Since I do much of my work from home these days, I have become addicted to podcasts. These are basically like radio programs that are pre-recorded, or recorded live, then uploaded to a server where they can be downloaded and often times even subscribed to via iTunes, or similar audio programs. When you subscribe to a podcast in iTunes, it will automatically download the latest episode whenever it’s available, then you can listen to it at your leisure. Since I’ve been working from home, I’ve discovered a lot of interesting and cool podcasts – I thought I would share some of my favorites. These can range from pure online gaming geekery, to science, to music, to tea.
Music Academy OnLive is a classical music talk show that is filmed entirely in Second Life. The host, Benton Wunderlich (in RL, David Schwartz) hosts the show from his Music Academy Online, located in Second Life. He is presented as a virtual avatar, and everything, including the stage is virtual, including the guests. What’s interesting is, Dave can host the show right from his living room in Santa Barbara, California, and his guests can be in their living rooms from anywhere in the world. They can chat as if they’re in the same room, and even perform live on the show. his recent guests have included violin virtuoso Mark O’Connor and the great wind quintet, Imani Winds. I was actually a guest on the show early on, and I’m slated to make a return sometime soon, so watch for that!
My Ears Are Open is another classical music podcast, but this one is aimed more at composers, and also performers of new classical music. Host James Holt interviews some of the best classical music performers out there that play a lot of new music and often work directly with living composers. They talk about their experiences, good and bad, in working with composers and performing new works. It’s interesting for performers, but invaluable for composers.
Extralife Radio is a podcast full of nerdy goodness. Podcaster/web cartoonist Scott Johnson, along with his cohorts, discuss whatever topic of geekdom they feel is important to discuss that week. This could include talking about a new movie that just came out, a new piece of tech gadgetry, a new video game, etc. Very informative, if you’re into that kind of stuff (and I am), and very professional and entertaining.
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