This one is not exactly *NEW* new, but it is one of the recent additions to the big family of SQPN. If you like food, and hopefully like Catholicism too, you’ll probably like The Catholic Foodie podcast (rss). Join Jeff Young on his foodie adventures where he talks about faith and food.

Another new member of SQPN is the In Between Sundays podcast (rss), a podcast that gives you the essentials to live in the world outside of church. Join Nick & Pat Padley where they talk about life as Catholic young adults, ways to grow in faith including specific prayers, websites to visit and practices. They believe that being people of faith requires more than just one hour on Sunday, and we all know that they’re not the only ones who believe that. By helping you develop your body, mind, soul and emotions, the Padley brothers hope to help you become the best person you can be.

As its name suggests, the Among Women podcast (rss) is specially created to celebrate the beauty and grace of Catholic Faith and Life among women. Join Pat Gohn as she does some faith sharing, teaching, and conversation woman to woman. I’ve just started listening to this podcast after it recently the SQPN family, and I’m already hooked by Pat’s beautiful “radio DJ” voice.

Thanks to Lisa Hendey’s mention on her Catholic Moments podcast (rss), I was made aware of the Marian Cenacle Rosary Podcast (rss) by Susan Bailey. If you’re a frequent listener to the Catholic Music Express (rss) podcast or the Catholic Rockers podcast (rss), or if you’re familiar with the Catholic music scene in general, I’m sure you’ll be familiar as Susan as singer, as well as the person behind GrapeVine Online ministry and the GrapeVine News Minute podcast. Susan is also the author and composer of a Catholic book and CD, Mary, Queen of Peace Meditation Guide & Sung Rosary, which this podcast is based on. The Marian Cenacle Rosary Podcast now has a new supplement known as “How Can I Keep from Singing,” a faith-in-action podcast with personal sharing from Susan on how praying the rosary, studying the word of God and other spiritual exercises has nourished her faith and kept her strong in the midst of trials.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably also know that Deacon Tom Fox, who does the Deacon Moments section on the Catholic Moments podcast has started a new podcast with his lovely wife, Dee Fox. The Catholic Vitamins podcast (rss) is dedicated to helping you find the right nutrients that can add a lift and just the right amount of ‘zest’ to your faith practice.

SQPN’s official shwag guy Jeff Nielsen has finally caught the bug and started his own podcast, Catholic Pilot (rss). Jeff talks about his adventures as a commercial air pilot.

If you like reading, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the Catholic Book Club podcast (rss). Join Katherine Barren from Catholics in a Small Town as she interviews a series of noted Catholic new media personalities and others to talk about the book, Choosing Beauty by Gina Loehr, and how choosing beauty can affect our lives in profound ways.

We’ve had quite a few podcasts for and by women in this post. If you’re a man looking for some inspiration and spiritual guidance, you might be interested in the  Catholic Men’s Podcasts sponsored by the National Fellowship of Catholic Men and the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Pittsburgh PA. There are 2 channels. Channel 1 (rss) is an ongoing weekly audio reflection of the upcoming Sunday Mass Readings from the perspective of Catholic male spirituality. Channel 2 (rss) is a compilation of hundreds of hours of various audio presentations geared toward Catholic masculine spirituality, inspiration, and general faith formation.

Last year was the Year of St Paul, so for those of you seeking to study the life and teachings of St Paul, you might want to listen to the Catholic Perspective on Paul podcast (rss). Created by Taylor Marshall, this podcast is an outgrowth of his book, The Catholic Perspective on Paul, which is set to be released in summer of 2010.

If you find some of the descriptions I’ve given above look familiar, let me admit that I’ve been a little lazy, and have “lift” most of the descriptions right from the related websites themselves.

Whew! That was quite a long list!

For links to these and other fine podcasts, please hop over to my Podcasts page.

