I love podcasts. The more I listen to them, the more I try to think about why I like them so much. Other than the fact that so many people tell me that I was born in the wrong decade – the 40s & 50s were really my time – and during that era radio shows were still popular, I think I love podcasts for their enviable storytelling abilities. They make up in fabulism what I severely lack.

I’ve made a list of my very favorites, and ones I’m getting ready to jump into because they have been highly recommended by people whose minds I know and trust.

• My Brother, My Brother and Me (MBMBaM for short). Three brothers who give advice to those who ask for it, and ridicule (and possibly give very bad advice) to the people of Yahoo Answers. It sounds pretty straightforward, but these guys are so funny that they were my starting point for podcasts.

• Thrilling Adventure Hour, especially Beyond Belief. I could only hope I can grow into the alcoholic shoes of Sadie Doyle. She is classy, sweet, saucy and terribly, terribly funny. And PFT, well, he’s just like his bio says, “America’s finest…” Start anyplace you’d like, but here is the link to the soundcloud audios.

• How Stuff Works podcasts (especially Stuff You Missed in History Class). I like these on days I feel unproductive. They’re nice and short, and they make me feel like I learned something. So even if I don’t do anything else all day, I learned one thing.

• Ear Wolf shows. You could pretty much close your eyes and pick a show on the Ear Wolf lineup and hit a winner. My favorites are Sklarbro Country, How Did This Get Made, Comedy Bang Bang, Who Charted?

• WTF with Marc Maron. He’s a comedian who invites people on a show he produces from his garage. So awesome on so many levels. Sometimes his guests are people that he has had beef or problems, or didn’t like in the past, and that is a very interesting way to talk through it: invite them to talk about it on a public podcast! But since he’s been a stand-up comic for a while, he has a lot of great stories about being on the road, or to commiserate with other guests on the show. Amy Poehler got an apology from him when she was on his show because he would never help her out when she was first in the Second City circuit.

Here a couple that people have recommended, but I haven’t yet delved into yet for some straaaange reason:

• Mike & Tom Eat Snacks, recommended by both GillianTheGreat and The Beau. “the podcast where your hosts Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh eat, discuss, and rate snacks. ” I don’t think i need to say anything that hasn’t been said already. Sounds fantastic.

• Hardcore History, recommended by Ben Fowlkes. With titles like “Death Throes of the Republic”, “Old School Toughness” and “Suffer the Children” how could I be kept away?
• Pod F. Tompkast.  Recommended by everyone who has discerning ears. I don’t know why i haven’t gotten to this one yet. I listen to Beyond Belief, I listen to Comedy bang bang, those all have the Tompkins element, why don’t I take the leap?

Do you have any more recommendations for me to add to my heaping List o’ Listening?

Filed under: Lists, Mental Happiness, Musical Endeavors ]]> http://pepperedthought.com/2011/09/27/podcast-love/feed/ 0 pepperedthought P1100076.RW2 http://pepperedthought.com/2011/06/21/summer-playlist/ http://pepperedthought.com/2011/06/21/summer-playlist/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:03:37 +0000 pepperedthought http://pepperedthought.com/?p=4908 ]]> This is my playlist for humid, hot, windless summer nights, and for summer parties filled with twinkling lights and mason jars filled with gin rickeys:

Rumble – Link Wray

This is Not a Love Song – Nouvelle Vague

Sittin on the Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding

Mr. Tangerine Speedo – Caviar

Blue Bayou – Linda Ronstadt

Rollin in the Deep – Adele (of course, the hit of the year so far)

Summer in the City – Joe Cocker or Loving Spoonful, both are great

Walkin After Midnight – Patsy Cline

The reason I fancy-edited this picture was because the original photo model’s white white arms scared me.

It’s summer, lady – get some sun. P.S. Anyone recognize what amazing summer movie this is from?

It’s spring! Full of spring training ball games, spring cleaning and the parties that following all that cleaning. Plus, only a couple weeks until my birthday!! Gotta get cracking on the last few things on my list!

I have been wracking my brain for a playlist to shake off the wintry blues. I also wanted to be able to share it with you. So I scoured the internet for what to me seemed like the best playlist generator thingy, and in my opinion, grooveshark won because of the vast library it contains.

So here is my spring playlist to you, “Spring Playlist 2011.” I’ll think up a better title for the summer one, I promise! Just click on the picture to be whisked away to Springville!

(original photo via capucha)

UPDATE: I guess I should have said this earlier, but some of the songs are a bit risque. I mean, one is called “Death of a Whore,” which is, you know, self explanatory in the NSFW department.

• This interesting interview with Peggy Orenstein about her book “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” and how gender roles have (sadly) become more sexily pronounced and how the expectations have become even higher for girls within the last 20 years.

I love asking moms I know parenting questions from things I read like this. Particularly The Beau’s sister, who has an almost 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, both girls. Last week it was about the Tiger Mom. This week it might be about girlification.

• Rainbow Cupcakes from Amanda at hello pretty eyes. She graduated from culinary school, is the head baker at a cupcake shop, and if that isn’t the most awesome thing, she shares her how-to for the most amazing rainbow cupcakes ever! I think some ridiculous cupcake colors are in my future…Phoenix Suns colors! Mardi Gras! Cinco de Mayo!

• This picture for today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is breathtaking. Most of them are truly amazing, but when I opened this one up to really big, it got me all choked up.

• Amanda F. Palmer has released a new album of Australian-centered songs and I was on the fence about it for a while, thinking they wouldn’t be anything to write home about. But jeez lady, let someone else have a little talent here! She makes a song about how much she hates Vegemite (even though her beloved continues to eat it) and surprisingly turns it into much more than a funny song. Good stuff here. And yes, you could pay for $.69 for the whole album, but wouldn’t you rather AFP not have to be a beggar? Wouldn’t you like to get more than $.69 for hours upon hours of work you did out of love?

• Abbey of Aesthetic Outburst has made a goal of 20 valentines before Valentines’ Day (above is day 8) and I while I would be tearing my hair out, she is creating the most thoughtful, marvelous treasures.

• While I know that most people who read this blog aren’t MMA-focused, I had to add this because I was enraptured by it and had to watch it a half dozen times, think about how crazy it was, then watch it again.

With that in mind, my album this month is Christmas with the Rat Pack. I love those swingin’ cats. And nothing says holiday party better than a flask meant just for the punch bowl.

The Little Pixie Xmas set! See details for items here. The holly fascinator and earrings were both found on etsy.

p.s. to rock this ensemble, that Steve Perry amaze-a-mullet is not optional.

It’s like they wrote a theme song just for me. (And raided my favorite thrift stores for dresses!)

It also reminds me about one of the things on my list of 27 Things: make a short movie. It gave me a fresh breeze of inspirado!