A Plethora of Podcasts!!

Lately I’ve been listening to podcasts a lot, which I’m finding to be just a terrific source of information and entertainment. Since I now have a ~30 minute commute to work (instead of the 5 minute commute to my previous job), the car is becoming a great place to listen to my iPod, either through headphones or through the cassette adapter in my car’s pimpin' stereo. There are 4 main podcasts that I’ve been listening to pretty regularly, so I thought I’d provide a little description of each one.

1) Pastor Mark Driscoll Audio Channel – Pastor Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. I’ve been listening to his sermons online for a couple of years now, and I’ve found him to be an intelligent, challenging, gifted communicator of God’s Word. And, he’s funny too, which is a bonus. His sermons range in topic from 'Calvinism vs. Arminianism' to Biblical positions on birth control and alcohol. His latest series is called “Religion Saves and Nine other Misconceptions”. Really good stuff.

2) The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack – I’m a big fan of the TV show “Lost” on ABC, and my buddy Cody introduced me to this podcast last year. It’s a great show, giving a detailed recap of the week’s episode, along with listener feedback, behind-the-scenes news, and Jack’s “Crackpot Theory of the Week”. I even called in before one episode last season and they played my call on the air! Fun!

3) The Dice Tower – This is one of 2 gaming podcasts that I listen to regularly. Hosted by Tom Vasel and Sam Healey, with contributions by other folks in the gaming community such as Moritz Eggert, Mary Prasad, and Greg Schloesser. Tom Vasel is well known in the boardgaming community due to his prolific writing of game reiews on BoardGameGeek, and it’s fun to hear the banter between him and his long-time gaming friend Sam. Every episode centers around a “top ten list” of games in a particular category. Tom and Sam both live and work in South Korea doing missionary work, which makes the fact that they’re able to produce a high quality, successful boardgaming podcast all the more remarkable.

4) The Spiel – Hosted by Steven Conway and David Coleson, and recorded right here in Indianapolis, The Spiel is quickly becoming my very favorite podcast, gaming or otherwise. Exceptionally produced and organized, The Spiel is about “games and the people who love them”. Every episode includes gaming news, the “Backshelf Spotlight” (where they highlight some older games that might have slipped your mind as goodies), “Game Sommelier” (where, like a wine steward, they are challenged to choose the “right game for the right occasion”), and “The List”, where Steven and Dave play one or more games off of their personal list of unplayed games in their collection and offer a review. Their most recent episode, called “26.2”, highlights a 24-hour game marathon that the guys hosted with a few of their friends. After every game that they played, they recorded a segment with a short description and review of the game. It was especially fun to hear the decline in their coherence as the marathon went on and they got more and more tired. I hope they make it a yearly event!

Even if you don’t have an iPod, you can still link to the podcast website and download the mp3 files, or listen online. But, if you do have an iPod, all of these podcasts are available on iTunes for free. Listening to these great shows may one day inspire me enough to start my own podcast, but for now I’ll just sit back and enjoy the quality work of these other fine podcasters. Check ‘em out!