Top Podcasts of 2007

10. NPR: Tell Me More
After some criticism about NPR being biased toward white middle classed American’s, NPR introduced the show Tell Me More with host Michel Martin. The aim of the show is to look at current events through the lens of multiculturalism. The show has an online blogging component for those wanting more interaction. The show also includes Tallahassee representation during the weekly “visit to the barbershop” where Jimi Izrael from WFSU discusses current events with other guys. The show also features Faith Matters, Mocha Moms, and Wisdom Watch.

9. Emergent Podcast
A friend once told me that the Emergent Church is the Middle Finger of the Body of Christ. While this might have some truth to it, they prefer to think of themselves as generative friendship among missional Christians seeking to love our world in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Regardless, the Podcast is sometimes dry, but always challenging–like a social experiment where you include Christian leaders ranging from a lesbian episcopalian minister to an ultra-conservative Southern Baptist, and everyone in between. Topics range from Justice and Repentance to Music and Worship in the Evangelical Brazilian Church to Jacques Derrida’s Deconstruction Philosophies and Christianity. No matter where you are on the Christian spectrum, you will disagree with something that is said, but you will always be challenged to think a little deeper about your Christian faith.

8. Grammar Girl
This Podcast teaches you everything that you should have learned in English class, but in a fun way with plenty of examples to help you remember the lesson. Part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network, each episode is only a few minutes long, making the lessons easier to remember.

7. Onion News Network (Video)
Not politically correct at all, this Video Podcast is hilarious. The Onion (don’t miss the Onion Radio News Podcast) mocks contemporary news media in ways that might even have Bill O’Rielly blush. If nothing else, check out the episode where the panel discusses the widening gap between the rich and the super rich. And speaking of gap, check out the Gap – For Kids By Kids episode.

6. NPR: Car Talk
Car talk has been on for 20 years now. If you haven’t heard Tom and Ray’s call in show about car repair by now, you’ve been missing out. But now that you can download the podcast, you really have no excuses. On a side note, I can’t believe how many Keri’s (Kari, Carry, Carrie, etc) own VW Beetles in Tallahassee. I know two personally and heard one more on Car Talk a few weeks ago.

5. NPR: Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
A news quiz where the prize for winning is an old guy leaving a message on your answering machine. Believe me, this is funnier than it sounds. Watch for the special guests on the “Not My Job” portion of the show. Listen to a few episodes of this show and you too will want Carl Kassel’s voice on your answering machine.

4. Tony Campolo Podcast
Each week Tony Campolo host’s “From Across the Pond,” a show broadcast on the Premier Radio Network in England. In half hour episodes Tony Campolo provides a challenging Christian perspective on current events and gives an honest critique of American and British Christian sub-cultures.

3. Mars Hill Bible Church
Listed as one of the top 25 most influential Christians by Time magazine, Rob Bell provides sermons that will challenge and inspire Christians. Creative and relevant, the sermons will draw Christians deeper into a meaningful relationship with God. Just don’t confuse this church with the Mars Hill church in Seattle, the Mars Hill Mega-Church is not your typical mega-church. Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids Michigan places little emphasis on high-tech production (despite its use of Podcasts and the production of the simplistic, yet artistic Nooma Videos) and instead embraces simplicity and cultivates a belief that gatherings should not be a performance. Also check out Rob Bell’s books Velvet Elvis and Sex God.

2. This American Life
This American Life broadcasts both video and audio. I have not seen the video, so I cannot comment on those shows, but the audio broadcast is always interesting. Usually a collection of stories focused around a single theme or topic, the show delves into issues and provides various perspectives provide a larger picture. You can even be Facebook friends with host Ira Glass, if you so choose. Make sure you check out the Episode 218 titles “Act V” where a group of inmates at a high security prison rehearse and stage a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s a play about murder and its consequences, performed by murderers, living out the consequences.

1. WNYC’s Radio Lab
I actually came across this podcast while listening to the This American Life Podcast. Described as a “patchwork of people, sounds, stories, and experiences centered around one big idea,” the show explores a topic in a scientific-sociological way. The audio engineering brings the show to life by providing the backdrop on which the topic is explored. This show is an interesting mix of science and culture that will make you wish television was half as visual as this radio show.