Eyes-free reading: Highly recommended

I bought an iPod Shuffle, and after just a few days, I’m hooked—even though I haven’t downloaded song number one yet.  Come to think of it, I might never download any music to it.  Reason: I’d rather listen to Russ Roberts interview Milton Friedman while I’m outside walking, or driving to the store.  It’s eyes-free reading, using a little device that clips onto my shirt, and it’s a great new invention.   [What'll they think of next?]

I’m quickly finding out there’s a podcast (mp3 file) on just about any subject I’d like to hear about; iTunes (for the PC) makes it easy to pack a lot of them onto the device.  Looks like I’m about two years behind the leading edge on the podcast front—but it was the convenient, very-small size of the new device that got me over the hump. 

In case you’re interested, here are my two favorites so far:

• The Political Economy of Power – if nothing else, listen to this one for sure.

• Milton Friedman on Money – very informative summary by the man himself.

Several other good ones are available at this page.   

That’s it.  Just passing on a “new” discovery.

Comments

[Pelkabo]

I agree, Russ Roberts' podcasts are extraordinary. They have transformed my morning commute. For a while, as I caught up with previous episodes, I had something to listen to every day. Now I have to wait a whole week for the new ones.

And to think he gives it away for free! Who says there are no hundred dollar bills lying on the sidewalk?

[Michael S. Sargent]

Steve,

I've been using this site and a variety of audiobooks to improve my economic education for the past year. (Thank you for your contribution!)

The next accessory you may want is a local FM transmitter for in-car listening (presuming your car isn't already equipped with a file-compatible in-dash player). This makes commuting something I almost look forward to.

[Michael S. Sargent]

By the way, TypeKey's comment filtering algorithm doesn't care much for "em pea three". Had to edit out direct reference to the file extension.

[Kevin]

Yep -- at first I thought podcasts would add some variety to my walking/working out/driving and prevent be getting too bored listening to the same music. But by now I've nearly abandoned music altogether.

IMHO FM transmitters totally suck, so I sprung for a new Alpine car stereo with iPod interface and cable. Pretty sweet.