10,000 Mistakes

As you may have noticed, I’ve been spending a lot of time with digital photography these days. On my commute to and from work, I have ample time to listen to podcasts (esp. at the 2x speed that my iPod allows). I’ve been listening to podcasts hosted by various folks, and I’ve been struck by my own preference for particular hosts.

My preference has nothing to do with the content of the show – all of the podcasts I listen to (e.g. tfttf.com, techguylabs.com, martinbailyphotography.com, dpexperience.com, and twiplog.com) – have fairly good content, but some of the hosts (Chris Marquardt and Frederick Van Johnson) are a significant cut above the rest when it comes to their style.

Similarly, I’ve noticed with the MarketWatch show on NPR at 6:30 ET (in the Boston area) that Kai Ryssdal usually hosts. I find the show far more entertaining and engaging when Kai hosts it than when other folks host (while he’s out for short periods). I’ve tried to listen more closely to figure out exactly what’s the difference – cadence in speaking, intonation and variance of both tone and speed of speaking, the actual content itself – and haven’t quite been able to identify the “basis vectors” yet.