Ideas & Culture Podcasts

Ideas/Issues

  • Alan Watts Podcast iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Alan Watts helped interpret and popularize Asian philosophies/religions for Western audiences. These podcasts give you access to his archived talks/public lectures.
  • Big Ideas iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Big Ideas offers lectures on a variety of thought-provoking topics which range across politics, culture, economics, art history, science. The program is produced by TVO, Canada’s largest educational broadcaster.
  • Bill Moyers Journal iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Veteran journalist Bill Moyers returns to PBS with Bill Moyers Journal, a weekly program that takes a deep look at a wide range of subjects, including politics, arts and culture, the media, the economy, and important issues facing democracy.
  • Brian Lehrer Show iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A solid public radio broad/podcast with excellent interviews with many important thinkers. Comes out WNYC in NYC.
  • CBC: The Best of Ideas iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A Canadian program that explores everything from culture and the arts to science and technology.
  • Common Sense with Dan Carlin iTunesFeedWeb Site
    • A blend of audio commentary and news analysis by one of the leading thinkers among today’s politically independent crowd. A fiscally conservative, socially liberal approach to solving problems.
  • Commonwealth Club Radio Program iTunes Feed Web Site
    • The oldest radio program in the country — dating back to 1924 — this weekly program features some of the most prominent speakers in the country.
  • Council on Foreign Relations (Video) iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Council on Foreign Relations (Audio) iTunes Feed Web Site
    • You can get inside this elite body and hear some of what the world’s leading politicians and political thinkers have to say.
  • Deutsche Welle
    • Inspired Minds iTunes Feed Web Site
      • A collection of portraits on the world’s great thinkers.
  • Entitled Opinions (About Life and Literature) iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Hosted by Robert Harrison, a Stanford professor, this podcast is a weekly literary talk show that ranges broadly on issues related to literature, ideas, and lived experience.
  • FORA.tv Daily FORAcast
  • Get Illuminated iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Boing Boing’s editors interview creative people within fringe culture.
  • Guardian Unlimited
  • Forum with Michael Krasny iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Coming out of San Francisco, this public radio broad/podcast features excellent interviews with major cultural figures.
  • In Our Time iTunes Feed Web Site
    • On this BBC program, the best minds explore the big issues that form the intellectual agenda of our time.
  • Leonard Lopate Show iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Coming out of WNYC in New York City, this public radio podcast offers daily interviews with a diverse collection of great thinkers and talkers.
  • Morning Stories iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Presented by WGBH in Boston, this program presents “unforgettable stories by everyday people.”
  • My History Can Beat Up Your Politics iTunesFeedWeb Site
    • Exactly what it sounds like; it puts current political events in a historical perspective and analyzes the history to allow us to understand our politics.
  • New York Public Library iTunes Web Site
    • An extensive collection of cultural media produced by one of the world’s great libraries.
  • NPR: Intelligence Squared iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Intelligence Squared U.S. brings Oxford-style debating to America– one motion, one moderator, three panelists for the motion and three against. Past topics have included religion in America, Hamas, and Hollywood.
  • NPR: Fresh Air iTunes Feed Web Site
    • The NPR favorite with Terry Gross.
  • NPR: Koppel on the News iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Like Nightline, but better.
  • NPR Shuffle iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A daily sampling of different NPR programming.
  • NPR Talk of the Nation Opinion Page iTunes Web Site
  • Open Source iTunes Feed Web Site
    • This daily program, hosted by Christopher Lydon, uses the internet and interactive technology to talk about the world. One of our favorites.
  • Partially Examined Life – iTunesFeedWeb Site
    • A philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it.
  • PBS Podcasts iTunes Feeds
    • This general collection gives you access to all PBS podcasts.
  • Philosophy Bites iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A British podcast featuring interviews of top philosophers and that delves into some essential philosophical questions — what is the meaning of life? what is the nature of reality? what is evil?, etc.
  • Philosophers’ Cafe Feed Web Site
    • Comfortable surroundings for vibrant street level discussions on burning issues of the day. No formal philosophy training required; real life experience desired. Come early, stay late. Presented by Simon Fraser University.
  • Public Radio Podcast Catalogue Web Site
    • This web site contains links to feeds for over 900 public radio programs available via podcast.
  • ResearchChannel iTunesWeb Site
    • Based out of the University of Washington, the Research Channel aggregates content from many universities and research institutions.
  • Salon.com Conversations iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Salon has a nice collection of audio conversations with figures from the higher echelons of the pop culture world. David Lynch, Pedro Almodóvar, Amy Sedaris, the list goes on.
  • SALT – Seminars About Long Term Thinking iTunes Feed Web Site
    • An award winning monthly speaking series hosted by Stewart Brand and organized by the Long Now Foundation, which hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s “faster/cheaper” mind set and promote “slower/better” thinking. The podcasts features many well known thinkers.
  • Start the Week iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A BBC production, Start The Week “sets the cultural agenda for the week ahead, with high-profile guests discussing the ideas behind their work in the fields of art, literature, film, science, history, society and politics.”
  • TED Talks Video iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Talks from an annual conference that brings together major thinkers and doers.
  • The Chronicle of Higher Education: Interviews iTunes
  • The Economist iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Audio content from one of the higher quality journals out there.
  • The New York Review of Books iTunes Feed Web Site
    • The podcast from the biweekly book review and journal of intellectual currents.
  • The New York Times Podcasts (Main) iTunes Web Site (see web site for individual feeds)
    • A fairly large collection of daily and weekly podcasts from the major US daily.
  • The New York Times – TimesTalks iTunes Feed
    • Conversations with people of note as well as NYTimes journalists and editors.
  • The New Yorker: Comment (iTunesFeed)
    • A weekly reading of the magazine’s well-known “Comment” essay.
  • The Sound of Young America iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Interviews with important figures in the world of pop culture, arts, literature and comedy. A highly-regarded podcast.
  • This American Life iTunes Feed Web Site
    • First-person stories and short fiction from the award-winning show hosted by Ira Glass.
  • To the Best of Our Knowledge iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Interviews with nationally and internationally-known guests with a passion for ideas.
  • Yesterday is Gone iTunes Feed Web Site
    • “Yesterday Is Gone” is Charles Binder’s personal perspective about politics, art, science, health, the past, the present, and what will probably happen…now that Yesterday Is Gone.

