Oh, you people. I do still love you all despite your wrong-headedness about the Oxford comma.
Natter 73: Chuck Norris only wishes he could Natter
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
JZ, I listen to Start Up which I really love even though it makes me cringe. I definitely enjoy Reply All.
JZ, good luck on the move, I hope it's not too traumatic. My podcasts (in addition to some you already have) are:
Planet Money (entry-level economics/marketing, quite informative & entertaining)
Hardcore History (possibly the opposite of what you want, it's usually 4+ hours long)
Revolutions (currently doing a detailed history of the French Revolution in 25-minute chunks)
Stuff You Should Know
Stuff You Missed in History Class (which I think you would like, they do lots of women's history and lots of literary history)
On the Media
Backstory (another history podcast, which I picked up from megan walker)
TLDR (which is basically Intro to Internet Wanks in 8 minutes)
NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour
I get a nice mix of more-and-less narrative, and more-and-less serious. I also listen to a ton of audiobooks, and if you have any interest in, say, the entire Lord Peter Wimsey oeuvre, LotR, Harry Potter (read by Stephen Fry), Patrick O'Brien, or Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles on audio, let me know and I can hook you up.
A story about moving offices: They moved most of the folks in my division to our building from a leased space about 3 miles away last year; they've all settled down now and everyone seems fairly happy. It is a very nice office, with views of the bay and it's right near BART with lots of restaurants etc. Except the other day the Big Boss announced they're doing a study to see if we ALL can consolidate with other pieces of the agency on a nearby base, because the rent in the building we're in is about $2m/year. Argh! Although he didn't sound very optimistic about it happening, because the move itself would cost $6M or so, which they don't have. They would just rather not pay rent if they have the space on owned property. Which I get, but jesu christo, you just moved a division of 60+ people not 18 months ago, why wasn't this issue considered then?
The Splendid Table can also be a whole lot of fun, and is made up of shorter segments. They have been known to talk about cilantro and muffalettas.
Ooh, these all sound great! I may still dread the open office, but y'all are making me feel quite a bit more reconciled to the commute.
A $6M move? Gott in himmel.
TLDR (which is basically Intro to Internet Wanks in 8 minutes)
How is TLDR these days? I stopped listening when the original hosts retired (I'm so bad with names).
Open offices have their good and bad points. If your office culture allows headphones, take advantage, and if you REALLY need to focus, book a small conference room where you can hide. But being able to listen in on half of everyone's phone conversations has definitely made me feel more in the loop about what the rest of my team is up to, which is an overall plus.
Here!
Allyson's hair is the shiniest.
JZ, M really likes Chris Jericho's podcast Talk Is Jericho. He has a lot of wrestlers on, but also music & movie stars, & he's always got something interesting going.
But being able to listen in on half of everyone's phone conversations has definitely made me feel more in the loop about what the rest of my team is up to, which is an overall plus.
That is true, I sometimes pick up vital information that way.
Two CBC podcasts: IDEAS, which is an hour, but has a station break at the 30 minute mark.:http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/podcasts/
Under the Influence, about advertising and marketing, which I think is 30 minutes: [link]
I also loved the BBC's History of the Word in 100 Objects. [link]
Cilantro, no. Oxford comma, yes. I wouldn't know a muffaletta if it bit me back, but I like olives. Muffins are merely an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. Raisins belong in trail mix, not cookies.
Podcasts drive me nuts, listening to other people yak inanely, and hum and uh, and the clatter in the background, and most of it I can't hear clearly anyway, so it's frustrating.
Despite my introversion, I loved my office's open floor plan, and I was soul-crushed when they did away with it and put us all in 6x6 cubicles like veal. I was really happy at my job until they did that. But my co-workers are for the most part intelligent and funny people and I enjoy their company. If I hated them, that would have been a whole different story.