I listen to a lot of podcasts. Some of my favorites:
Gastropod - History and science of food. Fave episodes: citrus, fish & chips, olive oil, coconut, taro, and breadfruit (the latter 3 a kind of trio from Hawai’i)
You’re Dead to Me - UK-based, history plus a little comedy
The Bugle (tagline: “Audio Newspaper for a Visual World”) News/politics based comedy (host Andy Zaltzman, with rotating guests from the UK and its former colonies)
The Gargle - the “Glossy Magazine” companion to The Bugle. News-based comedy, but no politics. Similar rotating format with host Alice Fraser
In the Scenes Behind Plain Sight - a parody of episode rewatch podcasts. The hosts, Mike and Ian, rewatch a show they starred in many years ago. The show never existed, but the commentary is very funny. Some of the almost-but-not-quite-real-sounding podcasts sponsorship slots are pants-wettingly hilarious
many of the Slate podcasts are good, especially Hit Parade, Decoder Ring, Slate Money, and the "Political Gabfest*
and I’ll put in a plug for a very tiny podcast by my friend Derek and his friend Chris called Risking Damnation. They’re very liberal Christians with a very liberal, but scholarly, take on Biblical text. I’m a semi-observant and more-than-half-atheist Jew, so I have major theological differences with them, but we agree on a lot of the textual interpretation of Bible: The Original Series (not personally into the sequel)
I listen to Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend – if you like Conan, it’s very Conan. But I did want to particularly recommend a recent episode where he has on Jim Downey, who was a writer for Saturday Night Live over the course of decades and wrote classic sketches like Quien es Mas Macho, First Change Bank, as well as most of Norm MacDonalds’ Weekend Update stuff (and got fired alongside him for making too much fun of OJ). It’s a great episode and particularly interesting for the conversation about the craft of comedy writing.
There was a song by Laurie Anderson in her concert film that riffed on the “who is more macho” idea. I always kinda wondered if she was inspired by the SNL sketch; it would be odd whether she was, or wasn’t.
One of my very favorite podcasts is Everything Is Alive! The concept of the show is that the host interviews anthropomorphized, otherwise inanimate objects — which are actually voiced by comedians.
My only complaint is that there aren’t more episodes to listen to, though they just came back from a break, beginning a series on animals (which, yes we all know are already alive, but the whole “giving amusing voice to the voiceless” premise still works).
For those of you who listen to podcasts with kids, this is definitely one to check out!
100% agree! I feel like this podcast should be part of a “podcast starter pack”. Moreover, I think their approachable and palatable communication style is a great model for anyone trying to communicate complex or difficult or contentious subjects.
For fans of the old Cracked videos, Soren Bowie and Daniel O’Brien do a podcast together called “Quick Question.” Bowie writes for American Dad and O’Brien has three Emmy’s writing for Last Week Tonight, but the podcast is basically about whatever.
Death, Sex & Money - the host interviews people about these often taboo subjects. Sometimes random people, sometimes famous people. Memorable interviews I’ve listened to include actress Ellen Burstyn; the husband of a guy who immolated himself as an act of climate change protest; and just today, a guy whose moving company helps domestic violence survivors in NYC move out of their houses.
Stronger by Science If you’re a data nerd who wants to maximize fitness and nutrition gains, this is the podcast for you. I find the host really funny. He’s got this very deadpan sense of humor where it takes a minute to realize he’s putting you on.
I’m sure I’ll think of more. I have a long list of podcasts.
It’s very much a low budget, vaguely haphazard, “one take no editing” sort of podcast, where a married couple, Andrew and Stephanie, regale you with a story about some weird thing that happened in the past. I like it because I like the hosts, they seem genuinely interested in whatever odd little thing they researched for the week, and have a nice rapport with each other.
Just about anything from the past is fair game, from the Bronze Age Collapse, Ancient Rome, to a lady who was the premier Horse Diver during the early 20th century. Light and fun.
I enjoy Mobituaries by Mo Rocca. His obits cover the ‘deaths’ of both people and things. Topics have included Billy Carter, the Orphan Train, John Denver, baby names, and the station wagon. Highly entertaining and informative.
