Podcasts, books and my DroidX

When I got my new DroidX, I began soliciting podcast suggestions from my friends. There were a couple of reasons for this: 1. Drive time. I’ve got a good chunk of it. 2. Faster processor. I loved my Eris but it didn’t manage podcasts well. I had previously had podcasts on my Zune, but who really needs a podcast when you’ve got 90 gigs of music, right?

I upgraded the memory card on the DroidX (from the 2 gig it came with to the 8 gig from my Eris, now to a 16 gig class 6) and combined with the 8 gig internal memory, it means way more room for media. Here’s what I’m listening to:

The Bugle. God DAMN is this podcast funny. Sadly, I’ve had a bitch of a time getting it to sync with WinAmp AND DoggCatcher, so I’ve resorted to putting it in my GReader rss feed subscriptions. If you like The Daily Show, you will like this podcast.

this WEEK in TECH. Kind of the standard nerdcast about tech stuff. Interesting, though not necessarily humorous.

Buzz Out Loud. First of two cnet podcasts, this is longer and has a chick on it. I kind of think of this as Attack of the Show, but audio. Frequently good for chuckles.

This American Life. As with the NPR radiocast, it’s hit or miss for me but worth having.

Doug Loves Movies. Dude, this thing makes me laugh out loud in the breakroom so that people give me the crazy eye. If you want to start somewhere, grab the Adam Carolla, Jerry O’Connell and “Bald” Bryan Bishop ep.

The Nerdist. This is an odd tech-but-not-tech, comedy-but-not-comedy podcast. Not a variety show but it tends to have interviews that lurch wildly from topic to topic. Consistently entertaining.

The 404. Oh my god. This is the second cnet podcast, about 30 minutes long and featuring 3 dudes pretty close to my age group because I get ALL their pop culture references. This show slays me, every day. See show 820 for an awesomely hilarious, dystopian version of The Game of Life. I snickered about that ALL DAY.

The Moth. I just added this and I dig it. It’s like short form fiction standup.

Stuff You Missed in History Class. I think the title is self-explanatory and I’m a history nerd.

You’d think there would be a lot of overlap in my tech podcasts but it’s broken up by the different viewpoints. Where Buzz Out Loud was all worked up about the Android unsecured wifi exploit, the 404 guys were like “Uh, isn’t it ALWAYS a bad idea to get on unsecured wifi?” If I could only recommend two, I’d tell you to get The 404 and The Bugle. Number three is Doug Loves Movies.

On to books. According to GoodReads I’m three books ahead of my ’55 books this year’ schedule. Let me clarify, that means 55 books worth telling people about. I read various amounts of crap and sundry that I don’t count against my ‘real’ books goal because I’m not going to talk about them even if you ask me, because they’re crap and sundry. Not even braincandy. So yeah, I’m looking for 55 books I’ll admit to having spent time with and/or provoke enough thought that I want/need/am interested to discuss.

Yesterday I finished Mockingjay, the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy. I know you’ve heard a lot of hype about these books because JESUSwhohasn’t? That said, the hype is well-deserved. I can’t think of a better executed, more ambitious, sweeping, engrossing and engaging series in recent years (and I’m including other series books I LOVE like Chelsea Cain’s Heart series). It’s brutal and honest and awesome and inspiring and discouraging and real. Not only that, each individual book is fucking great. As a series, you’ll finish Mockingjay and then immediately want to start the series over so you can remember what it was like before you lost your innocence. What I’m saying is that if you haven’t read these books, you need to read these books – immediately, if not sooner. Here’s where I give a plug to booklending.com which is where I borrowed Mockingjay and raced through it in about 4 hours. Gripping, y0.

In related news, if you’ve got book and/or podcast suggestions SHARE THEM! I can use all the audio distraction I can GET at work…