Podcasts

So over the past few years I've taken to listening to some podcasts. Mostly they are gaming podcasts, but I do have a couple non-gaming ones thrown in there. I thought I'd write about the ones that I keep on a regular rotation now, as I've given some up as well.

The Dice Tower - When it comes to board game podcasts, this is the grand-daddy of them all. I think they've been going for something like 9 years now. They make a fun podcast, have lots of different contributors, and provide some good insight on various board games. Mostly though, I listen for their Top 10 lists. Every other week they do a Top 10 list of games for a specific category, such as games from 1998 or games you'd play with your mom. These are entertaining and also give you some good ideas for possible purchases and trades.

The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast - This is a group of 4 guys that talk about gaming of all kinds. Video gaming, board games, RPGs, miniatures, just about everything you can think they'd discuss. Mostly it is board games, but I like it that they discuss other parts of the gaming hobby that I'm not involved in. The real reason I listen to them though is because as a listener it is like you have just been placed in their game room, after a game, and you hear 4 long time friends just shootin' the breeze. This podcast is what I imagine would be in any game room in any situation with buddies of a long time. I can see myself sitting around talking to my long time gaming buddies like Jonathan, Dave, and Ryan just recording it. This would be the Secret Cabal - just Indiana style.

Ludology - This is more of a gaming thought podcast. Goeff and Ryan, both pretty smart guys, discuss specific game topics or theories or sometimes will even go very indepth on a single game. Most interesting to me though right now is that they are live blogging, I guess that is what you'd call it, where they are doing every other episode on how their design of a game is progressing. Their thoughts, feed back, problems, just about everything about the process. This makes for some really interesting discussion and since I like designing games...ok...one game, I like this podcast.

On Board Games - This is the podcast I was able to be a guest on once. These guys often have a rotating 3rd chair, which makes for a lot of variety in their shows on a lot of gaming related subjects. One thing I have noticed though, is that I usually don't agree with Donald who is one of the co-hosts, which actually is a good thing, because I know if he says he really likes a game then I'll probably not like it as much and vice-versa.

Agenda7 - This is a brand new podcast that is on Andriod: Netrunner, which I talked about the last time I blogged. I've been enjoying listening to it and have been surprised how professional they already are with their content. I tried out a couple other Netrunner podcasts, but this one was by far the best of them. I'll stick with this podcast if I stick with the game itself as a good source for playing strategies and deck building thoughts.

Winvasion - This was my first single-game specific podcast. It only has 3 episodes so far, but it is about Invasion, so it has to be in my rotation. Invasion is probably now in my Top 5 games of all time, so any podcast where they discuss it is great.

This American Life - The first of two non-game related podcasts (where my listening is really lacking I know). This was recommended to me by a friend at work and I have really liked it. It is basically a reposting of a Chicago radio show. It is a very weird show with all kinds of topics. There are stories about people who hear music in all sounds, people who map the cracks of sidewalks in the cities, tele-evangelists, abusive parents, and just about any random subject you can think about.

Mark Driscoll - Sometimes I also try and listen to Driscoll's sermons as well. Though I don't line up with him theologically in everything and I'm also not a big fan of his church model (him preaching via screens to every church), he preaches with passion and he also preaches the truth. His sermons are not only entertaining, but insightful, and give me a something more deep to think about throughout the week than games or whatever random subject This American Life happens to have.

So that is a lot of podcasts, Didn't realize I regularly listen to that many, though I just recently added Agenda7, Winvasion, and This American Life. Anyone got suggestions for another non-gaming podcast to listen to?