Books & Writing

  • Amazon Book Clips iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Lets you keep tabs on bestselling and up-and-coming authors.
  • Barnes & Noble: Meet the Writers iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A wide range of writers discuss their favorite books, influences, and the reasons they write.
  • C-Span – After Words iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Interviews with important authors of recently published hardback non-fiction.
  • Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Each day Keillor reads a short poem or two and recounts what happened on this day in history.
  • Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing iTunes Feed Web Site
    • I think the title says it all.
  • Guardian Unlimited – Books iTunes Feed Web Site
  • NPR Books iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A collection of NPR author interviews and book reviews.
  • NPR Story of the Day iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Poetry Foundation iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A daily podcast featuring high-quality recordings of poems, interviews with poets, and poetry documentaries.
  • Random House Podcast iTunes Web Site
    • Lets listeners check out excerpts from new book releases.
  • Shakespeare-upon-iPod iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A series of 9 discussions on, and readings from, Shakespeare.
  • Simon Says iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A weekly podcast on the books and audio books from Simon & Schuster.
  • Slate Audio Book Club iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Critics discuss important and popular books.
  • The New York Times Book Review iTunes Feed Web Site
    • This fledgling podcast features the editor of the NYT Book Review speaking about newly reviewed books.
  • The New Yorker: Fiction iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Each month, a New Yorker fiction writer chooses a story from the magazine’s archives for a New Yorker Out Loud podcast.
  • The Poetic Voice iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Houghton Mifflin presents a monthly poetry podcast.
  • The Washington Post Book Review iTunes Feed Web Site
  • The Writer’s Block iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Aired on KQED in San Francisco, this weekly reading series featuring writers and performers of all stripes reading the latest short fiction, non-fiction, theater and poetry.
  • Times Online Book Podcasts iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Book podcasts from another British daily.
  • Word for Word iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Presented by American Public Media, this podcast reviews the best of the nation’s recent speeches.
  • World Book Club iTunes Feed Web Site
    • World Book Club invites the globe’s great authors to discuss their best known novel. This monthly programme, presented by Harriett Gilbert, includes questions by World Service listeners.

Film

  • BBC: Mark Kermode’s Film Reviews iTunes Feed Web Site
    • From the BBC, this podcast takes a no-punches-pulled look at UK cinema.
  • The Treatment iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Film critic Elvis Mitchell turns the tables and gives the “treatment” to some of the most influential and innovative forces creating movies and popular art and entertainment.

Museums

  • Art Institute of Chicago Musecast iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Experience the Art Institute of Chicago’s museum through the words of artists, curators, musicians, and educators.
  • Metropolitain Museum of Art iTunes Feed Web Site
    • A solid collection of podcasts from America’s finest art museum. Includes reading by well known actors.
  • MoMa iTunes Feed Web Site
    • The Museum of Modern Art gives you podcasts that let you hear artists and curators discuss modern and contemporary art.
  • MoMA Think Modern Lectures iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Offers recordings of artists, critics, scholars and writers sharing their knowledge of the museum’s art collections as well as their views on comtemporary art issues.
  • National Museums Liverpool Feed Web Site
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art iTunes Web Site
    • The museum offers multiple podcasts. They’re all centralized in iTunes, or you can find the individual rss feeds on the museum web site.
  • SFMOMA iTunes Site
    • A notably strong collection of museum podcasts.
  • Smithsonian Museums
  • The National Gallery Podcast iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Podcasts from the National Gallery art museum in London.

Sundry

  • Car Talk iTunes Feed Web Site
    • An NPR classic.
  • The New Yorker Cartoons iTunes Feed.
    • Catch animated versions of The New Yorker’s famous cartoons.

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