Podcasts. One of the benefits of training for the Atlanta Half Marathon is that I get to listen to several hours of podcasts each week (if you don’t know what a podcast is, click here). I’m not a listening-to-music person. Never have been. But I have always loved NPR, the spoken word, stories and interesting discussions. For these reasons, my workout sessions tend to be little podcast fests (and, we don’t have a tiny radio I could use on workouts, or this Sirius one).

So here’s a few highlights I’ve heard over the past few weeks:

• From This American Life, a story on a new Harlem Renaissance.

This Life says: Paul Tough reports on the Harlem Children’s Zone, and its CEO and president, Geoffrey Canada. Among the project’s many facets is Baby College, an 8-week program where young parents and parents-to-be learn how to help their children get the education they need to be successful.

I say: absolutely fascinating story of how one many takes on a huge issue — entrenched poverty – and stops the cycle through education, especially of 0-3 yearolds (Mom, definitely check it out).

• From Selected Shorts, a podcast that features the best short stories from around the world, a heard a fantastic and troubling story of a young couples dealing with lies and the challenges of marriage. In book form in Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie, I plan to use the story in marriage counseling when I get there. Amazing story.

 

• Finally, from NPR’s most-emailed podcast, “Pastors to Preach Poliltics from the Pulpit” is a story about pastors, last weekend I think, openly endorsing a candidate from the pulpit (McCain) and doing so intentionally and publicly in violation of the laws for tax-exempt organizations such as churches. Not a new issue, of course, but dealt with fairly well on the podcast (though I would have liked more from the religious left).