The Podcast Asylum

This show only appears for a couple of months before, during, and after each year’s Book Expo America, and it includes some of the presentations from the event, as well as a number of interviews with authors. I’m not that interested in most of the author interviews (many are with novelists I’ve never heard of), but the material about the publishing industry is gold.

The 2007 podcasts included several episodes on the intersection of new media and publishing, as well as panels on book reviews, US vs. UK publishing, and markets. If you’re a writer of any kind, you’ll want to tune in for these.

The next BEA is at the end of May, 2008, so the series should be starting up again soon. Meanwhile, you can catch up on the archives at http://bookexpocast.com/.

At first, this show was high on production values but suffered a terrible case of Podcastus Inhospitus. The production values have remained good, but Lisa Johnson, Cassie Pruett, and the Reach Group team have made the show more accessible, producing in MP3 format, with a blog for show notes and comments. The shows are very short, often less than 10 minutes long, grouped together in series on different subjects.

‘The Connected Generation’ itself is not so much an age range (though many episodes do talk about relating to Generation Y) as an attitude. Most podcasters, and many podcast listeners, belong to this group. You might want to recommend it to those who haven’t drunk the social media Kool-Aid.

Listen or subscribe at http://www.reachgroupconsulting.com/blog/.

The Forward Podcast is aimed at young PR professionals. So what is a forty-year-old podcasting professor doing listening to it? Well, some of it is the charm and humor of the hosts, Paull Young and Luke Armour, and some of it is the fact that many of the topics they cover are of interest to people in other fields, as well.

Production has been a bit irregular as of late (April 2008), but you can cruise the archives for tips on everything from writing to social media to inter-generational relations to finding a job.

Listen or subscribe at http://www.forward-moving.com/blog/category/podcast/.

While the Podcast Brothers focus on podcasting (and specifically on making money from your podcast), Podcast Sisters Krishna De, Anna Farmery, and Heather Gorringe set out to explain all of Web 2.0 to “the non-geek.” This is a perfect show for the novice who wants to find out about Twitter, Facebook, social bookmarking, widgets, blogging, podcast interviews, and teleseminars, and all the rest of those hip, hot, social media tools.

Recommended by Robin Matuk. Endorsed by ‘Professor’ Goetsch. And with a special tribute to her sisters from Anna Farmery.

Listen or subscribe at http://www.thepodcastsisters.com.

This new Australian PR podcast from Jon Hoel could easily go from good to great, but at three episodes, it’s just a bit too soon to tell. I’m looking forward to more of the Australian/Pacific Rim perspective.

www.prjunctionpodcast.com

Penny Haynes is a one-woman non-stop idea factory, inspired by everything she reads. Once in a while I just get overwhelmed by the possibilities. Penny also organizes the International Podcasting Expo, which is a virtual trade show/conference.

www.brainstorm-podcast.com

Spinfluencer Eric Schwartzman interviews mainstream media moguls about the effect New Media has on their business. Usually interesting, but often the clips he plays on FIR cover all the highlights. Whether I listen tends to depend on who he’s interviewing.

www.ontherecordpodcast.com

Insatiably curious interviewer and former online bookstore owner Paula B talks with writers, publishers, agents, publicists, and anyone who has anything interesting to say about the craft of writing and the publishing industry. I’ve learned something from every episode I’ve heard, but the show hasn’t had much of a “listener-driven” element.

www.writingshow.com