I’m going to admit it. Sometimes I get bored while walking. Sometimes I’ve just walked this particular trail too often recently. Sometimes I just can’t settle into a groove. I look to technology to help me get over this particular hump. One of my bulwarks against boredom is podcasts.

What is a podcast?

Well, it’s a radio show based on listener interests. I have an Apple Smartphone and I use iTunes to find new podcasts. A podcast may be just a few minutes long or over an hour long. You decide how long you want to listen. After I download the podcast (necessary when there is no Wi-fi or when I’m not interested in using up more of my data plan, I go into the podcasts and select what I’m going to listen to.

Pros

I learn something new. I’m able to distract myself. I often want to continue walking just so I can hear the rest of the podcast.

Cons

This may take some pre-planning. You may lose some phone memory because podcasts take up space. I find my walking pace slows down as I listen.

I have some podcasts that I’m subscribed to and have set up so that I get regular updates. This means I don’t have to download the podcasts; they download automatically.

Podcasts I’m Subscribed to

  • The Day Tripper – This is a Texas podcast based on the popular PBS show, The Day Tripper. While each show focuses on a Texas town (it’s history, points of interest, etc.), the podcast focuses on the ins-and-outs of daytripping and the back scenes of the show. Each podcast is roughly an hour long.
  • #EdChat Radio – This 15-minute podcast tackles topics of interest to teachers while focusing on the latest and greatest in education.
  • The Naked Scientists – The Naked Scientists are based out of the UK. They cover a variety of scientific topics and each podcast usually features a panel of experts (aka scientists). They produce several different podcasts with a variety of themes, including Naked Archeology and Naked Astronomy. Each podcast is about an hour long.
  • Sidedoor – Sidedoor is a new podcast by the Smithsonian. Episodes run about 20 minutes.
  • StarDate – Stardate is based out of the McDonnell Observatory in west Texas. Each podcast is about two minutes long and it lets listeners know what’s going on in the night sky tonight.
  • Stuff You Missed in History Class – These podcasts are usually about 30 minutes long. In them, the two hosts focus on a particular topic and go into the history of that topic.

I also occasionally listen to Stuff Mom Never Told You, a podcast about feminist topics. While this podcasts tends to be quite liberal in its bias, it also focuses on women’s history, something of interest to me.

What interests you? What podcasts do you enjoy?

Posted by on July 4, 2017 in Technology, Volksmarches and Walking.

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About scribedscribbles

Like most people, I hate filling out profile pages. Who am I? Well, I’m a wife, teacher, daughter, and friend. I’m also an intellectual, an introvert, a night owl, and a bookworm. I work with struggling readers and overachievers, ages 11 to 15. I take care of students, a cat, two rabbits, friends, and my husband. I enjoy geocaching, reading, volksmarching, gardening, crocheting for charity, lecturing, science fiction, learning, and teaching. My favorite colors are blue, green, and purple. I am judgmental, dyslexic, sweet, overweight, graying, short, generous, loving, supportive, and chronically early to meetings. I’m afraid of snakes, putting my head underwater, heights, depths, and failure.

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