Never miss another episode of Spark by subscribing to any of our totally free podcasts. All you need to listen is a computer with an internet connection. You can use your favourite podcatcher, or download individual episodes. More information and full instructions on CBC Radio podcasts at cbc.ca/podcasting
There are three different feeds you can subscribe to:
1. Regular Podcast (one episode weekly)
This feed includes weekly episodes of Spark, as heard on the radio. Subscribe directly using iTunes, or copy and paste this URL into a podcasting tool:
Find a full list of past episodes available for download on the Spark blog.
2. Spark Plus (weekly episodes + blog audio)
This feed includes weekly episodes of Spark, and all additional audio (like full interviews) found on the Spark blog.
Click here to subscribe directly using iTunes, or copy and paste this URL into a podcasting tool:
You can find many full interviews in the Interviews category of this blog.
3. Spark Lite (low-bandwidth edition)
This feed includes low-bitrate MP3 versions of Spark, perfect for the bandwidth-conscious. Copy and paste this URL into a podcasting tool:
February 4th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
where's the free eco font download???
February 4th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
You can download the Ecofont here: http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html
This was linked from the show notes for today's episode: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/02/episode-65-februa...
February 4th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
You can download the Ecofont here: http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html
This was linked from the show notes for today's episode: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/02/episode-65-februa...
June 27th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Not sure if it is new or not, but I really like the 3 different podcasts, esp the extended SparkPlus. Thanks!
September 11th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
[...] Regardless of where you are, you can listen to the show — right now! — here, or via podcast. [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
[...] Regardless of where you are, you can listen to the show — right now! — here, or via podcast. [...]
September 21st, 2009 at 4:04 am
Shouldn’t the pic for spark+ be in colour, while the sparkLite should be a 5k jpg?
tOM
September 21st, 2009 at 4:18 am
SparkLite is still pretty hefty. Why not use Lame like this:
lame.exe –priority 0 –verbose -V 9 -q 2 -m m –resample 8000 –highpass .15 –add-id3v2 –pad-id3v2-size 254 –tg Podcast “%Source%” “%NewFileName%”
::——- copy over metadata from original file to new one ————
“C:\Program Files\id3cp.exe” -2 “%Source%” “%NewFileName%”
(Do this on your original file, not the Lite)
This reduces the kpbs to about 20kpbs. Then a lot can fit on a small cheap MP3 player, as well as downloading quickly.
This would reduce Lite from 12.5MB to a nice sounding 8MB for an hour show. Compare how it sounds!
I actually do this for all my podcasts. Juice can run a program on each download. I run this batch file:
prompt $t $p$g
@echo on
@cls
@echo %0 – used to reduce size of speech MP3s and add date to filename – can be used for podcasts or audiobooks
@ECHO .
@echo eg %0 “C:\Documents and Settings\Tom\My Documents\Podcasts\ITM.TN-MichaelCrichton-2008.11.27.mp3″ “In the middle – Tech Nation”
@echo becomes 2009.01.07-13.52-Inthemiddle-TechNation-ITM.TN-MichaelCrichton-2008.11.27.mp3
@ECHO .
@echo Using parms podcast file:1:%1 podcast name:%2
@echo a.Uses LAME to reduce size of podcast by reducing bitrate and frequency range and VBR, setting Genre tag to Speech, year to download year
@echo lame params: hi-compression VBR hi-quality mono
@echo b. Renames to include file date/time stamp at front (for display by dumb mp3 players) – also copied to Comment tag
@echo c. Sets id3 v1 tag defaults by filename, podcast name, puts file date in comments tag, sets genre to speech
@echo d. Use id3cp to copy over original tags
@echo e. Puts copy in \data\podcasts directory
@echo f. if no errors, erases original
@echo –assume param 1 includes ” ” around it; params 2+ do not
@echo ————————————————
@echo using %0 %1 %2
@if exist %1 goto DoIt
:help
@echo check errors!
@echo Param 1 – a file path/name or specification, eg, “c:\podcasts\abc.mp3″ You entered %1
@echo Param 2 – any words to include in the metadata eg, podcast name, place, in quotes, eg “science podcast”. You entered %2
dir %1
@echo err(s) 1-%ERRLame%-%ERRTagCopy%-%ERRFile%
pause
exit /B 1%ERRLame%%ERRTagCopy%%ERRFile%
:=============================================
:doIt
@setlocal
set DestDir=”E:\My Documents\Podcasts”
e:
@md %DestDir%
cd %DestDir%
:::—– assumes date in form yyyy-mm-yy hh:mm————
FOR %%V IN (%1) DO set InFileName=%%~nV
set ErrFile=%ERRORLEVEL%
@echo file date format in windoze is yyyy/mm/dd HH:MM
@echo params 2-8 used in name; params 2-infinity used for default album tag
:: %%J – year
:: %%K – month
:: %%L – day
:: %%M – hour
:: %%N – minute
:: %%~tV – complete datetime stamp
:: %%~nV – filename, w/o path
:: %%V – filename.ext
FOR %%V IN (%1) DO FOR /F “tokens=1-5 delims=/:.- ” %%J IN (”%%~tV”) DO set Year=%%J
FOR %%V IN (%1) DO FOR /F “tokens=1-5 delims=/:.- ” %%J IN (”%%~tV”) DO set FileDate=%%J.%%K.%%L-%%M.%%N
if %2.==. set %2=”%0″
Set NewFileName=%InFileName%-%FileDate%.mp3
@”C:\Program Files\id3info.exe” -n -w %1
:::::::::::::
“C:\Program Files\lame.exe” –priority 0 –verbose -V 9 -q 2 -m m –resample 8000 –highpass .15 –add-id3v2 –scale 2 –pad-id3v2-size 254 –tg Speech %1 “%NewFileName%”
set ERRLame=%ERRORLEVEL%
::——- copy over metadata from original file to new one ————
“C:\Program Files\id3cp.exe” -2 %1 “%NewFileName%”
set ERRTagCopy=%ERRORLEVEL%
::——- show metadata ————
“C:\Program Files\id3info.exe” %1
“C:\Program Files\id3info.exe” “%NewFileName%”
@dir %1 | find “.mp3″
@dir “%NewFileName%” | find “.mp3″
IF %ERRFile% GTR 1 goto help
IF %ERRLame% GTR 0 goto help
IF %ERRTagCopy% GTR 0 goto help
endlocal
sleep 3m
erase %1
exit 00
tOM
September 25th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Will check into it Tom. Thanks for your suggested settings.
October 12th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Looking for episode that had the story about 2 girls traveling and blogging across Canada as compared to Queensland Australia campaign?
Thanks
-cd
October 13th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Hi Chris,
I think I remember hearing part of that story, but it wasn't on Spark. As It Happens, maybe??
October 14th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
[...] Spark airs on CBC Radio One on Sundays at 13:00. The show is also available via their Blog and Podcasts. Nora and her team can also be followed via Twitter [...]
October 16th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
[...] Nora: Hi Chris, I think I remember hearing part of that story, but it wasn't on Spark. As It Happens, maybe?? [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by clintlalonde: @SparkCBC really like SparkPlus – extended podcast w/ full interviews. http://www.cbc.ca/spark/podcasts/…