Sometimes you have to take a break from all your Dutch Les’s and just sit down and listen to some good old fashion English. Here are some of my favorite free podcasts and internet radio channels.

♥ STEPHEN FRY’S PODGRAMS
Stephen Fry (purveyor of fine words and conversation, host of QI and various BBC Documentaries, and all-around fascinating chap) babbles enchantingly on for thirty minutes or so about this, that and the other.

♥ BEST WEEK EVER COMPLETE EPISODE PODCASTS
Subscribing to the the feed does mean filtering through all the mini-episode podcasts, so buyer beware when selecting “Get All” unless you want your iTunes to explode. For expats like me, BWE helps me keep up on what I secretly consider “news”.

♥ NPR MORNING EDITION
Although I typically listen to Morning Edition every day through the KCRW Simulcast channel on the iTunes “Public” radio stream (so that I can listen to the Los Angeles traffic report and remember simpler times), NPR also has a fairly reliable pop-up player that can play right from your browser.

♥ MUCKPOO’S AUTOMAGIC PODCAST
I know it’s my brother’s mix of music and we’re practically the Wonder Twins when it comes to music you can dance like a slut to, but his mix has Stevie Nicks on it.

♥ RICKY GERVAIS PODCAST FEATURING STEPHEN MERCHANT AND KARL PILKINGTON
Sure, this one is kind of old, but every now and again the boys will find the time to wrestle Karl down to the floor and kick a stupid man while he’s down.

♥ THIS AMERICAN LIFE
The bog-standard podcast, This American Life is the show that was meant for this medium. Each week, stories that feature a theme hosted by Ira Glass in anywhere from one to four parts.