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Category: Literature
Jason Talbot and Edward Perot are the voices and writers that make up New World Orders. This podcast audio novel joins the ranks of those written by popular authors such as Scott Sigler and J.C. Hutchinson. New World Orders is a free podcast novel, written under the pseudonym Edward G. Talbot. Suspense and conspiracy make up the plot of the novel, and younger listeners may not be ready for the violence and bad language. The book is broken down into three parts with about ten 30 minute episodes per part for easy listening. The male readers do a great job creating distinct voices for each character. The women readers, one in particular, have trouble matching their voices to the emotions of the characters they play. This really distracts from the story itself. On the plus side, a summary of the previous episode is given at the beginning of each new episode so that readers are caught up on the story. New World Orders can increase its entertainment value by adding music and story-driven sound effects. Including these extra steps will make editing the story more difficult but would be worth the rewards.
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Category: Places and Travel
Host Chris Christensen interviews world travelers each week in this podcast. A large number of locations have been discussed as Chris has almost reached the 150 episode mark at the time of this review. Listeners are sure to find out the best times to go to a certain location, what to see while there, how much money to expect to spend, and the best places to stay. Chris does a great job of eliciting valuable information from those he interviews, but the strength of the show is heavily dependent on the interviewee. We found that those who could describe the geography and social atmosphere of the chosen location from personal experience really stood out. Amateur Traveler Podcast offers an enhanced version of the show which allows for the inclusion of pictures and links to discussed sites; this is invaluable to listeners that consume content stationary. Unfortunately, editing out the “umms” and pauses of the conversation was too tight at times leaving fragmented sentences.
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Category: Design
Public Radio International offers Design for the Real World. The podcast gives listeners an invitation to look at the genius of everyday things and is presented bi-weekly by host Curt Anderson. This nicely produced show has cute bumpers and each episode is about 5 minutes in length. A different guest presents the topic in each episode. The variation of new narrators that are knowledgeable about the subjects adds additional seasoning and flavor. Topics include all kinds of things, including ice cream cones, swimming pools, and cameras. The addition of music, background sounds, and other effects greatly add to the shows entertainment value as well.
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