I’m looking for recommendations for interesting podcasts.
At Christmas I received my first iPod. Sure I’ve downloaded a few hundred songs, but what really got my attention is I can download Podcasts from my favourite radio commentators and listen to the show on my next day’s commute.
What’s on NPR or other newsworthy channels that I can listen to?
(Are the Car … guys on their somewhere? I can’t remember the name of the show!)
Car Talk is what you’re thinking.
I always recommend the podcasts from HowStuffWorks.com. I listen to almost all of the shows -they rock!
Radiolab is awesome.
on my weekly podcast list:
Freakonomics radio (for great insight into human behavior as regards incentives)
the Moth (great funny storytelling)
Savage Love (advice about everything sexual)
Skeptic’s guide to the universe (A vacation in reality)
The straight dope (duh)
The Tolkien Professor (fascinating lectures and q & a sessions about all things JRRT)
Prairie home companion (he’s not as funny as he used to be, but he’s comfortable like an old slipper)
Risk! (people tell stories they never thought they’d share)
This american life (interesting reflections)
I listened to a variety of howstuffworks.com for a while, but got a bit burnt out by the fact that it seemed to be geared towards bright high school students. Too much debunked stuff passed off as fact. But it was enjoyable enough. Their “What you missed in History class” was generally good.
Wow! And there really is a Straight Dope podcast.
I’m going to go catch up with the rest of the world now…
Thanks Doc.
Wow, I figured Adam Corolla’s podcast would get mentioned right off the bat. http://www.adamcarolla.com/
Planet Money is another good one.
I heartily second Radiolab.
A few other NPR podcasts that are very good:
This American Life - explores fascinating human-interest type stories of any kind.
Science Friday - covering topical science issues
Fresh Air - host Terry Gross interviews some really interesting guests
If you’re a hockey fan, Puck Podcast. 2 plus hours of NHL news and commentary every single week of the year.
Also from NPR is Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Always funny and entertaining.
Kevin Pollak Chat Show (video and audio-only versions): Interesting interviews with actors and directors. You may or may not want to fast-forward through the first 15-20 minutes of schmoozing with his crew.
WTF with Mark Maron: interesting interviews with comedians (some of whom are also actors). You may or may not want to fast-forward through the first 15-20 minutes of his talking about his life and doing self-analysis.
(Seriously, both are quite good but they have their own distinct quirks.)
The Splendid Table: Interviews with chefs, cookbook authors, researchers, and many others about all things food-related.
Freakonomics: Short podcasts from the authors of the books of the same name, on a variety of subjects. Quirky looks at how events might not quite be happening the way you’d think.
Film Sack: 4 guys chat about not-always-good films that are hopefully fun to watch. Just broke the 100 episode mark (discussed “Die Hard” for #101) and show no signs of stopping. Funny, silly, sometimes thoughtful.
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4: Rotating “seasons” of different comedy shows (“The Now Show” and “The News Quiz” are the usual ones) of fun British news-related comedy bits.
Seconded, including the bit about fast-forwarding through the opening 15 minutes of Maron just rambling. (Sometimes that stuff can be interesting but more often I just skip to the interview, which is usually great.) Although in the interests of making searching easier, I’ll point out that it’s actually “Marc”. 
The rest of mine have already been mentioned. Planet Money is a particular favorite.
I also love This American Life, Wait Wait and Car Talk. You also can get the most emailed stories of the day from NPR, which frequently are feature stories, but a good mix of news too. My absolute favorite is The Tobolowsky Files. Loves me some Stephen.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I’ll be checking them out.
(And, yes, I do know the difference between their, there and they’re. :smack:)
My favorite NPR podcast is This I Believe.
I agree with lots of these:
WTF? with Marc Maron
Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe
Risk!
The Moth (absolutely awesome)
This American Life
Radiolab
The Mental Illness Happy Hour
Sick and Wrong (NSFW)
And if you like sports and comedy, you can listen to my all time favorite:
SklarBro Country with the Sklar Brothers. You can find it at http://www.earwolf.com/show/sklarbro-country/. There are supposed to be some other good ones on Earwolf as well.
You also might want to check out the Onion AV Club’s weekly feature, Podmass, for what they consider the best of the week.
Many of my favorites have been mentioned (Film Sack, Skeptics Guide to the Universe, Splendid Table).
For sick humor, I’d mention Sick and Wrong Podcast.
George Hrab is a skeptic/musician you may have heard of. His Geologic Podcast is excellent, and just quirky enough.
There’s also a Garrison Keillor one; I forget what it’s called, but it’s just his “news from Lake Woebegon” portion of A Prairie Home Companion.
A couple more.
If you like beer, and can do video, try Beer America TV video-podcast. I try to find whatever beer they are evaluating and drink along at home.
Another good comedy podcast is The Complete Guide To Everything. Hard to explain accurately, but I love it. Two guys discuss a topic for an hour. And they are funny. And sometimes they just don’t mesh well with the weeks topic, so they discuss everything but the topic.
A couple more from my list
Sword and Laser - SF/Fantasy book discussion
News from Pnakotus - Lovecraft/Cthulhu
Escape Pod - SF Podcast magazine
Slice of SciFi - Another SF podcast
Gamers with Jobs Conference Call - Video gaming
Brainy Gamer - More video gaming