Get those multimodal neurons firing! This is a followup to my post on the most popular neuroscience blogs. I realized that I left out some of my own favorite sources for neuroscience news and information–podcasts! Later on, I’ll make posts about online lectures and courses.
Podcasts:
Podcasts have gotten me through a lot of boring lab work, and introduced me to and piqued my interest in many topics. My top 3 podcasts (in alphabetic order):
1. Brain Science Podcast – Hosted by an ER doctor, Ginger Campbell, who does a great job of getting big name neuroscientists, talking in depth on a topic, but keeping everything very accessible and easy to understand. The tagline for the show is the wonderful “The show for everyone who has a brain.” I find it especially good for finding books, and getting introduced to schools of psychology out neuroscience I hadn’t previously heard of. I also love that Ginger repeats and clarifies important points in the middle and end of episodes and always asks the guests to give advice to students interest in neuroscience. The website also features annotated transcripts of the episodes if you’d prefer to keep things occipital. Monthly episodes ~1 hr.
2. Neuropod – Nature’s official neuroscience podcast hosted by neuroscience journalist Kerri Smith. Each episode is around a half hour and usually features 3-4 pieces interviewing authors of recent papers and reviews. (The website also has links to the papers if they peak your interest.) The whole format is better produced than many podcasts and resembles feature pieces on public radio. Monthly episodes ~30 minutes.
3. Neuroscientist’s Talk Shop – As the name implies this one is a little more intense, speakers will assume you are at least a neuroscience graduate student, though I think you can still get a lot out of it, even if you aren’t. It usually has a more computational, electrophysiologal, and information processing slant. Each episode consists of an informal discussion between a few of University of San Antonio’s professors. They are all great speakers and it can often be a lively and funny discussion. I like that they are willing to speculate on topics (though like any good scientists, they make it more than clear when they are speculating). It’s a great way to see how professional neuroscientists think and talk. Frequency varies 1-3 weeks during the school year ~45 min.
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Also, if you want more media check out these great psychiatric genetics lectures, and my post on top neuroscience blogs,