Welcome to Podcast Friday!, a weekly compilation of some of the more interesting podcasts from around the web, listed right here for your listening pleasure!
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All Songs Considered from NPR
The Ting Tings, Yann Tiersen, Tu Fawning, More (Wednesday, May 02, 2012) — On the latest episode of All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton take a circuitous route through this week’s recommended listening, starting with two randomly paired videos from the WFMU blog, and ending with angular electronica from Squarepusher. Along the way we hear a brash tale of love, loss and the Guggenheim from The Ting Tings; a mix of soul and dubstep from The Memorials, French artist Yann Tiersen’s beautiful “Monuments,” and a little bit of eerie blues-rock from one of Robin’s latest discoveries, Tu Fawning.
Book Reviews from The New York Times
Book Review Podcast (Friday, May 04, 2012) — This week, Robert Caro discusses the new volume in his series about Lyndon Johnson; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Charlotte Rogan talks about her debut novel, The Lifeboat; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.
Books Podcast from NPR
The Roaring 20s, Poem In Your Pocket Day, more (Friday, May 04, 2012) — Stories in this episode: 1) Get Ready To Celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day 2) Rodney King Comes To Grips With The Riot Within 3) Our Roaring 20s: The Defining Decade 4) A Rival For Pigeon In Willems’ New Duckling 5) Death And The Penguin Captures Post-Soviet Reality 6) Both Community And Garden Grow In Seedfolks
Brain Stuff from HowStuffWorks.com
How does the snow dragon eat and digest snow? (Friday, May 04, 2012) — For cities plagued by yearly snowstorms, a fleet of snow plows and salt often aren’t enough to get rid of excess drifts. Luckily, there’s another option: Snow dragons. These machines can melt snow on the spot — but how do they work? Tune in to find out.
How does dry ice work? (Wednesday, May 02, 2012) — Dry ice is different from regular ice in several ways. Find out what makes dry ice so unique — and why it’s so good for transporting perishables over long distances — in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
What are chiggers, and how do they bite you? (Monday, April 30, 2012) — If you go outdoors during the right time of year, you may be bitten by chiggers. But what are these creatures, and why do they attack unsuspecting humans? Listen in as Marshall Brain breaks down the life cycle of the chigger — and how it can affect you.
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
The Dakar Rally (Friday, May 04, 2012) — What’s behind this road race of 8,000 kilometers though the roads, sand dunes, mud and grass of 3 countries in South America? Why did it change its route from Paris-Dakar to South America? Why does it stir up controversy? Tune in to find out.
Culturetopia from NPR
Pop Culture Happy Hour: It’s Our Summer Movie Preview! Bring On The Sunscreen! (Friday, May 04, 2012) — This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See’s Linda Holmes is joined by Trey Graham, Stephen Thompson and Glen Weldon for a summer movie preview, featuring the movies we’re excited about — Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Prometheus, Safety Not Guaranteed, Dark Shadows, God Bless America, and even Total Recall, and the movies we’re dreading — Battleship. All that plus What’s Making Us Happy this week.
Film Junk
Episode 366: Lockout (Monday, April 23, 2012) — We get trapped watching Lockout and discuss the Magic Mike trailer, plus The Three Stooges, Birth, Escape from L.A., The Conversation and Girls.
PopStuff from HowStuffWorks.com
Comic Book Movies: PopStuff Smash! (Wednesday, May 02, 2012) — Since comic books are a visual medium, it seems natural to translate them to the silver screen. Why then, do so many adaptations of comic books flop as movies? Tracy and Holly ponder this matter, and share their lists of favorites and not-so-favorites.
Diamonds are whose best friend? (Monday, April 30, 2012) — Is a diamond really a girl’s best friend? Tracy and Holly aren’t so sure. They’ll hash out the history of the diamond engagement ring, and debate over the merits of the whole concept.
Science Talk from Scientific American
Killer Chimps and Funny Feet: Report from the AAPA Conference (Friday, April 27, 2012) — Scientific American editor Kate Wong talks about the recent conference of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Portland, Oregon, where subjects included killer chimps, unprecented fossil sharing among researchers and divergent hominid foot forms.
Getting Guinea Worm Gone: Report from the AHCJ Conference (Thursday, April 26, 2012) — Scientific American editor Christine Gorman talks about the recent conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists, including Jimmy Carter’s efforts against guinea worm and trachoma, and Rosalynn Carter’s mental health initiatives.
Sound Opinions
The Return of the Rock Doctors (Sunday, April 29, 2012) — Paging the Rock Doctors! Jim and Greg offer up another round of musical healing for some patients in our audience. They also remember Levon Helm and review the solo debut from Jack White.
Stuff To Blow Your Mind from HowStuffWorks.com
Hibernation: The Ultimate Suspended Animation! (Thursday, May 03, 2012) — What is hibernation exactly? Is it the opposite of sleep? Is it the future of manned space exploration? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert enter the hibernacula and discuss this perplexing biologic state.
Space Junk in the Trunk (Tuesday, May 01, 2012) — How much junk can we accumulate in Earth’s orbit before we seal off our world? Before we cut the planet off from the cosmos and doom civilization to a new dark age? In this episode, Robert and Julie look skyward to space exploration’s garbage.
Stuff You Missed in History Class from HowStuffWorks.com
Who was the real Professor Moriarty? Part 2 (Wednesday, May 02, 2012) — When Adam Worth stole a portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire, he fell in love with the painting. But a botched theft in Belgium landed him in prison, where the story of his life reached Arthur Conan Doyle and inspired the character of Professor Moriarty.
Horace Wells and the Gas War (Monday, April 30, 2012) — Dentist Horace Wells set up shop in Hartford in 1836, before the discovery of anasthesia. At an exhibition in 1844 he became certain that nitrous oxide could revolutionize medicine. He tried to demonstrate his findings… but things didn’t go as planned.
Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com
How Bullfighting Works (Thursday, May 03, 2012) — When the Visigoths ruled Spain, they introduced the idea of battling bulls at festivals. Today matadors get paid $100,000 and perform in front of 50,000 fans. But is bullfighting an antiquated, abusive relic or a cultural tradition above reproach?
How did language evolve? (Tuesday, May 01, 2012) — Sure animals talk in their own way, with chirps and grunts and the like, but only humans can form words. It is this, some evolutionary psychologists contend, that is what truly separates us from the rest of the species on the planet. But why us?
WNYC’s Radiolab
Shorts: Fetal Consequences (Monday, April 30, 2012) — Mother’s day is nigh. Sort of. Anyway, without knowing it, you might have already given your mom a pretty lasting gift. But whether it helps or hurts her, or both, is still an open question. In this Radiolab short, Robert updates us on the science of fetal cells — one of the first topics he covered as an NPR science correspondent.