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
Phoenix and David Bowie With New Music and More (Tuesday, February 26, 2013) — On this edition of All Songs Considered, Robin Hilton bares his heart and soul only to have co-host Bob Boilen crush it mercilessly. The point of contention? John Denver. The late country singer, who provided the soundtrack to Robin’s childhood, is celebrated on a new record called The Music Is You: A Tribute To John Denver. It features, among many other cuts and artists, My Morning Jacket doing “Leaving On A Jet Plane. We’ve also got a brand new song from David Bowie, from his first album of new songs in a decade. The French pop group Phoenix also returns with the band’s first new song since 2009, called “Entertainment!”
Book Reviews from The New York Times
Book Review Podcast (Friday, March 01, 2013) — This week, Emily Bazelon talks about Sticks and Stones, her new book about bullying; Phillip Lopate discusses the craft of essay writing; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.
Books Podcast from NPR
NPR: 02-28-2013 Books (Thursday, February 28, 2013) — Stories: 1) Clive Davis: A Life With A ‘Soundtrack’ 2) Loving But Leaving A Toxic Mother In ‘Without You’ 3) Literary Idol Comes To Life in ‘Farewell, Dorothy Parker’ 4) Craving Solitude In ‘Ten White Geese’
Brain Stuff from HowStuffWorks.com
Is there a way to detect illegal phone taps? (Friday, March 01, 2013) — Tapping into someone’s phone line is relatively easy to do on a land line. Fortunately, phone taps are easy to detect. Tune in to this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com to get Marshall Brain’s tips on ferreting out illegal phone taps.
How does an EPIRB distress radio work? (Wednesday, February 27, 2013) — An EPIRB, or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, helps rescuers find people — mostly boaters — in emergency situations. Tune in to find out how EPIRB radios work in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
What are motion cards and how do they work? (Monday, February 25, 2013) — Motion cards, which have been around for decades, give the illusion of motion using multiple images and a special printing process. In this episode, Marshall discusses the technology behind motion cards and how it has improved over the years.
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
Katmai National Park (Friday, March 01, 2013) — Katmai National Park is a remote, rugged place that’s famous for brown bears and volcanoes. Explore the wildlife and geological wonders of this gorgeous slice of Alaska in this video podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
Culturetopia from NPR
Jingle Madness And Oscar Gold (Friday, March 01, 2013) — This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See’s Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Trey Graham and Glen Weldon round up the Oscars telecast, from Daniel Day Lewis’ speech and Jennifer Lawrence’s tumble to Seth McFarlane’s jokes. Next, they declare an “earworm warm” and take a close look at the commercial jingle. They’ll go through a few of their favorites from past to present and ask why the jingle has gone the way of the dodo in recent years. All that, plus What’s Making Us Happy This Week, including a recent Mark Harris essay on leading men and an unusual Taylor Swift remix.
Film Junk
Episode 406: Chinese Zodiac (Tuesday, February 26, 2013) — On our annual live pre-Oscar episode we review Chinese Zodiac and discuss Life of Pi, No, Stoker, Speed 2, Executive Decision and Argo plus we take questions from the chat room.
Freakonomics Radio
Women Are Not Men (Sunday, February 24, 2013) — In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that’s not always a bad thing.
PopStuff from HowStuffWorks.com
Barbie (Wednesday, February 27, 2013) — She’s a hero to some, a villain to others. But how did Barbie get so much power in the first place? And has she been treated unfairly? Join Tracy and Holly as they break down the cultural impact of the world’s most famous doll.
Is there even such a thing as ethnic food? (Monday, February 25, 2013) — If everyone has an ethnicity, doesn’t that make all food ethnic? After wading through the semantics, Tracy and Holly dig in to the topic of food imported to the U.S. from other cultures. Listen in to learn more.
Sound Opinions
Sound Opinions Unearths Buried Treasures (Sunday, February 24, 2013) — Jim and Greg break out the shovels and metal detectors for another edition of Buried Treasures. They play “hidden” tracks they think deserve wider notice. And later the in show, Jim and Greg review the new album from renaissance man Nick Cave.
Stuff To Blow Your Mind from HowStuffWorks.com
Regurgitation Celebration (Thursday, February 28, 2013) — While humans generally try to avoid puking, an upchuck is just another biological function for other creatures. In this episode, Robert and Julie present a vomitory smorgasbord of cud-chewing monkeys, acid-puking spiders, corpse-hurling vultures and more.
Ghost in the Genetic Machine: Humans (Tuesday, February 26, 2013) — To what extent are we shackled to genes? How does our upbringing, environment and our grandfather’s life choices affect the expression of our genome? Join Julie and Robert as they discuss epigenetic research and ponder underlying questions of free will.
Stuff You Missed in History Class from HowStuffWorks.com
Unearthed! (Wednesday, February 27, 2013) — In 2013, experts identified the remains of King Richard III, one of England’s most notorious rulers. Shakespeare wrote the king as a nephew-killing, hunchbacked villain, but Richard’s real life was a complicated mixture of ambition, ruthlessness and fear.
The Other Pope Benedict Who Resigned (Monday, February 25, 2013) — Long before Benedict XVI’s resignation, Benedict IX resigned. Benedict IX was one of the youngest (and most notorious) men ever to become pope, and his abuse of power was legendary. He became pope three times and sold the title at one point.
Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com
How the Papacy Works (Thursday, February 28, 2013) — In February 2013, Pope Benedict said he would become the first pope to retire in 600 years. Check out this episode of Stuff You Should Know to find out just what the pope does and the process of choosing a new one.
How CPR Works (Tuesday, February 26, 2013) — You have a golden opportunity to make yourself into a worthwhile human being by learning how to perform CPR. The chances are you’ll never need to use it, but knowing how never hurts. Listen in and get primed to take a course on real-life life-savin’.
WNYC’s Radiolab
Shorts: Speedy Beet (Tuesday, February 19, 2013) — There are few musical moments more well-worn than the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. But in this short, we find out that Beethoven might have made a last-ditch effort to keep his music from ever feeling familiar, to keep pushing his listeners to a kind of psychological limit.