Probably because I’m a big weirdo, but I love the Caustic Soda Podcast.
It’s all about things that are bad. Past podcast topics include tuberculosis, blunt weapons, shark attacks, decapitation, Pol Pot, demons, etc…
My current favorites are “Boars, Gore, and Swords”, which is about Game of Thrones (and is just as NSFW as it’s theme), and “Up Yours, Downstairs”, which is about Downton Abbey (and is only a little blue-er than it’s theme)
A step past that would be Sick and Wrong Podcast. If anyone has ever called you a sick-fuck, then this is the podcast for you.
For comedy that isn’t quite so out there, there is always The Complete Guide to Everything. As the name would suggest, it is about everything.
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Adam Carolla Show
ditto on History of Rome
Useless Information Podcast
Petros and Money for “sports” - a true lesson in great sports talk
There are exactly four vampire stories I have enjoyed:
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
- I am Legend by Richard Matheson
- Underwood and Flinch by Mike Bennett
Those of us who began listening when Bennett began the work have been following the story for three years; sometimes waiting months between installments. You can start now with the final episode due to be up in the near future. Bennett’s writing isn’t perfect and his acting is sometimes unintentionally funny when he is voicing someone not from the UK, but U&F is overall an enjoyable listen.
The only one I keep up with is This Week in Science, which I like a lot.
One I just started listening to is Talkin’ Toons with Rob Paulsen (the voice of Yakko Warner and Pinky, among many others). Hilarious. I especially recommend the episodes with Maurice LaMarche (the Brain) and Tara Strong (Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony and Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls).
ETA: Mark Hamill is going to be a guest soon.
Thanks for reminding me! They were on The Nerdist last month (ish, hell, I don’t remember) and they were AWESOME together. One of their most interesting shows.
I listen to exactly two podcasts regularly:
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe
Skeptoid
The Skeptic’s Guide is long, each one is around 75 minutes or so, good for listening to in the car while commuting. The first time I listened to one I almost stopped because it sounded like it was just a group of people sitting around chatting. But then I listened a bit more and got hooked and I’ve been going through all the old ones. They cover a lot of different sciencey topics from astronomy to medicine, and they have a couple of fun listener-play-along games every week. They’re informative and funny. Give it a chance.
Skeptoid is bite-sized, usually 10 to 15 minutes at most. One topic, one guy, and informative as hell.
Long-time radio morning show guys who have been fired 1 too many times, now uncensored:
Humble and Fred Radio - free on iTunes, or at their website.
I’ll recommend it anytime anyone asks and often when they don’t. Hardcore History is the only podcast that I always listen to the instant a new one is out and it never disappoints.
Well, let’s see:
I like to fall asleep to people talking, so I pretty much keep a week’s worth of podcasts at hand. One or two a night and I’ve got nice background noise to fuel my dreams.
They fall into three basic categories:
Role-Playing Games, like D&D or what have you:
Fear the Boot The best how-to-play-an-RPG podcast I’ve ever heard. Pretty regular crew of mostly long-time players talk about specific concepts in the RPG lifestyle, without getting too much into the “This is how one game we played in went” thing. About 270 episodes, with a few interviews and off-topic shows. Safe for Work, mostly. I wait for the new episode each week, and always put it at the top of my queue when they arrive.
Kicked in the Dicebags Similar to FtB above, and with a few of the same people, this one is usually NOT safe for work. Easily as entertaining, however.
Happy Jack’s RPG Podcast Hard to describe podcast, sometimes goes off-topic, but lots of fun to listen to. Doesn’t update very often, but I keep an eye out and download it whenever it does.
The writers of Penny Arcade (And Will Wheaton) play D&D I’ve talked briefly about this one before, it’s fun to listen to these guys playing actual games with one of the official WotC writers. Poking around a little bit will also let you find a few of their games on video as well, but you should listen first for the character backstories and such.
