Podcasts

Discussion in 'TV, Satellite & Radio' started by danielmak, May 17, 2008.

  1. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    I went with the more general thread in case folks want to mention podcasts that they like and reasons why we might check out those podcasts. More specifically, I am wondering if anyone knows how to find or access older BBC World Football podcasts. The Web site and iTunes only feature the latest episodes. If you haven't listened to this podcast before, check it out. The site usually lists two types of shows: The first is a call-in show that features commentary about South America, North America, and Europe. This is very thoughtful. The second is usually a mixture of news/documentary reporting that covers 2-3 issues that would interest fans around the world (e.g., refereeing, football in India, the change of South Africa's coach, etc.). Anyway, if you know how to access more than what appears on the web site, please share that info.
     
  2. adammac19

    adammac19 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 31, 2006
    Sydney Mines
    Club:
    Toronto FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    The best thing is to email the show and ask them about it as they would know and I agree it is a very good podcast to have on your itunes. I think it is best one along side the Guardian football weekly.
     
  3. Barcasox

    Barcasox Member

    Mar 26, 2008
    Club:
    Athletic Club Bilbao
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    On my iTunes, It has all of the past episodes, but only starting from when you first subscribe. Maybe I could email some of the ones you want (I have the Pele interviews) but I have been deleting some of the old ones because my computer is getting slow.
    Also some other good podcasts are EPL talk which has very good interviews and Look Away Now, which is sports comedy
     
  4. Elwood

    Elwood New Member

    Mar 20, 2001
    Indianapolis
    I listen to a LOT of podcasts (I work nights, and am generally able to listen to my mp3 player about 6 hours a night), so I'll give some thoughts on what I've found over the past year or so.

    The Guardian Football Weekly is probably the best, overall. Twice a week, about 40 minutes each, and generally funny to a degree. Covers mostly England, with a bit of weekly round up about Spain (Sid Lowe), Italy, Germany and France.

    The Game from Times Online is pretty good. Once a week, tends to have a decent interview each week. About 40 minutes. Almost only about England (though some Spain and Italy).

    Soccernet Extra is another decent one. Touches on Australia and MLS sometimes (very lightly), and also Spain (as well as a general Euro roundup). Twice a week at an hour each.

    Those 3 are sort of in their own category, as round table type discussions of current issues.

    From the BBC there's 5 Live Football Daily, Sports week, 606 Phone In and the World Football podcasts.

    Of those, the World Football call in show is (to me) easily the best. It's an overnight call in show, with usually 2 phone guests (Tim Vickery and Sean Wheelock are usuals, with Dotan the host), and they take calls about teams and players either from outside of England, or playing outside England. Vickery is an encyclopedia (WSD recently added him bi-weekly, and they call him Vickipedia, but he's really The Legendinho). This is the most interesting of all football podcasts, I think. Between 30-60 minutes, once a week.

    The World Football "broadcast" podcast is like a news show, hosted by Alan Green. It's 30 minutes, and covers some interesting world issues (and some not so interesting). Once a week.

    606 Phone In varies. Sometimes upwards of 4 times a week (when there are big Euro midweek games as well as weekends). Usually about an hour each episode. Sometimes entertaining, but the best thing about it is that it's made me realize there are PLENTY of football morons in England.

    5 Live Daily is 6 times a week, usually. Between 15-30 minutes. Sometimes interesting news, sometimes just reports of scores and post-match interviews. Fridays and Mondays (when there aren't Monday games) tend to be the best, IMO.

    Podball 365 from www.football365.com is sometimes weekly, sometimes bi-weekly, sometimes longer breaks. Usually entertaining and funny. About 20-30 minutes.

    The BBC also has loads of Scottish football podcasts. I like their formats (Paper Talk seems interesting, if I cared more about the Scottish leagues), but am not a huge fan of Scottish football. But can be interesting when bored.

    From CSRN, I like the American Soccer Show and Around The League in 90 Minutes. If you're not an MLS fan or a US fan, these probably aren't going to interest you.

    EPL Talk has decent interviews (and a very little bit of news). Usually the interview is interesting even if I don't know who it is prior to listening. The interviews tend to be like 30 minutes, so there's some depth there, but it's not with players, but usually media-types (writers/broadcasters/etc).

    I'll mention World Soccer Daily here, because I listen to it. It's a lot of callers similar to 606, but they've added guests over the past few months. It's nothing special, but I have 6 hours a night to fill, and this fills 2 of them.

    (if anyone is interested in Science, BBC's Dr Karl is pretty good, and Guardian has Science Weekly which is good. For video games, 1up.com seems to have the best, but there are plenty out there I've not listened to. For US sports, Mike and Mike's daily highlights is decent for radio. And yes, I listen to too many podcasts. More than what I list here.)
     
