Our top two choices this week for podcasts from the internet: Philosophy Talk's "Is It All Relative?" tries to find some objective facts in all the chaos, and Freakonomics Radio's "Sure, I Remember That" makes us aware that our memories can be manufactured and thus we can be manipulated by others, especially politicians.
Canada's best environmental news and information radio show is "The Green Majority," produced and broadcast weekly by CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto. Hosted by Daryn Caister, this show, from 1-4-13, reviews the highlights and lowlights of 2012.
Thanks to the Michigan Information and Research Service for making available this podcast of Gov. Snyder's speech to the Michigan legislature last week on his proposals for a statewide energy policy. Though mostly a subscription news service for the professional media, MIRS does offer a free podcast with Lansing political updates available to all every Monday: mirsnews.com.
PhiloTalk: With the recent global economic crisis, many people wonder if our economic policies are built on sound principles or on dubious, unscientific claims. What kinds of assumptions does Economics make about markets and the behavior of producers and consumers? Then, Louie Schwartzberg, filmmaker, makes a statement for "Nature, Beauty, Gratitude."
Two of the best recent podcasts for you this week are news and information from The Sierra Club (11-10-12), featuring an interview with author Beth Terry, and from The Planetary Society (11-12-12), "Celebrating Carl Sagan."
Here is the latest news about our environment in the weekly podcast from the Sierra Club (from 10-27), and then, in sight of tomorrow's big election, we present TWO TED Talks: David Pizarro's "Politics of Disgust" and Rory Stewart's "Why Democracy Matters."
From Austin, Texas, science news of the week (and some music, too) from EarthSky22: "Hunter's Moon, Halloween, and the Ghoul Star." Then, since it's a Season of Politics, too, we present two commentaries, based on the latest research in economics, from Freakonomics Radio: "Lying to Ourselves" and "We the Sheeple." Boo!