I Have No Idea What I am Doing

I’ve been having a terrible time at work lately–because everyone is on vacation, I’m having to do all sorts of jobs, learning to do them and then doing them in rushed time. One thing  is combining data across four different spreadsheets that differ in name and are riddled with errors. It’s something I’ve done all day today and will do all day tomorrow. My writing, my work I love, has all been put off.

In an attempt at not freaking out, or to stave off the collapsing feeling inside my head, I’ve been listening to podcasts. Radio Lab on WNYC is a beautiful show that explores everyday things, talking to experts in layman’s terms, yakking with my favorite neurologist Oliver Saks (read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, read it), that sort of thing. And then, when people react to their show by creating something else of beauty, they share it. Like this:

I don’t miss school, but I sure miss learning daily. And while it’s nice to be able to seek out any information I want, I don’t really have the time to read all the books I already have. Podcasts, I know, can fill this role, but how to find the great ones when there are so many? 

While at work I have the major plus of being able to shut my office door and listen to music, talk radio, and anything else. So I need your help making the most of this time.

iTunes has a whole section devoted to university lectures, but I haven’t figured out what to make of it yet, and I lost all my iTunes subscriptions when my computer hard drive failed.

What are you listening to? Have any cool friends podcasting? Are you making your own podcasts? Do you know how to navigate iTunes University? Do tell.

Here’s my top 3, pretty mainstream, so you know these are covered:

Radio Lab WNYC

This American Life

NPR: Fresh Air

What else?

Photo: Flickr/CreativeCommons