Author Topic: Other Podcasts  (Read 223066 times)

DarkCrystal

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1000 on: December 01, 2011, 01:20:36 AM »
How do you even begin to listen to all of those?

There's a reason I have a bunch I haven't listened to and some favorites on which I'm way behind. I'm sure I'll never catch up with everything.

But I have a 45 min. drive to work in the morning, plus anywhere from 45 to 1:30 on the way home. And I can usually listen to a few hours of stuff at work. And then in various commutes around the city.


JBizz - Have you kept up with The Basketball Jones podcasts over the summer (aka: The Blank Jones)?  I've found it absolutely hysterical hearing all four of them riffing on some random topic.  Will miss it a lot, even though I'm ecstatic they'll have regular NBA podcasts again with the season returning soon.

jbissell

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1001 on: December 01, 2011, 01:37:00 AM »
JBizz - Have you kept up with The Basketball Jones podcasts over the summer (aka: The Blank Jones)?  I've found it absolutely hysterical hearing all four of them riffing on some random topic.  Will miss it a lot, even though I'm ecstatic they'll have regular NBA podcasts again with the season returning soon.

I listened to most of The [Blank] Jones and enjoyed them. I was supposed to go to the live show when they stopped in Chicago but couldn't make it because of work. I've really been enjoying those episodes.

Which of the NBA podcasts would you recommend the highest?

It depends on what you're looking for. I think from a strict analysis basis, NBA Today w Ryen Russillo is tough to beat. Unlike a lot of ESPN guys, Russillo doesn't really kiss anyone's ass and really knows his stuff. They also get a lot of great guests from the True Hoop network along with some other good stat guys. The Basketball Jones is great from a fan perspective. Skeets and Tas are pretty funny and their show really feels like hanging out with some friends that love basketball for 30 minutes a day. The Disciples of Clyde podcast got the Free Darko blessing a few years back and does have a bit of the FD feel to it. They're pretty inconsistent in posting shows and they are often Knicks-centric, but Shoals pops up on the show pretty frequently. The NBA.com's Hang Time podcast is my least favorite. Sekou Smith and Lang Whitaker both know their stuff, but I find a lot of the former players they often have as guests are pretty lousy.

DarkCrystal

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1002 on: December 01, 2011, 03:57:19 PM »
AAustin - Thought I'd pipe in with my takes on the major NBA ones (I agree with JBissel):

ESPN's NBA Today with Russillo is pretty awesome.  Strengths: What's great about him is that he really knows his stuff, is able to present things in a really intelligent way, is very logical with how he approaches coverage of the league...AND has a great sense of humor, and the Bill Simmons casual-informal thing going on.  A+ podcast, and his discussions/interviews with fellow ESPN'ers Henry Abbot from True-Hoop, as well as Ric Bucher and JA Adande, are unbeatable.  His Wednesday night "Tales From the Couch", 30 minutes of him discussing each game/teams from the previous night, going into rants and depth about particular players...is also great.  Weaknesses:The only knock I'd have with Russillo sometimes is his blatant arrogance on the show...which I think he tries to pass off at times as "You guys don't get that I'm doing this on purpose, take a joke" vibe...but, he can kinda be a legit dick at times.   While he's great at leading discussions with ESPN cohorts, he's not a very good interviewer with NBA players, coaches, GMs. 


BS Report - Might as well be considered an NBA podcast given his obsession with the NBA.  Bill Simmons can be a divisive figure, but I've been following him since 2001 when he first came to ESPN's Page 2 and have always been a big fan.  Strengths:  always creative in how he thinks about the league, takes the fans perspective seriously, great rapport with guests, awesome interviews with people in NBA circles (David Stern, players, GMs).  Has a great respect for the history of the game, and is a total geek in the best way possible with knowing every team/player's financial situation.  His "Three-Man-Weave" episodes with Ric Bucher and Marc Stein are probably my favorite NBA anything's to listen to all year.    Weaknesses:  Very "flavor of the month" type of thinking, can get so lost in his wacky ideas that he doesn't take into account the reality of a given situation, sometimes doesn't think long term with team projections, doesn't take into account the various ramifications and factors that are involved with serious trades.  Too much of a, "It's simple, just do xyz!" approach sometimes.


