obama won, woohoo!)

(Sitting in the Tokyo-subway, eight in the morning, blond(-ish), blue-eyed(-ish), and laughing out loud – I can see the fear/contempt/wonderment in their eyes - fun!)

Edited by castorp

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Gonna re-mention WNYC's Radio Lab program if someone else already has.

A great science show, their recent piece on changing behaviour in Baboon troops (a new normal?) was both moving and informative, as most of the shows are.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/

(many ppl say that A Life Well Wasted is a video game version of This American Life, but I would argue that ALWW owes much more to RadioLab!)

enjoy!

Edited by Floordje
grammars

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I've been listening to a lot of Hardcore History, just worked my way through the Ghosts of the Ostfront series. Dan Carlin really is awesome. Common Sense is interesting too, but it makes such an effort to escape bipartisanism that it becomes effectively a third partisan component.

It's good to hear, and therefore consider, political viewpoints you don't necessarily agree with though; being on the far left makes only conversing, watching and listening to others on the far left very tempting. Then again, I guess we all seek out things that reinforce our views, so Common Sense is worthwhile because possibly nobody else in the world agrees with him.

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Common Sense is interesting too, but it makes such an effort to escape bipartisanism that it becomes effectively a third partisan component

I've only listened to one episode so far, but I don't think he's trying to be bipartisan so much as his views don't slot into either of our political system's two neat categories. He actually seems to me like a classical conservative in that his main interest seems to be in protecting the constitution and keeping politicians from getting too much power and superseding the checks-and-balances system and/or the voters' influence.

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To usher in the holidays, we decided to do some podcast awards over at CastMedium. Of course, there's the ever-present disclaimer that the choices are of course, fully subjective, and I wouldn't blame you for a second if you rejected any of our choices. Either way, perhaps a couple gaming podcasts to try out if you're traveling and need a timekiller.

As a side note, there is also a user poll for the reader's choice of best podcast and I managed to push Idle Thumbs on the list. I think I can easily say that I'm incredibly biased and want Thumbs to win, so you should at least check that out and cast your vote.

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To usher in the holidays, we decided to do some podcast awards over at CastMedium. Of course, there's the ever-present disclaimer that the choices are of course, fully subjective, and I wouldn't blame you for a second if you rejected any of our choices. Either way, perhaps a couple gaming podcasts to try out if you're traveling and need a timekiller.

As a side note, there is also a user poll for the reader's choice of best podcast and I managed to push Idle Thumbs on the list. I think I can easily say that I'm incredibly biased and want Thumbs to win, so you should at least check that out and cast your vote.

Ah Bollocks, just thought of a brilliant category: Best voice in podcasting.

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I've been listening to a lot of Hardcore History, just worked my way through the Ghosts of the Ostfront series. Dan Carlin really is awesome.

Considering production vaule and effort his history podcasts are quite good but the way he narrates his shows really annoys me, with all those lame attempts at making listener 'ooooh' and 'aaaah', as seen is Ghosts of Ostfront. Sometimes he can really convey some emotion with what he says way too often he ends up being just annoying.

Somehow the way he narrates that Ostfront story reminds me (a little) of that youtube video full of Caruso's one-liners.

(Even show's name is a good evidence of that. It's not just history. Only dumb people are interested in it. It's HARDCOEEEEER history.)

But generally, I really like what he has to say as soon as I get used to the way he talks.

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I've only listened to one episode so far, but I don't think he's trying to be bipartisan so much as his views don't slot into either of our political system's two neat categories. He actually seems to me like a classical conservative in that his main interest seems to be in protecting the constitution and keeping politicians from getting too much power and superseding the checks-and-balances system and/or the voters' influence.

He certainly seems to have more of an affection for the right, or at least more of an affection than you'd expect any reasonable person to have, and though he's far from Ron Paul, this pseudo-constitutionalism is evident in places. People forget that the actual written US constitution has meant very little for a very long time, and I can find it hard to take them seriously, even Carlin. It's so packed with ambiguities that it's difficult to even define what federalism is - back then it meant the opposite. Not to mention that nobody actually really intended to create such a strong central government. Hell, voters had no influence originally, and based on the constitution they still officially don't. Paranoia about checks and balances can be a misfire too, I'd argue that the legislative and judicial branches contradict each other more often than is practical, not to mention limiting the remit of the elected executive. It's the Supreme Court everyone should really worry about. Unelected, yet arguably the strongest and most straightforward lawmaker.

