Allso your mp3?? Both ear plugs in?? I love a podcast also but found riding without one of my senses a bit worrying! Obviously I always look and signal before any manouvre but you can't beat an early warning right?
Oh, this could start another tiff! Well here goes....
Personally, I don't think mp3 is a serious safety issue. I've been cycling with music since I had a Walkman the size of a dictionary, and have never had any accidents with one on - or without one actually. Oh, except that time with a dog. Yes, I did have one accident, and I happened to be listening to music at the time, but I would have had the accident with or without the music. I was riding along, going quite fast, when all of a sudden a dog broke loose from its owner and ran straight in front of my path to tell me what he thought of cyclists. Anyway, I hit him at great speed and went flying over my handlebars, landing in the road a few metres from my bike. Ouch! No lasting damage, but my bike was a right off. Anyway, that was my only accident that I've ever had ever. So, why am I rabbiting on like this? Just to say that I very ofen listen to music when I'm cycling, especially when I'm going on boring roads, and I've never had an accident because of it.
However, I would add one item to my list, especially if you have mp3, to compensate for the fact that you can't hear the traffic coming so easily: a rear view mirror. I've been cycling seriously for 26 years, 25 of them without a rear view mirror. I bought one for my Greece tour. Marvellous. You can see the traffic coming from a long way off and gives you an extra "sense" of the road.