The Podcast has taken over

In a time where terrestrial radio is slowly fading as iPods take more and more attention away from the typical stereo system, conventional talk entertainment has yet to go out of style. With a big chunk of listeners shifting away from car stereos and boom boxes and moving to iPods, MP3 players and the Internet for entertainment, some of the best on-air material has followed suit. Radio and television personalities alike have embraced the digital age by creating Podcasts of their own.

Whether it’s a total migration, like Leo Laporte or Adam Carolla, or simply another format by which they choose to broadcast their stuff, like Jon Stewart or Bill Maher, Podcasts provide the type of at-your-fingertips entertainment that this generation has grown accustomed to.

I’ve been listening to Podcasts for years now and I think we’ve now reached the tipping point in terms of the quality and the variety of the Podcasts that are available. Here are my top seven driving-to-work Podcasts that everyone should give a listen to:

The Adam Carolla Podcast. The Man Show’s Adam Carolla recently left syndicated radio and decided to move to the Internet. Since then, Carolla has unofficially broken the world record for most downloads for a Podcast (previously held by The Office creator Ricky Gervais) at around 600,000.

Since launching his Podcast a couple of weeks ago, the Ace Man has garnered about three million downloads and has the No. 1 Podcast on iTunes. And rightfully so. Carolla is funny as hell and does not hold back. Without sponsors and program directors and any censorship authorities on his back, Adam Carolla spews out whatever his crazy little mind concocts. Past guests on the Adam Carolla Podcast have included Aisha Tyler, Jamie Kennedy and Seth McFarlane. 

Around the Horn. The next three Podcasts are a must-download for any sports fan. Around the Horn is an ESPN-TV program that features four sports writers arguing in a game show-like atmosphere that has now been made available in Podcast format. The show features sports writers like Woody Paige from the Denver Post, J.A. Adande from espn.com and Tim Cowlishaw from the Dallas Morning News. The show of competitive banter, as they call it, is one of the most fun and informative sports shows out there.

Pardon the Interruption. Similar to Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption is an ESPN program featuring two veteran sports writers and commentators. Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon spend half an hour debating the day’s hottest sports news. This show was actually ripped off for a while by a local channel, but it seems like that was short-lived. PTI often has prominent guests on the program like Lakers coach Phil Jackson, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

The B.S. Report. Bill Simmons, a.k.a. “The Sports Guy,” rambles on about sports and pop culture in an extension of his very popular “Sport’s Guy” column on espn.com. For anybody familiar with Simmons’ work, the entertainment value of his Podcast is just as good as that of his columns. Always funny, quirky and relevant, anything that the Sports Guy says is worth listening to. Whether it be about Mad Men, Kobe Bryant, The Shawshank Redemption, David Stern, Alex Rodriguez or Fantasy Sports, Simmons has you covered.

TWiT/Macbreak Weekly. Leo Laporte, formerly of TechTV, probably has the most established Podcast network on the Internet today. Two of my favorite Podcasts from Laporte are This Week in Tech (TWiT) and Macbreak Weekly. These two shows basically tackle the latest in technology news and the IT industry.

Though the shows are suited for a quite specific audience — those who are techies and those who use Macs in this case — there is a lot of intelligent conversation about literature, business and pop culture that goes on in these Podcasts. Laporte usually has a panel of prominent personalities from the world of tech, like John C. Dvorak and Andy Ihnatko.

Real Time with Bill Maher. By far the most left-leaning, ultra-liberal, Bush-critical comic that has been given his own one-hour show, Bill Maher is my go-to guy for news and current affairs. Guys like Maher and Jon Stewart are two great examples that show that comedians are ahead of the curve when it comes to politics. In his show, Maher often talks to politicians, professors, authors, scientists and actors. The discussions on “Real Time” are most of the time relevant and enriching, and all of the time hilarious.  

All of these Podcasts are available for free on iTunes.

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For questions, comments or corrections, please e-mail me at carlfrancisramirez@gmail.com.