23 Things, Thing 18: Podcasts

Back in 2009, I remember being on a “podcasting project” at work. It wasn’t really podcasting per se: it wasn’t a regular broadcast of recorded audio content, it was static audio content hosted on a website. I think people are a bit clearer now in terms of the “cast” part of podcasting.

Plenty of folks podcast: radio stations have a lot of thier content available post-broadcast as a podcast (good for when you miss something like a particular interview or segment) or additional off-air content. There are lots of web-only specialist podcasts that function a bit like irregular radio shows and are only available in that format, not on the radio.

I subscribed to a couple of podcasts via the Apple Podcasts app (afer failing to get it to work in iTunes) – the repeat broadcast of the Zed Games radio program which I miss live on 4ZZZ every week without fail; and the Triple J Dr Karl segments, which are on air live while I’m at work so I can’t listen to them. Zed Games was easy to get, but Dr Karl slightly less so – Podcasts keeps entries in its search listing even though they’re not being updated, and while I signed up for three Dr Karl podcasts, only one of them ever has any new content.

It’s nice that recordings don’t disappear if you miss them (as is almost always my problem) and that I can play them on any of my devices. Mostly I use these podcasts on my phone when I’m exercising.

Now we never need to miss anything again! (How did we ever live a fulfilled life before this??)

23 Things, Thing 11: LibriVox

Right off the bat, I’ll confess I am a big lover of audiobooks. They’re pretty much the only things I borrow from the public library. And yes, BORROW, not download, as I really just listen to audiobooks in the car (much better than commercial radio or Wiggles CDs which are my other options)

LibriVox is a giant database of public-domain audio books available for download. You won’t find “Fifty Shades of Grey” or the latest Matthew Reilly here – strictly titles that are out of copyright, read out by volunteers.

You can download the item as a full file for playing on an MP3 or burning to CD, or subscribe via iTunes to get it onto your Apple device.

The titles can be a bit hit and miss – at the moment as I type I’ve got Washington Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” on, which has a reader with a quite pleasant American accent, and a good pace and tone for the original story. I’m enjoying it enough to keep listening for the rest of the afternoon I think! Which is a much better option than some of the Jane Austen read out by a woman with a very unfortunate southern drawl…

I don’t think LibriVox will replace my public library audiobook habits – maybe one day if I get a new car with an MP3 jack. At the moment, it’s CD-only for me, so I’d have to burn LibriVox books to CD and it’s probably not quite worth the effort!