Ah, June… Summer is at our doorstep, the days are (almost all of them) seeming to get a little bit longer, and for the second year in a row I am partaking in my daily blogging exercise, marginally focused along a theme I’ve simply called Those 30 posts in June. No planning. No writing stuff days ahead. Just this: each day a meanderingly vague prompt drives a meanderingly vague post… and today that post just happens to be:

June 19th // Something You Are Listening To

About a year ago I did a lightly detailed review of three podcasts that I routinely download and enjoy while I’m working. You can re-read that post if you want. Lots of people have discovered and read it since I wrote it — apparently — as it is currently sitting as the twenty-third all-time most popular article on this blog. But if your music tastes don’t lean towards the down-tempo electronica podcast genre, you might not like any of my selections. Strike that… I should say, you might not choose any of my selections. Liking them is a completely different question: you probably would enjoy them, actually.

Seeing as how that last post was so popular, and how the question of the day is “Something You Are Listening To” I thought I would revisit the podcast review and offer up something a little different: spoken word casts. Yeah, sometimes I listen to electronica, but other times I listen to stuff that’s a little more… let’s say, cerebral.

TWIT: this WEEK in TECH

A cross-section of internet and technology news by a mix of lively and provocative hosts.

From their website: “This WEEK in TECH (also known as TWiT) is the flagship show of the TWiT network. It was the network’s first show, and it focuses on technology news, often from the prior week, and reviews. It is an audio podcast presented in a round-table fashion. In addition to host Leo Laporte, who has appeared in nearly every episode, the show features a panel of usually two to five guests, which changes regularly.”

In the late nineties I discovered Leo Laporte doing low-budget technology call-in shows on Canadian television. We rarely missed, and so NOW to have one of my favourite technology hosts offering quality and regular content delivered free to my desk every week is amazing. Think of it like this: It’s The View but for geeks, with more interesting topics, and if some of the panelists were logged in over Skype. Ok, so it’s nothing like The View, but if you want to stay up to date on the twisting and turning world of tech, this is a solid addition to your playlist.

Under the Influence

A professional ad man takes listeners behind the scenes of modern influence-based advertising.

From their website: “As the marketing world shifts from a century of overt one-way messaging to a new world order of two-way dialogue, we leave the age of persuasion and enter the era of influence. The first 50 years of modern advertising was hard-sell. The next 50 years was persuasion through creativity and media tonnage. But advertising is no longer a loud one-way conversation. It’s a delicate dialogue now. The goal is no longer to triumph by weight, but to win by influence.”

You can debate the merits of public-funded radio until you turn blue in the face, but until you bring me a show from another broadcaster (& podcaster) that dissects the advertisements with such refined insight — rather than just blaring them to pay the bills — your debate will fall on (my) deaf ears. O’Reilly used to have a show called “The Age of Persuasion” that covered a very similar topic, but went back a few decades. In “Influence” we are treated to a weekly insightful view of the underbelly and undercurrents of modern-day marketting. If you think this sounds dry, think again: not only is our society powered by advertising, but the logic, pyschology, and tactics touch so many elements of business, design, relationships, and culture you’ll quickly forget you’re listening to the stories of pitchmen.

The Extra Mile Podcast

A user-content-driven collection of stories and updates from runners of all skills and all backgrounds.

From their website: “In this podcast we encourage runners, no matter what their ability, to get in touch and send us their audio updates to tell us about their training, their races, or even if they’ve just taken up running. Some runners choose to record themselves out on a run, whilst others like to record in the comfort of their own home.”

I mentioned in passing this podcast a few weeks ago when I was writing about some of the (epic?) running adventures I’d been on lately and pondering if they would be show-worthy here. The funny thing is that the more I run, the more I train, and the more I dig myself into a routine with this constant plodding, the more I realize there is so much philsophy and pyschology and story behind running and runners. Some of it is worth sharing. Some not. But I love hearing about those adventures, either way. And this podcast is a mighty collection.

Again… my two cents. Enjoy your own listening and let me know in the comments what you’ve been downloading.