Since many of my friends are iPhone/iPod Touch users, I started collecting and listening to AudioBoo feeds of some of them. Here is my little collection so far:

• Barb in Nebraska (ultimate SQPN groupie)
• Dr Paul Camarata (host of The Saintcast)
• Greg Willits (co-host of The Catholics Next Door)
• Fr Seraphim Beshoner (host of Catholic Under the Hood)
• Pat Padley (co-host of In Between Sundays)
• Rob Williams (host of Catholics Down Yonder)
• Lisa Hendey (host of Catholic Moments Podcast, co-host of Faith & Family Live! Podcast)
• Captain Jeff (official “shwag maker” for SQPN)

If you have an AudioBoo feed to share with the rest of us, please let me know.

If you’ve always had a curious mind, always wondering how and why things work the way they do, you really should check out HowStuffWorks.com. The good people from HowStuffWorks.com have come up with 7 short and sweet podcasts about, well, how stuff work.

• Stuff You Missed in History Class (rss)
• Stuff You Should Know (rss)
• Stuff Mom Never Told You (rss)
• Stuff from the B-Side (rss)
• BrainStuff (rss)
• TechStuff (rss)
• High Speed Stuff (rss)

Check out my Podcasts page for links to these and more wonderful podcasts.

The podcast that I’m speaking of is the brand new Fullness of Truth podcast (rss), produced by the Fullness of Truth Catholic Evangelization Ministries.

Fullness of Truth™ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and lay Catholic apostolate dedicated to facilitating the “New Springtime of Evangelization” that Pope John Paul II initiated, called, and prayed for. Through our regional family conferences and local parish-based events, featuring the very best Catholic evangelists, and through the offering of faith-building resources at our Book & Gift stores, we humbly, yet confidently invoke and assist the Holy Spirit in planting the seeds of this “New Evangelization”.

As I’ve mentioned, the debut episode of the podcast features a talk by Patrick Madrid titled “Why Be Catholic?” Definitely worth the listen!

Oh, and since I’ve just started listening to this as I’m typing this, I just discovered ANOTHER great reason to subscribe to this podcast. It’s hosted by another friend of mine, Joe McClane, a.k.a The Catholic Hack! There, yet MORE gaurantee that you WILL enjoy this podcast!

This is the first time I’m doing a review on a single podcast rather than a theme containing a handful of podcasts. I hope you’ll enjoy this format just the same. If the feedback is good, I might consider doing future reviews in this format too.

For links to this and other fine podcasts, please check out my Podcasts page as well.

The Classical Mythology Podcast (rss) is produced by LearnOutLoud.com, the same people who produce the Aesop’s Fables Podcast I reviewed previously. This podcast investigates the gods, heroes, and myths that formed bedrock of belief in the ancient Greek and Roman world. A biographical essay of various mythical characters are presented monthly.

Gregory Lemon is a voice actor and podcaster. Gregory produces 2 mythology-related podcasts, namely the Myth Minute Podcast (rss) and the Myth Show Podcast (rss). The former presents a character or story line from mythology in a short format of under 5 minutes. The later discusses mythology, folklore, and fairytales for educators, writers, or fans of mythology, and includes interviews with other podcasters.

If you’re looking for a podcast on Celtic mythology, the Celtic Myth Podshow (rss) may be what you’re looking for. Produced by Gary & Ruth, where they tell you the great stories from Celtic legend.

I hope you’ll enjoy what I’ve recommended so far. You can find links to the podcasts reviewed here, as well as the many others I’ve enjoyed on the Podcasts page.

It all started when I accidentally discovered the Sesame Street Podcast (rss). I grew up watching Sesame Street, so this podcast brought lots of happy memories. Boy do I miss those afternoons in front of the television watching Big Bird, Oscar, Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie, The Count, Elmo, etc. A couple of years ago, I even had the Sesame Street theme song as my mobile phone’s ringtone!

The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd (rss) is one of the MOST successful podcasts for children, and are currently in their 7th season. I’ve heard it mentioned on many of my favorite podcasts, so I finally decided to subscribe to it, and listen for myself. It was storytelling at its best! I also discovered that there’s now a Adventures of Dr. Floyd Video Podcast (rss). It was a joy to watch! If you want the best of both worlds, you can also subscribe to their catch-all feed.

