The following audio files were selected from a larger group of 238 for the last week. The link to each podcast is at the highlighted topic and reached by double-clicking or ctrl-clicking it. All 19 podcasts converted to 1.5x speed can also be downloaded as a single 123MB zip file here for four months.
Romanian Gold 24 mins – “Tessa Dunlop travels to Romania to investigate why a proposed open-cast gold mine, that would be Europe’s largest, has caused a political storm all over the country.” At the link locate the title, “Docs: Assignment – Romania Gold Rush,” right-click “Download 11MB ” and select “Save Link As”.
Afghanistan and Sharia Law 30 mins – “… The Guardian’s Jonathan
Steele joins the barrister Sadakat Kadri to examine the tragedy of
Afghanistan and the myths which surround sharia law. Steele argues that
the US-led invasion of 2001 was condemned to repeat the failures of the
Soviet invasion of 1979 because of a series of misunderstandings, of
which the most pernicious was perhaps that the west had abandoned the
country after the Soviet withdrawal. Kadri tells how interpreters of
Islamic law have become progressively more ready to justify aggresion
over the last three decades and what that means for the future.” At the link right-click “Download MP3” and select “Save Link As”.
Paraguay’s Forests 24 mins – “Mike Greenwood journeys across one of the world’s final frontiers, the Chaco in Paraguay, to uncover how environmental groups, ranchers and missionaries are battling for the soul of one of the last wildernesses.” At the link locate the title, “Swimming with Piranhas,” right-click “Download 11MB” and select “Save Link As”.
Copernicus 49 mins – “Dava Sobel is an award-winning American writer who uses science as a basis for her books and plays. She is known for Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter and The Planets. In her latest book, A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionised the Cosmos. Dava Sobel outlines the problems which confronted Copernicus as he proposed his idea of the Earth revolving around the Sun. Today’s discussion was recorded at The Sydney Writer’s Festival in July 2012. It includes readings from A More Perfect Heaven.” “Download Audio” “Save Link As”
Cloning HeLa Cells 71 mins – Prof Racaniello travels to the University of Connecticut to meet up with Professor Philip I. Marcus to discuss his pioneering work in the development of the single cell cloning technique of the early 1950s. Young pioneers can get a feel for what it is like to create a major advance in the field of biology from someone who did it sixty years ago. At the link follow the on-screen instructions to download the audio file. Links are also there for things described in the podcast: feeder cells, the cloning platform and cylinder.
Sports Economics 67 mins – “Roger Noll of Stanford University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the economics of sports. Noll discusses the economic effects of stadium subsidies, the labor market for athletes, the business side of college sports, competitive balance in sports leagues, safety in sports, performance-enhancing drugs, and how the role of sports in the lives of children has changed. At the link locate the tite, “Roger Noll on the Economics of Sports,” right-click “Media files Nollsports.mp3” and select “Save Link As”.
Pain 60 mins – ” Doctors want to understand their patients’ pain, and we all want to understand the suffering of our friends, relatives, or spouses. But pinning down another person’s hurt is a slippery business. Is your relentless lower back pain more or less unbearable than my crushing headache? Problem is, pain is maddeningly subjective. In this short, producer Tim Howard introduces us to three attempts to put a number on pain in the hopes that we can truly understand the suffering of another. We begin with…the relative nastiness of insect bites and stings. Then, Paula Michaels, a professor in the History of Medicine at the University of Iowa, brings us back to 1948, to a well-intentioned but ultimately misguided attempt to demystify the pain of childbirth. And we end with a very modern, very personal struggle for understanding as non-fiction writer Eula Biss tries to rate her own chronic pain.” One comment at the link recommends visiting The Dialogue Project where items 4, 6 and 8 concern pain, but listening is complicated and the project site asks for $40 to get a CD with the audio files. At the link for Radiolab right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As”.
PTSD 33 mins – “Dr. Moira Gunn talks with author Robert McLay [At War with PTSD] about how virtual reality is helping those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As”.
