Thanks for this!
I don’t have enough time in my life to listen to all the podcasts I want to. Mostly, I like True Crime podcasts and my top one right now is Casefiles. The host is very straightforward and tells the stories well. My favorite episode was the Wanda Beach murders, chilling…
I am just now getting in to My Favorite Murders which is less structured but more fun. I wasn’t surprised when I joined the Facebook page that one of my old friends was also on it- I had a group of friends in high school with that same dark sense of humor and fascination with the less chipper side of life and Georgia & Karen are just like us.
Criminal is good most of the time- there was a recent episode about a mother who basically stole everyone in her family’s identity over decades and no one really knew until she died.
I also like Hardcore History though I wish it was broken down into shorter episodes. I loved the Ghengis Khan series - he tells the story of one of his grandsons or heirs basically telling the pope to go pound sand brilliantly.
When I need a break from true crime and brutal history (which isn’t often), This American Life is still fantastic and Strangers is another one that is usually uplifting though recent episodes have been dark.
*Serial * is good but … when I look at the other podcasts I enjoy that are more prolific- I don’t see that much difference in the quality between *Serial *which is only once a year really and other podcasts like *Strangers *and This American Life that have far more new episodes. That being said, I did like the 2nd season, not as much as the first, but it really shed a lot of light on the Beau Bergdahl story for me.
I read print. “The Son”, Philipp Meyer. I can read faster than I can listen.
Ah, so you are the person the radio is typing up transcripts for. I always wondered. Shame that most podcasts don’t offer that option. You are missing out.
Podcasts I routinely listen to:
Waking Up with Sam Harris
Weird Things
Cordkillers
EconTalk
Penn’s Sunday School
The Daily Tech News Show
Judge John Hodgeman
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe
I have a friend who reads while he drives.
I’ll let that sink in for a minute… yes, he props a hardcover book on the steering wheel.
I’m trying to get him to listen to audiobooks, and to make sure his life insurance is paid up.
One thing I’ve said is “Think of all the mundane tasks you do, that keep you from reading. Now imagine you were a prince who could afford to have Morgan Freeman walk behind you reading to you. Grocery store, running errands, household chores…‘Morgan, back up to the beginning of that dialog.’”
I listen to a lot of podcasts:
Sports related
Puck podcast (ice hockey)
CBJ in 30 (ice hockey)
BBC 5 Live Football daily (soccer)
Blood Red (Liverpool football club)
Football Weekly (soccer)
Ivy Envy (baseball)
Politics
Today in Parliament (U.K. Politics)
FT Politics (World politics)
538 politics (US politics)
Axe Files (interviews with various political figures and others)
Keeping it 1600 (US politics)
Week in Westminster ( U.K. Politics)
Maclean’s on the hill (Canadian politics)
Guardian politics weekly (U.K. Politics)
The House (Canadian politics)
Westminster Hour (U.K. Politics)
Political Wire (US politics)
Music
Fab 4 Free 4 All (Beatles)
Something about the Beatles
Things we said today (Beatles)
San Francisco Symphony podcast
Naxos Podcast (classical music)
Gramophone podcast (classical music)
History
Today in Canadian History
The British History Podcast
History of the English Language
The History of England
Miscellaneous
London School of Economics lectures
New Yorker Hour
Longform (interviews with writers )
Twilight Pwn (twilight zone and related)
Slate’s Cultural Gabfest
Visit London talks
The Torch (Teaching Company Podcast)
FT Banking Weekly
I’ve been enjoying My Dad Wrote A Porno a comedy podcast where they read the “porno” that was written by one guy’s dad under the pen name Rocky Flintstone. The book is not porno in the real sense but the podcast is adult themed, of course.
Remember, “Angels” Do Not Exist… Expect a visit from the Sherrif’s Secret Police, and a Vague, Yet Menacing Government Agency to “discuss” this infraction with you…
If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget…
You don’t want to go visit the Dog Park, do you…
Thanks for this thread! I’ve been revisiting some beloved podcasts and trying some new recommendations.
Handy Hint: As soon as I start planning a trip, I stock up on audiobooks and podcasts set in that area. It worked for Florida: spent a few months listening to Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, and a few Travis McGee books (the old cassette versions with Darren McGavin voicing a perfect ‘Trav’).
It expanded the vacation, because I was mentally down in the sun long before I got on a plane.
(Hmmm, I wonder if I could do that in a year with no big trip… read and listen to nothing but books set in, say, Tuscany. Then check out villas online, and restaurants that I’ll be mentally dining at… “Sorry, honey, can’t run errands. I’m busy hiking through vineyards down to a little bistro for lunch.”)
So far the only podcast that has captured my interest is Welcome to Night Vale. It’s weird, and I love it.