Podcasts: Quality, Not Quantity

So I finally got myself one of those MP3 players the kids are all into these days. I grew up in the heyday of the clunky cassette Walkman, so I'm still completely baffled by how tiny the little bugger is. And it can hold like 350 songs? That's just insane.

Anyways, it's lots of fun, but most of my music collection is in storage (along with my computer) while our condo is rebuilt following FireFest 2005. As a result, I've been using it primarily to listen to Podcasts. What I have found, from my informal sampling of Podcasted shows, is that some are very good, and some are very, very bad. I'm not going to go into detail about the ones I haven't enjoyed very much, because hey, at least they're putting something out there, and who am I to judge it? I don't think I'd have the cojones to record myself blathering on about anything. I even cringe when I hear myself on an answering machine (seriously, who is that guy? he sounds like a massive tool).

The ones I've enjoyed thusfar are not even really Podcasts, but rather episodes of actual American public radio shows made available through Podcast technology. I use Juice, by the way, for my Podcast download needs.

And the cream of the NPR Podcast crop, by far, are those made available by KCRW. I am currently subscribed to no less than fourteen KCRW podcasts, including my favorites: The Treatment and Bookworm. I used to listen to these shows via RealPlayer at home while I did the dishes, but to have them in my pocket, ready and able to fill five minutes to an hour whenever I need them, is invaluable. It's like living in the freakin' future, people! (except for jetpacks. Where's my freakin' jetpack, Scienceticians?)

All I need now is for the BBC to fully embrace podcasting and I might never have to talk to another live human being again! They have a few available, but there are probably hundreds of shows on Radio Beeb that I would love to listen to at my leisure. Yes, yes, they DO have Listen Again, but I can't seem to get the bloody thing to work! And I needs my Jonathan Ross... it's like one of the members of Spinal Tap has his own morning show. It's very cheesy, very much "'ello, 'ello... Bob's yer uncle" but I honestly can't express how enjoyable I find the show. It's hypnotic to me. I could listen to Jonathan Ross read the phone book, I think.

Those are the podcasts that I am enjoying. What about you? Any that I should add to my subscriptions? I've listened to Fanboy Radio and The Pipeline Podcast, but I haven't really run across any top-notch comic related podcasts. Leeme know if I'm missing out on any hidden gems out there in Podland?