Podcasts I Listen To...

I was planning on getting this list out last week but never bothered to sit in front of my desktop to look at the iTunes podcast subscriptions since I post to my blog from my PowerBook. So, here it goes. They are in alphabetical order thanks to iTunes. I will post my opinions and descriptions with each one. Note: This list and the links took quite a while to put together. I hope you find it useful. Disregard misspellings and such because it is late!

• A Day in the Life of an Information Security Investigator
• This is a fun and informative listen. It is based on the Chief's blog. The Chief, aka Security Monkey, talks about his cases as a security investigator, answers questions from his monkey (blog readers) and allows his right-hand man, Scrap, to rant. Definitely one of my favorites.
  
• Ancestor
• This is a podcast novel by Scott Sigler who releases a new chapter/episode every week. Another one of my top favorites. I really look forward to listening every Mon as the story unfolds. If don't mind some blood, gore and explicit language, check it out!
  
• Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast
• I had to catch up as I came into listening around the 8th episode. It is a good podcast about VoIP issues, current trends, new products and topics from the VOIPSA mailing list.
• Diggnation
• I enjoy just about every episode. I find myself laughing out loud to while walking around campus or having lunch in the breakroom. Kevin and Alex talk about the top "dug" stories from the site Digg.com. They provide adolescent humor the entire time making me wonder why I like it so much, but I think it just reinforces why I like it so darn much. The comic relief makes it one of my top favorites.
  
• EarthCore: A Podcast Novel
• This is the first podcast novel ever and Scott Sigler did a great job. I was always looking forward to the new episodes. It has ended and even become published because of the huge fan base. You can catch up on all the episodes as they are still online. This ranks in my top favorites. Plenty of blood, gore and explicit language.
  
• ITC: Security
• I keep this in my iTunes list in hopes that good stuff will come around again. There have been three really good ones that I have saved and sometimes relisten too. Most suck. The chick who runs the "security university," or whatever it is called, is a moron and conducts awful interviews. Check out the ones with Ron Gula and Dan Geer. I also have Bruce Schneier's in my list under ITC but can't remember if it was really that good.
• Martin McKeay
• Martin is a CISSP with a pretty good blog. He is focused quite a bit on the Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulations and has some good insight into it. I enjoy his blog and podcast but wish he would fix it so I could subscribe via iTunes. As he gets more into podcasting and decides more on a structure for the shows, I could see this as possibly becoming a favorite.
  
• Mighty Seek: WebAppSecurity
• There have only been a handful of episodes but they were pretty good regarding web application security. The host gets on his soapbox a bit but he has intelligent arguments. I hope to hear more good stuff from this one.
  
• Mommycast.com
• I started listening to a couple of these after I had begun downloading them for my wife. At the time, she was pregnant and I was able to use some of the things I learned from the podcast to immediately help her through the pregnancy. It has been a couple of months since I listened to any of them but keep them around for her and the chance I might be interested again.
  
• Network Computing | Security Channel
• I subscribed to this because it is done by a friend of mine. I have only listened to about 4-5 of them and enjoyed a couple. The ones that include interviews are usually the best ones. If you are of limited time and get bored easily, you might want to pass over this one. I do expect it to get better, but it isn't there yet.
  
• NotParanoia Podcasts
• I'm not sure I have made it through a full episode yet. The hosts are in Australia and England making the sound quality pretty shoddy. I keep it in my list so that one day I will go back and give it another chance. Maybe the newer ones have gotten better. YMMV.
  
• NPR: 7AM ET News Summary
• I am not a world news, or even a local news, nut. If the news doesn't come in a security related e-mail, I don't usually know about it. This is my weak attempt at knowing what is going on in the world.
  
• PaulDotCom Security Weekly
• This is a pretty decent podcast. I do get a little tired of the guys rehashing current security issues but it is fun to listen to their ideas. They tend to be goofy when referring to putting on their White/Gray/Black hats when discussing issues but I have hope that they will continue to refine their podcast.
  
• SABAGsecurity
• This is by two guys that work for McAfee. It is pretty good. They don't evangelize their products as much as you might think. McAfee product coverage is minimal with only talking about new releases or bugs. The rest of the time is spent on a topic of the week or month and current "notable" vulnerabilities. Not a favorite but it has potential.
  
• Security Catalyst
• This is a great podcast. Michael is a Lead CISSP Instructor who speaks and trains professionally. He has good insight into security topics, does not focus on current issues (thankfully) and has grand plans for his podcast. He is currently looking for a co-host and has an "editorial board" to help plan the episodes. Michael certainly puts a lot of time and effort into his podcast. I enjoy this one quite a bit and expect it to become a top favorite.
  
• Security Now!
• Ugh...I'm not sure why I keep this around. Steve Gibson is a smart guy but sometimes sounds like he needs to switch to decaf cause he gets talking so fast that he says the wrong thing. Now, I am sure it is simply because he is overexcited and confuses himself. But then again, maybe the fact the Leo Laporte is a computer security ID10T. Seriously, Leo is security stupid. It hurts me to listen sometimes. I don't think I have ever listened to a full episode out of boredom or disgust. I think I just keep it around for pure masochistic joy.
  
• Systm
• This is a video podcast that I have only watched one episode but plan on going back and watching. I have an iPod Photo so watching it requires me to sit in front of my desktop, which I don't do much anymore since thanks to my PowerBook. This one has some definite potential as long as Kevin Rose doesn't try to act too much like a "hacker."