Podcast Evaluation Patrick McGinn

Here's my evaluation of a few podcasts, better late than never is what I always say haha.

NY Times Cast:

This was one of the first podcasts I began to follow when it started in 2007. I guess you could say that it's the umbrella podcast on the website because it is updated every morning and takes a closer look at the major stories by sitting down with the editors and beat reporters themselves for their perspective. For instance, today's TimesCast has video updates from Haiti about the upcoming presidential elections, a brief conversation between two editors about the highly anticipated New York governor's debate and then a moving photo slide show with audio about living to 100. All of the video is shot in HD, every segment is formatted differently to keep your eyes interested and the graphics aren't in anyway overdone. Grade: A

Not Your Usual Bollocks

This podcast comes from the other side of the pond and features music you would never hear on mainstream radio, because as they put it "it's shit". They usually have around 10 to 15 songs that they feature and then the two hosts come in on about every fifth song to add some much needed commentary. They also give you links to other websites that offer free downloads of some of the songs they just featured. This podcast is entirely aural unfortunately but it's just as pleasing to the ears as it is to my heart. This is an excellent way to hear new bands that haven't even been signed yet and though it lacks all the bells and whistles of higher-end podcasts, it gets the job done. Grade: B-

The Schwagcast

This is definitely one of the more entertaining podcasts I have ever listened to. The show is emceed by three ex-musicians, Bob, Jerry and Kevin who play their own instruments during the broadcast, play a few songs from extremely obscure bands and let off a little steam. Here are just some of the topics they discussed last episode: NYPD vs. Iraq Troops, Jerry talks about his fantasy cabin in the wood, and how to find Area 51 on GoogleMaps. Jerry is an older guy that sort of serves as the aloof comic relief and never fails to deliver in that department. Bob and Kevin spend most of their time trying to decipher what exactly Jerry is talking about and tryand keep the show on course. In other words it's musical comedy gold. Grade: B+

The Tipsy Diaries

This is another NY Times podcast that follows former restaurant critic Frank Bruni around New York to find the hidden gems in the seemingly endless bar scene. He has a very dry sense of humor and always begins his usually two minute long podcasts with extremely interesting hooks like, "This is the last place I'd expect to have a mojito" and "Hipsters aren't sure how to react to a guy playing ragtime in the corner." His video clips capture the essence of the bar showing the hustling behind the bar to fill orders and he manages to interview the most intriguing barflies. Once again this is at the upper echelon of podcast quality since it's backed by the Times, and maybe the only complaint that I have is that they're just a little too short. Grade: B+

Critic's Picks

This is probably my favorite podcast of all time. Renowned New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott picks a classic movie each month to spend five good minutes on. He alternates between his own opinions about the film and memorable 30 second clips from the film that always elevate his claims to near infallibility. One week he'll review Donnie Darko and the next he'll look at a much less mainstream English film like Howard's End. He never reveals too much about the film, for all of you worried about spolier alerts, and always has a powerful way of getting at the heart of the film right before the last clip, usually the best one. This satisfies all the criteria for a great podcast, superior technical quality, neat quick writing and the reassuring voice of A.O. Scott. Grade: A+

Podcast Points of View

Well, starting off I would like to state that before this week I've had absolutely NO experience with podcasts before - I've heard about them, but I honestly didn't even know how to find one!

I started off by looking up my usual source of info- something on parenting. I found two podcasts: MommyCast: Sharing Family Memories and Dad Labs: Stroller Strides. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the dads' version more than the mothers. The dads had a better frame for their topic, complete with an intro & outro that leads you into the story, whereas the moms jumped straight from music into talking about a topic and if I had been only listening to the audio I was completely lost. Also, the moms podcasts was all over the place jumping from area to area and I couldn't quite figure out what the core was except that they were advertising something, whereas the dads' topic of choice was easy to identify. At this point I was informed that the purpose of this assignment was to evaluate podcasts mainly on their audio, so I switched up the topic and looked at three completely different areas.

Sex Chat with Dr. Kat - I enjoyed this podcast because it was very informative. In the intro, Dr. Kat informs the listener exactly what is going on, how the show works, & etc. As for audio, this show is recorded live so it's virtually like listening to a pre-recorded radio show, allowing for grammar mess ups and funny breathing and all. Overall, I enjoyed it.

CNN Student News 10/11/10 - This podcast is really an example of the kind that you have to watch in order to be well-informed. The various soundbites are awkward and come in the middle of stories, which may confuse the listener. Also, at times the speaker's voice is over music or some other noise effect which at some points is distracting but at others (while watching) actually works in its favor. For example, the segment on North Korea had a lot of different background noises that might have been distracting to the audio listener but for an aesthetic sense the sound with the background imagery really gave a keen insight to the environment of the news story - working in its favor. I wasn't too impressed with this segment though.

