podcasts i'm listening to

i have a lot of time to listen to podcasts while i work, so here are a few i've been enjoying:
cashing in with tj miller.  this is the funniest thing i've ever heard!  its two comedians, cash levy and tj miller, just talking about nothing at all.  both of them are master improvisers, so its hilarious to just listen to them riff off of each other as they talk about nothing at all.  by far my favorite podcast!
nerdist.  i've always enjoyed chris hardwick and this is his podcast where he interviews people from every walk of life, as one would expect from the title of the podcast, it often vears into stuff that is super nerdy- comic books, movies, sci-fi, and all that awesome stuff.  his two co-hosts, matt mira and jonah ray, are always a blast to listen to!
wtf with marc maron.  this is one that is considered to be one of the grandfathers of podcasting.  marc maron, a stand up comedian, interviews famous musicians, actors, authors, etc. in his garage and asks them about anything at all.  its often an interesting perspective on the life and careers of each guest.
doug loves movies.  the comedian doug benson plays this awesome movie trivia game with different guests each week. sometimes it focuses on movies, other times it gets off course and just involves a bunch of comedians riffing off of each other to great effect!
how did this get made?  another movie podcast, this one is lead by paul shearer, its dedicated to watching some of the worst movies ever made and just tearing them apart!
you made it weird with pete holmes.  pete interviews a bunch of different guests and digs deep into each one of them, usually leading to some very interesting discussions of what they think and believe.  he has three topics that he always discusses with each guest: comedy, love, and god.  all three of which lead to thoughtful insights into life.
feab: four eyes and beard.  this podcast is just random discussions with matt mira, one of the cohosts of the nerdist podcast, and scott moser, one of kevin smith's friends who produces movies.  i really like matt mira and love he discussions he has with scott, his often unwilling sidekick in this podcast!
futurecast with smoove1011.  this one is a music podcast of songs mixed by my friend aaron.  i dont always love his style of music, but its cool to listen to what he's digging at the moment and to hear him apply his craft of mixing.
pointless with kevin pereira.  i always loved watching kevin on attack of the show, but since that has been cancelled, this is the only way to get my dose of his ridiculousness!
lee and dan's midnight movie club.  two hilarious film critics, one from england, the other from australia, watch and discuss different movies from the 80's and 90's that they loved.  their banter is hilarious, but its worth listening to just for the awesome accents!
the /filmcast.  another movie review podcast.  this one is my go-to for any time i see a newly released movie and want to hear what the critics think about it.
norm macdonald live.  i totally love norm macdonald, something about his delivery of jokes just makes laugh so hard!  this podcast is just norm doing his thing!  he interviews guests, he does different comedy bits, and he cracks jokes about current events.  its kind of like his stint on saturday night live as the host of weekend update- but even better!
freakonomics radio.  i read the book and loved the different perspective it brought to mundane things like finance and economics.
stuff you missed in history class and stuff you should know.  i've always loved history, so this is a podcast where they talk about different random events from history and really dig in to what they are about and their context.
collider podcast.  another movie critic podcast, but from a bit of a different perspective than the /filmcast.  sometimes i like to hear different opinions!
defiance afterbuzz tv after show.  i've really been loving the new show on the syfy channel, so i listen to this one after each episode and its been really fun.  the hosts just talk about each episode after it airs and discuss it.  its kind of like just listening to a bunch of friends talk about the show you just watched- fun!
this american life.  why not, right?
harmontown.  this is the podcast of the dan harmon, the creator of the tv show community, which i love!  its a recording of the weekly show he puts on where he just kind of rants about anything and everything thats on his mind.

BOOKS. stargate sg-1: city of the gods (book 4)

the fourth book in a long series of stargate sg-1 novels, city of gods takes the stargate team to a new planet, this one seems to have a culture fashioned after the ancient mayans and azteks of central america.  the story joins our crew as they try and get the exploration team off the planet before an impending ecological disaster strikes.  they get themselves mixed up with a bunch of young kids, who seem to be without families, but  know their way around pretty well.  after traveling with them for a while, they are brought to the native people of that planet, and they seem to be trying to appease their gods by offering human sacrifices to stave off their destruction.  the story plays out, as one might expect, with the white man being seen as the messengers of the gods and o'neill is more than happy to play up that angle if it means getting off the planet quicker!
the highlight of this particular story is the wealth of knowledge shared about the working of the planet's geology and ecosystems.  it is very obvious that the writer, sonny whitelaw, has an intimate understanding of nature and its interconnectedness.  whitelaw does a good job with nailing the characters and their traits, but the book really comes alive when he talks about the environment itself.  with vivid descriptions of caves, archaeology  and volcano stuff, its very clear that this guy knows his stuff and feels passionately about it- his interest in it is infectious through his writing.  also, he has a very interesting perspective on the mayan and aztek culture and its connection with life's value, both human life and the life in nature.  definitely worth checking out!