What are you listening to?

I’ve been listening to this Premiere Opera Podcast and I have really been enjoying it. But here is where I make the big confession. Haven’t a clue what they are singing about. I have seen a few operas and I really enjoy watching them but when you actually go and see them, they are usually subtitled. And the when I listen at home I can always follow along with the libretto. But on it’s own, it’s just pretty noise to me. What I like about it, though, is that it’s pretty noise that I can enjoy but I don’t need to concentrate on. I often find myself doing word-heavy work, like indexing, and if I listen to songs in English, I often find myself adding those words to the index. That’s really not good. It could be entertaining…I mean if I was listening to something really raunchy or something. But it’s not good.

Now, I realize that opera is not for everyone. In fact, for a long time I thought it was not for me. But I started listening out of curiosity. I bought a book called What’s All the Screaming About? and learned a little bit about it all. As I recall, it was a very entertaining book and I guess it must have stuck because I have been listening to the screaming ever since. I think it also helped that one of the first real, non-Bugs Bunny opera singers I really listened to was Cecilia Bartoli. She’s just so damn cute I figured that something had to be good about it.

I have also subscribed to a few other podcasts. One is the Paste Magazine Culture Club (and I will say that I did think “oooh Culture Club” for a second before I realized that Boy George had nothing to do with it) and also The Word Nerds. I did listen to Ricky Gervaise’s first series but I haven’t picked up the second yet. The only other ones I have dabbled in are the Vegan Freak Radiot and a Dr. Who podcast. I decided that I didn’t particularly care for them but that’s just me. You might love them.

What are you listening to?