podcasts

1. Car Talk

Car Talk has been on NPR for 33 years. It has been podcast for 3. The hosts, Click and Clack even made a cameo in Pixar’s Cars as Rusty and Dusty Rust-Eze. I am probably one of the last people on earth to have heard the show. I’m not too sure how to explain my fascination with the show. If you’ve ever owned a car, or ridden it one, I highly recommend this show.

2. The 404

As a die-hard Buzz Out Loud listener I was initially turned off when they hijacked the BOL feed at CES 2009 (or was it ’08?). I didn’t give them a chance for quite some time. Once I gave them a chance I quickly grew to love their brand of humor. If you’re of BOL or anything on the TWiT Network, definitely give these guys a listen.

3. AppSlappy

Scott Johnson w/co-host Eric take about iPhone apps news and reviews. It’s basically the same tried and true formula used on The Instance: a little bit of news, some rumours and scuttlebutt, a few reviews and user feedback. Makes for a great and informative show.

Honourable Mentions: Everything else from Frogpants Studios – Scott Johnson is the new Leo Laporte; The Movielicious; Hype Machine Radio

Most Irrelevant Podcast of 2009: The Dawn & Drew show. I know they’re pioneers and I used to be a big fan. But it just became too much of the same boring 90s psuedo-hippie BS. 2009 is the year I finally unsubscribed for good.

…In alphabetical order:

Audible Ajax – Infrequently updated. Interviews with key figures in the world of AJAX. 3.3/5
Buzz Out Loud – Daily. Easily the best tech news podcast. 5/5
CBC Radio 3 Podcast – Weekly. An hour of good Canadian music. 3.5/5
Best of As It Happens – Daily. CBC Radio long running (40+years?) current events show in podcast digest. Mon – Thurs it’s the best segment of the day. Friday it’s a weekly recap. Listening to this makes me feel old. 3/5
Diggnation – Weekly. Video. You really should already know about this show. It’s getting a little old, I’m only going to give it 3.8 out of 5.
ExtraLife Radio – Weekly. Comics and nerd culture. 3.9/5
Gadgettes – Weekly. CNET podcast where ladies (+ Jason Howell) talk about tech. 3/5
The Instance – Weekly. World of Warcraft podcast, still listen to it even though I haven’t played in months. 4/5
Mailbag – Weekly. Video. CNET’s Molly Wood reads funny emails. 3.7/5
net@night – Weekly. Leo Laporte and Amber Mac talk about the internet, I’ve found out about MANY great Web 2.0 startups through this podcast. 4/5
Quirks & Quarks – Weekly. CBC Radio’s long running science show, in podcast format. 3.5/5
R CRD LBL – Weekly. Roundup of the best music on RCRDLBL.com. 4/5
Search Engine – On Hiatus/Canceled. CBC Radio’s EXCELLENT show about the internet. Even if it doesn’t come back on the air, the back episodes are worth a list. 5/5
Spark – Weekly/On Hiatus. CBC Radio show about culture surrounding the internet. Frequent contributions from Cory Doctorow and Merlin Mann. 5/5
tech5 – Daily. John C Dvorak’s take on the day’s tech news. 4.5/5
This Week in Tech – Weekly. Leo Laporte and friends discuss the week’s tech news. The guests are often really lame and it tends to drag on. But when it’s good, it’s great! 3.3/5
The 404 – Daily. The best way to discribe tihs is A Tech Morning Show. Usually hillarious. 4.8/5
White Coat, Black Art – Weekly/Currently on repeats. CBC Radio’s show about the Health Care Industry/System in Canada. Always interesting, sometimes a little dry. 3.7/5
Xbox Live’s Major Nelson Radio – Weekly. Xbox live’s Director of Programming provides an inside look into what’s going on with the xbox 360, with a good dose of general gaming banter. 3/5