I don’t have the hour-and-a-half commute anymore, but I’m still addicted to pod casts.  I just have to find time to fit them into my day.  I’m not one of those people that can listen to a pod cast while working and still concentrate on work, so I’m sneaking them in when I can’t sleep or while doing mundane tasks like folding laundry or washing dishes while the kids monopolize the television.

One of my fave non-tech pod casts is Crimes Against Food – from two hilarious british ladies who really, really love food.  And they get really, really offended when food is mangled or mistreated.  Their cast on sandwiches was excellent, and they even did taste-testing during the show of some of what they considered “sample” sandwiches.  Their soup cast is hilarious as well, in terms of what defines a soup versus a stew versus a broth … you don’t have to be into food to enjoy listening to these ladies discuss it.  And I’m a sucker for a British accent, it makes everything sound so eloquent, even when they’re just talking about a cheese sandwich.

This isn’t exactly a podcast, but I don’t listen to enough audiobooks on Audiblefor them to merit their own category so I’m putting this under here. I’m about fifteen minutes from the end of Tori Spelling’s Mommywood and I have to say I’ve really enjoyed listening to it. Read by the author (what a shock, why would she get someone else to do it?), it’s only just a little redundant (and that makes me wonder how much more so the hardbound is!). It’s a nice change from my usual techie stuff, and there’s lots of funny moments in this audiobook that had me laughing during my morning commute. (Now that my commute is 10 minutes from my former 1-hour+ drive, I’ll have to figure out when to listen to all my audio content – but that’s a GOOD problem to have!)

My audible subscription gets put to good use – I’ve got a few less-fun books in there, along with several books in my Amazon Kindle app, but that’s for another post. If you haven’t started downloading audiobooks on your iPhone – what the heck is stopping you?

Yes, you read that right – in this high tech blog I’m going to post about a vegan podcast – VeganFreak. I’ve never been a vegan, but I did spend 14 years or so of my life as a vegetarian (a while or so ago, let’s just say). In trying to be healthier to keep up with my kids, I’m becoming more interested in veganism – though most likely I will never be fully vegan I do like a lot of vegan food. I also enjoy listening to the hosts, Bob Torres, Ph.D. and Jenna Torres, Ph.D., who, as their site bio states, are “two long-time vegans who like to use our skills and talents to provide vegans and aspiring vegans with support, community, and entertainment.”

The best thing about this podcast is the banter between Bob and Jenna, with Bob’s music and carefully placed sound effects coming in as a close second. Oh, and they cuss. A lot. So there’s your warning. But what better time is there then on my commute to work to listen to two freaks explain why milk is actually really icky, and maybe try the other kinds from nuts or soy and see if you might possibly like it. I’ve been a long-time soy drinker (read:milk intolerance) but recently started giving it to the kids and they liked it a lot.

You don’t have to be a vegan to like this podcast. It is entertaining just to listen to them share stories of social non-acceptance and sometimes even mockery of their personal choice to not eat stuff that lived or came out of something that lived. So what if he doesn’t want ham in his salad? Just take the order, waitress, and let’s move on shall we?

This perspective is the subject of one of Bob and co-author Jenna’s books, “Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non Vegan World,” and the heart of the content of the podcast. If you can’t get enough of Bob, don’t forget you can also follow him on Twitter.

So vegan or not, give this podcast at least one listen before you decide you’re going to get a burger and to hell with me. What’s one hour out of your daily commute, really?

For some reason, my fave iPhone podcaster has been on hiatus (no new content from Today in iPhone for more than 10 days now … going into withdrawal!) so I spent some time snooping around the podcast listing in iTunes looking for new content. Aside from some really cool medication and yoga podcasts which I’ll review at a later time, I discovered a fairly new podcast devoted to my beloved iPhone: AppSlappy.

The show is hosted by Scott and Eric, two guys who seem to sometimes have a difference of opinion on their app reviews. They cover new apps, old apps that they like, and also discuss the device and OS itself which is especially interesting now with all the different versions of iPhone out there. I’ve only listened to two of their shows so far, and although I have to say they do quite a bit of rambling, there are just too many apps in the store for me to try them all and I go after app reviews like Norm Peterson goes for beer at Cheers.

Their coolest info from today? It’s actually not an app, but a utility to post video clips simply and easily onto your twitter feed: http://www.twitvid.com/. If you have one of those cool new iPhone 3GS’s you can shoot a video clip and tweet it in just a few steps. Twitter is already becoming the way that the masses are getting their information, and case in point how many of you found out via Twitter or Facebook about the death of Michael Jackson? TMZ was the leader on this one, and CNN was way, way, way behind (and in fact, reported that Michael was in a coma which was NEVER true).

Or how about the live feeds and blogger updates coming straight out of the warzones? Will this be the new way we get our news? Part of me is scared to even think about it, another part of me is excited to get back to the basic journalistic principle: from a multitude of mouths, the truth will flow.

