Good Podcasts and Podcatchers?

Chimera512 asks: "I've heard quite a bit about podcasts and software for aggregating podcasts, most of the software I've tried to use have been mediocre at best. where do you find podcasts that are worth listening to? What do you use to aggregate them? Ideally something that allows me to simply copy the stream URL into the program and have it download and/or transfer the file to my MP3 player."

I subscribe to very few

[bheer]

but Zoe's Radio [zoeradio.com] has got to be one of the better ones, she RJs very well for someone so young:
Podcast feed: http://webjay.org/by/iancr/zoe5c27sradioshow.xml [webjay.org]

Then let's not forget the (supershort but funny) Onion Radio News [theonion.com].

When BSG's on air, Ron Moore's podcasts [scifi.com] are also good listening.

mplayer

[Anonymous Coward]

...which can turn any realaudio stream (from e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/ [bbc.co.uk] or any of the "listen again" pages) into a podcast.

My list

[blefler]

• Cinecast [cinecastshow.com] is an excellent movie review podcasts the IMO beats the snot out of Ebert & Whoever (of course you can catch their podcast as well.) RSS Feed [feedburner.com]
• Keith and the Girl [keithandthegirl.com] still stands as one of my regulars, although not for everyone, but very funny. RSS Feed [libsyn.com]
• Coverville [coverville.com] is a wonderful high production values music podcast that features only covers of songs. I love it. RSS Feed [feedburner.com]

As for RSS feed readers/podcatchers (another hated word mashup), I still use the original Juice [sourceforge.net] receiver (previously called iPodder). It has plenty of flaws, but every time I give other feed readers a try I always come back to it. I still haven't found one that will synch with my iRiver correctly. I use the new version of WinAmp for that.

I don't know why everyone always recommends using iTunes. I abhor their podcast interface and always get confused as it dumps me in and out of my library, search, back to their store, etc. Hate hate hate!

Simple, look at your MP3 player, and your interest

[jeaster]

Those two pieces of information will have to be your starting point. My iRiver and Ipodder work just fine together. YMMV. As for podcasts, look for things that interest you. I am a newly converted catholic, and one of my favorite podcasts is from Father Roderick: ( http://www.catholicinsider.com/ [catholicinsider.com] ) I enjoy his information, style, and POV. You may not. On the other hand, I enjoy a big breasted potty mouthed chick by the name of Soccergirl (TM). Fun, and the voice/quality is usually pretty good. Also, she has boobies, always a plus. :) ( http://soccergirl.podshow.com/ [podshow.com] ) Good luck, there is a lot of stuff out there that *I* find interesting.

Re:Simple, look at your MP3 player, and your inter

[Rude Turnip]

Cool, another fan of Father Roderick! I'm not a Catholic or a Christian in general, but I listen to his Daily Breakfast podcast every day. He's definitely changed my idea of the stereotypical view of a priest. He's a huge fan of things like Star Wars and Harry Potter, and even does specialty podcasts that explore the mythological concepts in both. Among other things, he's a huge fan of the TV shows, "24" and "Lost." He once geeked out for about 10 minutes talking about how cool it was to have the cops chasing him while playing Need For Speed Most Wanted.

The most insightful thing I ever heard him say was a commentary about sex and violence in movies and video games. In general, he's not against it if it's integral to the story at hand. And, to paraphrase him, "Do you realize how much sex and violence there is in the Bible?" He's also very open about the history of the Catholic church and talks about how a lot of its holidays (such as easter and christmas) have pagan origins. Recently, he had a lengthy discussion and criticism about the church regarding all the sex abuse scandals.

All of Fr. Roderick's shows are under the umbrella of his fledgling Starquest Podcast Network, that includes the podcasts of a couple others that he's working with. The web site for SQPN is at www.sqpn.com.

iTunes Agent

[ematic]

For convenient podcast downloads for NON-iPod MP3 players, try iTunes + iTunes Agent.

iTunes
http://www.apple.com/itunes/ [apple.com]

iTunes Agent - use any MP3 player with iTunes
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=54 9637 [sourceforge.net]

My Morning Playlist
Nature Podcast (science journal)
http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/ [nature.com]

NPR 5-minute News Summary
NPR Health & Science
NPR Technology
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.p hp?type=topic [npr.org]

Democracy NOW! (news - better than NPR in some ways)
http://democracynow.org/podcast_help.shtml#feeds [democracynow.org]

Diggnation (latest general blog news from digg.com)
http://revision3.com/diggnation [revision3.com]

This Week in Tech (weekly tech news)
http://twit.tv/podcastinfo [twit.tv]

Security Now! (tech/security news)
http://www.grc.com/SecurityNow.htm [grc.com]

President's Weekly Radio Address (comedy)
http://weeklyradioaddress.com/ [weeklyradioaddress.com]

and I used to listen to Ricky Gervais (comedy), but he charges $$ now.
http://www.rickygervais.com/podcast.php [rickygervais.com]

Re:meh

[JimmehAH]

I second Google Reader [google.com].

I've also found Penn Jillette's [freefm.com] podcast to be entertaining, even if I don't agree with everything he says.