The Textcast

Some of you may know that I now have a slight obsession with Slate.com. I'm a *huge* fan of their podcasts (although, while I usually like British accents, I like Andy Bowers much better than June Thomas). I especially like the gabfast. Except, lately, I find myself criticizing it more than agreeing with it (re: Emily Bazelon saying that recess is not going away, but the richer you are the more you get it - i.e. discrimination starts young - and then saying that *her* kids get plenty of recess). I'm a fan of Dahlia Lithwick's take on the Supreme Court. In fact, if I had the time, I would write a "made-for-cable-tv" version of every major Supreme Court case (not just the ones involving Anna Nicole) because, yes, I *am* that much of a nerd. I am a fan of blogging the bible, middlebrow, the dilettante, and hey, wait a minute (i won't link to all - you'll just have to look up all of the good stuff for yourself!). And I'm not even just saying this because Slate verified my ocd about stds.

"(It's vital that girls be vaccinated before they have sex for the first time, since each new sexual encounter brings a 15 percent chance of HPV infection.)"

But, this is all beside the point.


I am a huge fan of podcasts but I think that I may be an even huger fan of the textcast. I'm not on top of the ball, so there may be many other textcasts, but Slate.com's is the first that I have seen. And, I love it. Why? B/c while I'm not taking public transportation as much anymore, all of my weekly podcast addictions are slowly getting backlogged (this may also be because I am studying for the bar). As a good friend of mine had said, it feels kinda weird just sitting around and listening to a podcast. I try. I listen to podcasts while cleaning my house - straightening up, doing my dishes - but in all reality those things don't get done all too often.

I think the textcast is a perfect mix. I can just sit down and read the textcast quickly and quietly. Plus, in more, um, candid terms: an iPod or other mp3 player, (which are supposedly more popular on college campuses than beer...which, btw, my friend pointed out "makes sense because iPods and mp3 players are for rich, privileged people and look at UCLA's % of incoming minority freshman), can be more discretely brought into a stall at work, school, play or otherwise than, let's say, a newspaper.