5 Podcasts that I try not to miss

Considering that it was iPod’s 5th b’day earlier this week, I thought this would be a good time to review a few podcasts that I keep download and listen to farily regularly.

The first podcast on my list, goes with the really wicked title…The Naked Scientists. The Naked Scientists Podcast is described as, ” a media-savvy group of physicians and researchers from Cambridge University who use radio, live lectures, and the Internet to strip science down to its bare essentials.” Other than being educational & highly-informative, these podcasts are most of all so very entertaining. Dr. Chris Smith is without doubt one of the wittiest and most talented presenters that BBC Radio has. I’ve listened to quite a few of their shows and I’m yet to see been caught off-guard by any question thrown at him. And he this knack of simplifying and explaining the most complicated scientific theories/phenomenans. This podcast is a must for anyone who has even a passing interest in National Geographic or Discovery TV channels.

Robin Sharma’s Podcast. I was tempted to visit Robin Sharma’s website after completing two of his books, Mega-Living and The Greatness Guide. Listening to his podcast is like slugging down a 6 pack of Red Bull all at once. It’ll keep you motivated and going for weeks. Best part of his podcasts are the 3 or 5 action bullet points he gives at the end that makes his advice not just mere words but actually implementable. It’s a pity Robin doesn’t make these that regularly anymore, anyway there plenty in his archive that would keep you energised for a while. Two of my favourite podcasts f
rom his archive are, Life is short-Get up Early and 8 Things successful People Do.

Big ideas, are lectures/points of view on a variety of thought-provoking topics which range across politics, culture, economics, ar,t history, science by leading authors and thinkers. As a review from the iTunes mentioned “Some episodes are fascinating, somre are duds”. Nonetheless, this is a lovely podcast to keep track of and listen to on long road trips. Occassionally one comes across real gems of episodes. My two favourite episodes have been two book reviews by Robert Adams, the first was a review on The Kite Runner and the second on the book Family Matters. (Edit: Currently the links to these two episodes are not available, will update this post as soon as they are).

The Changing World is a weekly series of documentaries produced by BBC and PRI on a range of topics from ‘The working daily life of a housemaid in India‘ to ‘Inside the world of Google‘. Very current and presented in a highly professional manner, listening to these podcasts always leaves me fascinated on the insight of the topic provided and more so on the research done upon.

A Christian and an Atheist: Finally, my week is not complete if I haven’t got my dose of philosiphical delibration from Norton and Emery on A Christian and an Atheist. The podcast aptly describes itself as ‘the show where two friends disucss God, Faith and Morality’. The cover a number of highly-debatable topics such as ‘Objective moral standards without God’ and ‘An Atheists meaning of Life’. I find many of their podcasts quite mentally stimulating and throughout their dicussion I catch myself extremely involved as I either end up taking sides with the Christian or the Atheist or mentally fight out the point of view put across. A captivating podcast for all who’ve asked themselves, Does God not Exist?