Hey

Hey,

At year's end, I wanted to mention a few of the new (to me) podcasts I've been listening to over the past year in case you're looking for more ways to fill up your drive time. These are listed in no particular order.

LeVar Burton Reads -- Does what it says on the tin. LeVar Burton picks a short story and reads it to you. As you would expect Mr. Burton is an accomplished narrator and he's selected a wide and interesting set of stories to read. There are also a couple of episodes where he talks with the writers from some of the stories. Well worth checking out.

Ear Hustle -- Produced at San Quinten by the inmates, this podcast discusses various aspects of life in prison. San Quinten isn't a super-max prison so inmates have a bit more leeway in their activities (I mean, they're making this podcast), but it's still prison and there are a lot of unique challenges. The first episode discusses the ups and downs of "cellies", your roommate in the 6'x10' cell you share. Good stuff.

The Paris Review -- The literary magazine now has a podcast and it's really good. Drawing on archival interviews with famous authors of the late 20th century along with readings of short stories and poems previously published in the magazine, most of the episodes have been really good and again, I highly recommend it.

This Podcast Has Fleas -- a podcast for kids. Waffles the Dog and Jones the Cat have competing podcasts (Dog Talk and Live from the Litterbox respectively) and you can listen to them both on this show as various events unfold in their house. Special guest voices Eugene Mirman (as Benny the Gerbil) and Alex Baldwin (as Mr. Gubbs the fish) are a fun and surprising addition to the show. The episodes are all light and breezy without a ton of "lessons to be learned" issues and it makes for some nice filler.