Podcasts

[El Gordo]

Back when I was trying to run marathons I would listen to Phedippidations, though I can say with confidence that Tom wouldn't approve, based on his grumbles -- several of which strike a chord with me. I sort of warmed to Phedippidations as it centred on the Boston Marathon, which I had a particular interest in, and I thought that the guy did a reasonable job of presenting life as a back-of-the-field specialist. But inevitably, it strayed a bit too far from its core concern, and I abandoned it years ago. No idea what it's like now, but based on the Facebook page I hold out little hope.

Excessive matiness is a bugbear of mine too, which explains why I've had to stop listening to the Kermode and Mayo podcast. They do that annoying thing of topping and tailing the radio show recording with 'bonus material' that's too esoteric by 'alf -- and that's from someone who understands all the in-jokes. Much better to listen to the edited version on Saturday evenings on R5 Live, which contains only the useful bits i.e. the current movie top-ten, new reviews, and the interview. Everything else is padding. I have a lot of politics podcasts on my list though i gave up listening to most of them a long time ago. I'm keen on the New Statesman and Spectator offerings, and (usually) David Runciman's Talking Politics, but almost everything else is way too tedious these days. I'd recommend Criminal for sheer variety, and Scriptnotes for anyone interested in film and screenwriting. And although it's old hat now, Serial and (particularly) S-Town are, IMO, remarkably good.

But of course, this is all highly subjective.