Monday, March 3, 2008

Let Battle Commence! - Celtic Myth Podshow #2

The children of Danu engage in battle with the fearsome Bolg. One have mighty spears the other splendid fighting sticks. A hundred thousand perish. One can't say the Irish mythological cycle starts with a whimper - rather with a bang. The Celtic Myth Podshow brings it to us.

The great thing with the hosts of this podcast is that they are very receptive to feedback. I found it hard to keep track of all the names in the tales they tell and so they listed them. I suggested the names could do with some introduction or explanation and it seems they are seeing into this. Apart from being so user friendly, we see here yet another great quality of podcasting: they way it interacts with the audience and Gary and Ruth of the Celtic Myth Podshow understand this only too well.

My next item on the wish list is to get some framework around the myths. For all I know the Celts dwelt in Europe from before Roman times. I take it, at some point they even ransacked Rome, way before Julius Ceasar defeated Vercingetorix. And it makes me curious about the sources for the myths. There must have been an oral tradition, but then at some point, the legends must have been written down. Possibly this was done by Christian monks, implying there might be some censorship, or even alteration. Along there must be a history of recounting, retelling, discovery and rediscovery. Such fascinating added dimension to these tales. According to Gary's reply to my comments, he surely intends to have the Celtic Myth Podshow pay some attention to the reception of the Celtic Myths. Great going.

Previously:
The Celtic Myth Podshow - first review

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On admirals and more - Historyzine

Two admirals and girding your loins feature on the latest Historyzine podcast, but there is more. I have noticed this trend in podcasting and we are certainly going to see more of it: the podcast episode consists of several rubrics, making it a listen like a regular radio show. In the case of Historyzine, there was also an interview.

Host Jim Mowatt knows his guest from the forums on Dan Carlin's site (from Hardcore History). Many people have been inspired by Dan Carlin and feedback I get on my blog, also shows Dan hits a chord. So did he with Mowatt and also the interviewee: Tony Cocks from Binge Thinking History Podcast. This is a fascinating interview possibly more so for those who are familiar with BTHP as it offers a wonderful additional insight together with the podcast alone.

After that Mowatt explains the expression "girding one's loins" with its biblical history, going back to Paul. Then he tells the story of Admirals Byng and Rooke - two unrelated stories. It just so happens two admirals feature on this show. Together with some whirling Beethoven music (is that podsafe?), this podcast episode is yet another great production by Mowatt.

More Historyzine:
18th Century Warfare - Historyzine,
Spanish Succession and History Podcasts.

More Binge Thinking:
Battle of Britain - BTHP podcast review,
The American Constitution's British roots.

More Dan Carlin's Hardcore History:
Assyrians,
Nazis,
Depression,
Succession in Macedon,
The Plague.

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

Het vraagstuk van de handlangers - OVT

OVT begon afgelopen zondag met een onthulling uit de nieuw verschenen Den Uyl biografie van Anet Bleich. Ik dacht nog dat het over Lockheed zou gaan, maar het was een onthulling die nergens op sloeg. Bleich maakt zich in de studie terecht boos over de koppen die dit opleverde (zie ook Elsevier). Joop den Uyl zou in een opstel dat hij als vijftienjarige schreef sympathie voor Hitler en Duitsland hebben getoond. Bleich haast zich te zeggen dat Den Uyl ook toen al de kwade kanten zag en verder helemaal goed was in de oorlog - toen het er echt om ging. Kortom het is niet meer dan een pikanterie, zoals je wellicht uit de opstellen van elke puber kan halen.

Dan gaat het programma over naar In Europa en komt aan de orde wat al die tijd onvermijdelijk dichterbij kwam: de holocaust. De banaliteit van het kwade wordt nog weer eens aangetoond. Handlangers van de shoah zijn de ovenfabriek Topf die de crematoria leverde en de plantsoenendienst van Minsk die de camoeflage van het dodenkamp verzorgt. Natuurlijk speelde hier geen ideologie, dus hoe voorkom je dat het gewone handelen een gruwelijk daderschap oplevert? Misschien moeten we ongewone mensen zijn, is de opmerking die de presentator uitbrengt.

Ook de andere rubrieken waren weer zeer de moeite waard. Er is een serie begonnen over de Boerenpartij, bijvoorbeeld. Daarbij de column van Nelleke Noordervliet en de recensies van boeken en zelfs een film. Het is een groot goed dat dit radioprogramma als podcast uitkomt. Voorgaande uitzendingen worden uit de feed genomen, maar zijn nog wel on line in de stream te beluisteren. Mijn advies aan de liefhebber is om altijd ongezien te downloaden en te bewaren. Je blijft luisteren.

Eerdere besprekingen van OVT in dit blog:
1933 - Fellow Travelers.
1936 - Spanje,
1938 - Hitler en Holocaust,
1939 - Patriotten tot landverraders,
1940 - Heesters, Petain, Leopold achteraf.