Technically, I don’t know if this counts as a ‘favorite podcast’ but I’m gunna put it under that category anyway.  What I love about podcasts is that they’re free … you’re going to find that discovering things that are FREE is a big hobby/passion of mine.  It’s not just because I’m choosing to live frugally and save as much as possible, it’s also about grabbing the most out of life as you can, learning at every opportunity, and being creative in how I spend my time.

So in that vein, I have to share the wonderful resource of free education and entertainment that is iTunes University.  Ah Apple, as evil as everyone says you are (and of course, there’s some validity in that) you have many, many wonderful attributes.  If you have not stumbled across iTunes Univeristy, quickly scan the rest of this blog post and then head directly over to http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning/.

There are more than 100,000 educational audio and video files available on iTunes U from all sorts of sources including unversities of Carnegie Melon, Duke, MIT, Oxford, Texas A&M, Cornell, Cambridge and Stanford as well as museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sources like American Public Media.  There are literally thousands of hours of free educational materials across every topic, from science to engineering, language lessons to business negotiations, and even commencement speeches from this year’s round of graduations. 

There is no music in my iphone – only podcasts and lectures and a few purchaes from audible.  One of my faves is Randy Pauch’s last lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams."  Yes, you might have heard him on Oprah, but listen to him in your car when you’re stuck in traffic and it really hits home about how to spend the precious moments of your life.  It’s been more than ten years since college for me (okay a little more than ten years but who is counting) and I don’t think I appreciated my professor’s lectures in the same way that I do now, and we are all lucky to have these available to us because I sure as hell could not afford to go to Standord but it’s super-cool to get even a piece of their brains to mull over while on my commute.  

So open iTunes right now, and get some free learning!  Need inspiration?  Here are my most recent downloads from iTunes U:

iPhone Application Programming (Stanford University) – How to Build an iPhone App that doesn’t suck 

Roy’s Writing Tools (City U of NY Graduate School of Journalism) – Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

Spotlight on Angels & Demons (Carnegie Melon) – The Science Revealed

Nutrition, Diet and Health (Clemson University) - Walking Off the Munchies

I spent a tremendous amount of time in my car, (I have an hour commute each way to and from work) and if you live in Los Angeles, you know that the radio here pretty much bites.  Unless you want to listen to the same top 20 songs over and over again, you need some other sort of entertainment while sitting in traffic.  One of the best things about getting an iPhone, for me, was the ability to download podcasts.  I quickly became addicted, and I usually spend a few minutes every day checking out the top tens to see if anything new and cool is there.

My very favorite podcasts, that I religiously download each week:

 Manic Mommies – this is by far, my favorite.  http://www.manicmommies.com/

This podcast is just two moms (trying to do it all, and then some!) discussing their daily life and trials of trying to raise kids while still working and maintaining some sense of sanity.  Their weekly podcast is the highlight of my commute, it’s approximately an hour so it lasts for the whole trip and it’s as if I have two mommy friends who have the same problems and issues that I do.  In reality, I have very few mommy friends – and even less time to talk to them – so hearing this podcast gives me the illusion of being social.    The two hosts, Erin and Kristin, are extremely approachable (heck, they’re both my "friends" on facebook), entertaining, and so fun to listen to.  I really look forward to my commute with them.  They usually post their weekly cast on Sunday or Monday.  Even more cool, I recently won a contest on their site and they sent me a fuzzy vest with their logo, which I’ve worn proudly to work more than once. 

Today In iPhone – As an iphone addict, this is a must.  http://tii.libsyn.com/

If you’re like me and love all things iPhone, then this podcast should be on your auto-download list.  It’s another weekly (usually) cast where host Rob covers news of all things iPhone (and usually a few tidbits about other lesser devices ) and also reviews new apps.  There’s a healthy amount of listener reviews that he plays throughout the program as well, and it’s really interesting to hear from other iPhone addicts what applications they like (or don’t like).  He also covers rumors, possible upcoming features, and there is the occassional mention of things you could do on an unlocked iPhone.  He reads all the news about what’s happening in the world of iPhone, and all I have to do is download his cast and listen to be as in the know as he is. 

Lost  Podcast – Jay and Jack – Don’t bother with the official cast, this is the one to listen to! http://www.jayandjack.com

Another of my obsessions is the show Lost.  (I know I’m not alone here!) Jay and Jack are crazy, and so hilarious to listen to.  They post two shows a week, one right after the episode airs where they re-cap what happened, and one a few days later where they go in and do more analyzing on what happened in the episode and where the possible easter eggs and clues to the series may lay.  I love when they argue, or come up with crackpot theories.  They also play a considerable amount of listener feedback, people calling in with their own ideas of what’s going to happen on the show or their interpretation of what did happen.  It’s a way of extending my joy of watching Lost … but I don’t know what I’ll do now because the season finale is on tonight and then there’s just a few more episdoes of this podcast before it goes into hiatus along with the show for the summer.  I guess I’ll need to find another podcast to round out my top three!