The State of the Podosphere

Over the Christmas break I found a podcast with a guy named Jack Lewis. Its focus is old time and bluegrass music. The host runs an internet radio station and showcases non-signed bands. Lewis sounds like something from the mountains. His folksy manner is interesting. But in the 26 episodes that he did he gave people a good understanding of the differences between bluegrass and old time music. He also did a couple of casts on the history of bluegrass. And a couple on how bands work including the issues that a band has in doing a live performance.

It turns out that Mr. Lewis had a career in the military as an engineer, so while he sounds country he is pretty well educated. But regardless of his background he did some very interesting programs for those of us who are interested in this type of music. Then he went off the air. No explanation on why. That is one of the uncertainties about this new medium.

A couple of my other favorites are specialized to my fields of interest. So there is EconTalk from George Mason University - a great range of topics with a very skilled interviewed - Russ Roberts who is on the faculty there and at the Hoover Institution. Or the Invisible Hand which reviews current management and business books. And then there are the professional ones -the Tax Foundation has a really good one on tax issues. The Federalist Society has a wide range of its programs on legal issues on a wide range of topics. And the Economist does a weekly update of its current issue.

The range of programs is growing and iTunes is a great resource to see what comes next.