Anne is a Man on Podcast

Here is a quick post to draw your attention to the latest edition of the SFF audio podcast on which Jesse and Scott discuss several kinds of audio, mostly SciFi and Fantasy narrative, but on this show, I appeared as a guest and we discussed podcasts - The SFFaudio Podcast #115 – Scott and Jesse talk to Anne Frid de Vries of the Anne Is A Man blog for a talk about podcasts and podcasting..(feed)

One of the subjects that come up is how listeners of podcasts these days use Huffduffer and their on-line file storage to assemble their own feeds. I find it t he next step in modern media where the consumer more and more is a producer.

Also, I recommend a story that is podcast thru Librivox: a novel by Rose Macaulay Mystery at Geneva, which is a very witty and elegant description of the coming together of politics, lobbyists and journalists. (feed)

A Podcast Playlist for 5 July 2011

Analysis
Scotland
Defying the downturn, Scotland seems to have free public services the rest of the UK is denied. Anne McElvoy assesses SNP plans to defy austerity Britain and assert independence.
(review, feed)

London School of Economics: Public lectures and events
Moving Social Security Online (Conference)
Speaker(s): Sir Michael Bichard, Matt Briggs, Guy Ker, Simon Boniwell | LSE Public Policy Group, LSE Moving Social Security Online Conference, Wednesday 29 June 2011. In the present fiscal climate, governments must cut the costs of delivering services at the same time as maintaining quality. They must also cope with the demands of increasing numbers of the unemployed and the aging. A key imperative therefore is to move the bulk of social security processes and transactions online. Introduction: Designing Social Security, Sir Michael Bichard, Design Council. Session 1: Moving social security online: the current UK view, Matt Briggs (Programme Manager, Tell Us Once, Department for Work and Pensions), Guy Ker (Publishing Director, Directgov), Simon Boniwell (Strategy Unit, Department for Work and Pensions). Session 2: Government services online: other policy areas, Nick Chapman (Chief Executive, NHS Direct), David Dinsdale (ex Director of Businesslink), Patrick Dunleavy (Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, LSE). Session 3: Designing technology changes to social security, Harry Metcalfe (The Dextrous Web), Ivo Gormley (Thinkpublic) – Case study on transforming public services. Session 4: Information and citizen focused innovation, William Heath (Chairman, Mydex), Teresa Perchaud (Director of Policy, Citizens Advice Bureaux), Kevin McLean (UK Online Centres). Session 5: Designing online social security for the future, Mark O’Neill (Head of Skunkworks and CIO, CLG and DCMS), Jerry Fishenden (Advisor, PASC IT inquiry and ex Head of Technology, Microsoft).
(review, feed)

Documentary on One - RTÉ Documentaries
DocArchive: Vietnam Wall
The Vietnam War was fought from 1955 to 1975 with a death toll exceeding 2 million soldiers and civilians. This is an essay in music and voice on the American experience of that war - centred around the War Memorial Wall in Washington DC (Broadcast 1988)
(review, feed)

Het Marathoninterview
Wim Kok
Onder leiding van Wim Kok schudde de socialistische Partij van de Arbeid haar ideologische veren af. De socialisten zijn de schok nog altijd niet te boven.
Wat vertelde Wim Kok op vrijdag 3 januari 2003 over zijn doen, denken en laten aan A.J. Heerma van Voss?
(review, feed)

A Podcast Playlist for 4 July 2011

SFFaudio
The SFFaudio Podcast #115
Scott and Jesse talk to Anne Frid de Vries of the Anne Is A Man blog for a talk about podcasts and podcasting.
(review, feed)

Philosophy Bites
Victor Tadros on Punishment
How can state punishment of criminals be justified? Is it right that wrongdoers suffer? Victor Tadros investigates these questions in conversation with Nigel Warburton for this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.
(review, feed)

The History of Rome
You've Earned It
After two years of sporadic war, Constantius II defeated the usurper Magnentius in 353. Following his victory the Emperor let his advisors talk him into executing first Gallus in 354 and then Claudius Silvanus in 355.
(review, feed)

Russian Rulers History Podcast
Napoleon on the Run
Napoleon is chased by Alexander I all the way to Paris. The Tsar then has a change in personality causing him to reverse many of his earlier reforms.
(review, feed)

Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation Podcasts
Inauguration
In 2004, Kol Hadash hired Rabbi Adam Chalom as our full-time cultural and philosophic guide. Rabbi Chalom immediately used his energy, talents and good humor to move our congregation forward into our second stage. In this retrospective, Rabbi Chalom's inaugural address to the congregation is featured.
(review, feed)

International Political Economy - Saeed Ahmed guest post

One of the key tensions in the 20th century has been the relentless advance of an international economic system running up against local, regional and national interests. States, while susceptible to hegemony, are not usually governed by anything other local sovereignty. Strong states have always had greater sway than their weaker neighbors, but in the 20th century, the way this played out was different from previous epochs in several significant ways.

