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Blog Business Success
Category: Business
Wayne Hurtbert is the host of Blog Business Success. Despite having “blog” in the name, subject material mostly falls in the “small business” sector. Blog Business Success has complimentary information for business owners ranging from marketing, product management, and techniques for running an effective business. Wayne is able to find guest who are well spoken for each episode. It is apparent, however, that Wayne is heavily dependent on the interviewees. If the guest is monotone or uninteresting, then the presentation of the show dives south quickly. The length of the show is too long, while transitions and musical bumpers are begging to be utilized to break up the show. This podcast is produced through Blog Talk Radio, which is notorious for poor sound quality. Blog Business Success is no exception; sound quality makes this show difficult to which to listen.
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.Net Rocks
Category: Software How-To
Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell are the hosts of .Net Rocks. The podcast is a refreshing breeze from many other technology-related shows. .Net Rocks is “pro” Microsoft offering perspectives from developers found in Microsoft Windows. Carl and Richard discuss a broad variety of material involving .Net developers including informative, personal, and political topics. Despite the potentially dry topic, the hosts are very entertaining. Really, they are! Both have great radio voices and play off each other well. The easy transitions from differing subjects aide the show’s fluidity. A startling fact that we disliked involved the use of commercials. Ads were placed in the middle of the podcast without a transition or warning. This disrupted the content that was being discussed. Overall, we are impressed by how versatile .Net Rocks is, even to those not familiar with Microsoft’s .Net.
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The Onion Radio News
Category: Comedy
Doyle Redland hosts The Onion Radio News, a daily podcast featuring a short “news clip” from a national publication known as The Onion. The Onion Radio News is odd. Funny stories, which are completely fiction, are presented in “breaking news” fashion. The style offers an attitude of sarcasm and silliness. The sound quality is well produced with a nice blend of mixing, music, speech, and other audio commentary. Since the show is only one minute in length, listeners must decide quickly if they either love it or hate it. Just as listeners are getting into the presentation style, the show is over. Giving four or five “breaking stories” in each episode would be very beneficial. The podcast is an accurate representation of The Onion. Just remember that while it sounds like a traditional media production, it cannot be taken seriously.
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Podcast Academy
Every show is introduced by Michael W. Geoghegan. The podcast consists of a series of shows featuring different speakers in each episode from The New Media Expo. Due to the high quality of presenters, Podcast Academy is full of very resourceful information of which many podcasters need to be aware. Podcast Academy allows those not able to make it to the Expos to hear speakers with great business and motivational skills. As we were listening to Podcast Academy it became apparent that this is a great source of information for those thinking about becoming a podcaster and of strategies for the more seasoned new media producers. The entertainment value for each episode is dependent upon the talent of the chosen speaker. The length of the show often takes away from the value of the content as they can be over an hour. Overall, Podcast Academy is a highly useful show with great sources of information.
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Planet Pulse
Astrology wizards Rick Levine and Jeff Jawer hosts this weekly podcast as a service offered by Tarot.com. Jeff and Rick describe the major astrological patterns of the day and the fact that they affect us, much like the changing weather. The daily shows rarely top five minutes. Specialties include Tarot, Astrology, Numerology and more. Planet Pulse is for knowledgeable listeners who already have an understanding of the topics discussed. The terminology used limits the show’s reach to a wider audience that may be curious. The two enthusiastic hosts caters to those involved in the special niche. Listeners are updated and given the earth’s location in relationship to the other planets and moon. This is supposed to affect our moods and thoughts, however the hosts fail to describe how this is the case. It would be beneficial for listeners to know how these facts apply to them. Sound quality is bombarded by background noise, hiss, and other artifacts making Planet Pulse “difficult on the ears”.
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Typical Mac User
Victor Cajiao
Victor Cajiao is host of the Typical Mac User. The podcast is aimed at Apple users with varying degrees of understanding. Victor uses a one-two punch in the formatting of the shows. One episode, for example, will be reminiscent of a one-on-one tutorial experience. The next show will then be of a more interactive format filled with live calls, guests, and content to help listeners better understand the Mac, iPod, and iPhone required for maximum enjoyment. He shares helpful tips with listeners about Mac software and hardware as well as troubleshooting problems. Victor is honest when a listener asks him a question to which he does not know the answer. Regardless of the format, the sound production is well produced. No doubt this is due to Victor’s admitted need to have the shows “just right.” The length of this show varies; the tutorial episodes run about thirty minutes. These are the easiest to which to listen. Episodes over one hour were too long as it is difficult to take in that much information at once.
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Dan Carlin’s Hard Core History
Category: History
Dan Carlin shares history with listeners in his storyteller, narrative style. The intro to this show is fantastic! Throughout his many episodes, Dan has covered history from the Bronze Age through World War II. He is very descriptive, and the word “passionate” does not even begin to describe his delivery. In fact, he is quite over-dramatic. Dan’s expressional tone and style would be great at story-telling time around a camp fire. His delivery style is similar to that of a small church preacher. The use of background and vocal effects is helpful by bringing the information alive. These are often played at such a low volume, however, that they sound more like background noise. Dan Carlin’s passion is admirable. However, the length of the podcasts are too long, and this became a distraction for us.
