Self Defense 101 is a podcasted radio show of Free Radio Santa Cruz. Each show lasts about 1 hour and is packed with the radical politics and music, each episode is very well structured, and makes me wish that there would be more shows like this one. The opinions discussed there are brought forward without compromise, sometimes i am unsure how the show manages to stay above the ground.

I would definitely recommend that anybody interested in anti-racism, anti-imperialism, and other independance struggles. Collin Ward’s speech snippets are sprinkled through out the listening experience, and this sort of politics describes very well the perceived intention of Self Defense 101. I have nothing bad to say about the show… q;-)

Do not listen to this show if you are easily offended by swearing. Now with that out of the way i would recommend this show to people who are looking for a regular “odd” podcast. Although this is actually a videocast, i do not know it as such, as it does an audio-only version as well.

The shows are quite small, less than 1/4 of an hour each, the come out about every 2 weeks. There are a lot of snippets of information in each show, but non-the-less each show remains a topical one. More often than not there is an interview as a part of the show. Interviews are short, to the point, and usually do not repeat the questions which activists would already have heard the answer to. There is definitely a lot of time that is being put into each show, but it retains an underground feeling to it (substance is valued more than form). Oh, and did i mention the radical music? q;-)

On the negative side of things the web-site is way too arty, and i would definitely like to see something which i could navigate. I do not know what the RSS feed is, and i am forced to check every so often for the new shows manually, which is horrible since this is one of the casts that i don’t want to miss.

http://submedia.tv/  Audio version on radio4all.net

A discussion podcast from the Osborne brothers of Washington DC.  Discussion of current events with reflections on cultural ramifications and historic background.   The conversation is good and I often found myself wanting to join in with my own viewpoints.

It is a no frills presentation.  The website is a basic Libsyn page, without graphics, show notes, or links, even when they refer to news stories or YouTube videos.  You can sometimes hear the two podcasters moving around nearer and farther from the mike.

The website, http://ecb.libsyn.com, is about as barebones as possible.  Episodes don’t have show notes…  most don’t even have titles. The show itself, however, is full of humor and interest.  The ‘Emerald City’ theme, which comes both from the DC location and the last name (Osborne -> Oz), is reflected in various sound ’special effects’ which marks repeating features of the show; ‘poppies’, ‘the scarecrow’, ‘the tin man’ and ‘the flying monkeys’ are ‘awards’ given to public figures which have earned them over the last week.

We review six podcasts today:

1) Antiwar Radio
2) LeftCast
3) Polyamory Weekly
4) Radio Free School
5) The Real People Show and
6) Sexual Assault, Consent and our Students

I mention this climate change publication in the podcast: Climate Code Red (pdf) Just click and download
You can directly download podcast #09 here or subscribe on the right. (the link works now).
The “ethical anarhist” does an audio review for the first time in this episode also.

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Antiwar Radio is an ambitious and well-done professonal sounding  podcast that does interviews each and every episode.   The interview subjects are usually writers, journalists  and pundits in America, or the occasional whistleblower or former diplomat; such people as Seymour Hersh, Ann Wright, Philip Giraldi, Chalmers Johnson, and Dahr Jamail. The topics covered are not all strictly anti-war, but they usually discuss some type of war issue,  or crime or lies of the current government.  The topics also cover legal issues and things any political interview show will cover, and in general it’s what I’d consider informed political analysis.  The podcasts are a companion to the very well done and extensive website at antiwar.com.  The website is already one of my favorites just for its extensive news content and very clear cut anti-war position. The podcasts are from 15 minutes long to an hour, so unpredictable as far as size, and are released sporadically, sometimes several times a day, sometimes only once a week or less.

RSS feed: http://antiwar.com/radio/feed

Website: http://antiwar.com/radio/

The interviews are usually done by Charles Goyette from KFNX in Phoenix, or Scott Horton, who does these on his radio show in Texas.   They both have a  good professional interview style, not intrusive but conversational,  and they let the interview subjects do most of the talking.  Anyone interested in American current events would enjoy this podcast and find it educational, especially from the perspective of  progressive or moderate opinion.  I highly recommend this podcast.

This podcast is part of a podcast network called Ratbag Radio, which is a few blogs and podcasts done by a group of Australians. The LeftCast podcasts are usually done by a variety of hosts, and they don’t always introduce themselves, so it’s hard to know just who is hosting the show. This show’s main subject matter has changed a lot in the 18 months I’ve been aware of his podcasts. This show started out talking mainly about Palestinian issues and for some reason has nearly abandoned that subject, mostly and now focuses on climate change and Green topics. I think it did that because Australia is a leader on climate change, more than they foresaw when they started this podcast in the summer of 2006. Some topics also cover the Green party, socialism and other forms of government not capitalist. They also still throw in Middle East-topic podcasts occasionally now, but not as much as in the past.