Critical Hit This one’s new to me, only listened to a dozen or so episodes. Mostly live footage of the hosts playing some kind of RPG game, with the occasional Q&A episode or some kind of review of something or other. Interesting but I’m not sure if I’m gonna go back and download ALL the previous episodes, like with Fear the Boot, or just keep listening as they go.
Another category is the Stories; People either reading or acting out short stories. I prefer science-fiction, but there are some fantasy and ‘other’ links as well. These are mostly similar to old-timey radio programs.
Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and Podcastle A family of story-type podcasts, in Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy styles, respectively. Good stuff.
The Drabblecast Highly entertaining stories, in no particular genre. Tends towards Twilight Zone-y stories, with the occasional extremely short story (A “Drabble”). I like to keep a supply of these on my mp3 player for road trips. The format and content make for an excellent diversion while enjoying a long-ish drive.
Lightspeed Magazine Has a good selection of Science-Fiction stories, with a recent addition of a Fantasy section. Only a couple dozen issues so far, but I predict a good future for these guys.
Clarkesworld Magazine Interesting stories, usually, but I wish they’d give more information as to what the story is about; all you get is a Title and Writer credits. Kind of hit or miss as to whether the story is interesting to me or not, but I tend to give it a listen more often than not.
Atlanta Radio Theater Company Some really professional people do enactments of great stories, tending towards Sci-Fi but with some other stuff thrown in. Currently re-running the single best time travel story ever, Robert Heinlein’s All You Zombies. They also did an excellent version of his Our Fair City about a possibly sentient whirlwind.
Then there’s the Science / Geek category. Either stuff about recent news stories regarding science, or geek-related topics like technology, astronomy, biology, or whatever -ology I find interesting.
This Week In Science A weekly (in name only) podcast about various topics of recent interest, in science. Good chemistry with the host/hostesses and interesting and varied topics, without taking itself too seriously. Lots of good topics, but they tend not to go as in-depth as one might like. Fun and fast.
Galactic Watercooler A geeky kind of podcast, based in my hometown of Dallas/Fort Worth Texas (it’s all one city now anyway). Originally they were all about Battlestar Galactica, they’ve since expanded to any and all things geek-y. Good chemistry with the hosts, entertaining topics.
The Nerdist Podcast (family). Chris Hardwick’s podcast channel, it’s exploded into a dozen or so different podcasts on all kinds of topics. The original, Nerdist, channel has just hit the 200 mark. The other podcasts at this link cover everything from snacks to sex. Use your own discretion as to which might not be safe for work.
The Weekly Wienersmith The guys behind Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal talk about scientific topics. Fairly new to the scene, I enjoy listening to them when they put out a new episode.
Radiolab A National Public Radio podcast about… well, everything, really. The hosts dig up interesting topics and talk about them, with cites and everything. Very interesting topics ranging from life at the bottom of the sea to life after death, and everything in between.
And of course, there are those that don’t fit into any category at all:
The Children’s Hour of Knowledge A 100% accurate and factual sciencey-kinda-sorta informational program, hosted by at least one puppet. You heard me, a puppet podcast. No, it doesn’t make more sense after you’ve heard a few episodes. Listen to them anyway. Sadly, they haven’t made a new episode in quite a while and I don’t expect any more in the immediate future.
Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me The weekly news quiz from NPR, National Public Radio. Hilarious ‘quiz’ show where people call in to answer questions about the week’s news stories. Every Saturday, a new episode. This is my secondary source of news infomation after FARK.com and The Straight Dope Message Boards, of course.
TV Ate My Dinner Hard to describe… Tends towards geeky stuff, with a definite slant towards people who remember the 1980s. Television programs feature heavily, as do movies and pop culture of all sorts. Not as hard-science-y as some of the other stuff, but it’s still one of my favorites. Tends to not update very often.
And thanks to this thread, I’ve added Caustic Soda, The Complete Guide to Everything, and The Skeptics Guide To The Universe to my list.
