[Doc HM]

I've been drifting off listening to TWIT and MacBreak Weekly on a weekly basis for a while even though I'm not always entirely sure whey. I have taken to supplementing Leo's shows with the output from Dan Benjamins 5x5 network.

The presenting styles are very different, old school professional vs more homespun, local DJ vs Public Service Radio presenter (sort of). While I don enjoy Andy I on MacBreak and some of the guests I find a more enjoy the much more in depth thinking through of John Siracusa and Marco.

What do the rest think? TWIT network fans or both or neither.

[subego]

I used to listen to Gruber's podcast and liked it very much as long as they shut up about baseball. It was a small thing, but I really liked how the show just started and ended. No wind-up, no wind-down.

I've switched to TWiT not because it's so much more awesome, but because it caters well to live viewers. I don't listen to any podcasts at all any more.

[OreoCookie]

I don't like Leo Laporte's podcasts too much. I find him quite annoying and not as laid back as Dan Benjamin. I occasionally listen to Windows Weekly for an outside perspective on our small Apple universe. But I really like Siracusa's and Arment's shows on 5by5, they often go much beyond what is written in reviews or opinion pieces (e. g. Siracusa's analysis of Apple's current line-up of executives last week was great). Also, I still like Gruber (especially if he doesn't talk about baseball), and even though I miss the good atmosphere between him and Benjamin, the last Talk Shows on 5by5 were clearly lackluster. To borrow a quote from Marco Arment: the (new) Talk Show often feels like a show for geeks and technology enthusiasts rather than about technology.

I've tried to listen to the VergeCast, but I found it way too unstructured: a lot of cross talk and often the hosts regurgitate their reviews (which is not necessarily a criticism, most of the time I just don't find that sort of thing very interesting anymore).

[reader50]

Am I the only person who wondered why Doc HM was posting a Charmed discussion resolved in season 2? That was the first reference the title suggested.

[ort888]

I listen to This Week in Tech every week. I like Leo well enough and the show is typically pretty entertaining depending on guests.

I'll listen to Macbreak Weekly if there is some interesting Mac developments or I don't have any better options, but I find it to be pretty dull on most weeks. I like Andy Inahtko, but lately something about him is annoying me. He's just too long winded or something.

On 5by5 I currently only regularly listen to Hypercritical. It's a great show if I like the topic of the week, but lately he's been hitting a lot of stuff I don't care about. If I get another 2 hour podcast about twitter or app.net, I might shoot myself.

Sometimes I listen to Build and Analyze, but I find Marco Arment to be pretty annoying. His delivery is generally fairly dull, and while most of these guys are pretty "Apple Partisan", I find Marco's brand of partisanship to be a little more off-putting.

Same goes for Jim Dalrymple's show on 5by5. He's just so far up Apple's butt that it's hard to take him seriously. I also find his show to be painfully dull.

I really like Merlin Mann in small doses, or as part of an ensemble, but on his show he just goes on and on and on and on and on about all of this vague self-helpy mumbo-jumbo... I just find it unlistenable.

I miss the days of The Talk Show being on 5by5, but I always listen to Gruber's show every week. I don't like the way he split off from Dan, but honestly, the show has been better. Some weeks more than others, depending on the guest and what's going on.

I really like the Vergecast. Josh and Nilay both have very strong personalities and a good "TV" presence. I don't agree with them all the time, but I like to hear what they say.

[subego]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I like Andy Inahtko, but lately something about him is annoying me. He's just too long winded or something.

Andy's on long-wind afterburners this week.

My guess: he's playing to the camera, which means he gets no visual feedback on how he's communicating. Without that feedback, he doesn't know when he's made himself clear, so he keeps going until someone indicates they've gotten the point.

Don't get me wrong though, I like the guy a lot. I think most Mac people are at least a little fond of him. He's pretty darn likable.

[subego]

Speak of the devil, Dan is going to be a guest on TWiT's daily news show.

[ort888]

Dan was on the Vergecast a few weeks ago. That was weird.

I think he's trying to do some cross promotion.

I'm wondering if he and Gruber are going to kiss and make up to do a Bond episode together for the new movie. I seriously doubt it, but it would be cool.

[subego]

You see, the baseball bothered me, but I was fine with the Bond talk.

[subego]

Dan looks different than I expected. I think I expected him to look more like Gruber.

[ort888]

I actually found the Bond stuff to be tiresome after a while, but I still think it would be cool if they got back together to do a Bond episode.