Favourite podcasts

Podcasts, they’re so darn addictive. I’m even willing to forgive the misleading name (I’m sure I’m not the only podcast listener who isn’t an apple fanboy). But quality web and graphic design podcasts are few and far between, so I thought I’d share a few of my favourite shows with you. Because I’m a geek I’m going to throw my favourite technology podcasts into the mix too.

Boagworld

Though he pitches his podcast at ‘website owners’ rather than ‘website designers’, Boagworld host Paul Boag can’t disguise his design interests. With co-host Marcus he delivers real-world web design and development advice, with a nice blend between technical how-to and conceptual overview. Paul and Marcus talk about their podcast as if it’s some sort of “web design for dummies”, but in fact they offer focused discussion on usability and web standards that even seasoned developers will find thoroughly listenable. Good natured oneupmanship between Paul and Marcus adds to the flavour.

Cnet Buzz Out Loud

For tech news delivered in an irreverent format, look no further than Buzz Out Loud, Cnet’s “pocast of indeterminate length”. Molly, Tom and Veronica have a fantastic repore, and their skeptical (though not cynical) view of the IT industry makes for entertaining listening. The show used to come out two or three times a week, but demand has seen Buzz Out Loud evolve to a daily format, and the world is a slightly better place as a result.

Cnet News

If you like your tech new short sharp and to the point, this is the ticket.

IT Conversations

The name says it all really. The O’Reilly publishing network offer up a different IT converstation every day, covering topics as diverse as intellectual property in virtual worlds, how blogging affects our personal relationships, and politically disruptive technologies. With the frequency of updates you’ll probably want to pick and choose which shows you listen to. Or perhaps you’re hardcore and you can listen to them all. Go on, I dare you.

Lodebearing

Josh Cavalier and James Williamson run a company called Lodestone Digital offering training in Macromedia and Adobe products. They also put out a podcast that covers the culture of web design, print design, and digital media in general. It’s a fairly infrequent podcast, but worth a listen when they get it together to record a new episode.

Distributing the Future

Another podcast from the O’Reilly network, this one is devoted to covering technology, science, and related social issues. As you’d expect from O’Reilly there is decent coverage of web and graphic design software.

Vitamin Interviews

OK I admit this isn’t really a podcast per se, as you can’t subscribe to it, but these tasty morsels are too good to exclude from my list. Every week or so Ryan Carson interviews a mover and shaker in the web design field. Recent interview subjects include Tim O’Reilly, Dan Cederholm (SimpleBits) and Chris Wilson (Microsoft).

What the heck is a podcast?

If you have been living under a rock the past few years, I suppose it’s possible you might not know what a podcast is. It’s just a regularly released online radio show (mp3 format) that a listener can subscribe to and download using RSS (Real Simple Syndication). Using a podcast aggregator such as Doppler (or iTunes if you’re an Apple fan) you can subscribe to a podcast and automatically retrieve the most recent episode. Most podcasts are structured as talk radio shows which listeners can listen to when and where they please, unlike traditional radio that requires you are within the reception area and tune in at a specific time.

The ‘pod’ in podcast refers to the fact that podcasts can be listened to on a portable mp3 player such as the iPod. Obviously you don’t need an iPod to listen to mp3’s, or even a portable music player – your computer will do just fine.

There are podcasts on every topic under the sun, and most of them can be found at Podcast Alley .