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Saturday, March 1, 2008

100 podcasts reviewed

UPDATE: we now have 217 podcasts reviewed. (link)



It is the first of the month again and so I post in alphabetical order all podcasts I reviewed linked to the last post and relevant labels:

  1. 12 Byzantine Rulers, history podcast

  2. Africa (Stanford Travel), geography

  3. Africa Past and Present, geography

  4. Arizona, University of: Introduction to Language, language

  5. BBC History Magazine, BBC history podcast


  6. Bike Radar, tour

  7. Binge Thinking History, history podcast

  8. Bioethics podcast, science, law and society

  9. the Biography Show, history podcast

  10. Biota Podcast, science

  11. Bommel Hoorspel, NL radio

  12. British History 101, history podcast

  13. Car Talk,

  14. Celtic Myth Podshow

  15. CFR Podcast, law and society

  16. Dan Carlin's Common Sense,

  17. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, history podcast

  18. David Kalivas' World History, history podcast

  19. Distillations, history podcast science

  20. the Economist,

  21. Engines of our Ingenuity, science

  22. English 117S, language

  23. Exploring Environmental History, science, history podcast

  24. F1Cast

  25. Fresh Air (NPR)

  26. From our own Correspondent, BBC geography

  27. Geography 130, geography

  28. Geography of World Cultures (Stanford), geography history podcast

  29. Hannibal (Stanford), history podcast

  30. Haring Podcast, NL radio

  31. Historical Jesus (Stanford), history podcast יהדות

  32. History 167B, Berkeley history podcast

  33. History 181B, Berkeley history podcast

  34. History 4A, Berkeley history podcast

  35. History 5, Berkeley history podcast

  36. History 7B, Berkeley history podcast

  37. History according to Bob, history podcast

  38. History Network, history podcast

  39. History Podcast, history podcast

  40. Historypod, history podcast

  41. Historyzine, history podcast

  42. ICT Update,

  43. In Our Time, In Our Time BBC (science) history podcast

  44. In the Media (WNYC)

  45. Inspired Minds (Deutsche Welle)

  46. Interview Vrijdag, NL radio

  47. Irving Poetry podcast

  48. ITV, tour

  49. Jung Podcast, psychology

  50. KMTT, יהדות

  51. KQED Forum

  52. Librivox: History of Holland, history podcast

  53. Marathon Interview, NL radio

  54. Matt's Today In History, history podcast

  55. Medieval Podcast, history podcast

  56. Midwest Writer, language

  57. Military History Podcast, history podcast

  58. Missing Link, history podcast science

  59. My Three Shrinks, psychiatry

  60. Napoleon 1O1, history podcast

  61. National Archives Podcast, history podcast

  62. NRC FM,

  63. Only in America, history podcast יהדות

  64. Open Source

  65. OVT, history podcast NL radio

  66. Oy Mendele!, יהדות

  67. PACS 164A, Berkeley


  68. Parnell's History Podcast, history podcast

  69. Physics for future Presidents (Descriptive Physics), Berkeley science

  70. Philosophy 103, philosophy

  71. Philosophy Bites, philosophy

  72. the Philosophy Podcast, philosophy

  73. Prosperity show

  74. Radiolab (WNYC), science

  75. Rav Dovid's, יהדות

  76. Rpgmp3

  77. Sex History Podcast, history podcast

  78. the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, SGU science

  79. Šimek 's Nachts, simek NL radio

  80. Social Innovation Conversations,

  81. Sonic Society, creative writing

  82. Speaking of Faith, יהדות

  83. Shrink Rap Radio, shrinkrapradio psychology

  84. Stanford U History, history podcast

  85. Sunday Sundown

  86. Talking Robots, science

  87. TdF London, tour

  88. TED Talks, vodcast

  89. Times Talks,

  90. The Word Nerds, TWN language

  91. UCLA Israel Studies, Israel

  92. University Channel Podcast, science

  93. Volkskrant Podcasts, tour

  94. What is Judaism?, יהדות

  95. Wise Counsel, Wise Counsel psychology

  96. the Writing Show, Writing Show language

  97. Wynyfryd's meditation room

  98. Your Purpose Centered Life

  99. zencast

  100. zoem, psychology


If you know of interesting podcasts that you think should be reviewed, please let me know through the comments page. Or send me mail...

Thanks in advance,

Anne Frid de Vries (in one word)

AT

Yahoo DOT co DOT uk



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Friday, February 29, 2008

New podcasts in the directories and more

Today I have added a whole new directory to my list of podcast directories: Geography podcasts:

Geography of World Cultures (Stanford)
Enhanced podcast (maps are added to the audio) about the spread of languages and religions in the world. We see that the political and cultural boundaries are not the same as the boundaries of language and religion.

Geography 130 (Berkeley) Natural Resources and Population
Lecture series that explains how our earth is populated, why it is populated the way it is, how we use our resources and in the process we come to understand how the system is strained.

Africa Past and Present
A relatively new podcast from Michigan State University acquainting us by means of interviews with interesting people with the continent of Africa.

From Our Own Correspondent
Weekly podcast by the BBC. Correspondents from all over the world give a monologue about the place where they are stationed.

Africa (Stanford, Travel)
Lecture series preparing for a journey to various African countries. The first on the list: Morocco.

Asia (Stanford, Travel)
Lecture series preparing for a journey to South Asia. Insights about the cultures, languages and economy of the south of India.




New this month were:
Africa Past and Present added to the Geography directory
Biography Show added to the History directory
Celtic Myth Podshow added to the Arts and Culture directory (under construction)
Distillations to the Science and to the History directory
Engines of our Ingenuity added to the Science directory
Historypod added to the History directory



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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Podcast reviews still delayed

Dear readers,

I am still recovering with my ears. I can do a little listening over the speakers on my PC, but not much progress is made. Hence, I can't promise how much and when there will be more reviews, but still can give you some insight as to what is lined up.

- Open Source (Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast
- Irvin Yalom (on KQED and Wise Counsel)
- Susan Yacoby (The Age of American Unreason)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- Simek interviews Jaap van der Zwan
- Speaking of Faith: No more taking sides
- OVT
- History 5
- Chronicles Radio Dispatches (review by guest author)
- History 106B (The Roman Empire)
- Historyzine
- The Missing Link
- In Our Time

On March 1st:
- A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.
- 100 podcasts reviewed

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