The Basketball Jones - These guys rock.  It's THE perfect fan oriented podcast.  J.E. Skeets & Tas Melas are the main two cogs that hold the show down with analysis, Matty and JD pipe in with production and witticisms.  Skeets & Tas are basically die hard NBA fans that watch every game, read every box score, and have enough knowledge to be pro analysts on a network...without actually being that.  It's real loose and informal, often laugh out loud funny when they go off on tangents, but they really hold it down with legit NBA knowledge, and always present interesting takes on team/player analysis.  Skeets and Tas often disagree (which makes for a fun listen), and they are good at presenting both sides of an argument.  They also do some pretty hysterical video segments, where they'll do wacky skits or traveling-interviews to talk about NBA teams (three favorites of mine: Ron Arteset crashing the Ron Artest art show, Mad Money/Jim Cramer "Booyah!" treating NBA players like stocks, and their "Like a Bosh" rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2--uG4QMlA0&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL33F1BADD1514332D). 

FreeDarko guys - I don't even remember the name of their podcast, because I gave it about 4-5 tries and then bagged it.  Pretty awful.  I'm a BIG FreeDarko fan in general...their articles and whacked out tangential humor, weird slants and references to total randomness always gives me a chuckle, and right when you think they are diving into total nonsense land, they always pull back and make a great point about the NBA.  But unfortunately their skill with written word does not translate to audio well. NBA segment, and the
« Last Edit: December 01, 2011, 04:11:19 PM by DarkCrystal »

AAAutin

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1003 on: December 01, 2011, 04:20:34 PM »
Thanks for the recommendations, guys. I've tried THE B.S. REPORT before, but for whatever reason, could never really get into it. (Bill Simmons has an odd voice, for starters.) I generally abhor anything ESPN-related, but I'll give NBA TODAY a shot anyway. BASKETBALL JONES sounds like it'll fit me the best.

jbissell

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1004 on: December 01, 2011, 04:35:43 PM »
Plus TBJ are Raptor fans (they're based in Toronto), so you know they're legit.

Simmons has been turning me off more and more the last few years. It's just real hard to buy his "everyfan" vibe when the guy is friends with GMs and other Insiders and I think he's lost a lot of the perspective that I found so appealing in the early-00s. I thought he was really off the mark during the lockout, especially placing equal blame on the players and owners.

Re: Free Darko Presents. I don't believe Ken and/or Dan ever really wrote for Free Darko. It was more like they had an NBA podcast that the Free Darko guys liked and sort of made it the "official" FD podcast. I would agree that it's the most inessential of those listed but they post so infrequently it's not hard to give it a listen.

Katebo

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1005 on: December 01, 2011, 11:55:06 PM »
My podcast list tends much more towards the TV and nerdy than the others listed-

Battleship Pretension (film)
Bigger on the Inside (Classic Who rewatch)
BrainStuff (random info)
Channel Surfing (TV)
Radio Free Skaro (Doctor Who)
Filmspotting
Firewall & Iceberg Podcast (TV)
GeeksOn (geeky stuff)
History According to Bob (history)
In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg (Intellectual discourse on varying topics)
KCRW's The Business
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo (film)
The Nerdist (comedy)
Intelligence Squared Podcast (NPR debating)
Paul Goebel Show (TV)
Pop My Culture (comedy)
Previously On... (TV)
Simply Syndicated (pretty much everything)
Sound on Sight (film)
Stuff You Missed in History Class (history)
Stuff You Should Know (informational)
Tobolowsky Files (storytelling)
TRS (film/tv/game reviews)
TV Talk Podcast (TV)
Watchercast (Buffy)
WTF (comedy)

I also like, but won't subscribe to 'til I catch up with my WTF backlog, OperaNow (Opera) and PotentialCast (Buffy).

Any history/learning recommendations, anyone?

oldkid

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1006 on: December 02, 2011, 02:21:17 AM »
Well, Kat, you've got a number of my favorites, including In Our Time-- which is really a history of ideas.  You might want to try a couple of my favorite philosophy podcasts.  Philosophy Bites which is a 15 minute podcast bursting with interesting ideas, and not usually talking about dead philosophers, either (although sometimes).  Another is Philosophy Talk, not available on iTunes, but on iAmplify.  It is a great, sometimes funny, and not too deep discussion on philosophical issues.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

AAAutin

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1007 on: December 02, 2011, 11:31:30 AM »
TRS (film/tv/game reviews)

This is always the first thing I put on after I get home from work.

Any history/learning recommendations, anyone?

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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1008 on: December 02, 2011, 11:46:43 AM »
Podcasts I listen to:

Cinema on the Road
Left Field Cinema



FLYmeatwad

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Re: Other Podcasts
« Reply #1009 on: December 02, 2011, 01:38:52 PM »
Giantbombcast
IGN Game Scoop
Behind the Screened Door
Filmspotting (if I've seen the film)
Cinema on the Road (if I've seen the film)