In the next day or two, the podcast library on my iPod will reach two thousand. Every day, despite the fact that I listen to as many as fifteen or twenty of the podcasts, the number grows, sometimes by ten or so, sometimes by more than twenty-five, once even by thirty-two. I have already subscribed to more than one hundred different shows, and almost as quickly as new shows pop up on the iTunes podcast page, I subscribe to them as well, and they begin to add to the mass accumulation. From my iPod screen, 42: 09: 24: 24: at last count; 47: 09 GB and guaranteed to grow. Podcasts from last spring wait patiently to be listened to along with yesterday's latest download. Video podcasts vie with audio for their day in the sun. Musicians and singers, novelists, pundits political and economic, all beckon, some calmly, some with urgency, for my attention: "Choose me. No, choose me," they seem to say.

As I write, the podcast of Aspen Public Radio's Classical Music program — a Beethoven quartet, some Chopin nocturnes, etc. — has just ended, so I am going to pause and choose something new. Back in a minute. I went for, Texas Blues Café, session 146 (one of three I've yet to listen to). Cow Dog says he's going to play something by Stevie Ray Vaughn. My tastes in music are nothing if not eclectic. Not only do I have classical and blues, I have folk and country, Doo Wop and Jazz, Big Band and The Grateful Dead.

Pardon the digression.

So many podcasts, so little time. They all look so interesting, so appealing. They offer a world of entertainment and a universe of knowledge and god knows the price is right. I can get the talking heads from Slate gabbing about politics or culture or even sports. I can meet the press and face the nation at my convenience. I can listen to My Friend Irma, The Shadow or Lux Radio Theater on old time radio podcasts. The National Gallery will give me a tour of their latest exhibit. Brian Dunning debunks myths urban and otherwise on Skeptoid. Kevin Pollack plays the Larry King Game with Dana Carvey. Adam and Mattie talk film from Chicago on Filmspotting. My iPod is a storehouse of riches just waiting to be tapped.

Article Author: Jack Goodstein

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