Trends and Issues in Extension

Business Week has introduced a unique weekly podcast on iTunes. Like Seed Magazine (reviewed here) it focuses on their weekly cover story. What makes their podcast unique is that it does not simply "read" the cover story, but conducts an interview with the author. I’ve made my way through four of the interviews and have found them enjoyable. All have focused on emerging trends or issues. These have included the future of the car industry, where to invest (good information about the direction of the economy), big events of 2005, and the increased importance of math in business and industry. The podcast lengths have varied from about 8-20 minutes. The Business Week podcast page lists other podcasts that are available.

Recommended for Extension professionals in general, and especially those working on economic related issues.

I’ve been trying to listen to several epsidodes of each podcasts before making a decision on keeping or chucking them. This is a dynamic process, much like the shows one watches on TV. Some tend to stick around, some fall of the screen, and we check in on some without catching every episode. One that I tested almost as an alternative is Nature. I’m glad I did. Nature produces a weekly 20 minute or so podcast that is international in its outlook. I’m still playing around with the Naked Scientist and New Scientist podcasts, but I keep coming back to Nature. I’m still having high hopes for New Scientist, mainly because it comes across as The Economist version of weekly science magazines: top notch (the Economist is my pick for the best weekly current events magazine. See this prior post).

I’ve been impressed with Nature’s breadth. Recommended – at itunes or via Nature’s podcast link. 

Seed Magazine is a unique science magazine that focuses on how science impacts and changes culture. I don’t subscribe, but do occasionally pick up an issue at the bookstore. Better yet, I subscribe to their podcast on itunes (see also Seeds podcast link). A short (5-10 minute) podcast on a key story. This week it was on urban coyotes. I like it. A good way to get a short, targeted story. Seed also has video coming to its site soon.

I’ve been trying out various podcasts on itunes. The growth in the number of new podcasts has been amazing. I’ll try to add a few reviews here from time to time. A good starting point is APM’s (American Public Media’s) Future Tense podcast. Short (under five minutes) summaries of a key technology or future related news item. I found the four or five that I listened to very informative and a good "mini" briefing on key items. For me, its perfect for short trips to the store, brief shores, etc. I subscribed.

Lisa Haneberg over at Management Craft has a free e-book on leadership (really at her related site, 2 Weeks to a Breakthrough). It works around the theme of resolutions for a new year. An interesting matrix with focus counterposed with action. Well worth the quick read.

Global Business Network, a futurist oriented consulting group, offers a regular book club. The club reviews books of interest to futurists and posts them to its website. For a complete listing of all books that have been reviewed, see this link (or here for a chronological listing). A good resource. I’ve found several books through GBN.