I am looking for recurring podcasts to download and amuse myself with on a very long commute that I have. My current favorite is Radiolab, although I also very much like This American Life, and various Howstuffworks. I also like Freakonomics, and of course Straightdope although the latter is short and not extensively archived. What recommendations does anyone have for others that I might like?
Science: The Skeptics Guide To The Universe.
Science and Music: Scopes Monkey Choir. Geologic Podcast.
Movie Stuff: The /Filmcast (slash filmcast). Now Playing. Double Feature. Film Sack
Geekery: Current Geek. AppSlappy.
If you like those, might I suggest The Moth podcast. True stories told live without notes all about 15 minutes long and they release a podcast once a week. The archive is huge and every story I have heard has been great.
You should also check out the Planet Money Podcast. Similar to the Freakonomics podcast in tone and subject, but with more of a Radiolab feel in execution. They did a series on making a T-Shirt that was amazing. They went and sourced cotton from farmers, then found factories to process the cotton and down the line to designing the concept and the final product.
I always make a mention of Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Podcast as well. It’s history told by a guy who really just likes history a lot. The whole archive isn’t free, but much of it is (looks like less than there used to be). A new podcast is released every 60 days or so and they are usually 1.5 - 2 hours long. He just wrapped up a series on the fall of the Roman Republic which was great, but I would start with the Ghosts of the Ostfront series about WWII from the Russian side. Skip the things marked as [blitz] for now.
Lastly, if you like Baseball in even a super casual way, check out the Baseball Prospectus Podcast. It’s about 60% baseball, and 40% just two guys talking about the world. It’s really really good. I am selling it badly but it’s fantastic. Each podcast is about 2 hours long and they come out once a week regularly.
I used to subscribe to The Skeptical Inquirer,so that is a great recommendation. I did not know they had a podcast. Thanks for that recommendation.
I have clearly come to the right place. I have downloaded a Moth, but not yet listened to it, but will soon. I love history, but have been disappointed with the Howstuffworks history podcasts. I will be sure to check out Dan Carlin. And I do like baseball, although not at all a fanatic. The Baseball podcast sounds great.
For a Dope charter member, I think I can safely recommend In Our Time.
Big Ideas - interviews, debates, and lectures from Australia.
Big Ideas - Canadian, dedicated to lecturers. Literature, art history, astrophysics, that sort of thing. There’s a video archive as well as the lectures were all filmed.
The American Museum of Natural History - about what you’d think it is.
A History of the World in 100 Objects - this isn’t ongoing, but it is finished so you won’t have to wait for more episodes, and 100 15-minute episodes do take some time to listen to. It’s essentially a trip through the British Museum, presented by its director. Nifty.
Originz - A retired schoolteacher from Australia reads odd articles, mostly science and historical stuff. That sounds dry, but it’s nicely produced, pretty entertaining, and very pleasant to listen to with half an ear at work.
Quirks and Quarks - Science news from the CBC, it’s been a radio show for decades.
Are We Alone? - SETI Institute podcast. More physics, more astronomy, more scientific history. Despite my better judgement, I find Seth Shostak really funny. I’ve heard more than a few guests of this show also show up on Radiolab, as it happens.
I recommend this one any chance I get: The Tobolowsky Files. Brilliant stuff!
They actually just released another, about a listener’s submittal of a painting made in secret at Auschwitz. So they may be adding more!
I’ll second Hardcore History. Dan Carlin’s Common Sense podcast is pretty interesting if you subscribe to libertarian-ish views - I gave up on it because I just couldn’t keep up. It comes out much more frequently than HH.
I like Skeptoid, a nice critical thinking look at nutty claims and the like. Weekly, about 15 minutes.
I also subscribe to Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me and Car Talk from NPR.
My favorite might be Overthinking It, which is dedicated to “subjecting popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn’t deserve”.
For short things I have the Onion News Network and Onion Radio News as well as 60 Second Science.
In addition to those already mentioned…
You may find the Judge John Hodgman podcast amusing. In People’s Court style, Hodgman rules on such contentious disputes as whether a father should be able to compel his teenage daughter to watch classic films, and whether chili is a soup or a stew?
