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

GlobalFEST 2013 (Wednesday, January 16, 2013) — Every January for the past decade a dozen or more bands from around the world have gathered in New York City for globalFEST – one long, frenzied night of live music showcasing the diverse cultures, histories and numerous sonic branches of “World Music.” This year’s lineup included Zimbabwe legend Oliver Mtukudzi and his band The Black Spirits, Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, Chicago’s wildly exuberant marching band Mucca Pazza, and much, much more. In this week’s edition of All Songs Considered, NPR Music’s Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR contributor and Afropop.org senior editor Banning Eyre, and Rob Weisberg of WNYC (who also hosts WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradise) join Bob Boilen to revisit some of the highlights and favorite discoveries from this year’s globalFEST.

Book Reviews from The New York Times

Book Review Podcast (Friday, January 18, 2013) — This week, Lawrence Wright discusses Scientology; Leslie Kaufman has notes from the field; Emily Bazelon talks about Sonia Sotomayor’s new memoir; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.

Books Podcast from NPR

NPR: 01-17-2013 Books (Thursday, January 17, 2013) — This week’s stories:  1) A Justice Deliberates: Sotomayor On Love, Health And Family 2) George Saunders Lives Up To The Hype 3) Hold On To Your Tighty Whities, Captain Underpants Is Back! 4) Cross-Culture Cilantro Sauce And Other Secrets Of ‘Gran Cocina Latina’ 5) A ‘Beautiful Vision’ In Science Forgotten.

Brain Stuff from HowStuffWorks.com

Does drinking ice water burn calories? (Friday, January 18, 2013) — When you drink cold water, your body exerts an effort to warm up the liquid and, in doing so, burns calories. So does that make drinking ice water an effective weight loss strategy? Find out in this episode of BrainStuff.

How does a jet engine’s afterburner work? (Wednesday, January 16, 2013) — The afterburner on a jet engine adds thrust to the engine. Tune in as Marshall Brain explains how an afterburner works — and the pros and cons of using one — in this episode of BrainStuff.

What is the problem with MTBE in gasoline? (Monday, January 14, 2013) — Some gasoline contains MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether. Find out why MTBE is added to gasoline in the first place, and why it’s no longer a popular additive, in this episode of BrainStuff.

The Coolest Stuff on the Planet

Machu Picchu (Friday, January 18, 2013) — The ancient Peruvian city of Machu Picchu is one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions for good reason. Get lost in this famous “city in the clouds” with Matt and Rachel in this video podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.

Culturetopia from NPR

Globes, Oscars, And Who Are You Calling A Snub? (Friday, January 18, 2013) — This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See’s Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson and Glen Weldon are joined by NPR movie critic Bob Mondello to talk about movies and awards season. They discuss the Golden Globes, how much they loved hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and which wins surprised them. They also talk about Jodie Foster’s so-called “coming out” speech and how people are reacting to it. Finally, they move on to the Oscars. Which films and actors do they wish were nominated and which nominees would they would they skip this time around? All that, plus What’s Making Us Happy This Week.

Film Junk

Episode 401: Zero Dark Thirty and Gangster Squad (Monday, January 14, 2013) — We interrogate Zero Dark Thirty and go to war with Gangster Squad, plus we also discuss the 2013 Oscar nominees, The Staircase 2, The Impossible, Hitchcock, The Paperboy and War Witch (Rebelle).

Freakonomics Radio

Who Owns the Words That Come Out of Your Mouth? (Wednesday, January 16, 2013) — The very long reach of Winston Churchill — and how the British government is remaking copyright law.

PopStuff from HowStuffWorks.com

Culture of Beauty (Wednesday, January 16, 2013) — Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the beholder’s eye is informed by the culture that surrounds it. Tracy and Holly peek into some of the odd aspects of beauty, and the lengths people are willing to go to achieve the “ideal” look.

PopStuff’s Mad Hattery (Monday, January 14, 2013) — Chapeaux and sombreros! Caps and bowlers! Tracy and Holly have hats on the brain. How have head coverings gone from utility accessories to haute couture? Listen in to learn more about the evolution of hats.

Science Talk from Scientific American

Creativity’s Dark Side: Dan Ariely on Creativity, Rationalization and Dishonesty (Tuesday, December 25, 2012) — Dan Ariely is professor of behavioral economics at Duke University. He talks about the subject of his most recent book, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone–Especially Ourselves.

Sound Opinions

Sound Opinions Aimee Mann (Sunday, January 13, 2013) — Songwriting, comedy, boxing – is there anything Aimee Mann doesn’t do? The Renaissance woman joins Jim and Greg in the studio to perform songs from her latest album, Charmer. Later, Jim and Greg review the new record from pop phenom Bruno Mars.

Stuff To Blow Your Mind from HowStuffWorks.com

Big Science of 2012 (Thursday, January 17, 2013) — As you leave 2012 in the dust, join Julie and Robert as they take one last look in the rearview mirror at some of the truly mind blowing science that went down in the past year.

Willpower (Tuesday, January 15, 2013) — Temptation is all around us and as humans we only have so much willpower in the tank to fight it. In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss the science behind willpower, how we deplete this exhaustible resource and what you can do to boost your resolve.

Stuff You Missed in History Class from HowStuffWorks.com

5 Historical Hoaxes (Wednesday, January 16, 2013) — Historical hoaxes are surprisingly common. For example, a N.Y. cigar maker once commissioned a gypsum skeleton to pass off as a 10-foot-tall petrified man called the Cardiff Giant. Join Deblina and Sarah as they explore history’s most successful hoaxes.

The Great Stink of 1858 (Monday, January 14, 2013) — By the 1840s, London faced a sanitation crisis. One summer the stench of the Thames drove Parliament to soak their curtains in lime, an experience that led to funding for a modern sewer system. Tune in to learn about modern toilets, germ theory and more.

Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com

Does the five-second rule work? (Thursday, January 17, 2013) — If you drop a piece of food and pick it up within five seconds, is it still good to eat? Researchers have studied this and have also inadvertently shone a light on how utterly covered our world is with bacteria and germs. Prepare to shudder.

How Death Masks Work (Tuesday, January 15, 2013) — The Myceneans kicked off the habit of creating a mask of a deceased person’s face in deathly repose, and what began as an ancient rite has only recently fallen out of practice. Learn about this dignified but ghoulish custom with Josh and Chuck.

WNYC’s Radiolab

Shorts: The Bitter End (Tuesday, January 15, 2013) — We turn to doctors to save our lives — to heal us, repair us, and keep us healthy. But when it comes to the critical question of what to do when death is at hand, there seems to be a gap between what we want doctors to do for us, and what doctors want done for themselves.