Podcastin’.

I’ve spent most of this afternoon (the parts where I wasn’t asleep, anyway) hunting for podcasts. I’m not really much of a podcast guy, or at least I haven’t been up until now — my old iPod didn’t really have the space for them and all the music I wanted, so I got into the habit of listening to them on the computer. But I don’t really have the attention span to listen to an hourlong podcast all in one go, and I find it difficult to multitask, so what usually happened was that I’d start listening to one, have it play in the background while I surfed the internet or whatever, then find I hadn’t really heard any of what was said. Or I’d pause it to go to the bathroom or something, forget it was even running, then notice that I’d forgotten to listen to the rest when I went to shut down my computer. My iTunes is positively littered with half-listened-to podcasts as a result of these tendencies.

My new job, though, consists mostly of repetitive manual labor, and a podcast seems like as good a method as any for keeping my mind occupied during the long hours. (At first I was under the impression that MP3 players were not allowed, but after talking with some of my coworkers I was informed that management’s willing to look the other way as long as you’re not an idiot about it.) And my new iPod has enough space to contain every podcast that exists and ever will exist while still having room to spare for my music, so it seemed a match made in heaven.

The problem I’m running into is that podcasts have proliferated to the point that I have little idea what’s worth listening to. Some podcasts, I’m sure, are a joy, while others are just “random assholes recount current events”, and you can’t really tell which is which until you listen. Sifting through iTunes’s podcast section is very much what I imagine panning for gold to be like.

So: Any suggestions? I’ve already got about ten shows that I’ve picked up from Talking Time’s podcast thread and elsewhere… Joe Posnanski’s new podcast, a few gaming podcasts, a few comedy podcasts, some trance, Hardcore History. You can glean my interests from the most cursory reading of this site — games, baseball, books (both “real” literature and more genre stuff), history. About the only subjects I’d rule out immediately are politics and technology. (I seem to lack the enthusiasm for computers and gadgetry that characterizes most other nerds of my stripe.) Oh, and it has to be free, of course. A substantial archive would also be a plus, as long as it’s not too topical.

Also, I’m sure this is out there somewhere, but… is there any sort of podcasting equivalent to an old radio drama? That is, fiction?

I welcome recommendations!