Erik Moe: Critic at Large

With this week’s announcement that Chicago’s own This American Life is podcasting its new episodes, I now have a nicely well-rounded weekly playlist of sonic ear and brain candy to entertain me while I work. I play wordy brain candy while doing visual/design work:

• This American Life
• Jazz in Chicago Podcast
• Harry Shearer’s Le Show
• From NPR: Driveway Moments, Shuffle, Pop Culture, Talk of the Nation Opinion, Science Friday
• BBC NewsPod – best of BBC news
• Economist – more world news from the UK. Ryan recently was raving about the print version – which caused me to add this to my rotation.
• Filmspotting – based in Chicago, this podcast discusses film and often has running themes discussed over several weeks (recently: Herzog, Animation, Documentary)
• …and some random podcasts that are published sporadically like Barack Obama’s podcast, and POV’s documentary previews

And I play ear candy when I’m writing or doing work that requires a little more attention from the left side of the brain. Actually, when I’m writing I usually turn things way down or off.

• In Over Your Head – I actually listen to this more for Julien Smith’s rants from Montreal, but the indie hip-hip tracks he plays are also amazing
• Local Support – Philadelphia bands
• CBC Radio 3 – Canadian Indie music
• KEXP Music that matters – long eclectic chuncks of time spent with Seattle indie DJs
• NPR All Songs Considered – a nice mix of new music and discussion of it
• …and a handful of random ‘song of the day’ or ‘song of the week’ type podcasts I’ve run across here and there, making for a nice mix of new music

I really love being able to listen to what I want, when I want and being able to skip ahead, pause, and rewind whenever I feel the need. Sometimes I miss the immediacy of live radio and the surprises that come with it, but since moving to Chicago I haven’t adjusted well to the daytime schedule offered by Chicago Public Radio – though overall I prefer their offerings over Philly’s WHYY.

So, what are you listening to?