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Keeping up with the 2009 Tour de France is easy with iTunes. The ITV Tour de France Podcast provides you with daily stage updates, behind the scenes interviews, and commentary on the days action. If you’re looking for a quick recap of the Tour de France action, I highly suggest this great podcast!

Popularity: 3%

I’m always on the lookout for a few good podcasts to add to my iPod. I recently began to listen to a new one, it’s called Fresh Air (iTunes link). Fresh Air is a NPR radio show that is listened by over 4.5 million people weekly.

So what exactly is Fresh Air about? Fresh Air is described as a “weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues.” Fresh Air has been a staple of public radio for over 30 years, with Terry Gross, the host, for nearly the entire run. The show topics include interviews with politicians, musicians, actors, economists, and many more. There are often book reviews too.

The host, Terry Gross, is a fantastic interviewer. In 1994, Fresh Air won a Peabody Award which credits the show with “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insights.” The show topics are varied, so the show should appeal to most everyone. Fresh Air is available in iTunes and each show runs about 45 minutes. If you enjoy listening to fascinating interviews with people linked to current events, give Fresh Air a listen.

Popularity: 7%

Just like the Presidential debates, the VP debate is also in iTunes. The VP debate comes in two parts and can be downloaded here (iTunes link). Thanks to CNN for putting up the debates for those who missed it!

Popularity: 7%

Did you miss the presidential debate last Friday? Don’t worry, iTunes has you covered. CBS has posted the first 2008 presidential debate as a video podcast. You can download the video or subscribe (there are two more presidential debates) to the podcast here.

Popularity: 10%

There is no doubt the 2008 US Presidential election will go down as one of the most significant elections in the last 100 years. For the first time in history, either a woman will be Vice President or an African-American will control the Oval Office.

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held this past week in Denver with many speeches spread over several days and many hours. Unless you parked yourself in front of the TV for most of the week, you probably missed a few of those speeches. And for those inclined, iTunes has you covered.

The Democratic Party has posted the majority of the speeches from Denver on iTunes. The speeches are about 50/50 audio/video. The major speeches, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama, are all in video. It’s great they are posting the speeches on iTunes, but I wish each speech was available in both audio and video formats.

By mentioning this podcast, I am in no way endorsing any particular candidate for President. In fact, I still don’t know who I’m going to vote for.

You can download the speeches from the 2008 Democratic National Convention: Selected Speeches podcast (iTunes link).

Popularity: 9%

Despite being the number one US seller of music, some of the good music in the iTunes Store is actually free. If you love free live music, please check out the NPR: Live Concerts from All Songs Considered Podcast (iTunes link). Several times a month, NPR features a live concert from various genres of music.

While I might not like every band NPR puts on the feed, the shows I have downloaded have been good quality and sometimes feature interviews with the band after the performance. As with most podcasts, there is a website with additional content. Pictures, set lists, and additional commentary is among the material on the Live In Concert: All Songs Considered website. The website also features an RSS feed so you can subscribe in your RSS reader instead of in iTunes (so you can download only the shows you want).

So where do you begin? I will suggest the Black Keys show from 5/14/2008. You can read about the show via the link provided or just visit the link to iTunes in the first paragraph and look for the podcast released on 5/14/2008. Enjoy some great free live music!

Popularity: 7%

One of my favorite podcasts has returned from nearly a year long hiatus. NeatLittleMacApps is an enhanced podcast about those little applications that make the Mac so great. I’ll go ahead and warn you that if you visit the website you’ll have music automatically start playing (a pet peeve of mine). Other than the website, there’s nothing to dislike about the podcast.

Episode 41 is the first episode since Frank De Graeve returned to podcasting. The long hiatus was due to the construction on his home. If you love Mac shareware, you’ll enjoy listening to NeatLittleMacApps (iTunes link). Give it a try!

Popularity: 8%