NY Times's Times Cast 9/29/10- This podcast was easily my favorite. It was clear and concise, brief and to the point. The cast made good use of narration and soundbites, playing almost the exact way that voices & quotes read in a newspaper article. It was easy to watch but also easy to listen too as well. There was a clear female voice that served as the narrator from introduction to conclusion and throughout the stories, while secondary voices were introduced to fill out the individual stories' content, making them easy to follow. A+

Chelsey W.'s Podcast evaluation

1. Stuff You Missed in History: Was there a female pope?

first, these 2 girls went to UGA, because they give a shout out to UGA and the bulldawg spirit when they briefly talk about the history of bulldog/bull fighting. This was very clean, clear audio, but the tone of the cast read like a formal script. The girls would talk back and forth at different points of the story, but it
was rare. On the positive side, they get into the topic very quickly so you aren't sitting listening to random converstaion before getting to the point of the podcast. It was also short (15 minutes) which I appreciated. While I am a huge history fan and was thoroughly entertained/intrigued by this, I think many people (who are not big history people) would find this dull and boring and would stop listening.

link:http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history/id283605519

it's number 12 on that list

2. Culturatopia: Boardwalk Empire, Filming Online Dramas, and more

this was a very long broadcast, but it kept me entertained. I chose this one, because I wanted to hear more about the show Boardwalk Empire it did not dissapoint. The narrarator interviewed both Steve Buscemi and Terrence Winter who had lots of information about the show. The interviewer did very well in not cutting off the person being interviewed or overlapping the audio. This was also very broad in the topics from the HBO show to movies about computers to the last episdoe of the soap opera, As the World Turns. There were several interviewers and their stories often sounded like any typical news report with sign-offs. It, of course, was very clear audio with tons of audio clips from everything they were covering. This is the only podcast I listened to that I thought really would've benefited from video. Although they explained the context of each audio clip before playing them, seeing the clip would've made it much better.

link:http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/archive.php?thingId=126677937

it's the one called Culturetopia: Golden Age (I think it's the third one on the page)

3. One-Minute Tip:Tech tips for Busy People

I picked this for its length and topic. It's very short and to the point. Everything is clearly stated in a way that is easy to understand. It often points out short-cuts for many complicated or frustrating things technology-related.

4. Citizen Radio: Epidemic of Gay Suicide

I didn't realize the obvious bias in this podcast until I started listening to it which made it VERY distracting. I saw that it was explicit, but, again, I didn't realize HOW explicit it was going to be. I was really interesting to hear about the topic, but was frustrated when it took over 20 minutes before they actually started talking about the topic at hand. Those first 20 minutes were spent talking about American Idol, The Office, or riding on airplanes. While the conversation was entertaining, I really could've done without it. Those first 20 minutes were just wasteful to me. I did appreciate that the 2 people talking (a husband and wife) did the show completely in a conversational manner. Nothing came across scripted. Instead, they bounced off one another's ideas or statements and kept the tone serious without being preachy. Audio was clear, sometimes there was overlap with the two talking, but that's bound to happen in this kind of environment.

5. Movies You Should See: Cinema Paradiso

This podcast basically summarizes movies it finds interesting and important in the history of film. It also often talks about the movie's lasting impact on the film world and how and why the movie was made. It's kind of like film studies 101 on radio. I chose this specific episode, because Cinema Paradiso is one of my favorite films of all time and I was interested to see what they had to say. While the audio is clear, the thick Brittish accent (especially the girl's accent) can make it hard to understand at some points. I also think this podcast might benefit from visual aid just to explain further what the people are talking about--especially when they talk about cinematography and lighting and things that yield better to vision.

link:http://www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/moviesyoushouldsee/

it's the second one on the website, number 234

Out of all these, I might only subscribe to 2. Length was a major factor in deciding for me and it was hard to find things shorter than 30 minutes. Anything longer than that must be thoroughly enjoyable and informative before I get bored and tune out.

Marcie McClellan's Review of 5 Podcasts

I believe audio journalism is essential to providing audiences with variety regarding accessing information. I reviewed 5 podcasts to evaluate their effectiveness, interest, quality, length, and topics.

The first podcast I reviewed was Anderson Cooper's AC 360 October 11, 2011 podcast. The podcast focused on a variety of topics and featured several interviews, including an interview with Rich Iott, the congressional candidate who dresses up and reenacts Nazi soldiers. While the the podcast was interesting, and I enjoyed the fact it was conversational and focused on multiple topics, I didn't like that images and video were often referred to, however I could not view them. In this instance, I think a vodcast would be more appropriate. I also think the length of the podcast was an issue. The podcast was 28 minutes and 56 seconds long, I think it would be more effective to reduce the podcast to 15 minutes.

