# Recommend some educational (or pseudo-educational) podcasts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269 "2009-04-07T17:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/1 "2009-04-07T17:22:25Z")
Millions, My job involves long swatches of brainless filing during which I usually listen to a book on tape (or, on iPod as the case may be) or a podcast. I enjoy the How Stuff Works one, as well as This American Life, and recently discovered Radio Lab. Any favorites you’d like to pass along? I want to get my learn on. ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/2 "2009-04-07T17:38:20Z")
I just figured out how to put podcasts on my Zune (I am technologically inept), so I’ll be watching this too. Right now I’m listening to CBC’s Ideas ([CBC Podcasts](http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?newsandcurrent#ideas)), which is a bit of a cultural institution here - I listened to the radio show in high school classes. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/3 "2009-04-07T17:45:04Z")
Stanford University has an iTunes space now where you can get a bunch of recordings. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/4 "2009-04-07T18:39:07Z")
Weekly science podcasts, variety of topics: NPR’s On Science, Scientific American BBC’s Radio 5 has a podcast that comes out at least once a week, Dr. Karl and the Naked Scientists. It’s a radio show that covers different science news stories and has listeners call in with their questions. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/5 "2009-04-07T18:56:58Z")
SKEPTIOD is the awesome ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/6 "2009-04-07T19:43:14Z")
These previous threads pointed me to some interesting educational podcasts (including the 12 Byzantine Rulers one): [What are your favorite podcasts?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508708) [Source of free lectures or books on tape (mp3)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=505570) My alma mater, Carleton College, has an [online archive](http://apps.carleton.edu/news/audio_video/) of their weekly convocations (talks, performances, or presentations of general interest to the college community by visiting experts) available for download, some of which I’ve listened to and enjoyed (such as [the one by _Freakanomics_ author Steven Levitt](http://apps.carleton.edu/news/audio_video/?item_id=302943)). ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/7 "2009-04-08T04:22:28Z")
I just love[TEDtalks](http://feeds2.feedburner.com/tedtalks_video). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/8 "2009-04-08T05:05:35Z")
Sure. [Academic Earth](http://academicearth.org/) was mentioned in an earlier thread. While the website promotes video podcasts, I think all of them are also available in audio as well. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/9 "2009-04-09T03:41:01Z")
I listen to [Planet Money](http://npr.org/money). I don’t know if its intentionally educational but they really go out of their way to explain how the financial systems work for people who don’t know. If you already listen to This American Life then you may have heard of one of the main contributors of Planet Money from the TAL episode from last year titled “Giant Pool Of Money” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/10 "2009-04-09T17:14:53Z")
ON [NPR.org](http://NPR.org) For intellect: “The Infinite Mind” and “Intelligence Squared” for fun: “Car Talk”, “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell me”, “This American Life” and “Whad’ya know”? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-educational-or-pseudo-educational-podcasts/492269/11 "2009-04-09T17:23:23Z")
**12 Byzantine Rulers**. You can find it on iTunes. Best history podcast ever.