Podcasts I tune into

Unremittingly blue skies and warm temperatures today.

I rely on podcasts these days. I have stopped listening to the radio, almost entirely. I have nothing against radio, it is just that podcasts are a timeshift tool. I can listen to the radio I am most interested in when I want to listen. In spite of the popularity of the term, I understand from what I read that I am still unusual in this new habit.

Here are podcasts I listen to regularly these days. You will note a tendency towards public radio:

• Writer's Almanac: Garrison Keiller in a five minute daily list of birthdays and anniversaries followed by a poem. Nothing earthshattering, but often there is a little nugget of information or insight.
• Le Show: An hour a week of Harry Shearer. Very, very dry satire and current affairs information you won't hear anywhere else, especially continued reporting on the aftermath of Katrina.
• Fresh Air: Interviews and reviews. Fifty minutes a day every weekday.
• Onion Radio News: A minute, weekdays. The radio arm of the humor publishing empire.
• This American Life: An hour a week of mostly real life stories.
• The Sound of Young America: A Southern California interview program by Jesse Thorne. Often guests are up and coming artists, comics, or musicians.
• On the Media: In depth and engaging media criticism.