Punkonomics (@DearBalak)

Back in 2013, I old-fartishly complained about the declining complexity of State of the Union Addresses:

Obama is a highly literate and thoughtful guy, yet this speech adhered to the depressingly low standards of American public discourse. It was written at a 10th grade level, slightly below the 11th grade level of his 2009 speech, and even more below the 12th grade level of Clinton’s 1993 state of the union. At least it was above George W’s 9th grade level speech in 2001. (See here for the texts of all State of the Union addresses; see here for the grade level analyzer.) Remember, 87% of Americans over the age of 25 have a high school diploma or more, and over 30% have college degrees (Census source), so the president isn’t addressing a nation of dropouts.

How we’ve come down in our expectations. As recently as 1961, when only 41% of…

2015 saw a rebirth of interest in podcasts, and 2016 may well see an even larger podcast world.  This is very exciting, and heartening to long-time podcast obsessives like myself.

In that spirit let me share which podcasts I’m listening to, updating my 2013 list.  Now I’m arranging these into headers: current podcasts, archived or dormant shows, followed by a note on my current listening technology and practice.  The first category gets sub-headers, under which are programs in alphabetical order for convenience (yes, maybe my habit is out of control, and this is less a post and more a plea for help).  I note unusual features when they appear, like published transcripts, and I’ll try to note which ones I’ve been on.

What’s not on here: music podcasts, which are different creatures.  Most NPR podcasts, because everyone talks about them.  Old-time radio (OTR), because although I adore it, this…