Nerve Repair 17 mins – “Dr. Moira Gunn sits down with Martin McGlynn, President and CEO of Stem Cells Inc. to talk about how stem cells are being used to treat everything from spinal cord injury and age-related macular degeneration.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As”.
Ethiopian Internet 30 mins – “An increasingly effective and technically sophisticated form of censorship is emerging on the African continent: the blocking of critical websites and social media. Ethiopia, where Facebook and Skype are curtailed, is leading the way, inspired by China. Ethiopia is also a donor darling of the West, amid accusations of violent repression by prominent human rights organizations. We ask the question: does the curtailing of freedom of expression go hand in hand with development? Our main guest is a 39-year-old Ethiopian journalist who was sentenced to life in prison on terrorism charges in Addis Ababa. He is living in exile in Amsterdam and presents a news show on Ethiopian Satellite Television.” At the link right-click the down arrow and select “Save Link As”.
Hospital Infections 48 mins – “Nearly 100,000 people die every year in the U.S. from hospital-borne infections. The most deadly of these are known as “superbugs” for their utter resistance to antibiotic drugs. Last year, one of these superbugs killed six people at the National Institutes of Health and it was months before doctors could locate the source of the infection. New antibiotics are scarce as drug companies consolidate and focus on more profitable drugs. The result is a health care population increasingly vulnerable to untreatable infections. Guest host Frank Sesno and [5] guests discuss the rise in superbugs and what can be done to stop them.” Listen only online; transcript available there, also. Audio file included in zipped material noted at the top of this page.
Library E-books 52 mins – “In the past year, libraries have seen a sharp growth in e-book borrowing. That trend is transforming the relationship between libraries and publishers. Libraries need to offer electronic books to remain relevant today. But some publishers worry lending e-books will lead to piracy and loss of sales. Two of the big six publishers license their e-books to libraries. Others are exploring pilot programs or have declined to participate. Many library patrons are frustrated with the limited availability of titles and long waiting lists. And some buy a copy of the e-book anyway. Guest host, Frank Sesno, and his [4] guests discuss the challenges of e-booking lending at the library.” Listen only online; transcript available there. Audio file included in zipped material noted at the top of this page.
Tim O’Reilly 57 mins – Founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, watcher of the alpha geeks, promotes Nick Hanauer and his TED talk about inequality, is critical of for-profit schools, believes in the need to create more value rather than we extract, supports the Maker Movement, and lean startup concept. His 2002 presentation that discusses alpha geeks can be downloaded here where the following quote is found, “Tim O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, which many people consider to be the best computer book publisher in the world, whose conferences have led one commentator to say “Tim throws the best tech parties ever”, and whose online sites are among the most highly regarded on the net. His success is a tribute to the subject of this talk. “What we do at O’Reilly is watch the alpha geeks and tell the rest of the world what we learn from them.” Tim is also known for championing open standards and open source software, and fighting software patents and legislation to require digital rights management software. O’Reilly produced the first commercial web site, and hosted the “open source summit” where the leaders of the free software world agreed on the new meme.” Download the interview by right-clicking “Audio” next to the down arrow and selecting “Save Link As”.
Africa’s Blackmarket Oil 54 mins – Paul Ugor (Birmingham) gives a talk for the African Studies Centre Seminar Series on 10th May 2012. It’s an academic presentation and becomes most interesting in the last fifteen minutes. Five billion dollars a year in illegal locally refined fuel is produced in Nigeria. The fuel is distributed throughout the Sub-Sahara and is a major source of empolyment for young people. At the link right-click “Get Audio File” and select “Save File As” to download.
Diagnostic Tests 60mins – Dr Carl Heneghan delivers a talk for the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine. “The broad aim of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine is to develop, teach and promote evidence-based health care and provide support and resources to doctors and health care professionals to help maintain the highest standards of medicine.” A good power point presentation contains the same information as this audio. Carl Heneghan is a Reader in Evidence-Based Medicine, Director of the Centre of Evidence-Based Medicine since 1995 and a General Practitioner. His Research projects involve cardiovascular disease, self-monitoring and self-management in chronic diseases, self-care strategies and determining the evidence base for treatment of infections…” At the link, right-click “Get Audio File” and select “Save Link As” to get the file.
