Podcasts
I began listening to podcasts during the time I worked in London. I sat on trains for the best part of 4 hours each day, and discovered the various shows created and presented by the likes of Leo Laporte, Molly Wood, John C Dvorak, Sarah Lane, Jason Howell, Rafe Needleman, and many more. They became early morning companions to the rising sun as I thundered across the countryside towards the city.
I didn't realise I had favourites until TWiT launched "Tech News Today", obviously competing with "Buzz Out Loud". Yes, it was good, slick, professional, and all those other words, but it wasn't entertaining. It was dry, factual, and accurate. It was the BBC of the podcasting world, versus Buzz Out Loud's Howard Stern. Eventually Tom Merritt (that TWiT had poached from CNET) left TWiT and started an indendent show called "DTNS" thatturned everything on it's head again. His departure from TWiT reminded me of the change in presenting style in "Good Morning Vietnam" when Robin Williams was taken off the air.
Over time I discovered more and more podcasts - Linux Outlaws (irreverent), The Bugle (very, very funny), Back to Work (wonderfully off topic), and The Ihnatko Alamanac (un-categorisable). They have accompanied me on the mountain bike each morning and evening, on long train journeys, and while sitting in far flung hotel bars on my own.
More recently I have become a huge fan of the "British Tech Network", which provided a breath of fresh air against the predominantly US based tech podcasts - all of which seem to talk about nothing but patents, lawsuits, and corporate in-fighting. Their "Big Show", and "Pocket" podcasts have caused me to burst out laughing in the middle of busy train carriages more than once.
One of my most memorable moments listening to podcasts has to be the morning of 5th October 2011, when Buzz Out Loud went on the air an hour after Steve Jobs death. You can listen to it here. Listening to Molly open the show caused a lump in my throat then, and did again a few moments ago when I hit play. I can remember exactly where I was, and exactly what I was doing at the time - standing in my back garden, fetching my mountain bike from the shed. It was a "Kennedy" moment...