Lab 2 post (podcasts)

NPR Tech podcast:
There were several topics discussed on this podcast: hackers looking for weaknesses in software, electronic devices being used to repel sharks, how renting apartments in San Francisco using sites like VRBO is affecting the housing market, tech security breaches (DefCon conference) and buying cheap drones/making drones.

Although this podcast addressed some very interesting topics, it was kind of all over the place. The transitions between the different topics was awkward because they didn't saying anything about switching to a new topic. I would have liked this podcast more if there had been some kind of roadmap at the beginning telling me what was going to be talked about and what order the discussions points were going to be in.
I did like the way each story was structured, however. Each story was broken up with interviews of experts in the different fields. One reporter interviewed a speaker at the DefCon conference and another interviewed a student that was researching using drones to create a 3D map of a college campus. These interviews helped keep the stories interesting since there were no visuals.

Dan Carlin: Common Sense-The Wages of Fear:
This podcast discussed the 4th amendment and what happens when our system is run on fear. "In order to be free we must be brave."

Unlike the NPR podcast, this podcast was about one topic. I liked the focus on one topic, but there was not a lot to break it up. Carlin tried to keep his podcast interesting by using quotes and more of a narrative style. He also began with a hypothetical situation to hook his audience and addressed the audience as "you". I did like the conversational style, but I found myself getting more distracted because Carlin was the only person talking on the podcast.
The topic of the podcast was interesting and Carlin brought up some points about national security that I hadn't heard before. Unfortunately, because Carlin was the only person on the podcast it was more opinion based and had shades of his biases.

I don't know if I can necessarily say that one podcast was better than the other. They were presented in very different formats. If NPR gave more structure to their podcast and presented the audience with a roadmap of their discussion points it would have been more enjoyable to listen to. On the other hand, if Carlin's podcast had been a little shorter and he had included some interviews or had other people talking in some capacity I would've had a better experience with his podcast.