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I've been meaning to write on the subject of podcasts for some time. Since the New Year I've now started to walk to and from work and become ever more attached to my weekly audio updates. However in spite of a few attempts I've not found and environmental one that has sufficiently grabbed my attention to eclipse my favourites. It's probably similar to the experience of choosing between carrot soup and chips, or Horizon and the Apprentice - when push comes to shove entertainment usually wins out.
That's the experience scrolling down the menu as I trudge out of my flat of a morning. There's the Grist environmental news update, the Guardian Environment Weekly, Climate News et al but the temptation of comedy, culture or books usually wins out. To be more specific the comedians behind the Bugle podcast, put out by the Times, are at the top of the tree. Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver hit the spot nearly every time for me - one is is in London while the other broadcasts from New York and they swap comic absurdities concerning the latest disasters to befall the world in the past week. I must appear something of a buffoon as I wander across London Bridge, giggling like a small child as the pair poke fun at Robert Mugabe, America and Americans and laugh with Hugo Chavez.
There are other more sober pleasures, such as the BBC's peerless output, from intellectual posturing on the Start the Week and Front Row shows to the Radio 3 output, including Jazz Library and Composer of the Week. Oh and runners up spot for entertainment to the Bugle must go to the Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo film review slot on Radio 5 Live.
So where does this leave sustainability? Well I'm sure there are good shows out there. And a recent listen to the Guardian's environment weekly broadcast showed it is starting to hit its stride. Yes it's altogether a little too smug but it did successfully wake me from a rather disturbing notion I'd been quietly pondering in recent weeks that Boris Johnson may be, well actually, not that bad a mayor. Perhaps too much comedy and entertainment has affected my brain functioning.
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