Monday Connect: Podcasts that Inspire (from beyond our field)

OEGlobal Plaza
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Thanks for responses so far to our first two weekly prompts this years under monday-connect so swinging now for number three.

Podcasts.

I’ve been asking for a while about what podcasts people here listen to that are connected or of interest to open educators and have been adding them to a collection we maintain over at the OEGlobal voices site.

Now I am curious to know of shows you might listen to outside of of our field that sometimes generate ideas for you or at least inspire you. Do you have recommendations and from those, maybe specific episodes that stand out?

What audio do you listen to that opens you to new ideas or sparks general interest in topics you maybe did not expect to be interested in?

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Kindergarten of the Air flickr photo by ABC Archives shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND 2.0) license

A regular one for me is 99% Invisible which covers the broadest idea of design “a sound-rich, narrative podcast hosted by Roman Mars about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.”

A recent episode that I enjoyed, and not completely outside the scope of education, was U is for Urbanism which unfolded the people and ideas behind the PBS Show Sesame Street.

Another show I enjoy regularly, as someone who likes editing audio, is Twenty Thousand Hertz that explores the world of audio in our everyday lives. A memorable episode was where host Dallas Taylor found and interviewed other people who share his same name- I Interviewed Five Other Dallas Talyors and Things Got Weird. The human connection was powerful.

Lastly, a new show I started liking is BBC’s Rare Earth where the hosts dive deep into stories of the natural world and science, but always wrap it in the connection to every day life.

Okay, that’s my starter- can I get anyone else to share podcast shows they listen to for more general information/inspiration and why? If they list grows I can definitely make another collection. I will tap on some folks I know who are active in podcasts themselves, looking at you @greeneterry @mdeepwell @hmross @moodler @MWeller @clintlalonde and… and… I am missing more I know?

Please join in and share what you listen to, even if its out on the fringes.

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I listen to a lot of history podcasts, favourites are Bad Gays, The Rest Is History, Behind the Bastards, and You’re Wrong About. For tech updates Wired’s Uncanny Valley. For news and political commentary Novara Media, Byline Times, The News Agents, and BBC’s Strong Message Here. And for literature and ideas London Review Bookshop. Stand out episode of LRB is a conversation between Rebecca Solnit and Carole Cadwalladr: No straight road takes you there https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-video/podcasts/rebecca-solnit-carole-cadwalladr-no-straight-road-takes-you-there

Look forward to seeing others’ suggestions!

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I listen to so many podcasts! But listing the ones that inspire me, or make me generally introspective…

No Dumb Questions - one of the hosts is a “rocket scientist” from the deep south (Alabama) (Destin from the Smarter Every Day youtube channel), and the other is a “humanities guy” (history and religion) from the wild west (Wyoming). It’s really interesting to hear them talk about topics because they’re each coming from very different perspectives and different ways of thinking. My favourite episodes are where one of them will pick a topic and try to explain/teach it to the other one. I also appreciate the way that they go about these conversations - their friendship is deep, and they’re not afraid to get deep with each other. I particularly enjoyed the episodes 202 - What’s Your Favorite Painting?, 198 - The Crash at Crush, and 021 - The Antikythera Mechanism and Shipwreck.

The Rest is History - two historians (Tom Holland (no, not Spiderman) and Dominic Sandbrook) with different areas of expertise explore a wide variety of historical subjects. I’m still catching up on this one so not sure what to recommend. I got a lot of good book recommendations from one of their early episodes: 14. Historical Fiction

What Now? with Trevor Noah - I’ve been a fan of Trevor Noah for a very long time, so I love that he has his own podcast now. He interviews a wide range of people on a wide range of topics. Loved his most recent interview with John Oliver, and Josh Johnson (another comedian, highly recommend!) pops in a lot.

The Hatchet - a Canadian journalistic podcast that talks about power, corruption, and how things actually work here. I’ve really enjoyed being able to delve into topics specific to Canada and I’ve learned a lot. The hosts used to work for Canadaland, a podcast about journalism in Canada that I used to listen to but don’t anymore.

The Unmade Podcast - a lot of fun! Every episode, the hosts come up with ideas for new podcasts (that they won’t be making). I’m also behind on this one :sweat_smile:

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Holy bleep, so many suggestions 90% new to me, so thanks @LornaMCampbell and @agrey

My tip for looking up podcasts is to skip the web search and go directly to Podcast Index an amazing open data set of more than 4 million podcasts. If I go there and search for Amanda’s suggestion of “No Dumb Questions” I quickly get to the entry page for this show offers links and the most recent shows you can “window shop” listen to.

Podcast Index entry for the No Dumb Questions podcast, listing information about the shows, the most recent episode in an audio player, and icon links for the web site, RSS feed. The 4th icon is noted with a red arrow suggesting the pod.link entry for one click subscribing in your favorite listening app.
Podcast Index entry for the No Dumb Questions podcast, listing information about the shows, the most recent episode in an audio player, and icon links for the web site, RSS feed. The 4th icon is noted with a red arrow suggesting the pod.link entry for one click subscribing in your favorite listening app.2166×1058 227 KB

That 4th icon is amazing! It takes you to the show’s entry on pod.link with one click links to subscribe to the podcast in your preferred listening app (it offers ~30 different apps).

Keep the suggestions flowing!

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I’m disappointed that you did not include “The Education Innovators Podcast” on this list. I was nominated for an Open Education Award for Excellence last year and recently published an amazing episode with Shai Reshef, the founder of University for the People.

https://youtu.be/ilS-8sJpiRw

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Hi Eric, I do listen! I was asking for examples of podcasts outside the scope of education that generate ideas. And perhaps you missed the mention of your podcast here:

The ones I listed were just a few, not a definitive list, and the idea is for this to be a collective effort.

So as someone active in podcasting, do you have any others that fill your ears with ideas?

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Thanks for sharing! I hadn’t heard about the Podcast Index before and it looks like an amazing resource.

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Here are a couple I have enjoyed:

The Darknet Diaries takes the listener on interesting investigations into cybercrimes.

Emergence Magazine offers beautiful prose that opens one’s perception of the world to native ways of seeing. As they put it, they explore the threads connnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality.

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