This is kind of like the 'Deserted Island' question for podcasts. The old question was something like, "If you could only take one book (painting, music tape, etc.) with you when you are abandoned on a deserted island like Robinson Crusoe, what would it be?" If the question this time around was "What podcast?" it wouldn't take me more than a split second to respond.
"Always interesting, always humorous, always enlightening, in all ways."
My answer, loud and strong, would be "The Gillmor Gang." The GG, hosted by Steve Gillmor is truly amazing. Even if you don't agree with the opinions expressed by the gang members and guests, it's still chock full of insight, opinions, debate, and controversy centered around what the latest internet trend is - and how it may or may not impact our lives. Actually, the gang members seldom, if ever, agree with themselves - which is a big part of the GG experience.
If it's about the internet and technology, then they will argue about it, loud and strong. It's refreshingly frank, open, and sometimes hilarious. On average, I learn a minimum of two major concepts that I hadn't run across before per podcast - sometimes quite a few more.
Gillmor has been a technology reviewer, editor, forecaster, and guru for as far back as I care to remember. His early reviews that appeared in Byte magazine were tremendously insightful, and proved that he has a great sense of what the user needs and what will take place in the market because of it.
Other regular GG members (gladiators?) include well known industry leaders like Mike Vizard (Editor in Chief, CRN), Jon Udell (Strategic Developer and columnist for InfoWorld), Dana Gardner (president and principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions, an IT analysis and advisory service firm), and Doc Searls (senior editor of Linux Journal and co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto).
In total, I probably listen to a dozen podcasts including Science Friday, Planet Japan, Forum, The Marketers Podcast, and a host of others. All of them are great - if they weren't I wouldn't waste my time listening to them. But GG is my all time favorite, hands down. It's the one that I really look forward to down-loading and listening to every week, and the one that I am really bummed about if Steve takes a week off and I can't get my regular GG fix.
Related links:
Gillmor Gang - Podcast website with RSS feed
Steve Gllmor's InfoRouter Blog - via Zdnet.com
Steve Gillmor bio - via Zdnet.com
Hi, Bare: Thanks for the kind words. FYI, I have not been an InfoWorld Editor -at-Large since 1998, though I loved the job. I am currently president and principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions, an IT analysis and advisory service firm.
Posted by: Dana Gardner | Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 11:53 PM