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
Summer Music Preview 2012: Premieres From Cat Power, Avett Brothers, The Antlers And More (Wednesday, June 27, 2012) — This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton offer sneak previews of some of the summer’s most anticipated releases. The show opens with JEFF The Brotherhood’s roll-down-the-windows jam, “Country Life,” followed by the new Spoon/Wolf Parade/New Bomb Turks supergroup Divine Fits and their effortlessly cool, “Would That Not Be Nice?” English singer-songwriter Bill Fay returns with his first new album in 40 years, while Cat Power returns after a six-year hiatus with what may be her best album ever.
Book Reviews from The New York Times
Book Review Podcast (Friday, June 29, 2012) — This week, Geoffrey Ward talks about his new book, A Disposition to Be Rich; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Holland Cotter discusses the artist Thomas Hart Benton; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.
Books Podcast from NPR
Author and Screenwriter Nora Ephron Remembered, Teenage Brain, more (Thursday, June 28, 2012) — Stories in this episode: 1) Ephron: From ‘Silkwood’ To ‘Sally,’ A Singular Voice 2) Rich Reads: Historical Fiction Fit For A Queen 3) As The Earth Slows, This ‘Miracle’ Becomes Calamity 4) Dr. Karp On Parenting And The Science Of Sleep 5) Teenage Brain: Gateway To A ‘Bright And Dark’ World
Brain Stuff from HowStuffWorks.com
How do you decaffeinate coffee and tea? (Friday, June 29, 2012) — There are multiple methods of removing caffeine from naturally caffeinated plant products. Learn more about these processes — and how much caffeine they really remove — in this episode.
How do Voyager 1 and 2 transmit messages from far away? (Wednesday, June 27, 2012) — Spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 transmit images of space and its contents from great distances, but how? Learn more about the technology that allows them to send radio messages from far, far away in this episode of BrainStuff.
What will airplanes look like in 2025? (Monday, June 25, 2012) — Most modern airplanes have a similar design, but NASA has a plan to move the world of aviation into the future by partnering with the world’s airplane manufacturers to radically redesign the typical airplane. Tune in to learn more.
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
Get Away on a Staycation! (Friday, June 29, 2012) — With July 4 on a Wednesday this year, you’ll probably have a staycation. But that’s no reason to be bored! We’ve got lots of fun activities you can do with your family and friends right in your own backyard.
Culturetopia from NPR
It’s Too Darn Hot, Board Games, And More (Rebroadcast) (Friday, June 29, 2012) — This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR’s Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon and Trey Graham are joined again by Barrie Hardymon to ask exactly how hot would it have to be outside before you’d see a movie like ‘The Smurfs’ just for the air-conditioning? Are you a Boggle person or a Scrabble person? Does the Game of Life reveal the tragic dark side of the American Dream? All that plus ‘What’s Making Us Happy This Week?’ including Captain America, Slings and Arrows and more. (Note: This episode original aired on July 28, 2011.)
Film Junk
Episode 374: Brave (Tuesday, June 26, 2012) — We take aim at Brave and discuss Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, plus Notorious, The Faculty, Nightwatch and Daywatch.
PopStuff from HowStuffWorks.com
PopStuff: Swimsuit Edition (Wednesday, June 27, 2012) — We are in the thick of swimsuit season, which has Tracy and Holly wondering about the history of swimsuits and their status in the modern wardrobe as the most stress-inducing garment imaginable. What’s the skinny on the teeny-weeny bikini?
Cooking With PopStuff (Monday, June 25, 2012) — Bon appétit! There are more cooking shows on television than ever before, but it seems fewer and fewer people are actually prepping their own food. Has cooking become a spectator sport? Listen in to learn more.
Science Talk from Scientific American
Plants Know Stuff (Friday, June 29, 2012) — Daniel Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University, talks about his new book What A Plant Knows.
Sound Opinions
The Best Albums of 2012 (So Far) (Sunday, June 24, 2012) — Jim and Greg love lists so much, they can’t wait until the end of the year to make them. Tune in as they run down the Best Albums of 2012…So Far. And later, they review Americana, the new album from rock legends Neil Young and Crazy Horse.
Stuff To Blow Your Mind from HowStuffWorks.com
Meet Your Bacterial Masters (Thursday, June 28, 2012) — Humans have mapped the microbiome and changed our understanding of the bacterial worlds thriving inside us. How will this affect our war on bacteria and the state of modern medicine? Julie and Robert discuss all of these questions in this episode.”
The Search for a New Earth (Tuesday, June 26, 2012) — Armed with state-of-the-art telescopes and other high-tech tools, astronomers are spotting new worlds at an astonishing rate. Could any of these planets support life? In this episode, Robert and Julie explore the continuing search for habitable planets elsewhere in the universe.
Stuff You Missed in History Class from HowStuffWorks.com
Deblina and Sarah’s Renaissance Adventure (Wednesday, June 27, 2012) — In this episode, Sarah and Deblina visit the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Interviews with musician Luca Callo and TechStuff’s Jonathan Strickland give us an understanding of processes they use to recreate Renaissance characters, music and culture.
John James Audubon: American Woodsman, Part 2 (Monday, June 25, 2012) — After John James Audubon finished his book, he sought out a publisher. While his image turned off Philadelphia’s intellectuals, he charmed Great Britain. In this episode, curator Michael Inman joins us to explain the publication of Birds of America.
Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com
What’s the deal with Executive Orders? (Thursday, June 28, 2012) — Depending on who’s in office, they’re either a presidential tradition or the acts of a despot. Executive orders are not spelled out in the Constitution, yet every president has issued them. Learn about these controversial edicts with Josh and Chuck.
Lying Liars: How Lying Works, Liar (Tuesday, June 26, 2012) — Studies find that absolutely everyone lies – some have found as much as a quarter of our daily interactions involve lies. What gives with everyone fudging? Chuck and Josh explore the philosophy, psychology and reality of lying and what constitutes liar.
WNYC’s Radiolab
Shorts: Unraveling Bolero (Monday, June 18, 2012) — In this podcast, a story about obsession, creativity, and a strange symmetry between a biologist and a composer that revolves around one famously repetitive piece of music.