Podcasts: Name me some

lildrgn · Post by **lildrgn** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:47 pm

I am burned out on sports radio, especially since football season is done. I've done some comedy on my phone, but the connection craps out from time to time. Not huge on Pandora as it gets boring.

So... how about some podcasts?

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:04 pm

Peter Adamson's The History of Philosophy with No Gaps

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:22 pm

My current must listen podcast is The Nerdist hosted by Chris Hardwick (Host of Web Soup on G4, former host MTV's Singled Out). They do earn their explicit tag every week, but they're entertaining and hilarious. They just started releasing 2 podcasts a week - one guestless (Hostful!) and one with a guest. Currently they just released one with Danny Pudi (Abed from Community) that I can't wait to listen to.

Other guests have been Jon Hamm, Nathan Fillion, Craig Ferguson, Felicia Day, Sarah Siverman, Wil Wheaton, Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor), and so many freaking more. Every episode lasts at least an hour. All the interviews are wonderful stream-of-consciousness events that you don't know where it'll go from one moment to the next. Although, many do eventually steer towards creative processes like writing, auditions, pitching shows, and other comedian/actor stuff.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:50 pm

Bill Simmons' BS report on ESPN. I know you are burned out but it's about sports...sometimes. Frequently not.

Smodcast.com - 7 different options from Kevin Smith's burgeoning empire. I really like the original Smodcast and Tell 'em Steve Dave. If you start with TeSD, make sure to stick with it for at least the first 5 episodes before casting judgement. It was a rough beginning and it took them a while to find their voice.

Adam Corolla's got an empire starting as well. His podcast is amusing, but I haven't been back in a few months because I don't use iTunes and had a heck of a time getting it to download.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:26 pm

If you're into music or covers in general, I recommend Coverville.

ChaoZ · Post by **ChaoZ** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:29 pm

Tscott wrote:My current must listen podcast is The Nerdist hosted by Chris Hardwick

Thanks for the heads up. Looks to be right up my alley.

Currently I listen to This Week in Tech (TWiT), Slice of Sci Fi, The Dragon Page (SF&F Books), Autoblog, NPR's Car Talk, The Sword and Laser Podcast (SF&F Books, featuring Veronica Belmont), The Fringe Podcast (about the Fox TV show) and WNYC's Radiolab.

Yeah, it's a pretty big lineup, but my commute allows for them. I'd particularly recommend Slice of Sci Fi. Hilarious stuff.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:51 pm

My weekly podcasts:

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (NPR humorous news quiz)
This American Life
Sound Opinions
Radiolab

All are an hour long.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:03 pm

Hardcore History (colourful and out-of-the-box musings on different history topics) and Common Sense (independent political commentary) by Dan Carlin.

Sounds kind of like:

But awesome! (Not that Wallace Shawn isn't himself awesome.)

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:51 am

FYI: The last full Radiolab podcast (I think the title was "Lost") had one of the best stories I've heard, podcast or otherwise, in a long time. Make sure to have some kleenex around!

lildrgn · Post by **lildrgn** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:24 pm

Listening to The Nerdist/Danny Pudi now. Thanks for the tips, guys!

lildrgn · Post by **lildrgn** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:11 pm

Hmm. These Nerdist guys seem to try a little too hard.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:34 pm

Podcasts I listen to. I am able to listen all day while I work, so you might not want all of these if you're just looking for something during your commute.

Everyday:
Three Moves Ahead - strategy games w/ a focus on pc games
PRI's The World - World news
NPR: Planet Money - stories illustrating current financial stuff. pretty varied, not boring.
Fresh Air - Only if its an interesting guest. Otherwise I skip it.
Radiolab
This American Life
The Moth - Storys told live on stage without notes. Similar to This American Life but shorter.
Sound Opinions - Two geeks talk about music. The Siskel & Ebert of rock.
Boardgames to Go - very infrequent. About board games.
Boardgame Babylon - see Boardgames to Go
APM: Marketplace - daily financial news. Not boring either, but more serious in tone than Planet Money. Kind of.
Third Coast Festival - random stories of "found sound". They are real radio stories, just collected from all over the world. Sometimes its too depressing to listen to though.

SpaceLord · Post by **SpaceLord** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:37 pm

As I just posted in R&P, This American Life, imo, is the best news program in any format.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:46 pm

Second Nerdist.

Also:

Gamewank. Won't be current game-wise, but still worth starting at the beginning. Funny, funny shit.

DGR, nee Drunken Gamers Radio. No longer just about games, DGR is always fun.

Gamers with Jobs. GWJ is a solid gaming podcast. Except for...who is the shitty one again? Andrich?

Geekbox. Low on my rotation but has some fun stuff sometimes.

Pritzker Military Library podcasts. All feeds are top notch.

Reality Check. Canuck skeptic podcast. Fun. Worst segues ever.

B-Movie Cast. Hardcore older B movie fans.