If you like languagey-type stuff (idioms, regionalisms, etc.) there’s A Way With Words.
If you like fiction, Selected Shorts has public readings of classic and modern short stories.
It’s not ongoing, but if you’re interested in math, check out the 10 episodes of the BBC’s A Brief History of Mathematics podcast.
You specifically requested podcasts, but if necessary we could also recommend old-time radio shows, lectures, audiobooks, and other such things that you can download for free and listen to on your commute.
I’m a big podcast listener (hour commute a day)… here’s a few you might like that haven’t been mentioned:
Comedy: The Bugle. From John Oliver (of Daily Show fame). Also WTF with Marc Maron (more about the business of comedy though)
Pop Culture: The Incomparable Podcast.
Sports: The Solid Verbal. If you are a college football fan, this is THE podcast. Accept no substitutes.
Advertising: The Age of Persuasion. I never miss this one.
Science: Dr. Karl and the Naked Scientist. Particularly the episodes with Dr. Karl. Makes me think like a scientist.
New Old-Time Radio Drama: Decoder Ring Theatre. You’ll either enjoy it or hate it IME.
ETA: Cooking: The Sporkful.
When I mentioned Podcasts I meant anything that I can download and listen to on my ipod. So, yes, I would certainly be interested in old radio shows, books, and anything else that you think might engage me. From the brief descriptions given, it sounds like I will soon have lots of good things to listen to.
Oh, second on The Bugle and History of Rome. Good stuff there.
triple ditto!
If you like computers, gadgets, and tech, there are bunches of podcasts from twit.tv.
If you like The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, mentioned above, check out Skeptoid or The Reality Check.
Most of my other usuals have already been covered. 
For those wanting old This American Life episodes, they have them archived on their website here. Just adjust that final number to whichever episode you’re looking for. You can download it by going to File->Save Page As…
Another from BBC’s Radio 4 that I’ve been enjoying is Americana: news and essays about the United States told from a British perspective.
The two best NPR podcasts have to be Planet Money, already mentioned, and Pop Culture Happy Hour, delivered on Fridays via the Culturetopia feed. Glen Weldon is easily my favorite podcasting personality right now.
I listen to a lot of podcasts (long commute).
My favorites:
Science and tech:
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The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe. My favorite podcast.
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AstronomyCast: A regular podcast discussing Astronomy with Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay
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This Week in Tech - Leo Laporte’s weekly tech roundtable.
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Tech News Today - Tom Merritt’s daily wrap-up of tech news.
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Windows Weekly. Excellent podcast for Microsoft/Windows news and discussion.
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Surprisingly Free - A podcast like EconTalk, except with a tech focus. Interviews with big thinkers in the tech world like Clay Shirkey, Don Norman, Tim Berners-Lee, etc.
Politics/Economics:
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Econtalk: A weekly podcast where economist Russ Roberts interviews economists and scientists about the issues of the day or big subjects in econ.
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Ricochet: A center-right political podcast of mostly people from National Review
Media/Comedy/Geekery:
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The Nerdist. Comedy podcast with interviews of people ranging from Adam Savage of Mythbusters to Adam Carolla, Ed Helms, Andy Samberg, Nathan Fillion, Wil Wheaton, etc. Geekdom meets comedy.
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Penn Point: Penn Jillette’s short video rants.
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Frame Rate - Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt discussing video news, reviews of geek-friendly movies and TV shows, etc.
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FourCast - Brushwood and Merritt invite guests on to make short and long term predictions, then discuss the implications of the predictions. Fun light entertainment.
There are a lot of great podcasts out there. Far more than I have time to listen to. The quality is going up very quickly - Leo Laporte is spending close to a million dollars on a podcasting studio, and big advertisers and celebrities are starting to move into the space. That’s very cool. I think podcasts could begin to rival network TV in a few years.
For those who are into military history allow me to recommend The Pritzker Military Library’s collection of pod-casts.
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/pmlfeed/