The second podcast I reviewed was the October 11 ABC World News with Diane Sawyer. This was actually a vodcast, so I appreciated seeing the images with the audio. This podcast focused on multiple topics, as well. I enjoyed the coverage on the miners, especially since the vodcast featured video from the mine site. I also appreciated that this vodcast was only about 17minutes in length. I enjoyed this podcast more than the AC 360 podcast due to the shortened length and video imagery.

The third podcast I viewed was by ABC Good Morning America. Now what I really enjoyed about Good Morning America's podcasts is that they were separated by topics. Therefore, I choose to watch a podcast on a 6 month old McDonald's meal that hasn't started to mold. The podcast was only 3 minutes in length and I liked the ability to choose which topic I want to view, rather than waiting or fast forwarding to something I'm interested in.

The fourth podcast I chose was CNN Daily. Again, CNN Daily referred to video/images and aired audio from video but did not show images. The podcast was actually from August 2010 so it focused on the man who hiked up Mt.Everest to help Buddhist monks. The length of the podcasts was 5 minutes and 29 seconds. So the good things about the podcast was that it was brief and it was conversational.

The fifth podcast I evaluated was NPR's tiny desk music. This was very different for me because when you hear NPR you think scholarly or political content, however this vodcast wast taped in a small cramped office with a NPR sign propped in the bookshelf. The desk concert was only about 16 minutes long. However, the video was too cramped.

After evaluating these podcasts I definitely believe that the length, visual content, and quality are the top indicators when choosing podcasts. I would only subscribe to 2 of the podcasts I viewed.

Podcast evaluation from Xiaokui

Again, I tried something really new for me. I searched the Shanghai World Expo 2010 in the iTunes store and listened to six of them. They are:
1. Shanghai- Host of EXPO 2010 made by the Arts.21, a culture magazine
2. Show 84 Shanghai Expo made by CCC, Chinese Consumer Connection
3. Shanghai World Expo Opens May 1st made by Ebru News of Central Asia
4. Expo 2010, series programs about Shanghai Expo 2010 made by Life in Shanghai China, an individual podcast
5. Pavilions of Europe at Shanghai World Expo made by Wahoo Beach
6. Expo 2010 – Make or Break in Shanghai made by Made in Germany, a business magazine

Each of them describes the Expo in different point of view and provides good information in this topic. I ended up following the Arts.21 which broadcast on major fairs and festivals of the world.

Apparently, the podcasts that are made by formal news stations, like the first, third and last one are nice to watch. They all contain both audio and video. They have interviews with important people and plenty of information sources... The program have been planned and made through long time. Usually, they not only report on the Expo itself, they report the city Shanghai and at the same time analyze the event from political, economic, and cultural point of view. But they are all broad information, too formal for people who are really interested in the event.

The second podcast is an interesting one to listen. It tells what every visitor experience at the Shanghai Expo: crowds of people and endless queues. It gives a lively and unique impression about the event, one that is seldom mentioned by the formal news stations. However, purely audio is hard to follow and two speakers overlap each other sometimes.

The fourth one is an update program which gives each time an interview. It certainly provides the most information. But without an introduction for each interview, it really needs great interest on the topic to follow.

And finally the fifth one is a pure video made by photos and segments of video.

Chelsea Toledo's Podcast Evaluation

1. NPR: Jon Stewart, The Most Trusted Name in Fake News

The audio is very clean, and the interviewer speaks clearly without a single stutter. Natural sound exists in the form of audience laughter. Interviewer keeps Stewart on-task without interrupting or rushing him (i.e. "But what is the March?") Her questions are indubitably planned but delivered organically.

2. Auto-Tune the News #12: Legal Weed and Law-Making Lesbians

Auto-tune the News has the funniest podcasts ever, and this one is no exception. They're made by adjusting the pitch and rhythm of real newscasters' voices to sound like hip-hop music. The result is a mash-up of the most ridiculous stuff on TV (mainly gleaned from Fox News). The podcast includes the groups' signature videos, in which they insert themselves along newscasters. One touch I really enjoyed from this podcast was towards the end, when the singer sang directly into his lapel mic, which could be both heard and seen.

3. The NotHans Podcast: Tina Fey and 30 Rock

The speaker's voice is very engaging, reminiscent of old time radio. This clearly satirical podcast features a radio ad with "natural sound" from a haunted petting zoo and from radio interference. I'm fairly sure all the characters in this podcast are voiced by the same person. Even though this is supposed to be funny, I really wanted to navigate away at times. I think that's because the speaker seems to be reading. The podcast didn't get into the topic of Tina Fey (why I clicked on it in the first place)until 4 minutes in, and she didn't get to speak until 6 minutes in. Counting off all the phrases with "rock" in them is not the greatest way to introduce my favorite show. He should have let the audio clip from the show speak for itself, because Tina Fey really is funny. It was pretty clear he dubbed in the audio of her after the fact. The transitions are really choppy. Come to think of it, I don't think he interviewed her at all.