Astronomy Cast. All about astronomy.

The Bugle. [RSS Feed]. Satircal news podcast by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman.

lildrgn · Post by **lildrgn** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:52 pm

SpaceLord wrote:As I just posted in R&P, This American Life, imo, is the best news program in any format.

Started this. Listened already to most recent one about gifts, now listening to the Coca-Cola one. Very cool stuff.

GuidoTKP · Post by **GuidoTKP** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:57 pm

stessier wrote:Bill Simmons' BS report on ESPN. I know you are burned out but it's about sports...sometimes. Frequently not.

Smodcast.com - 7 different options from Kevin Smith's burgeoning empire. I really like the original Smodcast and Tell 'em Steve Dave. If you start with TeSD, make sure to stick with it for at least the first 5 episodes before casting judgement. It was a rough beginning and it took them a while to find their voice.

Adam Corolla's got an empire starting as well. His podcast is amusing, but I haven't been back in a few months because I don't use iTunes and had a heck of a time getting it to download.

I'm a big Kevin Smith fan. My two favorites from his podcast network are the original Smodcast and Hollywood Babylon with Ralph Garmin. I fill in with Jay and Silent Bob Get Old and Tell 'em Steve Dave when I run out of episodes of those two, but Smodcast and HBO usually cover my podcasting needs.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:59 pm

lildrgn wrote:
SpaceLord wrote:As I just posted in R&P, This American Life, imo, is the best news program in any format.
Started this. Listened already to most recent one about gifts, now listening to the Coca-Cola one. Very cool stuff.

Just about all public radio shows have a podcast available. It's probably worth it to go throught he NPR, PRI, and APM sites and add a bunch to your aggregator.

Marketplace is one of my favorites.

Same goes for many Public Television shows.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:07 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:Reality Check. Canuck skeptic podcast. Fun. Worst segues ever.

Skeptically Speaking is a decent show, from what I've heard on the radio.
http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/" target="_blank

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:15 pm

One more.

Dial a stranger - Random questions to random strangers. Hasn't been updated in a long time, I think its done now, but there are the archives of past episodes. Hit & miss due to the random topic and guest element.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:16 pm

I really wish WFMT would turn Exploring Music into one. It's probably the only thing I'd be interested in going out of my way to obtain.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:27 pm

silverjon wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:Reality Check. Canuck skeptic podcast. Fun. Worst segues ever.
Skeptically Speaking is a decent show, from what I've heard on the radio.
http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/" target="_blank

Yeah, that's a good one.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:36 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
silverjon wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:Reality Check. Canuck skeptic podcast. Fun. Worst segues ever.
Skeptically Speaking is a decent show, from what I've heard on the radio.
http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/" target="_blank
Yeah, that's a good one.

Hmm...I'm skeptical about that....

Hipolito · Post by **Hipolito** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:40 am

A few not yet mentioned:

Escape Pod/Pseudopod/PodCastle: Sci-fi/horror/fantasy short stories. I pick the episodes that have interesting-sounding titles, and get stories I like about 50% of the time. If anyone wants specific episode recommendations, let me know.
Savage Love: Hilarious, explicit relationship and sex advice by Dan Savage.
London School of Economics: Various lectures in the social sciences.
Jumping the Shark: Gaming discussion that's right on par with the aforementioned Gamers With Jobs, I'd say.

My favorite podcast of all time is the now-defunct RetroforceGo! Its hosts, Topher, Stella, Chad, Dyson, and Colette, talked about retro console gaming. Even though I generally can't relate to that topic, I loved the hilarious, high-spirited discussion. It's not for everyone's tastes, but I haven't heard another podcast with such distinct and endearing personalities. They made 100 episodes plus a few "lost" ones which I went to great lengths to find.

P.S. One of the Gamers With Jobs hosts has his own podcast called Striving, which is about his thoughts on spirituality in everyday life. I find it intriguing.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:05 am

The McElroy brothers' My Brother, My Brother And Me podcast is juvenile, crude, at times insipid, occasionally disturbing, and often one of the funniest things I've heard in ages. I'll admit, you have to have a particular sense of humor to enjoy it.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:25 am

Ooh. I used to listen to escape pod.I'll have to remember to check it out again.

Texian · Post by **Texian** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:32 pm

I listen to a lot of podcasts and like to find new ones.
Stitcher helps me do that with streaming tech instead of syncing.
http://www.stitcher.com/home.php" target="_blank

My current favorites are:
Skepticality
Skeptically Speaking
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
The Pod Delusion (UK)
The Skeptic Zone (Australia)
All of the NPR Music podcasts

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:42 pm

Here's some more I've started listening to.

