One of the things I like best about listening to podcasts is the ability to find insightful, thought-provoking content that I might otherwise have missed.
Tonight I managed to get out for my first decent run since racing in the Cabot Trail Relay a few weeks ago. While out pounding the trails for what felt like forever, I was able to catch up on some of my podcast listening. I highly recommend you check out two of the episodes I listened to, from two of my favourite podcasters.
TVO Search Engine
If you’re not a regular listener, you may not know that Jesse Brown‘s excellent podcast recently moved homes – from CBC (their loss) to TVO (their gain). Michael Geist has done a wonderful job recently of drawing attention to plagiarism and bias in a report by the Conference Board of Canada claiming that Canada is a hot-spot for internet piracy (the report has now been recalled by the organization). In his second Search Engine episode in his new TVO home, Jesse interviews Anne Golden, CEO of the Conference Board. It’s awkward, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s fantastic journalism from someone that doesn’t let people get away with a template messaged response to questions. Make sure you check it out.
CBC Spark
Nora Young‘s Spark podcast has long been a favourite of mine. While it has a similar tech focus to other podcasts to which I subscribe, Spark tends to cover stories I might otherwise overlook. In Spark episode 80, Nora interviews Andrea Reimer from Vancouver City Council about Vancouver’s plan to open up municipal data (in the same manner also announced by David Miller for the City of Toronto at this year’s Mesh Conference). I found the interview immensely refreshing. Coming from a government background, I know that there’s often a fear within government of what people will do with information. This often leads to the minimum information necessary being shared with the public. Reimer’s take, in contrast to that:
“…we shouldn’t, as policy makers, fear the public knowing what we know when we’re making decisions, and in fact by knowing it perhaps we could inform ourselves better… maybe they’ll think of new creative or throw in more information that we didn’t have…”
I found myself nodding and smiling throughout the interview. Well worth a listen, for a refreshing take on how governments can go about sharing information with the people who are funding its collection. What other podcast episodes have caught your eye (or ear) recently?