4. Fox News Radio: Latest 5-minute Newscast

From the sound of it, this audio was taken straight from the radio and turned into a podcast. While the timeliness is obvious, I'd appreciate an introduction, such as that given in the NPR podcast, before launching straight into the radio clip. There are commercials in this podcast!!! Why would anyone accessing news via iTunes put up with commercials? I think Fox News has a podcast for the sake of saying they have a podcast.

5. Stuff Mom Never Told You: Is Roller Derby Sport or Spectacle?

This feels like an old-timey radio show, with the cheesy music interrupted by a voice-over advertising Dove Body Wash. The speaker has a lot of pauses and repetitions, and her voice sometimes trails off at the end of sentences. (On a side note: she gave up on roller derby after one try. No one's good at it the first time around.) The podcast is a conversation between two podcasters. It makes it more conversational, but a little awkward, as their conversation is clearly planned.

The winner: NPR. The loser: Fox News.

Emily Parker Podcast Evaluations

Boston Globe Big Story: Patriots Trade Randy Moss: This was a short podcast, but doesn’t lack quality. I like to hear the news in bits, so that I can listen to what I want and ignore what I don’t care about. It gives the facts about Randy Moss going back to the Vikings. It’s nice that there isn’t any commentary about Randy Moss coming in from three or four people also hosting the show, we get one opinion and it seems to be an accurate one. This is a great example of why length doesn’t matter too much.

I also liked this one from a CBS affiliate because of the length. It is about an Emmy-Award winning reporter who is accused of sexually assaulting a four year old girl. Once again I like getting the news that I want to hear in two to three minute pieces instead of watching an entire half hour of news. The other nice thing about podcasts is that unlike most online news, you don’t have to watch or listen to an advertisement before it starts.

The next one I watched was Meet the Chef: Mario Batali. It was hosted by one person and there was an audience which made it different because more than one person was involved. IT wasn’t as easy to listen to because of the multiple people involved – sometimes I got confused as to who was talking. There was more humor involved in this. It would have been easier to keep up with if it had video involved.

LA Daily News: The next one involves food also. It is an LA Daily News podcast. It’s informational, because it teaches how to make multiple things inspired by BLT’s. But, it sounds like a recording you would hear when you call somewhere and are given a range of options. Better yet, it sounds like the emergency voice that comes on broadcast channels that says it’s doing an emergency test. Very informational, very boring and mundane.

Castle: The last one I listened to was information on the ABC show Castle. I don’t watch this show on a regular basis, so it was completely new to me. It has news about the show, and special interviews from actors on the show. In the beginning it gives you a tease of what’s to come later. I like this because it has background music that makes the podcast more than just talking. If you weren’t familiar with the show before, you will be after hearing the podcast.

Daniel S Podcast Evaluation

Celebrity Playlist-This is one of the most popular podcasts, in which various celebrities pick some of their favorite songs and play clips from them. It is very well researched, but varies greatly in content. The length between episodes are all over the place; some last ten minutes, others go half an hour. Also, in some cases, very little context is given to the songs in question. Most celebrities just say "I like this one" and away we go. In addition, some of the celebrities are bizarre choices. Who cares what songs have inspired, say, Quentin Tarantino. Perhaps it should focus more on musicians.

The Criterion Cast-This podcast deals with a botique DVD label, in which commentators discuss updates with the label and review the films on the label. The people who run the podcast are quite knowledgeable on the subject. Again though, it suffers slightly because of the varying length. Also, it may be too long. Individual episodes can last almost two hours, long after the commentators have anything to say. It could be better if the operators were better editors.

Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy One of the best podcasts in existence. Leo Laporte actually has a radio show in which people call in and discuss technology. Usually, it turns into people needing to troubleshoot their computer. Laporte's style is warm and inviting, and he remains quite knowledgeable of his topic. It is highly recommended that everyone listen to this podcast.

Here is the best caller he has ever had

NPR Intelligence Squared This is an interesting idea. NPR hosts a debate on a variety of topics and lets audience decide who "wins" the debate. Both sides are very well informed, but it does appear that the moderators do try and give one side credence of the other. This is especially clear when the differences between the titles (the announcer states a very different title in one debate than what has been labeled). Also, the introduction to the debates goes on far too long. Still, this is an informative broadcast that should be heard by everyone.

Jay and Silent Bob Get Old The film seems to be a sort of long discussion about two popular film characters, Jay and Silent Bob. It is hard to describe how the podcast is framed. At first it is the two actors relating stories of their youth rather than some new scripted material for the characters. It is amusing, but the whole thing seems somewhat pointless. Plus the audio on the podcast is not great. It is a good idea but it is balanced by terrible execution.