At some point I should consider paring down the number of podcasts I subscribe to. Mostly because I only go out of my way to listen to 3-4 of them on a regular basis. I have a bunch of other ones that ake their way on my iPod, but never, ever, get a listen.
One that I never skip is the Freakonomics podcast.
If you’re not familiar with Freakonomics, take a second to check it out. Their claim to fame is that they will literally try to apply “economics” to, well, anything.
Take for example, their latest podcast on hitchhiking:
LEVITT: Hitchhiking is a classic example of what an economist would call a matching market, where there’s a person who wants a ride, and there’s a person who’s willing to give a ride. There was some sort of equilibrium in which there was a set of people who wanted to hitchhike, and there was a set of people who were willing to pick them up. And somehow that equilibrium got destroyed. So the question is what happened to the equilibrium?
Interesting, right? I know! I can’t get enough of this. I even saw a few hitchhikers myself in South Dakota when we were on our way to Seattle. Duder even commented that we should pick one up if the back seats weren’t full of my earthly possessions. I know its still common in areas of DC too where people want to use a carpool lane. The evidence cascaded from the podcast is somewhat interesting and mostly seems to be on point.
There are a lot of times in this podcast where they come off and wanna-be sociologists. And more often than not, I’ve wanted to pull over my car and run the math they just claimed to be true. And even more often than not, I want to call them like its a radio station and begin with “[insert variable] is not being taken into consideration!”
But I like how they try to think of an issue from a rational and logical standpoint. Its this critical type of thinking that pulls me in, because its somewhat how my brain works.
For example, I’ve wondered if kids today are really safer than they were, say, 30 years ago. Are children perceived to be “less safe” because of news stories running over the air and internet 24/7 about the latest abduction? Or has this guise of having to keep our kids safe simply a byproduct of issues being more well known? Has keeping kids sheltered lead to a smarter, but more obese, generation?
I wish I had the time to really dig and study these sort of things. For fun. I guess that’s why I listen to this podcast. Even if I don’t always agree with the content.
So I’m cleaning up my podcast list. If anyone has any good recommendations, I’m all ears (eyes). Steer me less toward sports, pop culture, and music though. I find myself more entertained down the math and science route.
I am totally going to subscribe to the Freakonomics podcast immediately. I love that shizz.
I posted this on my Google+ and my friend Ryan wrote back with some suggestions:
Funny you should ask: I’m just dipping my toes into podcasts this winter. A friend strongly recommended http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hh, but after a few hours of listening I became convinced Dan doesn’t understand history. From Hardcore History, I moved on to http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/category/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/, and it’s my current favorite. The episode on Marian Anderson is awesome!
For nerdlinging, I’ve started to enjoy http://skeptoid.com/. I can’t seem to fall asleep when it’s playing, so I may have to drop it for being “too engrossing.”
Aside from the Freakonomics podcast mentioned in that post, what would you recommend?
Can I just go ahead and assume that you are already listening to RadioLab from WNYC? OH MY GOSH it is the best. I found it and then I mainlined every single episode while planting my garden this past spring and summer. Love love love. That plus Freakonomics are about my two faves.
I get the same way sometimes with Freakonomics. I have to say that listening to economists break things down kind of makes me put things in perspective on some of my irrational fears and insecurities (Will someone sneak in my window and kill me in my sleep? Odds are, no. And don’t worry because it probably won’t happen and you can’t do anything anyway…)
Kind of back to pop culture – Do you listen to Nerdist? I’m all over that one, too. I second the recommendation for almost all the “How Stuff Works” podcasts – especially “Stuff you should know.” It’s one of my favorite apps on my phone. Clever Apes from NPR? Wiretap from CBC (Jonathan Goldstein, pop culture/This American Life style stuff)
I fall into the same trap – up late, find a podcast similar to one I already listen to, subscribe, find another, same thing, oh, this guy who was a guest on Freakonomics has his own podcast? Sure, I’ll subscribe. Nerdist spinoffs? Of course, bring me all of them. Oh, that was a good Fresh Air, let’s listen to all of the Terry Gross interviews.
And then I listen to 4 or 5 of them religiously and the rest sit there, irritatingly.