Extra skin around the elbow

Or, why doesn’t anyone knee Joe Jackson in the groin?

So weird day for radio/podcasting yesterday.

KFI pre-empted Rush and Dr. Laura to cover the Michael Jackson memorial. Bill Handel and Gary Hoffman, followed by John and Ken, definitely provided unique coverage. I liked it. I love it when Eric Leonard (LOVE him!!) is out in the crowd with the lunatics, Steve Gregory is enduring icy cold stares whilst clandestinely calling in on his cell phone, Bill Handel knows nothing about the event he’s covering, and John and Ken criticize everyone and everything.

So here’s where I admit something. I realized yesterday that I don’t know what anyone looks like. Since I only listen to talk radio news and I only watch 10-year old British TV shows, I don’t know the difference between Al Sharpton and Jermaine Jackson.

Oh wait. My brother once thought that the photo of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I’m sorry, I don’t know how to make the accent marks) on the back of my copy of 100 Years of Solitude looked like Al Sharpton. I guess I could process-of-elimination it if I had to…

Later last night the Pretty Good Podcast celebrated their fortieth podcast with some special guests. Oh nothing, just a coupla major studs named Timmy Conway, Jr. and Brian David Whitman, maaaan.

Congratulations, Randy and Gina. I almost had to blast away at you last week (two weeks ago?) when you started with the Paltalk. But you guys seem to have figured out that it sucks.

So job well done on the first forty shows and I look forward to many, many more.

(And, Gina, I’ve never seen you in person but I’m sure you have just the right amount of skin around your elbows.)

Zapruder humor is timeless

So what’s going on in podcast land?

Brian Whitman (Website still hacked. Randy, please help him out. For old times’ sake. Pleeeease. Is Don on the phone?)

This guy flamed out on a pretty cool bodcast. Now he’s decided he needs about 50 jobs.

Glenn Beck Voices, producing, writing.

www.rick.com Hosting a morning music show.

Fake Leykis Podcast (only one so far)  Brian, PLEASE turn off comments on your website. You’re only asking for trouble.

Pay him $20 to give your outgoing voicemail message.

April Winchell

New podcast today! I don’t know if this will be a regular thing, but enjoy it while it lasts.

Pretty Good Podcast

This really is a pretty good podcast. Check out the Jennifer Conway episode. It’s great – I’ve listened to it twice.

Low Budget Radio

These guys are real nerdy. Listen to the “Dear Gina Grad” episode for some funny George Noory humor. And when isn’t George Noory funny?

KLSX riff-raff podcasts

Randy Wang has become the king of the fringe podcast. He’s producing (OK, he’s recording and posting) a bunch of new podcasts.

Malibu Dan and Chrysta

The Single Life Podcast

AdaMacaDocious Podcast (I’m copying Randy’s capitalization here, don’t blame me.)

Marc Germain

Marc had Teresa Strasser (I love that you can type her entire name with your left hand. If you don’t use capital letters. Or if you have radical control of your little finger.) on as a guest last week.

Tonight’s guest is Bethenny Frankel from Real Housewives of New York City. This guy has a major Real Housewives jones, man.

If Randy is the king of the riff-raff, Talk Radio One is a haven for people who were fired from KABC. Who knew there would be such a market?

Un-Skype this lad, please.

This American Podcast – Act III

Podcasts 8, 9 and 10 were fairly worthless and a waste of time.

8. The Stuff of Genius

About 1.5 minutes of how the video game console was invented. Why bother? Oh, and it’s a video podcast. I’ll pass.

9. ROFL

Another video podcast – random stand-up comedy bits. I can tell you one thing… I was certainly not rolling on the floor laughing.

10. Real Time with Bill Maher

Now here’s a real time-waster. A three-minute clip of Real Time with Bill Maher? Why?

So now we’re back to number 4 – Car Talk.

Listening to this podcast took real commitment. I’m not at all interested in cars. Or in crazy anachronistic brothers with crazy laughs. Maybe you are.

www.ihearttalkradio.com oversight by our boss, Mr. Torey Malatia, who is looking forward to the Fake Leykis Podcast and gives this advice to men trying to woo women, “I would…uh…smell good. And I would be wearing…uh…tennis shorts.”

This American Podcast – Top 10 edition

Sometimes I get carried away. For example, a couple weeks ago I went to the International House of Indigestion with my son and brother. (BTW, if you just want an omelet for breakfast, they throw three full-size pancakes at you. Are you kidding? Who can eat all that?)

Anyway… I suggested we go out to breakfast more often, like once a month. That quickly became a club – The Breakfast Club, of course. (I get to be Ally Sheedy, my son Anthony Michael Hall, and my brother Judd Nelson.)

Next thing you know, we’re eating breakfast in our beds and Skyping each other. (What was that dumb satellite sisters show on KABC? Kinda like that.)

This American Life is almost always the number one podcast on iTunes. This week they crafted a show based on the classified ads from one Sunday edition of the Chicago Sun-Times and one edition of the Chicago Reader.

A lightbulb went off.

What if I listened to every podcast in the top ten, captured at a single moment in time (around noon…Monday, June 1, 2009)?

Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, it is until you get to number four.

1. This American Life

2. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me

3. Stuff You Should Know

4. Car Talk

5. Stuff You Missed in History Class

6. Fresh Air Podcast

7. The Adam Carolla Podcast

8. The Stuff of Genius

9. ROFL (Who puts out this podcast? I don’t have time for a full search right now.)

10. Real Time with Bill Maher

I don’t want to be branded a Frosty-style blogger, so I will present this blog in the spirit of Ira Glass…

In three acts.

Nerdcasting

So today I took my son to JPL’s Open House. We go every year. And, seriously, if you live in Southern California, you need to take your kids there at least once. Everything is free and it is amazingly educational and fun.

My son is a major science nerd. I am not, but I love going. Why? The people. They’re enthusiastic and brilliant and they’re just dying to answer your questions and teach you everything they know.

How does this relate to podcasting? Well, podcasting provides nerds all over the world a vehicle by which to spread their passion and knowledge. Not just to the already initiated, but to new people as well.

The king of the nerdcast is, of course, Leo Laporte. This guy is a huge stud and does like eight or nine podcasts. Do I care what the best antivirus software is, or how to Skype from Asia? Uh, no. But Leo makes it all sound so exciting.

Nerds are the best.

Podcast > Bodcast > Bobcast > Bobsled?

So after KLSX flamed out I set out in search of podcasts. It turns out most podcasts suck, but the ones that are good are the ones done by people in broadcasting.

This is what I’m listening to now. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I also subscribe to these podcasts but I don’t always listen.

- I think Ira Fistel is my radio dad.

- No, Ira Fistel is not your radio dad.