Podcasts I like or don't like

[alhilton]

You guys may want to give PodCastle another go. I have been catching up on episodes after a short hiatus and have been amazed by the quality of the stories.

..here are some of my recommendations:

The Dybbuk in the Bottle by Russell William Asplund (Ep 70) - a light-hearted Jewish take on making a deal with a devil.

The Olverung by Stephen Woodworth (Ep 69) - an adventurous heist story with beautiful words about the two sides of love, human nature, and addiction.

One Paper Airplane Graffito Love Note by Will McIntosh (Ep 66) - falling in love with a woman whose life is on display can be heartbreaking yet hopeful

Castor On Troubled Waters by Rhys Hughes (Ep 64) - a jolly romp through suspect yarns of adventure

Daughter of Botu by Eugie Foster (Ep 63) - a masterfully written Chinese fairy tale of love and loss

Captain Fantasy and the Secret Masters by Tim Pratt (Ep 61) - a secret agent gets to fulfil his lifelong dream of working with his favorite superhero to fight Nazis.

The Cambist and Lord Iron by Daniel Abraham (Ep 51) - an intriguing high-stakes accounting of the worth of diverse items

Fantasy is my genre, so I try to keep up with what's out there. Podcastle is hit or miss for me, but I've listened since the beginning. I second Swamp's recs on everything except "Paper Airplane Graffito." That one just did not hold my attention, and I haven't actually gotten to "Dybbuk" yet. The rest were episodes I saved, though.

[deflective]

i find the best way to listen to podcastle is just to visit the forums every four or five months when the mp3 player is running low. check the threads with the most comments, see which are solidly positive and you have two or three episodes worth listening to.

say what you will about people jumping the gun to criticize podcastle, the issues that were brought up after six episodes are the same issues that made me drop the podcast after six months. feed back early, feed back often. unconditional adoration feels great but earning compliments from the listeners willing to criticize is an accomplishment. pseudopod's recent success is at least partly because of their adaption to listener feedback (and no small part due to Alasdair).

fantasy audiobooks give a much more consistent payoff than podcasts the i've tried, fantasy is a genre that likes room to grow anyway. a few traditional fantasy stories that i strongly recommend are the name of the wind, a game of thrones, and the curse of chalion.

[Phenopath]

Podcastle is well worth a listen. The intros are fantastically meh ("why reality cooking shows are a lot like sports"), but today I just enjoyed "Bottom feeding" [stop sniggering] by Tim Pratt (no.55) and it was dead good.

[G. E. Lee]

Not to dogpile, but Podcastle has been dreadfully uneven. Dave does a great job, but they just run a lot of bad stories. The most recent, "Exit Sign," is just plain bad. I like Rachel Swirsky's writing, but I have to question the decision making in purchasing stories. I actually dropped them for a few months after they ran a particularly distasteful bit. Just started listening again, and I'm not enthused.

[Talia]

o.O

Maybe i'm just super unpicky. I dont get the podcastle criticism at ALL. I love 90% of the PC stories.

:/

[tbaker2500]

I suppose I should give it a try. I've always been turned off by horror as a genre simply because I don't like horror films, but I really enjoyed Mr. Anderson's stories on DC. Speaking of which, has Mr. Anderson come up with another blockbuster for the Halloween episode?

[Talia]

Horror? You'd be thinking of Pseudopod not Podcastle then, Podcastle is fantasy.

I don't listen to Pseudopod myself, for reasons that have nothing to do with quality.

[tbaker2500]

Hee hee.. these names are getting too confusing. And I'm not paying close enough attention. Yes, I was thinking Pseudopod.

[normsherman]

Yah, see, these are the reasons we really try to confuse people with what "genre" we are.

[F5iver]

I prefer Pseudopod over the castle. There are less likely to be enchanted Asian princesses and all the affected speech.

I've tried my hand at both horror and fantasy, with mixed results. I can't get into all that high fantasy other realm crap, so my fantasy is more urban. I think I just go way over the line with the horror. I have no boundaries!

[Phenopath]

Podcastle is very feminine.

BTW f5iver - you've grown!

[F5iver]

I eats mah vegibles.

[Mr. Tweedy]

I've been digging the EarthTouch.com podcasts. There isn't any particular scheme or order to these: It's just some dudes with HD cameras going out and getting video of cool animals. 10 minutes of cool animal video, the end; tune in next week. Clean and simple.

http://www.earth-touch.com/rss/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

[myke_deschain]

I Just started listening to "the leviathan Chronicles" (a podcast audio book set up like an audio drama) and i guess its worth a listen... its interesting enough to keep my attention at work and make me want to listen on. The whole thing itself is very well produced and their good at painting a mental picture for the listener... Though i still dont really know how i feel about it... If i were reading it as a book i would describe it as a trashy page turner filled with twists and action and such.. but the good kind.

[tbaker2500]

I thought Afterlives was quite good.
http://www.afterlives.net/

It steals a lot from Dr. Who, but there are worse things to steal from.

[strawman]

Note the request for nomination to the People's Choice podcast awards, at http://www.podcastawards.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false.
Nominations are closed and under review. I hope someone nominated DC.

[dreamrock]

I'm a little surprised with the PodCastle hate. Fantasy isn't really my genre, so I figure if I love about 50% of their stories, they're doing really well. And that tends to be the ratio. Swamp's list is a really excellent one, but I'd add the hated "The Exit Sign."

It's challenging, but it has the cultural examination I really appreciate in SF and shines an interesting mirror on our own society.

[myke_deschain]

I'm a little surprised with the PodCastle hate.

Hmm I don't know if its really PC hate necessarily... For me the whole show is rather hit or miss, though the stories i really like i love; one being PodCastle Episode 54: The Dreaming Wind by Jeffery Ford...

[dreamrock]

Hmm I don't know if its really PC hate necessarily... For me the whole show is rather hit or miss, though the stories i really like i love; one being PodCastle Episode 54: The Dreaming Wind by Jeffery Ford...

Oh, god yes. I love that story.

PC is pretty hit-or-miss for me (50%) too, but I guess that's not a high enough miss ratio for me to dislike it.

[Mr. Tweedy]

Dreamrock gives Tweedy beard envy.