Thursday, 5 June 2008

Podcasts worth a listen...

Thursday, 5 June 2008
I'm still listening to the podcasts I reviewed here, but here are a few new ones you may want to consider yourself:

Writer/journalist/film critic Andrew Collins and comedian Richard Herring chew the fat over the week's big news stories, finding time to ridicule Sun columnist Jon Gaunt and reveal an appetite to climb the iTunes podcast chart in the process. It's intentionally low-tech (lurching into itself with no introduction, often with poor sound quality, before ending abruptly after an hour). Plus, as it's essentially just two mates venting their spleens, it can become a bit wearisome at times. But there are still amusing moments and a certain fly-on-the-wall vibe to "eavesdropping" on them both. It's worth a listen, but you have to persevere a bit.

Love him or loathe him, you can't deny he's quick-witted and cheekily amusing -- most of the time. This podcast is a highlights package of Ross' Saturday morning Radio 2 show, uploaded in the afternoon. It's usually about 30-45 minutes long and involves Ross mulling over life with giggling cohort Andy, before some amusing interviews with celebrity guests.

The quality of the guests don't typically rival his TV chat show, but it's actually nice to hear from people who aren't as ubiquitous in the media. For example: he interviewed Marshall Lancaster and Dean Andrews (supporting players on Ashes To Ashes), which came as a breath of fresh air, as the show's stars Keeley Hawes and Philip Glenister just regurgitate the same old stories on TV. His good-natured, cheeky, sardonic interviewing technique is best-suited to radio. Likewise, his self-obsession is something you expect from radio D.Js, so it's easier to digest when compared to his TV series.

Iain Lee hosts Sky One's weekly podcast, leading the ruminations and debate about every Sunday night's episode. He's joined by the editor of the UK Official Lost magazine Paul Terry and "Geeky Tom", for light-hearted and affectionate banter that often provides insights (often unintentionally). While I love the Official Lost podcast (hosted by head writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof), the fact they make the show means it's a different listening experience and restricts what they can reveal. In contrast, the Lost Initiative is free to theorize and have fun nitpicking the show to death. You can sense the genuine adoration of the show from everyone involved. Calls from real viewers are also a nice touch at the end. It's finished now, but it's well worth downloading when it returns in 2009.

Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica podcasts
The whiskey-drinking showrunner of BSG gives a weekly DVD commentary-style podcast of every episode. Informative and candid, but aimed at die-hard fans. It's often illuminating about writing and TV production, if you're interested. However, the downside to RDM's frankness is how the podcasts reveal a lot of BSG's problems and avenues not explored. While it's interesting to hear about that stuff, it kind of ruins the mystique and fuels belief that the show is freewheeling. For e.g: I'm still irritated to hear RDM admit that a recent scene (of Baltar being lifted into the air by the ethereal Number Six) wasn't an intended reveal that Six has physical presence, but just a production goof. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but... BSG fans should find this essential listening straight from the horses mouth.