Very few available courses (in podcast form) in the internet cover this in a digestible way. From time to time, UCSD has some offerings that cover the economic aspects well, but are often a bit too technical to be easily digestible in audio form. Therefore, I want to alert podcast listeners to a very good course offered by James Morrison of Middlebury College, which covers the political economy of the international system (International Political Economy(). It is from 2009, and I didn't discover this until recently because I was looking specifically for something that covered the global economic and political developments in the 20th century, and I googled until I found something. (feed)

Dr. Morrison is quite engaging, and involves his students. In this case, it is both a good thing and not so good for the podcast listener. It is good because it is somewhat Socratic, but it is often hard to hear the students. There is considerable class discussion, because this is not a big lecture course. Dr. Morrison tries to get to know all his students, and usually calls on them by name. The syllabus, slides and even online discussions are still available on the website. I would recommend downloading the slides because they really make it easier to digest the material even if one looks at them later (in my case, I review them quickly in the evening usually after listening to the podcast).

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there will be podcasts from Middlebury routinely, and it isn't clear how long this one will be available, so download this series while you can.

Saeed Ahmed

More guest posts by Saeed Ahmed:
A podcast on climate, energy and food,
Two podcasts on the brain,
Comedy podcasts and philosophy,
John Searle, Philosophy of Mind,
Politics 114B (United States Political Thought; 1865 to the Present).

A Podcast Playlist for 3 July 2011

Tapestry
Science and the Moral Landscape/Jewish Atheism
Mary Hynes talks to Sam Harris on Tapestry about his latest book, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values. And Dan Falk, author, freelance journalist and documentary-maker, explores the idea of Jewish atheism.
(review, feed)

Philosopher's Zone
The puzzlement of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein, the great Anglo-Austrian philosopher, who died fifty years ago this year, often looked puzzled. In fact, puzzlement, about the world and about the concepts with which we try to grasp the world, was to a large extent his stock-in-trade. This week, we investigate how useful it can be to share Wittgenstein´s puzzlement when turning our attention to human society and the possibility that there might be a science of human society.
(review, feed)

Myoclonic Jerk
Addiction
In this episode we look at the dark side of games, how they hook us and the damage they can do, and where they might be taking us. Dan talks to therapist and author Shavaun Scott about her time as an in-game therapist. Comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani talks about his life in games. Writer/performer Justine Barron explains why games are more appealing than guitar lessons. Online gaming pioneer Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) and Vlad Cole of Blizzard Entertainment both return to defend games. All this and much more!
(review, feed)

Big Ideas
Kevin B. Anderson, Janet Afary on The Seductions of Islamism
Kevin B. Anderson and Janet Afary on their book The Seductions of Islamism: Revisiting Foucault and the Iranian Revolution
(review, feed)

Veertien Achttien
Ida B. Wells en een baby in de vlammen
'De grootste schande van de eeuw' noemde Ida B. Wells de rassenrellen in East St. Louis. Ook het Amerikaanse leger was nog lang niet vrij van racisme.
(review, feed)

Today in Podcast - 30 June 2011

In Our Time
In Memoriam
Melvyn and guests discuss one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's greatest poem's, 'In Memoriam A.H.H.'. Written as a tribute to his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly and tragically at the age of 22, the poem offers an insight into Tennyson's deepest feelings of grief and loss. As well as being a heart-rending elegy, the poem also considers the new geological ideas that were coming to light at the time and the questions this knowledge raised about the history of the Earth as outlined in the Bible. Melvyn is joined by Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University; Seamus Perry, Fellow and Tutor in English at Balliol College, University of Oxford; and Jane Wright, Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol.
(review, feed)

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Death Throes of the Republic VI
In a massive finish to the "Dan Carlin version" of the fall of the Roman Republic, conspiracies, civil wars, beatniks of antiquity and a guy named Caesar figure prominently. Virtually everyone dies.
(review, feed)

Mahabharata Podcast
Kurukshetra, Day 2
Episode 63 - The second day of battle comes and goes. If the first day went to the Kauravas, the 2nd day certainly belonged to the Pandavas. The day ends with Bhimasena and Arjun dominating the field, and the Kaurava soldiers crapping their pants. The cream of Kalinga manhood has been exterminated on the field, and even their enemies are forced to admire the way the two brothers cleared the field of all comers.
(review, feed)

Forgotten Classics
Genesis, chapter 30
In which Leah and Rachel begin an unusual competition and Jacob asks Laban for some pay.
(review, feed)

Reith Lectures 2011
Aung San Suu Kyi: Liberty 28 Jun 2011
Aung San Suu Kyi discusses what freedom means in the first of her 2011 Reith Lectures, entitled Liberty. The Burmese pro-democracy leader reflects on her own experience under house arrest in Burma, exploring the universal human aspiration to be free and the spirit which drives people to dissent. She also comments on the Arab Spring, comparing the event that triggered last December's revolution in Tunisia with the death of a student during a protest in Burma in 1988.
(review, feed)

The Economist
China's presence in Europe
China's economic expansion into Europe is gathering pace
(review, feed)

TED Talks
A Rosetta Stone for the Indus script - Rajesh Rao
Rajesh Rao is fascinated by "the mother of all crossword puzzles": How to decipher the 4000 year old Indus script. At TED 2011 he tells how he is enlisting modern computational techniques to read the Indus language, the key piece to understanding this ancient civilization.
(review, feed)