Even the tiniest of accidents...

On Friday I was in a rear-end collision. I stopped before a crossing to let some children pass the street. My kids were in the car as I had just collected them from school and daycare. The pedestrians had nearly finished crossing the street when someone banged into us from behind. It was about noon. We were to spend the rest of the day dealing with the results of what is by all standards a minute accident. And still.

The impact from behind had me groggy for a couple of seconds and then, in a haze I exchanged details with the other driver. I glanced my kids in the back and saw them sweating (it was a hot midday) and anxiously, but passively eying me in return. I got home and proceeded phoning insurance, after having made sure the kids were more or less all right and had something to eat and to drink. Fortunately my wife arrived soon afterwards and she took us to the hospital for a check up. By the evening we were all declared healthy. Though my oldest was complaining about headache and I was aching all over my spine up to my head and stiff all over.

My youngest cannot talk yet, so it is hard to tell what effect the collision has had on him. He has been a bit restless and crying abnormally, both on Friday and on Shabbat. On Shabbat the headaches of my oldest subsided, though I myself continued to ache. Pain killers proved some relief, but still it has been hard for me to stay in any position (sitting, lying, standing; whatever) for any time over minute. I also have a hard time concentrating on reading or listening to podcasts - now that is a blow.

Shrinkrap and other podcasters

Podcast David van Nuys (aka Shrinkrap) went to the Podcast and New Media Expo in Southern California in stead of sitting at home making new episodes for Shrinkrapradio or Wise Counsel. In order to maintain his output rate, he took his recording equipment with him and interviewed a charming collection of other podcasters on the conference spot.

The best interview is immediately at the beginning. Dave speak with Doug Kaye from The Conversations Network. He describes how he set up a non-profit organization and mad a point of collecting content for podcasts in the realm of institutions that would only work with non-profit organizations. He turns their audio into podcasts, thus making public conferences, lecture series and the like. His idea is that there is a value curve. A media consumer will want to listen to content that really matters for him and stick to that very loyally. So he wants to give that kind of content, even if that doesn't bring in a big listenership. What is the point is the value it represents to the listeners.

Other podcasters that are featured are from Trucker Tom, The Book of Life, Divacast, Podchick and more.

Open culture blog

This is a great blog discovery. The blog is called Open Culture, concentrates on all quality culture expressions (web or not) and is updated daily. One of the good things is their guide to podcasts. They even supply a list of recommended educational podcasts - always very valuable. Podcast articles and resources is actually one of the blogging categories.

Here are some of their articles that contain lists:

• University & College Podcasts - Free Educational Podcasts
• Ideas & Culture Podcasts
• Ten Podcasts to Build Your Vocabulary
• Technology Podcast Collection
• News & Information Podcast Collection
  
• New Additions to the Podcast Family (general)
• And: on the right hand side there is a Podcast Library. A quality directory that is constantly updated
  

Here is what they write about themselves:

Open Culture explores cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that’s freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun. We sift through all the media, highlight the good and jettison the bad, and centralize it in one place. Trust us, you’ll find engaging content here that will keep you learning and sharp. And you will find it much more efficiently than if you spend your time searching with Google, Yahoo or iTunes.

Ronald van den Boogaard interviewt Ina Muller-van Ast

Weer een goed interview uit de archieven van VPRO's Marathon Interview. In het jaar 1989 sprak Ronald van den Boogaard met PvdA kamerlid Ina Muller-van Ast. Doorgaans moet ik niets hebben van interviews met politici. Ik heb daarover al twee keer geklaagd in verband met Niko Koffeman. Politici zijn zo druk met hun imago en zo akelig goed bewust van hoe ze overkomen, dat alles wat er in een interview gebeurd te gepolijst, te bestudeerd, te geregisseerd eruitkomt. En als het niet het zelfbewust ego is dat de boel in de hand houdt, dan is het wel de partijdiscipline of de hete adem van de opiniepeilers en de grootste gemene deler van de kiezers, ingebeeld of niet.

Het contrast met Ina Muller kon niet groter zijn. Ik herinner me geen andere politici van haar kaliber en ik maak me geen illusies dat in de moderne, meer dan ooit door media gelikte tijd nog een politica als zij kan opstaan. Luister naar het interview en je snapt wat ik bedoel. Ze zegt waar het op staat. Ze staat voor haar principes en is zelfs transparant, wanneer Ronald haar dwingt te laten zien waar ze in onderhandelingen wil toegeven.

Nog mooier wordt het wanneer de emoties gaan meespelen. Wanneer ze volschiet als ze over Joop den Uyl vertelt. Uit haar slof schiet over Lubbers en Ruding. Ja zelfs de kiezer wordt niet gespaard. Waar zal je dat ooit zien? Een politicus die de kiezer aanpakt? Eigen schuld, moet je maar nadenken bij het stemmen. Ik heb geen nostalgie naar die tijd, zeker niet als je haar over de zaken hoort praten die eind jaren tachtig speelden, maar het is wel jammer dat het het interview zo gedateerd maakt. En het type van Muller des te meer. Of sterker nog: niet van deze wereld, want ook toen week ze af.

Weight loss -- myths and errors

At the Wise Counsel podcast Dr. David van Nuys interviews Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D. on motivating people to eat healthy and her book Waistland. She explains the science relevant to healthy weight, obesity, diet and weight loss in general. She comments on diets, on the genetic component and the counterintuitive elements in choosing the right food.

Diets and weight loss formulas are big business and consequently it is very necessary to get the pseudo-knowledge that runs around debunked. This is especially important in the light of the public health problem of obesity, which is -also in the podcast- sometimes called an epidemic. Since I have had some personal experience with overweight and am happy to report having been able to return to the right weight and stay there, I deeply connect with what she says. What she points out as myths and erroneous presumptions about weight and diet, concur with what I have learned and experienced. What she points out what eventually works, also parallels what I have found.

Hence, apart from being a high quality podcast, in my view, this particular issue is also an extremely important one. Strongly recommended.

Public Speaking with The Word Nerds

Dave Shepherd and Howard Chang discuss public speaking. First they dissect the phenomenon, go over the various aspects and necessary qualities and finally close off with practical pointers. Apart from the usual quality (the best kind of radio), this issue is also very practical. You nervous guys who are to engage in public speaking: this podcast may prove to some help.

The rude word of the week, if less helpful, is one of the regular sections and the one that is always the most charming, if naughty, still educational section. As always I have this tiny contest with myself, if I can guess up front what the rude word is going to be. This time my guess was demagogue, but it turned out to be rabble-rouser, which is somehow a synonym - yay! Not the first time I got it nearly right.

This is the language podcast I stick to. It is entertaining, funny, educational and charming at the same time.