Maybe I need to spend some time in the United States instead of just reading about it, but there seems to be some sort of affection for the constitution which I can't really understand. We don't have one in Britain, and I could never get to grips with the benefits of a single, supposedly unified document. Now we have a bloody Supreme Court, for some fucking unknown reason, and I hope we don't start to ape more aspects of the US system. It's almost completely broken (not that ours is perfect, my favoured system is a Soviet-led and authoritarian, though not at all totalitarian, one; we sacrifice an awful lot for a "democracy" in which a fickle ten per cent get to have their ill-informed say on two, perhaps three near-identical parties in order to decide the outcome). Carlin himself outlined that though the US trumpets democracy, they really only have the choice between a centre-right and slightly further-right party. For decades, very little has gotten done, and the system has been allowed to decay from within.

I guess the weirdness of it all is what keeps me interested in US politics.

As for podcasts, I've been listening to a lot of Brainy Gamer stuff. Again, I don't always necessarily agree with Michael Abbot (though I often do), his sincerity and passion continually draw me in. My favourite episodes by far are the solo ones - his excitement for what he likes about gaming is, for lack of a better word, really cute!

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If you guys have any interest in the US/California "indie" comedy scene, do yourself a favour and check out the Comedy Death Ray podcast.

If you like it then get the free version of the Never Not Funny podcast as well as Marc Maron's WTF podcast.

I'm a bit of a comdedy nerd, if you know any good 'guest based' show lemme know!

VIGI VIGI VIGI! A call to order.

Anyone listen to the Destructoid podtoid podcast? I just got on board and am not sure but it seems a lil' bit too abrasive for my ears... anyone?

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The latest episode of This Week in Tech was pretty damn entertaining, Leo Laporte had Jonathan Coulton and John Hodgman on.

http://twit.tv/twit227

neat-o, I'ma check it out! (It's x-mas and the 'weeks off' that podcasters are taking is giving me too much free time with my own thoughts... dear me!)

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I could never get to grips with the benefits of a single, supposedly unified document

The appeal of the constitution is that it is supposed to keep our leadership from having unlimited power. It doesn't work very well because it's a piece of fucking paper and the people who enforce or interpret it are the same people it is supposed to keep in check. Call me conservative, but I think having an outline of the boundaries within which a nation's government operates is extremely important, even if only to keep things in perspective. We need a record of our nation's official modus operandi so we can keep track of when it changes and how. I would never want to hand over the reigns of power to a government that had a completely blank check to make up the rules as it went along. I'm well aware that the constitution is sidestepped to an extreme degree and often (and that there is even a clause built in that technically allows for this, paradoxically), but at least it provides something that is inherited by every administration that takes office so that there is some consistent framework as a foundation on which to build new policies. At least we have a rubric that helps us to determine when "the US government" is not doing what it, by definition, is supposed to, and something to point to when considering how such an issue can be corrected.

I'm not saying that the constitution we have is perfect, or even good. I'm just saying I think it's valuable to have one, even if the best justifications of it are more conceptual than practical. It makes for an organized approach to judging your government. And we all know that being judgmental of your government is one of the main reasons for having a government in the first place ;)

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Man, I went through this thread and now have more subscribed podcasts than ever before, and that includes cutting out the fat, like Geekbox. Sorry Ryan, but I just don't agree with you on anything anymore and the rest of your crew is weak. WEAK!

My only contribution would be In-Game Chat. I think it's excellent.

But did Hollywood Saloon go on hiatus or become something else? The latest episode I can find is from October.

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that includes cutting out the fat, like Geekbox. Sorry Ryan, but I just don't agree with you on anything anymore and the rest of your crew is weak. WEAK!

I'll cosign that. Once I spread my podcast wings I cut out Geekbox and the other one, Mobcasts can be great if the right guests are in - so it's still in the rotation.

I have a 4gig ipod that is all talk podcasts other than a couple hundred meg of mixtapes... glad to know there are others like me!

Were any of you guys AM radio fans before the internet changed everything??

also, fresh off the presses... Hot Scoops gets Brainy!

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Yet another masturbatory plug here, but I recently recorded an episode of Pixel Revolt, the Bitmob community podcast, with Aaron Thomas (of Gamespot 'fame'), Brett Bates (you might have seen him recently on Co-Op), and Derek Lavigne. A brief description, for those of you who want to possibly save a mouse click:

With Jeff Grubb celebrating the holidays in Europe, we've got a ringer to take his place in the form of Bitmob's Aaron Thomas, along with community member Jon Cole. Topics discussed include favorite games, holiday limericks, marathon gaming, and who could possibly want to be a hero. Also, your new year's gaming resolutions!

Pixel Revolt is Bitmob's community-driven podcast, in which Derek Lavigne, Jeff Grubb (usually), Brett Bates, and a special guest dive into the Mobfeed to discuss interesting posts written by Bitmob members. For the second half of the show, they throw a question out to the community so that you can have your voice heard. If you'd like to contribute your opinion to the show, follow the upload instructions after the break.

Anyways, if you're interested, check out the blog entry for the episode or just go here for a direct download.

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