Ordinarily, one of my favorite passive activities during the day involves listening to National Public Radio programming. From Morning Edition to All Things Considered, I formerly enjoyed keeping up to date on what was happening around the world. However with the state of the economy continuing to exhibit a negative atmospheric pressure in a vacuum (i.e., it sucks), and war, pestilence, and politicians continuing to run amok the world over, I have recently frequently chosen to turn off the radio (please don’t misunderstand; I continue to be an ardent supporter of public broadcasting in its many formats; they just don’t have a very nice world to tell us about right now, that’s all) and tap into the more emotionally and psychologically edifying topics to be found in the world of podcasting.
Not to anyone’s surprise, my favorite podcasts mostly involve nature and natural history. While iTunes is not exactly overflowing with such subject matter, there is nevertheless plenty to keep the flow of programming coming at a level that keeps a few fresh episodes flowing into my iPod every week if not in fact every day. Should my readers be interested in trying a few out for themselves, here are a few of my favorites:
Nature’s Voice – underwritten by the RSPB and expertly produced by the good people at Podcats, this is by far the best natural history podcast in current production. Updated monthly.
Best of Natural History Radio – from BBC 4; some of the finest natural history programming produced by the BBC. Was fairly regular with updates every fortnight but has been silent since September of this year. Still, there are plenty of previous episodes available to keep a new listener’s attention for months to come.
On Six Legs – produced by the Purdue Extension and hosted by Tom Turpin, this fortnightly updated entomology podcast for the general listener is always interesting.
This Birding Life – produced by Bird Watcher’s Digest and hosted by Bill Thompson III, this is most certainly the best bird watching podcast in current production. Updated somewhat irregularly but more than worth subscribing in order not to miss an episode.
Timber Press Gardening Podcast – a new entry into the podcasting world, Timber Press has so far released one and is in the process of publishing the second series of podcast interviews with some of the world’s finest botanical writers. Updated weekly.
There are more of course, including selected episodes from the famous TEDTalks podcasts from the annual TED Conference. The best thing to do is simply open iTunes, enter a topic that interests you into the search bar, and see what’s out there. Don’t limit yourself to currently updating podcasts either; there are some excellent episodes still online of now discontinued podcasts (one of my all-time favorite series is still the superb Big Garden Birdwatch from 2007 that was hosted by Kate Humble). Just dig around a bit – you’ll likely be surprised at what you’ll find, and you can be sure it will be more intellectually and emotionally satisfying than tuning into the daily news.
