You know, the whole je ne sais quoi of podcasting, now that I've delved a little deeper into it, reminds of those guys you see in the movies. You know the ones I mean: living in natty one-bedroom apartments full of old TVs, stacks of magazines and newspapers and clippings pinned here and there, beyond dusting, eating microwave dinners, living in their bathrobes, scratching dry scalps, talking hurriedly (usually to themselves), and lost in their own strange world. Yes, those guys. I think of podcasts, and I think of some guy like that who is constantly listening to the weirdest radio broadcasts imaginable. Radio broadcasts that make you go, "There's no way that's a real radio show. That's just some drivel that they cooked up to flesh out the character in this bogus movie". But the thing is, now, thanks to podcasts, such radio shows are real, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them out there. One need only poke around for a while, and they will indeed find some of the strangest, off-the-wall broadcasts imaginable. I mean, there are podcasts out there posting by people who make Art Bell seem normal (actually, said podcasts are likely created by the oddest of the oddballs who regularly call into shows like Art Bell's).
That said, not all podcasts are of the conspiratorial, New Age, nutjob variety. In fact, I have to admit to actually enjoying a couple of the weirder ones I took the time to explore--namely Yog Radio, a podcast devoted to all things H.P. Lovecraft. But, moving on from the fringe stuff, one podcast that I did find intriguing was a talk hosted on the IU Podcast portal by Joel Garreau entitled Radical Evolution that discussed the rapidity of scientific advancement and the way that, more and more, scientific research is focusing on the exploration and modification of self and less on the physical world around us. However, it's an 86-minute talk, so I'll have to finish it on my own time some other day. Regardless, stuff like that and perhaps some of the news outlets posting podcasts that cater to the left-of-the-left folk like me were much more to my liking. And, if I were ever to become the person I described above, these are the types of podcasts that I'd stream in my one-bedroom apartment. Who knows? Mayhaps that'll happen someday.
I did find that the Podcast.com portal was the easiest of the directories to use; however, there are so many podcasts out there that searches of Podcast.com for general topics returned an overwhelming number of results. But when I searched for the keyword "lovecraft", I received a very manageable number of results and quickly found a podcast that was to my liking. Still, with enough time and patience, one could probably track down a handful of worthwhile podcasts--even when receiving an abundance of search results.
My last thought on podcasts has to do with types of people. Obviously, we're all different. Amongst the myraid quirks that make me who I am, one attribute that I possess is a profound dislike of earphones. If I did (and if I also enjoyed talk radio and such), I might just become a huge fan of podcasts. A co-worker of mine likes to listen to LOST podcasts, but I am simply not interested in walking around with earbuds stuck in my head. In addition, when I do sit in front of my computer at home, I prefer silence. Like I said, there are different types of people. Perhaps someday I'll change and become a bigger fan of earbuds and podcasts. For now, I'll stick to silence, conversation, and Stereolab tunes that emanate from car stereo speakers.
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