  5. dustcowpoke

    dustcowpoke Member

    Jan 7, 2006
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Elwood why do you not like World Soccer Daily? I agree that Guardian podcast is the best but WSD is always good for the days the Guardian podcast isn't on.

    The first time I started listening to 606 it seemed entertaining but after a while you realize the pattern of calls and some of the absolute idiots on there.

    A typical 606 caller has one of three dialogues:

    1) "We won; (insert manager namer here) should stay on forever. We absolutely love him. (Insert decent player here) was world class. Absolute class...."

    2) "I can't believe we lost. (Insert manager name here that isn't Wenger or Alex Ferguson) should be sacked. The players were shocking; no one cared. Why do we pay these players wages."

    3) "(Insert lower division club here) is having a game. Please turn up because we have no fans and nobody cares about us."
     
  6. Enganche

    Enganche Red Card

    Apr 30, 2003
    Elwood mentioned CSRN and their MLS based shows but they also have a show called "The European Football Show" primarily focusing on Spain, Italy and Germany which is a quite informative review of the previous week's action and a preview of the coming week. They'll also be having coverage through Euro 2008. It is available, along with their other shows, at:

    http://www.csrnusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=30

    I find it a good listen.
     
  7. Elwood

    Elwood New Member

    Mar 20, 2001
    Indianapolis

    I don't think I would go so far as to say that I don't like WSD (I do listen every day - which I wouldn't do if I didn't like it).

    But I wouldn't put it up there as one of the great soccer ones. It is daily, and it is 2 hours, so it's much more per week than anything else.

    But it has some drawbacks, primarily having to do with it being (sometimes more, sometimes less) a fan/caller driven show.

    See, to me, fans are, generally, uninteresting in their contributions to sports shows. That's why 606 is easily the weakest of the BBC podcasts, as it's fan-driven (but that one I find more interesting than WSD because the fans on that show are fans of more than just Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal).

    The guests that WSD has recently added are nice, as they're always more interesting than Kenny or Steven or the random caller. But some of those guests are also on podcasts I already listen to, so can be repetitive. Robbie Earle is a nice addition, and so is Bobby McMahon, but Vickery and Holland I've heard quite a bit on other shows.

    It's also kind of a bummer that they're (Steven especially) are so down on anything MLS. I'm surprised that DeRosario and that defender who's name I'm forgetting are even guests, as at most other times any thing they talk about MLS is how weak it is. I wish they would just step back and remember that MLS is a league in a country that's not soccer-mad (unlike their home countries), and it's not been around for well over 100 years (unlike their home countries' leagues), and it's still, in comparison to many Euro leagues, doing reasonably well, attendance-wise. It's like they're disappointed it's not already up to the standards of, say, a Holland, Portugal or France, without considering any reasons as to why it's not (which there are many). Getting rid of the salary cap (as Kenny especially is wanting) would be very bad at this point. Increasing it wouldn't, but getting rid of it would. Based on the NASL experience, the league MUST grow slow, so as not to grow to fast and later implode. They don't seem to be able to really look at it objectively, so I'd rather them not discuss it, but they are based in the US, so they really should discuss it. What do you do?

    All that being said, again, I listen every day. 10 hours a week, compared to 1, 1.5 or 2 that some others do (The Game, Guardian and Soccernet) means a lot of time to fill. It's just that fans, generally, are so un-objective that they're usually meaningless in their contribution value, as they just create conflict, namecalling and arguments, which isn't all that interesting to hear, IMO. I would rather hear semi-informed discusson of the latest happenings in the J-League than anything that Jett has to say, since he's pretty clueless, or about 90% of the callers that call in.

    Oh, yeah, and The European Game from CSRN isn't bad, like someone mentioned.
     
  8. Barcasox

    Barcasox Member

    Mar 26, 2008
    Club:
    Athletic Club Bilbao
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Great review, but I have to say that De Rosario is hardly from a "soccer-mad" country. Canada has to compete with just as many sports as US soccer does. Toronto fans are just there to remind us that not just a small group of supporters have to create an atmosphere, but everyone in the stadium.
     
  9. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    Thanks for the great reviews, Elwood. I don't listen to many of the call-in shows for the very reason that you describe: most fans don't have anything informative to add and blow hot and cold depending on the week's result (e.g., the sack the manager foolishness that is followed a week later with the manager is god). What separates World Football on BBC is that the callers are more interested in asking questions and seem informed. So these callers cut to the chase and then move out of the way so Vickery, Brassell, and Wheelock can discuss the issues. With that said, I think that the hosts set a tone for the kind of calls that come in. If the hosts would set up a show that modeled intelligent conversation and analysis then those callers who could meet those standards would end up on the air. So, my previous point about most fans not contributing much is not a knock on all fans; rather, the type of show dictates the types of callers. The same thing applies to boards like this one. Some people can't post more than "Ray and Phil suck" and other posters can discuss the ways in which Ray and Phil are good in certain contexts and fall short in others.