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Brains Matter
Category: Science and Medicine
This show is hosted by the self-proclaimed “Just an Ordinary Guy” or OG. “Science, curiosities, and general knowledge” are the focus of this podcast. Brains Matter mixes-up the shows with “Brain Teasers” along with guest interviews. Most of those interviewed are well spoken and pleasant to listen to. Unfortunately, Brains Matter goes down hill from there. The theme music for the show is used often during the podcast; this gets annoying very quickly. An odd feature that was hard to overlook was the placement of a listener comments section right in the middle of interviews. This seemed very out-of-place and awkward. Brains Matter is plagued by background noise full of hisses and hums. The unruly sounds are similar to high-spinning computer fans. If Brains Matter can make use of a room with less ambient noise and keep the computer from becoming so taxed, sound quality will greatly improve. This will increase the professionalism of the podcast. Despite hard work from the host, Brains Matters is not a memorable show.
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Business Week: The Welch Way
Category: Management and Marketing
Jack and Suzy Welch use this podcast to offer weekly advice that would normally cost corporations a lot of money. Unfamiliar with the history of Jack Welch? Jack was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001. During his tenure, GE increased its market capitalization by over US$400 billion. Jack and Suzy Welch are given high marks for being authorities on the subject they discuss. During the podcast, Jack and Suzy field questions from listeners and banter commentary off one another about issues facing the business market. The duo tackle topics such as corruption and misconceptions currently affecting the corporate world. These two recognize the importance of the average employee and encourage management to value these people. Jack and Suzy usually finish the podcast with a general lesson or thought to ponder. With all of this said, the sound production of The Welch Way is surprisingly poor. Jack and Suzy sound as if they are conversing through a recorded telephone connection. The production “flubs” keep us from understanding complete statements from Jack because his voice sounds garbled.
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Shelly’s Podcast
Category: Personal Journals
Shelly’s Podcast is symbolic of the very purpose of blogging and podcasting: self expression. Shelly Brisbin presents information in a personal manner, discussing topics that are meaningful to her. She is a fan of music and uses various types of music as bumpers between topics. The team at Edgy Reviews immediately identified with Shelly as she explained how she walks around her house with her headphones on listening to many podcasts; we do too! Also, we experienced the grief and the difficulty of “putting down” a beloved pet along with Shelly. She frequently incorporates segments such as “The Lightning Round” and “Tech Talk” to add a flare of interactivity. Audio quality is solid and the levels are well balanced. Each episode is usually about 30 to 40 minutes in length, which did seem too long. There are guests that appear in the podcast, including Shelly’s husband Frank, but he tended to drag the show down in contrast to Shelly. Listeners willing to keep up with this busy individual and experience some laughs and sorrow will enjoy Shelly’s Podcast.
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Maximum PC Podcast
Category: Tech News
Dave, Will, Gordon, and Andy host the Maximum PC podcast. The show is a very entertaining podcast and can be informative as well. The hosts are versatile and use events to enhance the entertainment value of the show. Segments such as “A date with Dave” and “Gordon’s Rant-of-the-Week” are just a few examples. Gordon’s Rant-Of-The-Week seems to be the highlight of the show judging by listeners’ responses and by how the hosts hype it up during the broadcast. The music used to transition between the segments of the podcast are the best we have heard as well. Most people, even non-techies, will find this show very entertaining. Those with PC problems or questions will find the show quite helpful. Despite the differing opinions and personalities, it was difficult to determine who was speaking due to similar vocal tones of the hosts. Dave “The Murph” Murphy has a dry wit but needs to enunciate his words more clearly. The sound of Maximum PC Podcast also seems trapped in the low frequencies, most likely due to baritone voices in combination with Skype. The podcast needs a “brighter” sound or segment to escape the tonal lows in the sound. Overall this is a helpful AND entertaining podcast.
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The WildeBeat
Steve Sergeant hosts this podcast. The goal of Wildebeat is to encourage people to experience and enjoy the outdoors. The Wildebeat is a non-profit, educational project of Earth Island Institute. This podcast provides good information for travelers and explains equipment that will assist hikers and campers. Topics vary from how to pack your gear for commercial flights to how to use a solar cooker. The WildeBeat has many episodes under its belt as well. Steve Sergeant records at different locations, which brings in distracting background noises. We did, however, enjoy the host’s voice-over explaining what is occurring while action plays out in the background, an innovative effect for a podcast. It must be stated that the presentation of this show is extremely outdated though. The music used at the introduction and Steve’s voice are both reminiscent of educational films from the 1970’s. Steve Sergeant has a monotone voice that was not capable of conveying his passion for the outdoors either. This is disappointing because the show has a lot of potential.
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