If you’ve enjoyed the above podcasts, you’ll most likely enjoy Animal Rescue Force Friends! (ARFF) (rss) by Dan Klass (of The Bitterest Pill fame) and his son, Hudson. Dan and Hudson tell educational, humorous and entertaining stories with their homemade puppets. It’s a pity that there’s only 2 episodes available, but with Dan’s busy schedule and the huge amount of time to produce and edit these video podcasts, it’s probably understandable. Still, I really wish to see more of this father-and-son duo. Perhaps if enough people email Dan to bug him about ARFF, he’ll realize the popularity of the series and produce more episodes! *hint hint*

If you’re a fan of Aesop’s Fables, like I was, you’ll love the Aesop’s Fables Podcast (rss) by LearnOutLoud.com. These stories are timeless and are choice material for parents of young children in teaching them moral values and moral living.

Well, that’s all I have for now. Please check out my Podcasts page for links to the podcasts mentioned here and many more others!

Before I begin with the reviews proper, I’ll like to thank Mary Soukup (a.k.a bear1) for awarding me the “Brilliante WebLog Award“!

Apparently, I’m supposed to tag 7 other blogs that are deserving of the award. But I’m ashamed to say, I’m not much of a blog reader. (I’m more of a podcast person) However, I do know of a couple of really good Catholic blogs to look out for:

• JimmyAkin.org
  If you don’t know of this amazing apologist from Catholic Answers, you must’ve been living under a rock. His blog offers insights (from Jimmy and other contributors) to all the latest happenings to the Catholic church and around the world.
• The Curt Jester
  Catholic insight, with a touch of humor, and a pinch of oh-so-good sarcasm
• What Does The Prayer Really Say
  The famous blog by the famous Father Z! Gotta love him!
• FatherRoderick.com
  From SQPN’s very own Pied Piper himself! What more could you want?

Ok, now on to the reviews.

If you had a blast at the CNMC, or if you simply can’t get enough of Catholic blogs/podcasts and other good stuff. You’ll have to check out the Catholic New Media Roundup (rss) by Sean McGaughey (a.k.a ductapeguy). Sean does something similar to what I’m doing, but in the form of a podcast. He interviews the people behind various up-and-coming Catholic podcasts/blogs (some of which will be reviewed in this blog). If you liked this blog, I’m sure you’ll love Sean’s podcast.

One of the podcasts I discovered via CNMR was Celebrating Saints (rss) hosted by Katie Orsborn (together with her parents Dave & Karol). Each week, a saint is featured on the podcast. Sorta like a junior version of the SaintCast by Dr Paul Camarata.

Another podcast which I discovered is Our Catholic Life Podcast (rss) by my Facebook friend, James Mazzuchi and family. The Mazzuchi family talk about their life as a Catholic family. There’s also a kids segment, much like the Monster Cookies podcast, and earlier episodes of the Catholic Family Podcast. If you’ve like those, you’ll also enjoy both the Celebrating Saints and Our Catholic Life podcasts.

I discovered the Saint Faustina Diary (rss) podcast by John C Curtis, while “surfing” on the iTunes podcast directory. This is a series of readings from Saint Faustina’s diary. I find it to be a great companion to the Divine Mercy Podcast.

This next podcast isn’t exactly Catholic in content. But it is produced by one of our favorite SQPN groupies, Louisa Pittman. In her Accidental Archaeologist Podcast (rss), Louisa talks about her days as a sailor, and how she ended up as an archaeologist. She also talks about some of the interesting stuff she comes across in her line of work. If you’ve always been curious about the life of an archaeologist, this is one podcast you’ll have to check out!

OK, I’ve got to get back to work now. Hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve shared with you today. Take care!

Ok, enough of my whining. Last Saturday (August 9th) was National Day in Singapore, and the company has credited each of us an extra day of leave. Since it’s a school holiday today (the kids have been credited an extra holiday too), many parents have taken the day off today to spend time with their little ones. So we only have half-attendance in the office today. Since I’ve cleared what’s on my plate, I thought I’d take the time to finally start work on my blog. So here I am.

Before I start on the reviews, I’ll like to give a BIG welcome to my Twitter/Plurk/Facebook/uStream buddy, Inge Loots (a.k.a taquoriaan), who was confirmed as a Catholic yesterday (August 10th)! She is living proof to the rest of us of the power of Father Roderick and his podcasts and new media ministry a.k.a. SQPN, because according to Inge herself, her iPod made her Catholic! WOOT!!!!