    Anyway, I would say that the this BBC pod is my second favorite after the Guardian podcast. Although I have to add that the Guardian podcast has been a bit disappointing lately in that there are too many people who act as if they don't want to be there and that football is nothing more than a sport played by money hungry jerks. I am thinking about Barry. This guy just adds very little beyond humor. If I wanted a stand-up comedy pod then I would download one. But I think that most of the hosts are top class: James Richardson does a great job, Sid Lowe always has interesting segments, the German writer (Raphael) is very thoughtful and so is the guy with the Scottish accent (can't remember his name).

    The last one that I have been listening to a lot lately is EPL talk. The name is actually a bit misleading since very little of the shows deal directly with the EPL. What I like about this is that the gaffer gets out of the way. He asks questions that really get the guests going and never interrupts or cuts them off. It's funny because I think we are so used to interviewers in the US who want to overshadow the interviewee, but the best interviewers make the interviewees comfortable and ask questions that lead to insightful answers that can narrate a scene, situation, context, etc. The gaffer is great on this front. Or at least he has been great on the shows that I have downloaded (check out the pod with David Wangerin as an example).

    BTW I would add that I haven't bothered with WSD because the TV show embodied all of the things that are wrong with talk radio: hosts have ADD and can't stay on a topic for more than 1 minute, everything is about point-counter point (constructed fake debates) rather than analysis and dialogue, and there seemed to be little awareness of football outside the EPL. But maybe they've improved since the TV show started. I watched 3 times and they struck out. Take care.
     
  10. dustcowpoke

    dustcowpoke Member

    Jan 7, 2006
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Some of the callers on WSD are bad, but there are a few good ones like Sayid who knows a lot about African football.

    I have to agree with you Steven does have ADD and sometimes he does recycle a lot of arguments, but the show has improved greatly with the addition of Kenny Hassan. Now with Kenny you can actually get objective opinions, and the guy is a real radio professional.

    Not to mention the fact that now they have Robbie Earle, Derek Rae, Phil Ball, and all these other great analysts as guest callers. This is what makes me keep listening.
     
  11. adammac19

    adammac19 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 31, 2006
    Sydney Mines
    Club:
    Toronto FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    I think it is for the very reason people don't like the call-in shows why they seem to try and bring as many people as they can in to change things up again but I do like 606 for a laugh because there are some real idiots out there and same with WSD, it is for a cheap laugh but I hear Howard is coming back to do some of the shows with Kenny....won't bother listen to that dummy.

    If there is one to stay away from is the 2 G's, worst podcast out there IMO
     
  12. DaPrince84

    DaPrince84 Member+

    Aug 22, 2001
    MD
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    2Gs and the American Soccer Show on CSRN are two of the worst...

    American Soccer Show because they come off as angry fan boys... and the 2Gs because they have no idea how to do a radio show
     
  13. adammac19

    adammac19 BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 31, 2006
    Sydney Mines
    Club:
    Toronto FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Listening the WSD podcast on Friday and they were saying their (the 2 g's) whole operation could be down the shitter?

    Shame because I do really like Around the League in 90 Minutes.
     
  14. bcwildcatjohn

    bcwildcatjohn New Member

    Feb 16, 2003
    Florida
    LFC, this is about the norm from the WSD people this time of the year. CSRN isn't going away anytime soon. In fact, they keep on expanding (debuted a new show last week...doesn't seem like a network fixing to go down would be doing that).
     
  15. Cweedchop

    Cweedchop Member+

    Mar 6, 2000
    Ellicott City, Md
    Here in Washington D.C., we've been doing a podcast/over the air radio show for just about 8 years.

    We are strictly podcast now (much much cheaper and more convenient to do) and do a weekly hour long show with no commericial breaks. One straight hour of content.

    Most of our content is DC United based but we do review all the matches played during the week in MLS and throw in talk about the US National Team when they are playing. We generally don't take phone calls (but we do on occasion) and we don't have players or coaches on because they essentially give us nothing that we haven't heard before. If we do have a guest, it's usually a writer for a paper, website or a team that won't hold back and give us the goods.

    We really enjoy doing this and if you are in for just a domestic slant on all things United and MLS, this is the podcast for you.

    Just go to www.unitedmania.com and click on the UnitedMania Podcast section and listen to your hearts content.

    Also, feel free to comment on what you hear. comments@unitedmania.com
     
  16. Lemieux

    Lemieux Member

    Aug 19, 2000
    Baltimore Federal Hill
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    United Mania podcast is very good. Keep up the good work. I listen to it on my way to games. It's good for a laugh too.
     
  17. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    The Guardian Football Weekly is my favorite footy podcast. I used to listen to Soccernet Extra, but I haven't for about a year now. I also get the 606 Phone In, love listening to that after United get a result, World Football which has a great South American wrap in Tim Vickery and decent US coverage.

