An Introduction to Podcasts

Want to get on the Podcast train but aren’t sure where to start? We’ve got some helpful suggestions for you!

For anyone not familiar with podcasts, they are quickly becoming a must have medium for celebrities and websites to connect with their fans. The podcasts are mostly audio and don’t have a set running time. Everyone is different, from one minute to three hours. Individual podcasts can be purchased on iTunes or even accessed for free (in my case) through Apple TV. For anyone just starting out wondering what they should look for can search by category but the selection is extremely vast and one can easily get lost in the choices. With that in mind I have put together a short list of some podcast in popular topics that the readers of this site may have an interest in.

Comics

The Secret Stash: This is the companion podcast for the TV show Comic Book Men. It is hosted by the employees of Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, which is the comic book store in New Jersey owned by Kevin Smith. This podcast is all comics, all the time.

Gaming

Weekend Confirmed: The hosts of the show go pretty deep into the latest video games and even old ones. They also have guest interviews of people in the industry. At an average of 2 hours each time the podcasts are a little long as the host usually get side tracked. Good, knowledgeable discussions and quality production.

Film and TV

Film Junk: The 3 hosts review one movie at a time. The running time for each podcast is about 2 hours long. They have very in depth discussions that usually veer off into other movies. The podcast also contains mild spoilers.

TV Talk Network LLC: This is such a great resource for discussions involving current TV shows. There is a separate podcast for every TV show in which the hosts discuss what went on in the current episode. In the network you can find titles such as The Walking Dead, Agents of Shield, Game of Thrones and Dr. Who among many others. Each episode is around 20 minutes long. This is for people who have already seen the episode since they contain spoilers.

Science and Technology

TWIT: This Week in Tech usually has several hosts each show and one regular host. Each podcast goes about 2 hours long. Technology discussions can get a little “dry” but the hosts manage to keep it entertaining by having a lot of funny back and forth banter.

Science Podcast: Science Magazine. It’s simply named and is presented in a very formal format. Each episode is around 40 minutes long on a couple different topics and with guest interviews. No witty banter here, just straight up easy to digest episodes.

The last one that I will recommend is one that doesn’t fit into any category, yet fits into everyone at the same time is Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project. Adam Savage who co-hosts Mythbusters also co-hosts this podcast with two other guys. Every episode has a few different topics, either movies, TV, comics, books, art or Just random stories that Savage has about his life. Each episode is around 30 minutes long and the discussions move along quickly. Very cool if you have a half hour to set aside.

This is by no means a definitive list but hopefully this gives anyone new to the world of podcasts a solid base to start from. Of course you can search for similar podcasts or go through them by category, but there are literally thousands in each genre to choose from and more appearing every day. Just get out there and start exploring.

This article was written for publication on the GCE by Scott Dewsbury.