Podcasting couch (Column 2, May 10, 2009 - Sunday Mid-day)

Last week, I told you what podcasts are and how to on the jump on the podcast brigade. I hope you’re becoming as starry eyed as I am about them — no more mindless chit chat in your ear when you can be listening to the New York Times’ Book Review or This Week in Tech. Hook me up any time!
It’s easy, isn’t it? First you find the podcast you want. You can search by topic, keyword or author. Tip: most columnists and writers have a podcast these days. Even astrologer Susan Miller from Astrologyzone.com does them!
Then you click on the subscribe button or paste the podcast feed URL into your receiver, such as Juice or iTunes. Once it downloads to your computer, you can listen at your desk or transfer the audio file to your portable device — whether it’s your phone or your mp3 player.
Today, we’re rounding up the best current affairs & news podcasts as well as indie music podcasts. If you’re interested in cars, I’ve got some recommendations for you as well.

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS/NEWS PODCASTS
1. BBC’s Global news (twice a day)
2. NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook
3. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (iTunes)
4. 60 Minutes from CBS
5. Front Page from The New York Times

BEST INDIE MUSIC PODCASTS to discover great new bands and trending music styles
1. Amplified, an Indie Music Podcast
2. Arcain Indie Podcast
3. Paddy Whacked, Irish music
4. Indie 103.1 FM
5. NYUB, the UK Music Podcast

BEST BUSINESS PODCASTS
1. Today’s Business from The New York Times
2. Bloomberg on The Economy
3. Business Daily from BBC World Service
4. Wall Street Journal This Morning from The Wall Street Journal
5. FT Digital Business Podcast from FT.com

Tip: If there’s no url with the title, just pop the keywords into the search field of the directory.

Feel free to send topic suggestions for podcast recommendations or any questions to chhavi@sonologue.com.

Happy listening! And do try this at home.

Chhavi Sachdev is a multimedia journalist who runs Sonologue - an audio production house