this time its all about podcasts, people. there has been no bigger aid to my hard-working-woes than podcasts. as i discovered this summer, pretty much the best thing in the world to get you through mind-numbing tasks (like driving cross the country) is talk radio. I hope you guys have made this discovery as well. and guss what?! all this talk radio (or at least the good ones) can be found on your computer for free-ninety-nine! so as a tribute to school being done to the max, here are some of my favorites (currently, i am subscribed to something like 20):

This American Life – of course, everyones favorite, the top podcast on itunes, but they seriously need some new episodes or they will be replaced.

Radiolab – actually my new favorite. well produced, almost always interesting and leaves you feeling a little bit smarter.

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me – hilarious news gameshow. laugh and get some news! perfect.

A Prairie Home Companion’s News from Lake Wobegon – sorry, chance. sometimes funny, sometimes touching, these are always only about fifteen minutes long, but incredibly well written considering he’s been doing them for so long. if you’re a writer, you could learn from this storyteller.

The Classic Tales Podcast – i thought this one was really creepy at first. old stories performed by one of those theater-y character actors. i still find it creepy, but the stories are just so good to listen to.

Mysterious Universe – mostly x-files stuff: UFOs, conspiracies, Cryptids. Who doesn’t love news about bigfoot?

The Naked Scientists – like radiolab (they sometimes have the same sources), but more scattered an brittish. they answer listener’s questions and talk more about science news.

Astronomy 161 – recordings of an actual introduction to astronomy class. if you cant tell, i like learning while i work. my only gripe is that the proffessor uses a lot of visuals that you miss.

PRI: Selected Shorts and New Yorker Fiction – i get these two confused, but theyre both basically short stories, which i always enjoy.

Grammar Girl – the last one i’ll mention. these are really short, but always have some little writing tip that i may have forgotten over the years without an actual english class.

so yeah, these are some of mine, but what about you guys? as always, im always looking for more stuff to listen to.