Videos offer bright ideas

Fora.tv

Web: http://fora.tv/ channels

Feed: http://www.fora.tv/ media/rss// podcasts/wfc_video.xml

After a relaxing summer it makes sense to use PC time to activate those brain cells.

Fora.tv, a growing network of video podcasts, is one of the brainiest collections of Web content you can find.

As the fora.tv site explains, it’s a gathering place for independently produced videos made across the planet, featuring bright people talking about important, and sometimes just fun, topics. Think of it as a YouTube for information junkies.

The word “fora” is the Latin plural for the word “forum.”

The service produces a daily videocast, focused on a timely or relevant topic. This past week the list of podcasts included Arizona Sen. John McCain on immigration reform, journalist Carl Bernstein talking about the way Hillary Clinton might govern if she became president, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards discussing poverty.

Each week fora.tv produces a shorter, simple-to-download audio podcast chosen from the episodes of the previous week.

The podcast episodes also stray into pop culture. One recent episode, filmed at a meeting of the Oxonian Society in New York, featured Duane “Dog” Chapman, star of the cable TV show “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” This episode was recorded well before Chapman’s recent public relations troubles hit the celebrity news circuit.

Strength: Vast variety of topics, great site for search.

Downside: Most video podcasts approach an hour.

Quality: Stimulating.