Global Hit Podcast (Or, what to do when you have too much free time...)

With Amy and Sophie in the US for the last month I have had some significant alone time recently. And while anyone can appreciate a bit of personal space to catch up on individual pursuits (e.g. having full control of the TV remote, living off Ramen and beer, blasting 80s heavy metal on the home stereo, etc.) it really can get quite boring.

With this in mind, I want to share one of my current pastimes, which is hunting for podcasts on the web. My current favorite is the Global Hit podcast, a daily music spotlight produced by Public Radio International as part of their news show The World. (Don't fret all you political fanatics -- despite being public radio, the podcast should appeal to folks on all points of the political and musical spectrum.)

Every weekday, the show's host Marco Werman plays and discusses music from a different corner of the world. Mostly, it's stuff that you would probably never hear on the radio otherwise.

For example, a recent podcast featured the music of "Gato Libre" a Japanese jazz quartet. That's right, four Japanese musicians, in a band with a Spanish name, playing America's original music. It's not something Clear Channel Top 40 is likely to pick up, but it is very cool.

Another episode describes how Seven Nation Army, a song by Detriot's "The White Stripes", became the unofficial song of the Italian soccer team AS Roma. If one of the most ancient cities in the world adopting a rock song from "Motor City" as their sports anthem isn't a sign of cultural globalisation I don't know what is. Check it out here.

You can access the Global Hit podcasts at on the web by clicking here. Enjoy.

Time to get my pot of Ramen on the stove.