I never really got into podcasts until recently. I don’t really enjoy reading on my commute, and podcasts are a great way to learn about new things and hear new ideas while traveling. If you haven’t checked out the “podcasts” tab in iTunes yet, run there as fast as you can because I can almost guarantee that you’ll find at least one podcast that interests you.

The neat thing about iTunes is that you subscribe to your podcasts and then don’t really have to worry about downloading anything again. Once new episodes are out, they download to your computer. I just sync my iPhone per usual and the podcasts automatically download to my iPhone, and I can listen to them on the run.

Here’s a non-inclusive list of the podcasts to which I subscribe that may get you started:

• this WEEK in LAW – Great podcast on law-related issues, primarily geared towards intellectual property law. Last episode discussed the latest trends in trademark disputes arising from domain names.

• OUT-LAW Radio – Weekly podcast covering news and developments in current technology law. Started the latest podcast which discussed the fair use argument with respect to the Tenenbaum case.

• Intelligence Squared U.S. (NPR) – Oxford-style debates on topics from politics to current events. They poll the audience at the beginning to find out where they stand, then poll them at the end to declare a winner. The last debate I heard was about whether the US diplomacy with Iran is “going anywhere.”

• Science Friday (NPR) – A weekly discussion about the latest news in science, tech, health, and the environment. Listened to a fun podcast this morning with Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper of the Wonder Years), authoress of Math Doesn’t Suck and Kiss My Math, math books with a layout similar to a magazine intended to get young girls excited about math.

• The Public Speaker - General tips about how to improve your public speaking. Today’s lesson was about how to effectively organize and outline your presentation.

• Stuff You Missed In History Class – One of my favorite podcasts: they elaborate on interesting events in history that you probably only know a little bit about.

• Stuff You Should Know – Learn about strange and fascinating topics hosted by howstuffworks.com. The last podcast I heard was about spontaneous human combustion.

• This American Life – First-person stories and short fiction pieces. The last one was a series of neat stories about people interacting with classified ads in the news paper. There was one particularly touching story in the classified broadcast about a recovering alcoholic looking for work.

Do you have any favorites that I didn’t mention? Please share it!

[Correction: @guitarzandy correctly points out that the Tenenbaum case is not actually being litigated through the Berkman Center.]

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