Shrink Rap Radio - 200 great podcasts

Shrink Rap Radio is by all standards one of the very best podcasts around. Not only is this the most varied and accessible podcast about psychology, it has such a good atmosphere, it is a treat for also anyone who is not directly interested in psychology. Furthermore, this podcast is a great example for other podcasters.

There is a lot podcasters can learn from host Dr. David van Nuys. First of all, Van Nuys is an excellent interviewer. He manages to make the interviews sound like natural conversations, yet he manages to keep the talk ordered and within the range of 30-45 minutes. In this respect he is frequently better than professionals. In addition, Dr. Dave has been very successful at building a faithful audience, by adding a warm personal atmosphere to the show and a lot of attention to listener input. I am sure this has enhanced his following. Last but not least, Shrink Rap Radio has great quality promo's, slogans and musical additions. This podcast is as complete as it can be.

Shrink Rap Radio exists since 2005 and has produced 200 episodes of pretty persistent quality so far. The whole archive is available for free. Shrink Rap Radio is a must listen for everybody.

More Shrink Rap Radio:
Technology and The Evolving Brain,
Nova Spivack,
Relationships and the brain,
Psychologist writer,
Dana Houck, Prison Psychologist.

Diamond rain and other phenomena - Ran Levi

How I love the typical Israeli jokes on the podcast Making History with Ran Levi (עושים היסטוריה! עם רן לוי). In the last issue he kicked off with one and closed with it again, but let's first look at the subject.

In this series of history of science, we were taken through the solar system to look at the weather conditions on other planets and their moons. Obviously, the most violent of atmosphere is Jupiter with its profound red spot, the storm that is visible from down here. But what about Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, that has such a high pressure and low temperatures that the methane rains are pressed to drops of diamonds. A fascinating journey that makes you appreciate our own climate.

So where is the joke? You could easily do without, but just for the heck of it, Ran Levi takes us in his tale on a spaceship through the system. And the spaceship, of course, is a leasing vehicle, so that we can take it on the long bumpy trip without bother. And when we return we shrug at the קצין הרכב who points out the numerous scratches on the damn thing. This is another version of the Israeli joke: "You knew they have invented a low budget, medium size off the road car? It's called leasing." But maybe this is universal after all.

More Making History:
Blood,
Myths and pseudo-knowledge,
What goes up, must come down,
Douglas Adams,
Sophie Germain.