PODCASTS - LISTEN BACK AT YOUR LEISURE

Design Matters www.debbiemillman.com/designmatters Design Matters host Debbie Millman (pictured below left) is a writer, artist, designer and all-round visual talent, who is also highly articulate and entertaining. She is the author of several books, including Look Both Ways and Brand Thinking, while her weekly radio show, Design Matters, won a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, and is a blast of insightful, smart conversation with designers, musicians curators, illustrators, creative directors and writers. The chats spiral off in different, always interesting, directions, somehow managing to remain anchored to the business at hand — design, what it means, why it matters. Recent guests include writers Alain de Botton and Steven Heller, artist and singer Amanda Palmer, and entrepreneur and journalist Krista Tippett. Battleship Pretension www.battleshippretension.com We’re sold on the name alone. Tyler Smith and David Bax manage to do exactly what all the best podcasts are known for: create the kind of intimacy that makes listeners feel they are in the relaxed presence of a couple of very funny, very well-informed friends. Alongside the jokes and quips, both Bax and Smith have the kind of in-depth cultural and historic knowledge of cinema that adds context and dimension to their discussions. Episodes last an hour, and tend to take up a single topic — everything from the best movie death scenes, to more academic questions of film theory, and political questions of film criticism and conservatism, along with career analysis of various movie stars. Recent favourites include Top 25 Actors, Top 25 Actresses and the rise of Geek TV.