I’ve probably got a few more links somewhere, but these are my go-to podcasts, the ones I download on a fairly regular basis. Hope there’s something you’ll enjoy!
The Mike O’Meara Show is my go-to. Whenever I recommend it, I’m never sure what it might sound like to someone who didn’t spend years listening to the old Don and Mike show, so try it out and let me know what you think! It’s generally hilarious and it has the best production value of any non-radio podcast I’ve heard.
I listen to podcasts all day at work to drown out The Most Annoying Person Ever Created. Sample conversation: “Do you like cheese? I like cheese. What kind of cheese would you be if you had to be cheese? I would be Swiss because I like Europe.” And, I am not kidding, that is a quote.
Anyway, I am a comedy nerd, so I really enjoy Marc Maron’s WTF and The Nerdist. I enjoy hearing comedians be themselves and discuss topics and their real lives rather than just plugging their latest project or trying to crowbar their stand-up into a conversation. Both podcasts also occasionally record live appearances and those are more stand-uppy than the sit down interviews and fun to listen to.
I actually just went to see The Nerdist live on Friday in Boston. We had a great time and I can’t wait for Hardwick to release it so I can see how much editing was done. Also, I want to have Chris Hardwick’s babies.
I also enjoy Adam Carolla’s podcast a lot. He releases 5 shows a week, so there is always new content.
Penn Jillette’s Sunday School just started, so I am giving him a shot. If you are not an athiest you might not enjoy it.
I just wanted to pop back in here to thank you for this. I’ve been listening to these recently and they are awesome!
Are there any particularly good panel show podcasts? Something like:
Would I Lie to You?
8 out of 10 Cats
QI
I love those TV shows and would love to have a fun podcast one for the car radio. Any I should consider?
I like “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” (NPR), as well as BBC Radio 4’s “Friday Night Comedy” podcast, which alternates “seasons” of the panel show “The News Quiz” with a non-panel show, “The Now Show.”
Radio Lab: The level has dropped a bit to just ‘very very good’ from the previous ‘outstanding’. Still one of my favorite podcast series
In Our Time: The archives (by subject: Culture, History, Philosophy, Religion, Science) will keep you busy for a long, long time. Probably my one choice if I’m stranded alone on a south pacific island and an ipod with unlimited battery time <g>
EconTalk: Wide range of topics, but usually with an economic viewpoint. Just a guy talking to another guy, but the host, Russ Robers, is an excellent interviewer.
Common Sense & Hardcore History. Dan Carlin’s shows. I prefer his history podcasts, but his common sense shows can also be interesting, although as he himself says, ‘his style isn’t for everyone’.
Composer of the Week: Great BBC production, featuring famous and not-so-famous composers and musicians. Basically a one-hour summary of a five-hour program, aired one hour a day Mon-Fri.
Great Moments in History: Only 10 episodes - I believe these were initially recorded for classrooms back in the 70s? Interesting format, some work better than others, but I enjoyed them.
History of the World in 100 Objects: This was amazing. Definitely check out the web page for more than just the podcasts.
More or Less: Great little podcast about statistics and numbers in our everyday lives.
For sports fans, ESPN has Mike & Mike, the various Fantasy Focus podcasts, Baseball Tonight, and the BS Report.
If you’r into football - the real football, the kind they play in the UK, you Must check out Football Weekly.
And yes, I’m usually wishing I had a longer commute so I could listen to everything…
StarTalk with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of my favorites. He usually has a comedian co-host, and Neil himself is very funny and entertaining for an astrophysicist, so there’s as much humor as science.
Some of my favorite episodes had astronaut Mike Massimino on (he’s been on the show 3 times I think), a very entertaining guy to listen to-- he has some great stories about his time in space. I also really liked the episodes that had Eugene Mirman as the comedian cohost.
I was going to mention Star Talk.
I believe Eugene was on the salt episodes. Very funny and informative episodes!