The host is congenial and usually does some type of interview on the phone with someone. Some of the shows are more scientific in nature, but not enough so that the average person can’t understand what they’re talking about. Each show is usually about 15 - 25 minutes long, and the quality is varied. Sometimes you can hear everything very well, sometimes the phone interviews are very hard to make out. But the subject matter is important so it’s worth the trouble trying to hear what they are saying. The interviews are done half a world away so it’s understandable that they aren’t the easiest thing to hear. They don’t produce this show as often as I wish they did, but maybe this will give it more listeners and a bit of a boost. The website is well designed and straightforward and it’s easy to subscribe to the podcast. I recommend it and hope this little review is a bit of encouragement for them to keep up the important work they’re doing.

Website: http://leftcast.blogspot.com/

RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Leftcast

Technorati Tags: Ratbag Radio, LeftCast, Socialist, Green, Climate change, Palestine, Middle East, Podcast

Counterspin is a weekly half-hour podcast produced by the media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). It is hosted in turn by Janine Jackson, Peter Hart and Steve Rendall. Every week two of the three hosts dissect the corporate spin applied to the latest news and then go on to interview two different guests, each guest providing a special perspective and relevant information about a different, recent topic in the news. These interviews are invariably highly informative, providing information and analysis that is nowhere to be found in the corporate news.

I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough. It is professionally done, always informative, and I personally don’t know where else this kind of timely analysis and extremely pertinent information can be found. Probably the main obstacle to broad-based activism in this country is the gross ignorance the corporate controlled media deliberately imposes on the general population. This information bubble is as bad as, probably worse than, that suffered by the people of the old Soviet Union; at least in the Soviet Union most people knew they were being lied to. This podcast goes a long way toward shedding light on the corporate deceptions that cloud the public’s mind and should be regular listening for everyone.

Counterspin’s Website

Four more reviews of podcasts to check out. This podcast reviews:

1) Freedomain Radio

2) Alternative News

3) The Lone Conservative

4) Anarchist World

All website and RSS addresses, and short-version reviews are on this site. Use the search feature to find them if you want.

Join us for sampling and rating these shows and write reviews of your own to help us find good news, cultural, philosophical, and political podcasts. Sign up and write a review or request one for your own podcast. Non-U.S. podcasts are welcome.

You can download this episode directly right here: Podcast Liberally 08

The Lone Conservative

This podcaster isn’t really “lone” because there are so many podcasters just like him. He’s angry, and he’s angry at Democrats and liberals. It’s the same old story you hear on any conservative radio show. The ‘danger’ of this podcast and others like it is that he’s entertaining. His tagline is “Conservative rhetoric with a smile.” Maybe he’s just kidding about everything? A second tagline from his Libsyn website is “Liberalism brought to justice.” When he’s not being outrageously dishonest or insulting to one’s intelligence, he’s interesting, engaging and funny. He has a real talent for this, and a good voice, although he certainly isn’t an intellectual. He does follow the news though, and he does read news stories, but he tends to avoid giving his sources. In other words, he pretends to honestly read news, but it’s sometimes unsourced blog entries from god-knows-where. However, the reason he is typical of conservative political podcasters is that his message is so stuck in the past. The Lone Conservative’s message is that there is no such thing as climate change, or what he calls global warming. He is supporting Huckabee for president, as a religious man who wants more religion in government. He’s apparently against most science, liberal thought, taxes, human rights, children’s rights, and basically anything that would sound anything at all like what would occur to a left-leaning (or regular) person as reasonable. A big and regular topic on his podcast is anti-climate change. It’s like he was abused as a child by a scientist. (I hope not!)

Also like many other conservative podcasters, he doesn’t edit. It’s like he’s pretending he’s doing live radio, though he obviously isn’t. He leaves in big pauses, leaves and plays music, has kids crying in the background, etc. and he leaves it all in as though he can’t edit. Maybe he can’t. His website is bare-bones Libsyn, black and white with no embellisments whatsoever. He has a page on iTunes with no logo at all, so I have put here his iTunes logo. It’s the generic one. I actually envy people who feel no need whatseover to edit their podcasts, but this one could do with some editing.

He has apparently been podcasting since July of 2007. Though this podcast can be enjoyable to listen to, even interesting, I have to warn people about it because it’s one of those that you might find creeping into your skull and I’m afraid some of his ideas will stay there. Be aware of that as you might have fun listening to some of his ranting.

RSS feed is here

Technorati Tags: conservative, like Limbaugh, rants, climate change, science, religion

Polyamory Weekly describes itself as a podcast about “responsible non-monogamy from kink-friendly, pansexual point of view”. As one can guess from the name the podcast comes out weekly, and lasts from 20 to 30 minutes long, however, in that time Minx, who is the host of the show, covers the wide range of issues related to polyamory.

One must be warned that this podcast does talk about some things that many immature people will find hard to understand, issues such as honesty, love, communication, and… sex. Politics, culture, and news are constantly discussed, in fact ‘polyamory in the news’ is a constant part of the more recent episodes.

An excelent thing about this podcast is that there is a constant linking of poly issues with other issues in the world. Polyamory Weekly is a LGBT friendly, pro-woman, very supportive of free love. This makes this a great podcast to listen to even (and perhaps especially) if polyamory is just not for you.

The strongest point of this podcast for me (personally) is its opposition to jealocy as the proof of a loving relationship.

Oh, and i have nothing bad to say about this show.

Webpage: http://polyweekly.com/
Libsyn page: http://polyweekly.libsyn.com/