Evidenced Based Medicine 43 mins -Professor Paul P Glasziou presents an introduction to evidenced based medicine. “He was previously the Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, and Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine in the department of Primary Care at the University of Oxford, and also continued work as a part-time General Practitioner. His research and teaching interests are in improving medical decision making, including clinical trials, systematic reviews and evidence-based medicine. The author of over 160 peer-reviewed publications, he has applied his skills to such topics as breast and colorectal cancer screening, otitis media, cholesterol lowering, and anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation.” At the link right-click “Get Audio File” and select “Save File As” to download.
Future of Evidenced Based Medicine 30 mins – Professor Paul Glasziou, Director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at the time, gives a special lecture on the future of EBM. Topics covered during the lecture include the Mendeley research tool, Cochrane Collaboration EBM Journal (free and variety of rss feeds) — “We scan 100 journals and around 50,000 articles a year so that we can identify the most important and valid 140 research articles and publish them in Evidence-Based Medicine. This means that if you read Evidence-Based Medicine, you’ll get all the important research material you need in just 6 volumes that are published throughout the year, saving you all important time to concentrate on other things. To further emphasise the point, a study* found that you’d have to read 227 articles in the Lancet or 118 articles in the New England Journal of Medicine to get the relevant information that would be contained in 1 Evidence-Based Medicine article.” Also noted was the Sharon Straus book on knowledge translation; this expensive book “…explains how to use research findings to improve health care in real life, everyday situations. The authors define and describe knowledge translation, and outline strategies for successful knowledge translation in practice and policy making. The book is full of examples of how knowledge translation models work in closing the gap between evidence and action.” Also noted were clinical queries in Medline, Pedro for physiotheraphy from Australia, the Sicily Statement regular meetings (note use of impact factors) and the Australian Quick Clinical system for locating information. At the link right-click “Get Audio File” and select “Save File As” to download.
Ethics for Beginners 90 mins – Part 1 of 7 in Marianne Talbot’s “A Romp Through Ethics for Complete Beginners”. “In this episode we examine moral dilemmas, moral truth and moral knowledge, freewill and determinism… We shall consider, for example, what it is for an action to be right or wrong, whether we can have moral knowledge and whether freewill is essential to morality …” At the link right-click “Get Audio File” and select “Save File As” to download.
Life and Death 16 mins – “If a patient decides she doesn’t want to live any longer, should she be allowed to die? Should she be allowed to kill herself? If a patient is in no position to decide – perhaps she’s in a coma – then should somebody else be able to decide to kill her? Who? Is there a moral difference between killing and allowing someone to die? And is the role of the doctor always to prolong life? Peter Singer, of Princeton University, is one of the world’s leading bio-ethicists, and has been reflecting on life and death issues for four decades.” At the link right-click “Get Audio File” and select “Save File As” to download.
Over 100 feeds are used to prepare this weekly blog and gathered using Feedreader3. The feeds are available as an opm file at Google Docs. A PDF of feeds is also available there. Free Commander is used to compare old and new downloads to remove duplicates each week. MP3SpeedChanger is used to change playback speed of multiple files as a batch. A speed listening background article, here. Sixty-four podcasts for 2010 and earlier at 1.5x are listed alphabetically in this PDF and can be downloaded in two sections as zip files,: Part 1 and Part 2 each holding about 350 MB. For 2011 this alphabetical PDF list of 184 podcasts at 1.5x is available, and the actual files can be downloaded in five segments: Part 1 to 5 (Part 1 – 276 MB; P2 – 291 MB; P3 – 284; P4 – 153 MB, and P5 – 256 MB). Please leave a comment if you have problems with the links and downloads. A similar list and downloads for 362 podcasts for Jan-Jun 2012 is here.Those podcasts are grouped into eight zipped files for easier downloading. Multiple parts are used due to a 300MB limit on file size uploads. A similar group for the last half of 2012 will be available in Jan 2013. A commenter recommended this $1.99 iPhone/iPad app for mobile devices; leave a comment if you try it.
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Media Mining Digest 