Thing 7: Podcasts

Thing 7: Podcasts

I love, love, love podcasts. I listen to them loads in my own life.

I can honestly say that they have accompanied me on hundreds of kilometres of walking. In fact, sometimes the only thing that has made me go out walking in the evenings is the thought of finishing listening to some podcast that I have started.

 

There are podcasts for any and every subject you are interested in and I love listening to Catch Up podcasts as well. You don’t need to listen to all of a radio programme – just download the segment of the show that interests you.  All the radio stations provide podcasts of their shows and it’s a great way of keeping up to date with what is going on in the world.

 

And no matter what your niche interest is, there is bound to be a podcast to cater to it. Interested in sport, film, music, wine, falling further down the rabbit hole of just what is going on in Game of Thrones, you will find a podcast that is right for you.

 

I had not listened to library podcasts up to this but it’s not surprising that there are ones dedicated to our profession. I listened to some of the Circulating Ideas podcasts and quite enjoyed them. While their experiences might not be exactly the same as ours, it is interesting to learn what is going on in libraries in another country. Also as new technologies seem to break through in the US faster, you never know what new advance you could hear about before it makes it way over here.

  

I can understand the static nature of podcasts mean they are not for everyone and in an academic library where I work, I don’t think the medium is particularly appealing to students. However, I suppose it all depends on the people that you are targeting and the nature of the information being imparted as to how easily it can be incorporated into a library situation. 

 

Strangely, I never got into the Serial podcast. Listened to the first two episodes but just never became too engaged by it.  One I really enjoy is the New Yorker fiction podcast. It is a monthly podcast where authors read a story by another author that was published in the New Yorker magazine and talk about why they picked it and other general musings. Some really great pairings on it - Roddy Doyle being read by Dave Eggers or Roddy Doyle reading Maeve Brennan.

 

Despite my love of podcasts, I think I will hold off on recording one of my own.  Listening to me talking and stuttering through a recording is probably not something the world really needs right now.