I heart podcasts

One of my favorite tweets came from Rachel of Red Prairie Press: "In my studio, time is measured by @ThisAmericanLife 's not hours."

So true. I've spent many-a-workday magically swept away into podcast-land, hunched over my jeweler's bench, only to look up and suddenly realize: it's gotten dark outside and whoa… I've just listened to 5 consecutive This American Life episodes in a row.

Today I thought it might be fun to share a listing of all the podcasts I like to measure my studio time with. (quick disclosure here: I'm an unabashed liberal and a bit of a public radio addict so a lot of these come from NPR and it's affiliates…)

1. This American Life: seriously, who doesn't listen to this one, right? Ira Glass makes my heart swoon.

2. Radiolab: a "life science" podcast for the every-man/woman. An exploration into life's big questions, ideas and science, always presented in an engaging manner. Really worth checking out if you haven't!

3. Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen: a closer look at pop culture and the Arts. An all-time fave of mine.

4. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: Weekly NPR news quiz show. Always entertaining, hilarious and informative, another all-time fave.

5. 51 Percent: A podcast about women. Not didactic feminist propaganda, just solid information ranging from political issues, women's health, to women and money, etc.

6. Real Time with Bill Maher: Bill has always been my guilty pleasure.

7. The Moth: Features people telling stories live on stage without notes on a huge range of topics. Very entertaining!

8. The Media Project : A weekly discussion of news/media related content. Alan Chartock may be a bit pompous in his delivery, but I do often tend to side with his ideals.

9. The Health Show : A weekly discussion of all things health related.

10. Fresh Air : Host Terry Gross, favorite interviewer of all time. I love to catch this show via podcast so I can download just the interviews I'm really interested in listening to.

11. Planet Money: Making sense of our global economy, the information is presented in a way even I can understand (for the most part.)

12. TED Talks: Just as they say, "Ideas Worth Spreading." Recorded from annual TED conferences. Engaging and forward thinking individuals presenting a range of ideas on stage live.

13. Selected Shorts: short fiction read by actors. This one is hit or miss for me but I still give it a go every now and then.

14. WhaleyStudios: Jay Whaley interviews interesting metal artists/jewelers, "famous" amongst our little world of art jewelry.

You can subscribe to all of these podcasts via itunes. OK, now it's your turn! What podcasts are you listening to?