Jaime's five favourite podcasts

It wasn't that long ago that I introduced my daughter Jaime to podcasting. I figured she would like the fact that she could really get into a show and listen to every episode on her own terms.

As it happens, I was right. Boy, was I ever right. Jaime is now the podcast queen. I have no idea how many she keeps up with, but there is seldom a time when she isn't listening to something or other.

For the past couple of weeks she's been in Vancouver, volunteering at Cyprus for the Vancouver Olympic games. She's having a blast, from what I hear. She's seen some of the gold medal performances - especially the first gold Canada won in the men's moguls. "The curse is over" she shouted at me through her cell phone the night he won.

I was thinking about Jaime tonight because I just finished writing a short item about podcasting for the Mac user's group that I belong to here in Victoria. I remembered that I asked Jaime quite awhile ago to give me her top 5 favourite podcasts.

I've been bugging Jaime to start her own blog just to tell us all about the stuff she's been finding out about. But she hasn't risen to that challenge yet. So I'll present her choices here in my blog. Enjoy.

Jaime's Top 5 Favourite Podcasts

1 - Hamish and Andy

The Australian comedy duo's drive home radio show. Their podcast compiles the segments between songs into 40 minutes of hilarity, five times a week.

2 - The National: At Issue Panel Audio Podcast

This podcast updates once a week and is the full version of the At Issue Panel segment from CBC's The National. Usually no longer than 15 minutes, the panel is a refreshing change from the shouting matches on cable channels. Andrew Coyne, Chantal Hebert, and Allan Gregg provide their take on Canadian politics and the week's news, and the banter between the panelists and Peter Mansbridge is always enjoyable.

3 - It's All Politics

This is a weekly NPR podcast covering all things political (in the US). Hosts Ron Elving and Ken Rudin discuss everything from senate races to mayoral contests from the 1960s, and are constantly trying to stump one another with obscure political trivia. Very punny and thoroughly entertaining, even if you're not as much of a political junkie as these two are.

4 - Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

Another weekly NPR show. Each episode is taped in front of a live studio audience, and features questions about the week's news. The host and announcer are always the same, and there is a rotating group of panelists featured, who provide witty commentary and answer quiz questions. Listeners also take part in some of the games, in hopes of winning the grant prize of Carl Kasell's voice on their home answering machine.

5 - Slate podcasts

All Slate podcasts follow a similar format, with three (and occasionally more) hosts discussing three topics related to whatever area that particular podcast focuses on. There's separate political, culture, sports, women's and money gabfests, as well as monthly audio bookclubs and a spoiler special podcast that discusses recently released movies. All are quite addictive and most end with a segment where each person recommends something that piqued their interest that week, which has led me to discover many interesting articles/books/artists etc.

Thanks Jaime. Great list.

Anyone got any favourites to add? Comments are always open.