Listen and Learn With Podcasts

Pros: Learn how to program -- or at least figure out some idea of how your operating system works.

Cons: Many lectures are on video, requiring a video iPod. Some large files take a while to download.

Find It: Available on iTunes.

The World Beyond the Headlines From the University of Chicago

From a hefty university comes an equally hefty podcast: Madeleine Albright, scholar Robert Pape and many more talk on such topics as changes in the Arab world, globalization and the United States' strained relationship with Iran. Guaranteed to give you the knowledge to keep up with even the most wonkish conversationalists on the Hill. (You can also listen to the lectures online at http://internationalstudies.uchicago.edu/wbh.shtml.)

Pros: Opportunity to learn how the world works from some of the brightest minds out there.

Cons: Some of the world's brightest minds aren't the most gripping speakers, especially in an hour-long program. Lectures quickly plunge into detail, which may turn off all but the most ardent foreign relations junkies.

Find It: Available on iTunes.