Listen and Learn With Podcasts

Great Speeches in History

This podcast features actual recordings of famous speeches, such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream," as well as actors re-creating speeches from ancient eras, including Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.

Pros: Impress your next date with some choice quotes from Socrates or Queen Elizabeth I.

Cons: Some speeches are probably not delivered with the same degree of gravitas that the original speaker used.

Find It: http://www.learnoutloud.com; search "Great Speeches in History."

UC Berkeley

Chances are you've forgotten much of what you learned in college. After all, the history of clinical psychology and Sartre don't really help much when you need to turn in that quarterly report by noon. Fortunately, the University of California at Berkeley is here to help you re-explore the life of the mind while you're trapped on your commute, with recorded lectures from 2006 on such topics as "Existentialism in Literature and Film," "Physics for Future Presidents" and "Human Emotion," which seeks to break down why we cry, love and feel the way we do.

Pros: Discover everything you ever wanted to know about why objects fall, why French actors smoke so many cigarettes and why the words " 'N Sync reunion tour" send you into a Hulk-like rage.

Cons: Audio quality varies; some of the podcasts have fuzzy sections that are hard to hear.

Find It: Available on iTunes.

Understanding Computers And the Internet

In your heart of hearts, your dream is to become the next Bill Gates. That's where this Harvard Extension School podcast comes in: Professor David J. Malan tells you about the differences between Macs and PCs (clue: only one presents the dreaded Blue Screen of Death), how Web servers work and more. Malan has an engaging style that draws you in, although he gets a little esoteric at points. (You can also watch the lectures online at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/{tilde}cscie1.)