When I lived in the DC metro area a few years ago, I loved listening to the Elliot in the Morning radio show. It’s raunchy and not exactly intellectually stimulating, but it’s hilarious and entertaining—especially when you’re sitting in traffic on the Beltway. When the iHeartRadio app came out a few years ago, I was thrilled to find Elliot and the gang were available to listen to 24/7, anywhere in the country, which is perfect for my Colorado commute.

At E Source, we recently received a question from a member about energy and environmental podcasts, and it made me rethink my on-demand radio-listening habits. Maybe I could listen to something entertaining and actually learn something useful at the same time—what a concept! (Cue compact fluorescent lightbulb turning on over my head.)

Here’s a list of podcasts covering energy or environmental topics that you, too, might be interested in (special thanks to Dulcey Simpkins for helping me develop this list):

• NPR: Environment
• EE Markets from Real Energy Writers
• Scientific American has a variety of podcasts that are discipline-specific, including the “60-Second Earth” series and regular podcast “Science Talk”
• The journal Nature also has a regular podcast and it features lots of varied science articles with energy and environment in the mix
• Stanford’s Social Innovation Conversations Environmental Sustainability Educational podcasts
• U.S. Environment Protection Agency’s State and Local Climate and Energy Program
• Living on Earth and The World from PRI have podcasts that often relate to the environment and energy; the November 1, 2011, podcast was “What Will It Take to Power the Future?”
• Grist and Treehugger also have podcasts, though these sources are ostentatiously “green”

Renewable Energy World has five years of archived podcasts. Unfortunately, the website recently stopped creating them because the producer, editor, and host switched jobs. The website is tricky to navigate, and I couldn’t find a list of all podcasts, but about a quarter of the way down the right side of the page is a list of recent podcasts.

Additionally, although they aren’t podcasts, there are TEDTalk videos on energy and the environment that you might want to consider watching. TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” TED started in 1984 as a conference, bringing together people from the worlds of technology, entertainment, and design, but it has grown to include information-sharing in a variety of formats. TED offers iPhone and iPad apps that may help facilitate viewing on the go.

In iTunes, you can also search for “energy” or “environment.” I found a plethora of podcasts related to these topics. Apple makes it difficult to link to them, so an iTunes search will be your best bet for finding the content.

What are your favorite podcasts, energy-related or otherwise?