During the week the phone rings too frequently to listen to anything that requires concentration while I design or sew. But we here in Chicago are lucky enough to have the greatest Saturday line-up on our local public radio station. My idea of a really wonderful Saturday is being in the studio working on a quilt while listening to This American Life, a beautifully written radio show of stories from various contributors. Despite the title of the show, listeners will find that the subjects of the stories translate nationality. These are sometimes moving, sometimes funny, always memorable stories about human beings and their foibles. There are times, I confess, when I laugh so hard that I have to put down my rotary cutter for fear of losing a finger. If you have not discovered this program, download one episode and you’ll be hooked.
The other podcast I listen to regularly while I’m making things is CraftSanity. If you are new to this site or the CraftSanity site, you will find WONDERFUL interviews with Whipup’s fearless leader Kathreen, and contributors past and present including Alicia Paulson, Drew Emborsky and me. Jennifer is a talented interviewer and her longer format allows for more in-depth interviews.
Please post your favorite podcasts, downloadable radio programs and other spoken word pieces that can be downloaded via the internet.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Like you I’m a big fan of This American Life. I also like to listen to Prairie Home Companion’s archives. http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/
Thanks for the CraftSanity tip!
Like Joy, I also find PHC a really good listen while crafting – lots of variety, the whole show is really good quality, and it’s easy to rewind (on the internet) when you miss something becuase the sewing machine is too loud. Unfortunately, here in Australia, less people have heard of it, but I am trying to spread the message among my friends (http://sponky.blogspot.com/2006/06/prairie-home-companion.html)
i love to listen to spoken word programs on my ipod while i knit or sew –
my faves are “this american life” the grand-daddy of them all…none better! also on my list…”fresh air” a daily arts, culture, and politics show, “watching the directors” a bi-weekly show about major film directors, and “all songs considered” a show about cool music and musicians. i get all these free from i-tunes.
makes the time really fly
I love CraftSanity. I also love the CraftyPod, http://www.craftypod.com and the Crafty Chican http://www.craftychica.com. They are so fun and inspiring to listen to while crafting/cleaning/general puttering around.
I love Wait Wait don’t tell me also on NPR
I compiled this list for my website, and I do try to keep it up to date but I’ll add more if I find them!
http://materialmama.wordpress.com/more-creative-podcasts/
* Alex Anderson Podcast
* Cast On
* Craftcast
* CraftLit
* CraftSanity
* Crafty Chica Podcast
* Crafty Dad
* Craftypod
* Crafty Girls
* Creative Mom Podcast
* Crochetcast
* Crochet Unraveled
* Cut Out + Keep
* Driven to Quilt
* Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet
* KnitCast
* Knit tunes
* Knitting News Cast
* Material Mama Podcast
* orangewillow
* Pink of Perfection
* Pointy Sticks
* Quilting Stash
* ScrapCast
* Secret Knitting
* The Knitting Cook
* Weave Cast
I love “This American Life” I was worried about it being on TV but when I got a dvd of a story of it I was so pleased.
fearless? not sure about that…
but i love knitcast, and craftborg as well as craft sanity and craftypod. of course you can find new podcasts through podcast.net and itunes and podcast.com. What other avenues do others use to find new podcasts?
http://www.yakkyakk.com/creativethursday.html
another recent find
npr weekends has always been synonymous with quilting for me. it never occurred to me, though, to move my sewing machine downstairs to the computer and listen to archives! there are so many TAL that i can hear over and over and over again.
One public radio podcast that’s fantastic, but too little-known, is “To The Best of Our Knowledge.” It’s an interview show about ideas of all kinds, and always fascinating. You can find shows at http://www.wpr.org/book/podcasts.html.
If you like to cook, one of my favorite public-radio cooking shows of all time is now finally podcasting – The Splendid Table! Lynn Rosetto Kasper has such a great voice! And her interviews are great fun. http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/about/podcast/.
And then, if you’re any kind of a movie-geek, you might like “The Treatment,” which is a Los Angeles-based interview show with directors, writers, actors, etc. Host Elvis Mitchell is one of the best interviewers out there, in my opinion. This show goes waaaaaaaaay deeper than your typical “Entertainment Tonight” format, to delve into the creative process behind film-making. http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510121.
I always listen to BBC radio 4 for their stunning drama and comedy programmes…….go here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/
and click on arts and drama or comedy.
Thanks for the info about BBC radio 4 they always have really great programmes