Now to the reviews proper. Today I’m going to introduce to you a couple of podcasts that are short and sweet. Most of these are below 5mins and are great for times when you just want to listen to something “bite-sized”.

If you like finding out about how stuff works, you’ll probably enjoy the series of podcasts produced by HowStuffWorks.com. The good people have produced 4 podcasts, each focusing on different subjects. Each episode is a brief explanation of the topic in question, that’ll surely feed curiosity while on the go.

• Stuff You Should Know (rss) deals with topics regarding society and culture
• BrainStuff (rss) delves in science and medicine
• TechStuff (rss) obviously talks about technology
• Fact or Fiction (rss) is excellent for history buffs

Movie geeks will surely enjoy the Movie Mantras podcast (rss) by Martyn Darkly. This podcast offers to help you “search for enlightenment through the wisdom of film“. Twice a week, a quote from a movie is given in the “meditation exercise”. Each episode is about a minute in length. That’s what I call short and sweet.

In this crazy world, we all tend to have a couple of crazy thoughts once in a while. If you thought you were the only one feeling that way all along, wait till you listen to Christiana’s Shallow Thoughts (rss) by Christiana Ellis. Christiana is a writer/podcaster. To keep up with her job, she naturally has to keep her mind constantly churning out fun and interesting ideas. She shares her thought process and offers listeners a “daily dose of serene surrealism“.

Can’t get enough of funny stories? Check out Short Cummings Audio (rss) by Kevin Cummings>. Every week Kevin shares a funny story inspired by his everyday life. Give him six minutes and he’ll share his life with you.

Well, that’s all for now. I managed to finish this entry just in time to pack up and leave the office and enjoy the rest of the afternoon relaxing in some corner of Singapore. I have more reviews lined up, so keep a lookout for my next entry. Until then, take care and God bless!

From another perspective, this was also a good chance for us to feedback what we felt need to be improved. After the merger last year, things have gone pretty much topsy-turvy in the company. Most of the sales/pre-sales/customer service staff have left. It is rather depressing to see co-workers leave the company one by one. Especially those of who I’ve been working with closely since joining the company more than 4 years ago. Some of our most senior staff (in terms of service years) have resigned. Hopefully, the new GM will improve the state of things around here.

I mentioned last week that I’ll be reviewing some podcast novels that I’m currently subscribed to. If you’re new to the concept of novels in podcast format, please read my previous post regarding podcast novels.

Before we begin, here’s a disclaimer:Some of the novels featured here contain mature situations, language and violence.

If you enjoyed playing Cluedo, you’ll probably enjoy Murder at Avedon Hill (rss) by P.G. Holyfield. As the title suggests, the story revolves around a murder mystery which took place on Avedon Hill. Gretta Platt, the housekeeper of the Avedon Manor, has been murdered. Arames Kragen, retired Aarronic Advisor and scholar of prophecy, offers to help find the murderer, in exchange for access to the mountain pass. In the process, he also uncovers the truth about a town that apparently has more secrets than inhabitants. Unlike the podcast novels that I’ve previously reviewed, this novel is presented much like an audio drama, where many fellow podcasters/authors lend their voices and dramatic talent. The plot gets thicker as the story unfolds. I’m often kept at the edge of my seat guessing who the real murderer is.

Another podcast novel involving multiple voice talents is The Metamor City Podcast (rss) by Chris Lester. The podcast consists of short stories as well as full-length novels. The stories occur within Metamor City, a high-magic, high-technology setting, an epic fantasy world projected into the near future. Metamor City reminds me of X-Men, but it really is much more than that. It’s almost like a big reunion of sci-fi characters. Habitants of this magical futeristic world include vampires, telepaths, werewolves, androgynes, magicians, and of course normal, non-magical humans (a.k.a “mundies”)

If you prefer a story that’s slightly “closer to reality”, you might like to try The Takeover (rss) by Mur Lafferty. The story revolves a takeover/merger of 2 companies, and how it’s affected the employees of both sides. The catch is, one of the companies involved are a bunch of zombies! At the same time, the human employees realize that to climb up the corporate ladder, you’ll have to be willing to turn into a zombie. Oh my! Talk about working yourself to death! If you enjoy The Takeover, you might also want to check out Mur’s many other podcasts at Murverse.com, or simply subscribe to her catch-all feed here to enjoy all the Mur goodness.