99% Invisible - Short 5-15min. podcast about art, architecture & design of things you usually don't give much thought on.
Too Much Information - I'm still trying to figure out what this one is about. Each show is on a theme of some sort, though it's not always evident what that theme is. Content is sometimes NSFW.
A Life Well Wasted - A podcast about video games and the people who play them. Only 6 episodes so far with a slim possibility of more in the future, but well worth the listen. Episode 6 is NSFW.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:43 pm

Texian wrote: My current favorites are:

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe

The SGU is a great podcast, along with the shorter Skeptics' Guide 5x5 (one topic, five skeptics, five minutes.)

I also like The Naked Scienticsts and the Tolkien Professor (a college professor teaching a thorough course on Tolkien in podcast format.)

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:42 pm

If you like sports and Joe Posnanski then don't miss the Sports PosCast

It's weekly-ish and features monthly appearances by Michael Schur, creator of "Parks and Rec" (and also Mose on "The Office").

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:38 pm

I've recently discovered Black Box Down which is a Rooster Teeth production that explores aviation disasters.

A true crime podcast in the air. Lifelong aviation enthusiast Gustavo Sorola and his co-host Chris Demarais break down the major accidents in aviation and the steps taken to prevent future disasters.

While I had often found these sorts of investigations and subsequent findings interesting, I never actually sought them out. I've really fallen down the rabbit hole though thanks to stumbling across a couple episodes that had been animated and posted on the Rooster Teeth YouTube channel.

Here is a short example:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:44 pm

A friend of mine from back in Akron, Ohio has a podcast specializing in his love of odd lounge music and other strangeness. Just go to here and scroll down to The Beyondophonic Action Hour with Tothar.

I alerted Archinerd, Zarathud, Hentzau and a few other non OO folks about it a while ago. I believe they think I'm even weirder now after learning I am friends with people like this.

But it is fascinating to hear his unique collection of music.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:03 pm

Track listings would be awesome.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:09 pm

He does announce the songs as they play/during breaks between songs. But it's treated like a radio broadcast for the most part.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:22 pm

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:24 pm

Huh? I thought my reply was innocent enough. You asked for a track list, I politely told you he doesn't have a written one as it's treated more like a live radio broadcast (which it basically is...you can download it after it has aired, which is the link I provided).

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:29 pm

All meant in good fun.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 5:48 pm

Can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet. IMO one of those things where you shouldn't look anything up. Just listen, and draw your own conclusions until the end (and then you are going to want to look up a lot of stuff if you're like me). It's amazing, heart-wrenching, fascinating, and really well-produced. Pretty sure they won awards for it.

Just go in blind, and I promise you won't regret it.
https://stownpodcast.org

paulbaxter · Post by **paulbaxter** » Mon Dec 20, 2021 6:40 pm

Some of my favorites already were mentioned (This American Life and 99% Invisible), but I'll add a few.

Reply All is just amazing. They had an internal dust up earlier this year and were off for a while, but they seem to be back in form again. It's difficult to describe what it's about, but they tag it as "a show about the internet." But really they tackle some interesting journalism projects, explore things from twitter that only make sense to people with specific knowledge sets, and just are generally interesting and fun.

Art of Manliness. This is my pick for the most underrated podcast out there. The host (who also runs the website of the same name) was someone who just got tired of "men's magazines" that never really talked about anything he was interested in. Each episode is an interview with an author of some book that he found interesting. Topics range from history (military and otherwise), biography, exercise, parenting, marriage and relationships, male friendships, philosophy, religion, diet and health. It's very straightforward. No gags or sound effects. The host has always read the book he's interviewing about and asks really good questions. Most of the authors are folks you wouldn't hear from otherwise, like one of the top authorities on the life and work of Jack London. Anyhow, I recommend giving it a try.

Drazzil · Post by **Drazzil** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 1:55 am

Anything by Mike Duncan is good. He does Revolutions and The History of Rome. I like Revolutions better but both shows are excellent.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:52 am

I've been hooked on these for a while now...

American Innovations - Weekly releases telling the history of interesting scientific and cultural innovations. The range of topics is impressive, and the host (Steven Johnson of Wondery) always does a great job of presenting the story. The most recent episodes are telling the story of the Stuxnet virus from just a few years ago, but he often goes significantly farther back in time...invention of rubber, corn flakes and the Kellog brothers, breaking the sound barrier, valium, autotune, HIV...you never know what the next topic might be, but they're always interesting and entertaining.

Stuff You Should Know - Two guys having casual, but very informative, discussions about random topics. The informal presentation might not work for some people, but the show is fun and full of interesting information about a lot of things you might never take the time to learn otherwise.

60 Songs That Explain the 90s (Spotify Exclusive) - Music writer picks a song every week that he thinks had some cultural significance during the 90s and spends an hour discussing the artist and song. As a music nut and guy who was in high school in the 90s (same age as the host), this one really strikes a chord with me. The host has a lot of respect/reverence for most of the artists he discusses, but he also sometimes has a very sarcastic sense of humor that closely matches my own. This one's a lot of fun if you listened to a lot of music in the 90s.