I think his latest effort, the six part series on G. Gordon Liddy, is a great place to jump in. It’s some of the funniest material he’s presented because oh, my, Liddy was batshit pretty much from birth, and it’s clear from his memoir that everyone knew it but him. But it also contains highly informed diversions about how incompetent the SS was and wraps up with Evans’ take on healthy masculinity as opposed to this pathetic facade of toughness embodied by Liddy but very much present in modern culture. It’s amazing to me how he can move so seamlessly from ragging hard on a guy to deep history lesson to insightful takeaway.
I’m always on the lookout for new podcasts. A few I’ve added to my rotation relatively recently:
Something Rhymes With Purple - A long-running (but recently ended) podcast out of the UK discussing interesting word origins and other bits related to English words. Hosted by Gyles Brandreth and Susie Dent, who are associated with the TV game show Countdown (among other things).
Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - Seth Meyers and his brother Josh interview celebrities about the family trips they’ve taken over the years. I really like Seth as a podcast host.
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast - Seth Meyers discusses SNL Digital Shorts with The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer). This is my clear favourite recently; it’s hilarious and everyone brings something different to the table in terms of personality and humour.
I Was There Too - Matt Gourley (the master of podcasts) discusses film roles with people who had minor parts in major movies.
The Great Debates - Steve Hely and Dave King have impromptu mini-debates on a variety of weird and wonderful topics (e.g. “Fourth of July food is better than Christmas food”, “Sneezing is a pleasant experience”). I’ve only listened to a half-dozen episodes so far, but I’ve laughed out loud many times.
Nateland - Nate Bargatze and his comedian friends discuss their opinions on various subjects (while admitting they basically don’t know anything about anything).
I’ve also listened to David Cross’s podcast Senses Working Overtime and Entry Level with Brooks Whelan, but I find that celebrity interview podcasts sometimes start out strong with the hosts chatting with their close friends, and then kind of peter out when the guests start turning to strangers with something to plug.
I’ve been binging The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast recently. The host/narrator Scott Miller pulls old science fiction short stories that are public domain. I think he’s doing about 3 stories a week, really good stuff mostly from the 30’s to early 60’s.
He has a good voice for this era of science fiction, researches any new authors being presented, what magazine the story was published in, and altogether makes it a fun experience. I’m almost caught up, and will check this thread for other podcasts to fill my commute.
It’s hard to know where to put this one, but: on my daily walks I listen to the Ulysses-focused podcast “Blooms and Barnacles”, which really is excellent if you like to read Joyce’s book.
Today as they were wrapping up an episode on potatoes (Leopold Bloom carries one around in his pocket), the main host asked the second one “have you heard of a column called The Straight Dope”? And then she went on to talk about Cecil’s answer to “Could I survive on nothing but potatoes and milk?”
A strange moment, as my head was more in Dublin than it was here. Funny old intersecting world.
The only podcast I listen to regularly is “Left, Right & Center” which is a weekly political news discussion from the KCRW in Santa Monica. There’s usually three people, with occasional guests, who come from the political left, political right, and a host who doesn’t really fit either bin.
A few I’ve added to my list since the last time I posted in this thread:
Bonanas for Bonanza – Andy Daly hosts a Bonanza rewatch podcast in character as “Dalton Wilcox”, the ridiculous self-appointed cowboy poet laureate of the West. Co-hosted by Matt Gourley (with the occasional guest). Mostly just an opportunity to make fun of how corny Bonanza was. There’s only 431 episodes of Bonanza, so listen to it while it lasts!
Second in Command – A rewatch podcast for the TV show Veep with Tim (“Jonad”) Simons and Matt Walsh. Lots of good guests from the cast of Veep (writers, actors, crew, you name it).
Hearty second for History of Rock Music in 500 Songs.
If you enjoy the depth of Andrew Hickey’s research, then you’ll love Tyler Mahan Coe’s “Cocaine and Rhinestones.”
It’s a very deep dive into country and western music. Andrew Hickey himself has said C&R is the gold standard to which music podcasts, indeed ALL podcasts, should be held.
It’s especially eye-opening if you think you don’t like country music!