podcasts – Equivalence

Rarely do I feel impassioned about something so much that I just have to write but I have found that something! This has nothing to do with computing so those that normally ignore can now listen.

My issue is with the whole Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross thing that is plastered all over the media. I mean do people not have a life and can they not get a joke? I fuckin hate these kind of people. As much as I have championed the Russell Brand podcast on here before I’m no real lover of his stand-up material so I think I’m pretty unbiased about all this. The facts of this whole situation are, number 1, only two people complained about the show when it was aired or in fact in the first week, that means that all those who listened thought it was fine. This means that the 10,000 people who complained since decided to listen to something that they knew would offend them, yet they still listened. Should we even pander to the opinions of these “demi-gods”? I mean, they had the option of just not listening but chose to listen and be offended. Number 2, they asked Andrew Sachs, the offendee in question, if it was ok to broadcast it and he clearly didn’t say no. Number 3. Gordon Brown wants to get involved. Is the whole country not in enough of a mess without listening to this man tell YOU what to do. So the unemployment rate is rising and what does he want to do, sack two people, good one 🙂

So the crux of this matter is if any of your friends are genuinely offended by this please don’t call them your friends. Don’t fool yourself into being offended just because you don’t like Brand or Ross or are jealous of their money – that would just make you look weak. The offended people are those that want to turn this whole place into a nation of dreary shitheads. Stand up against this and tell the media where to go. If I can think of some way to stand up to these shitheads then I will. In fact, now that I think about it, I actually have a Russell Brand related domain name that maybe can be put to good use (www.fusspotfarm.com). Fusspot Farm, which is probably exactly where we should send these people.

Over the last six months I have taken to the ultimate geek porno, software development podcasts. I line up the podcasts on my cheap-ass USB pen come mp3 player and go out on my bike, cycling to the rhythm of MVC, jQuery, and the Cloud. It has to be said though, I have learned quite a bit from this process. Anyway, I just wanted to document the list of podcasts that I’m currently actively listening to (in no particular order, other than that I prefer the one in first place to the one in second place 😉 ).

Stack Overflow – Hosted by Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood, think Laurel and Hardy, only funnier. I have been listening to this since podcast 1 and I’m pretty hooked. Topics vary from software management techniques to good/bad coding principles and practices.
Boagworld – Hosted by Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington. I’ve only been listening to this for maybe a month or so now but I like it. It’s not so much software development but web design but interesting topics and interviews all the same. Also, I would swear that Marcus Lillington is Noel Fielding, he sure sounds like him. This can actually be a bit disconcerting, as sometimes I think “is this just a couple of guys taking the piss out of computer geeks” – now that would be worth listening to.
Open Web Podcast – Hosted by Dion Almaer, John Resig, and Alex Russell. This started off well but there currently has not been a podcast for nearly a month so I’m losing a bit of hope. One thing I have to say about this podcast is that it tended to go into the topics in a fair bit of depth and when out on a cycle this maybe doesn’t sink in so much. You really had to be on the ball and up-to-date with the topic to have a full understanding. Also, I’m into a bit of humor whether intended or not, and this was maybe a little too serious. None-the-less still interesting.
WebDevRadio – Hosted by Michael Kimsal – variety of stuff on this podcast, I don’t tend to listen to it religously as it can be a little off topic to my interests at times.
Hanselminutes – Hosted by Scott Hanselman and Carl Franklin. This can tend to have a strong .NET bias which has put me off a little, but can sometimes have a topic that is of more general interest.

To summarise: a top podcast has to have an interesting people, interesting topics, and humour. Alternatively, it can just have humour, and this is why the Russell Brand podcast is one of the first I listen to each week. He’s not everybody’s cup of tea but I recommend a listen, you may be surprised. The show is at its best when Matt Morgan and Noel Gallagher are both in attendance but is always worth a listen.