    Don't have the time to listen to WSD anymore, unfortunately.
     
  18. Pottertons

    Pottertons New Member

    May 28, 2003
    Canada_GTA
    I've been a firm follower of WSD since back in the days when it was WSW. I agree with many others on here that the accumulation of special guests as of late have made the show much, much better. I'm also glad that they got rid of that absolute prat Howard.

    They do tend to get down on MLS a bit, Liverpool fans and Land(acakes) Donavon. Can't understand why Steven focuses so much on these three things. Waste of time really.

    They have some great themes though where you can be taken into the 'behind the scenes' sort of aspect. e.g, the current couple of callers that they have, who represent the progress of the WC in South Africa. Sounds a bit dodgy to me if I'm to go on what I've heard from them.

    I like soccernet, the guardian and football weekly for more in depth talk from a more expert point of view if you will.

    One that has not been mentioned is Talksport. I used to listen to this one quite often up until they flamin well went to Sirius and don't offer a podcast.
     
  19. Elwood

    Elwood New Member

    Mar 20, 2001
    Indianapolis
    To resurrect a very old thread, any new podcasts people have found?

    I still listen to WSD, Soccernet (both fantasy and the normal ones - I'm currently around 30th in their podcast mini-league for the EPL), Guardian, The Game from Timesonline, the varous BBC ones, as well as occasionally the MLS/US ones from CSRN, but also have found new this season Chappers and a couple from Newstalk.ie.

    Anything else seem pretty quality out there? I'd say that the Soccernet ones are the best, followed by the Guardian, but the others all have their moments. WSD does it's job for me because it's 2 hours every day, and I listen at work (on the move job, working nights so mostly alone, so mp3 player is on almost all night). Chappers I really like because of Graham Poll. Not that I'm a huge fan of him, but it's nice to hear the insight from a referee, especially on "controversial decisions", which there seem to be quite a few in England this season. And he does have a decent sense of humor.
     
  20. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    I have been so busy lately and way behind on my viewing (still have about 8 CONMEBOL qualifiers on my DVR that I want to watch and luckily don't know the scores yet) that I haven't been listening to many podcasts of late. I still think the BBC World Football is the best in terms of smart commentary followed by Guardian's podcast (intelligence and humor) and then ESPN's podcast.

    I have stumbled upon a few others and you might try to see what you can chase down relative to your favorite teams. For example, I read a great piece in When Saturday Comes late last season written by a guy who argued that he did not want his team (Ipswich, I believe) to get promoted. So I googled the guy to see if he had written anything else. A podcast for Ipswich Town (?) popped up because the guy was interviewed for one of the episodes. I listened to some of it and it was pretty smart, but I'm not really interested in Ipswich (as a neutral I would just prefer to listen to a general pod like the ones mentioned above). I haven't had time to see if there is a good Liverpool podcast (not holding out hope for an English language Roma, Valencia, or PSG podcast). So that's a long way to say that if you are a fan of any English teams or speak multiple languages than you might find some locally produced podcasts or podcasts for radio shows that are on local radio stations that will meet your needs. Take care.
     
  21. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Haven't changed mine much at all.

    Guardian for football.

    Bill Simmons Page 2 for everything else.
     
  22. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    I am not a fan of the call-in shows because they are usually a collection of people who call in to say their team is the best and other teams suck, an hour of nothing meaningful. But there was a nice piece in the last issue of WSC about Danny Baker's return to the 606 show on Tuesday nights. I have been listening for the past two weeks and really enjoy his approach. The podcast is mostly about the culture of football fans more than about the game itself. Last week he did this section on giant flags at games and the week before had people call in about strange events during half-time. Some of the show can be less interesting (some kind of poker game about played between callers). Anyway, I recommend that you check it out if you haven't yet.

    Also, if there are any digital packrats on the forum who have old MP3s of these shows (Baker started in September), please send me a PM. I would be interested in any of the pods from September-end of October.
     
  23. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Danny Baker is good on 606, but Lovejoy is a ********ing idiot.
     
  24. Chims

    Chims Member

    Apr 13, 2007
    Oreland, PA
    Any good English-language Serie A podcasts out there? I've become obsessed with the Italian league this year.
     
  25. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    I haven't found one but there are other folks who have posted to this thread that listen to a lot more podcasts than I do. I can say, however, that the Guardian podcast usually allocates some time to the games in Serie A and major issues in Italy, since James Richardson used to live in Italy and cover Serie A. I haven't listened to the Guardian podcast as much this season since I have alternated between reading and listening during my commute on the el, but they did add a reporter to some of the early episodes who covers Serie A for the Guardian. She didn't have much to add so hopefully they have dumped her and let Richardson handle Italy.
     

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