So Mark's recent blog reminder about keeping up your reading is one I can't agrue with one single iota.
My main problem is finding the time to carve out for reading. I've got a secondary problem a lot of us have, of having such tight budgets even subscriptions are tough, but the main problem is my focus.
I'm working a full time job, with a two hour car commute every weekday. I'm working part time as a freelance writer and that is sucking up a lot of free time (Also, as fiction, the reading for it is completely different from my profesional reading needs). Lastly I've have to find time for family in all this.
I end up with very little free time, that is not sitting behind the wheel of my car. My question is, if you can't read the newspaper can podcasts act as a resonable backup and if so what would you listen to?
Currently I listen to Marketplace daily, Sixty Minutes weekly and catch usually one or two PRI the Worlds a week. I'm not completely out of touch, but I know I could do more.
Thoughts, advice?
Best,
Joel BC
Audio Books
Joel,
This is one of the best scenarios for an audible.com account that I have ever seen. They have a great selection of business books, including almost all of the MT recommended books. I often wish I had a longer commute to justify listening to more audio books. With my current commute of ~25 minutes I can barely keep up with my podcasts. The best use I have for audio books is any long car rides with the family. We usually load up a fantasy novel that will keep all of us entertained and hit the road. I hope you find audible a great way to fill that 2 hour commute. http://www.audible.com/
As for other podcasts, NPR has a great selection of topic podcasts that combine stories from their different shows together. I listen to their technology, economy, and business podcasts weekly. http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php
Canyon R
Canyon- Great suggestion.
Canyon-
Great suggestion. I had an Audible account back before iPods.
I'll have to check out the combined PodCasts from NPR. Marketplace is great for general economics, but I really feel like I'm missing out on more standard news trends.
I wish some of the big regional newspapers would get into pdocasts. I'd love it if the San Francisco chronicle had a news podcast. Radio news is just so non-useful.
Best,
Joel
Economist
If you subscribe to the Economist you get to download each week's edition as a podcast. It's beautifully read - by far one of the best podcasts in terms of audio quality (alongside Mike and Mark's on that score alone)! The podcast is also chaptered so starting in the middle (say, the Business section) is dead easy; on my iPhone I can simply scroll down the list of chapters and pick the one I want to hear next.
I've been listening to it this way for more than two years now, and with the precious little time I have left in my day (and a two year old who gets almost all that I do have), listening while driving to work is now the only way I consume the Economist.
Libraries carrying more and more Ebooks/Audio Books
A lot of the libraries are now carrying a ton of E and Audio books - no charge. E-books are great for commutes when someone else is doing the driving. If you are driving, audio books. And remember, do your best to keep up but don't agonize over it. You can't possibly keep up on every issue in your area or industry or region. If 15 minutes is the best you can do, great. Beyond NPR, most of the major magazines and news services have podcasts available to do the weekly summary. I believe the Economist, Business Week/Bloomber and Financial Times all have weekly summary podcasts. Additionally, some of the major business schools have podcasts from thought leaders - Wharton, Stanford, HBR, and London School of Economics all have great podcasts.
Kindle can read to you
You might look in to whether the newspaper(s) you want are available on the Amazon Kindle, and if so, are they speech enabled. My local paper, the Chicago Tribune, is both. That allows me to put the Kindle on the car seat next to me, turn on text-to-speech, and listen to the newspaper while I drive. It isn't as good as a human reading to you, but it is perfectly understandable.
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Dennis Sherman
6-1-2-7