Professionally Produced Podcasts

The field of astronomy is changing incredibly quickly. Just over 10 years ago, our view of the universe fundamentally changed with the discovery of Dark Energy. As fast as the science is changing, however, the ways of communicating that science are changing even faster. Just a few years ago, podcasts about astronomical topics were virtually nonexistent (OK: podcasts were virtually nonexistent, but still. . . ). Now, there are hundreds of science podcasts, and (at least) dozens of astronomy podcasts. Here are a few:

• Astronomy Cast is a professionally-produced podcast that typically interviews astronomers about "big ideas." These are a little longer than a typical "podcast," but they do a nice job of showing how an informal approach can work well.
  
• The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced as part of the International Year of Astronomy (2009) where anyone who wants to can contribute a podcast. Some of these are better than others.
• Slacker Astronomy has a definite informal vibe to it (as suggested by the name); they interview some interesting people and discuss many recent results in Astronomy.
• Some of you may be familiar with Stardate, which are short bits played on a number of public radio stations. Not all of the pieces are similar to what we will be producing in our class, but when they have one about science and physics, they do a good job.
  
• Although it's not exclusively astronomy, the UK-based Naked Scientists also produce a podcast about recent developments in science research and about science in general. One thing that you'll notice about this podcast is that it has much more of a "professional" feel, likely because they also produce this show for radio stations in the UK.
• Sciencepodcasters.org is a collection of several interesting science podcasts from all over. This is mostly just a collection of podcasts produced elsewhere and isn't specifically astronomy-focused, but it's a good place to look to find some good podcasting examples.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that some of the best work in audio presentation is done for the radio. It's usually more long-format material than a typical 5-10 minute podcast, but it's a great place to get inspiration. Radiolab, out of WNYC in New York, is a really excellent science show. It's not specifically about Astronomy, but they really set a gold standard for what can be done with a smart yet informal presenation of complex science topics.

Please mention any science/astronomy podcasts you like in the comments.