Meanwhile, fans of J.C. Hutchins‘ 7th Son Trilogy will be glad to know that J.C. is back with 7th Son: Obsidian, an short-story anthology series based on the fictional universe of the 7th Son Trilogy. Contributors to this world’s first-ever anthology podcast includes A-List podcasters as well as fans from around the world. Definitely worth checking out!

If you enjoy having famous voices read stories to you, I’m sure you’ll also love SteamPod (rss) by Chris Moody. SteamPod is a podcast about what is going on in the world of SteamPunk, a publication that is dedicated to promoting steampunk as a culture, as more than a sub-category of fiction. It is a journal of fashion, music, misapplied technology and chaos, and fiction.

That’s all for now. I hope you’ll enjoy the selection of podcast novels I’ve reviewed for you. Meanwhile, God bless!

First up, one of my Facebook/Twitter friends Bill Donaghy, the man behind the Mission Moment apostolate, has a fantastic podcast called The Heart Of Things Podcast (rss).

The Heart of Things Podcast is a journey past the shallows and into the deep of daily life! Touching on faith, art, music, movies and more, we’ll tap into the many places where faith and life meet, at the very heart of things.

In the podcast, Bill interviews various personalities and discusses issues concerning the faith. Insight and informative!

From the geniuses behind the Catholic Underground Podcast (rss), the CU network brings you the Finding Your Keys podcast (rss) by Joshua LeBlanc. This is a weekly show that aims to bridge the gap between faith and everyday living. Finding Your Keys promises to be a field guide for the everyday Catholic. BTW, do check out the BRAND NEW Catholic Underground website. It looks absolutely cool! Gotta love it!

If you have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary like I do, or if you simply want to find out more about WHY Catholics are so fascinated with the woman who is the Mother of Jesus Christ, you’ll have to check out the Theotokos podcast (rss) by Adam Andrejcio. Theotokos is Greek for God-bearer. In his podcast, Adam talks about the Catholic devotion to the Mother of God, who is also the Mother of the Church, the body of Christ on Earth, and brings up scriptural and doctrinal support for the Catholic teachings on Mary.

Listeners to various SQPN podcasts will probably be familiar with Father Bill Holtzinger, affectionately known as Father Geek. Father Bill recently started a new podcast, appropriately named PilgrmCast (rss), while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with some of his parishioners. In this series of podcasts, Father Bill takes the listeners on a sound-seeing tour of various landmarks in the Holy Land.

The next podcast I’m recommending is not exactly new. In fact, I’ve listened to this entire series more than a year ago. I was reminded of this podcast series while listening to an episode of the Catholic Answers LIVE podcast (rss). What I’m talking about is the Going Deeper Podcast (rss) produced by Family Theater Productions in Hollywood.

Going Deeper is a series of original talks by Leo Severino (theologian/apologist/film producer) started while Leo was a youth minister in Irvine, California. Going Deeper increased in popularity and grew to a series of discussions for people in the entertainment industry searching for truth, held in various locations in and around Hollywood.

In case you didn’t already know, Leo Severino is one of the “3 amigos” behind Metanoia Films, the good people that produced the beautiful movie, Bella.

Last but definitely NOT least, the Catholic Hack himself, Joe McClane has start a brand new St Ignatius of Antioch Series, which is a series readings of 7 epistles of St Ignatius of Antioch. Download all 7 now!

For those of you who have been living under a rock all this while, the Catholic New Media Celebration (CNMC) will be held on the 22nd of June, 2008 at the Georgia International Convention Center, immediately following the Eucharistic Congress in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. I’m not sure if you’ll be in time to register, by the time this blog entry is posted, but anyhow, find out more about CNMC at celebration.sqpn.com. P.S.: If you are unable to make to Georgia, Atlanta in person (like me), at least make sure you are following someone that will be there either via Twitter, Facebook, or some other preferred forms of tracking.

Well, that’s all for now. More reviews next time!