I’m getting close to the bottom of my backlog on a few podcasts, so I’m looking to get something new in there.
Personally, it’s been, in no particular order:
- If Books Could Kill
- Darknet Diaries
- Hard Fork
- 99% Invisible
- The War on Cars
- The Urbanist Agenda
- The Climate Denier’s Playbook
- Well There’s Your Problem
I’m mildly considering getting into Behind the Bastards and It Could Happen Here, but I’m a little bit skeptical on account of how damn much there is to be listened to in their feed.
I love Behind The Bastards and It Could Happen Here. They do have significant episode counts. BtB does a great and looooooong series on Henry Kissinger that I think is a prime example of what you are going to get. If you listen to that one and don’t enjoy, I would move on from them.
No Such Thing As A Fish!
From the makers of BBC’s “QI,” a (nearly) endless collection of useless facts that will not change your life, but will make you more fun to talk to at parties. Not that you go to any parties.
Anna from No Such Thing as a Fish recommended an Australian podcast called Smart Enough to Know Better years ago and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying both since. And I would say if you get the opportunity to see No Such Thing as a Fish live go for it. They are excellent live.
I’ve heard about this one before, but I’m downloading an episode now.
The one thing I hate about QI is that I’ve already seen it all and there aren’t any more episodes.
Edit: That was great. It totally scratched the QI itch. Among many other tidbits, I now know how leech treatments were discovered, that there’s a specific frequency that is arousing for badgers and sets off car alarms, and that in one year, over 700 American students were arrested for owning pagers.
Edit: Holy shit. The author of Goodnight Moon literally died from an overly-enthusiastic “can-can kick”. She did it to prove she was feeling fine… (ironically) but she dislodged a blood clot that instantly killed her.
Well now I know you’re the type of person who starts a podcast newest to oldest instead of the other way around lol
I have exclusuvely been listening to “The History of Rome” by Mike Duncan
still not done with it lol
Make sure to follow it up with Robin Pearson’s History of Byzantium. He’s still centuries away from done, but I like it even better than Mike Duncan’s after it gets going.
I’m gonna give this one a shot. Thank you!
Behind the Bastards and Knowledge Fight are my two favorites, and I sprinkle in some Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff and Today Explained
Seconding Knowledge Fight and Behind the Bastards! Hello fellow wonk!
I keep meaning to look into CPWDCS, but my podcast backlog is ridiculous.
•Bear Brook
•We’re Here to Help
•Reveal
•Radiolab
•Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me
I just figured out I can see my own playback stats. For this year, my top ten in order of most played:
- Last Podcast on the Left
- Behind the Bastards
- Harmontown
- Hardcore History
- Wizard and the Bruiser
- That Happens
- The Bugle
- State of the World, NPR
- Hood Politics with Prop
- The Rest is Politics
I think I like your list better.
I listen to these podcasts at work
- Unfuck the Republic (unftr)
- Behind the Bastards
- The Deprogram
I also like to listen to news, video essays, and speeches while working. It helps keep the variety up. Something else to consider is getting a library card to checkout audiobooks on some streaming apps
- Where things fell apart
- Conan O’Brien needs a friend
You might also like:
- Search Engine
- Tech Won’t Save Us
- Moderated Content
- Mystery AI Hype Theater
The Cool Zone people do put out a ton of content, I don’t know how they do it. I commute and hour each way to work, and between Behind the Bastards and It Could Happen Here, that gets me through almost the whole week.
I know they all have other shows now too. I have listened to Margaret Killjoy’s Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff a few times now as well. It’s like BtB, but more like the BtB Christmas Special where it focuses on people that have tried to make positive changes instead of the villains. It’s nice to have the same quality content but with a somewhat positive spin.
If you want to get into it without it taking up all your time, see if Robert’s or Margaret’s topic is something that really looks good, or if it doesn’t you can check out ICHH, which is split up into segments anyway and you can enjoy that in smaller portions.
Besides those, I enjoy Threedom (comedy show with Scott Aukerman of Comedy Bang Bang, Paul F Tompkins who was Mr Peanutbutter on Bojack Horseman, and Lauren Lapkus of Jurassic World, OitnB, and a ton of other things), How I Built This with Guy Raz, and Planet Money from NPR.
- Chapo Traphouse
- Canadaland (all)
- America This Week
- Weird Studies
- Hermitix
I’m fully in the Nick Weiger podcast universe so I listen to:
- Doughboys
- Doughboys Double
- Get Played
- Get Played Season Pass
Which are all comedy podcasts with similar people appearing. They’re about chain restaurants, random side bullshit, Video Games, and Anime respectively. Then I also listen to:
- Quick Question with Soren and Daniel
- The Film Reroll
Which is a podcast by 2 former cracked writers which is the only reason people listen to them and a podcast about playing through movies as role playing games
Film Reroll is a top-tier AP podcast.
If you like them, check out Dungeons and Daddies; it has a similar energy. I wish they’d guest on each other’s shows!
The only reason I listen to Film Reroll is because it’s about movies. I don’t even listen to all of them, just movies I know will be fun/I’ve seen. Fifth Element, Mighty Ducks, Aliens, Last Action Hero, and Memento (which was incredibly cool how they did it) are the ones I’ve listened to since 2020.
Something about actual play just irritates me, especially for D&D. I’d just rather play myself
Oh sure, I just think there’s some overlap because the cast on Dungeons & Daddies are all filmmakers themselves so they go for more of a cinematic presentation than any other D&D podcast I’ve heard.
Personally I wouldn’t play D&D again because it’s not my kind of system, but they don’t waste your time like other AP podcasts I’ve tried.
But hey if it’s not your thing, no big deal; it’s kind of a nice thing to know about yourself.
The only podcasts I listen to are the unexpectables ones. I don’t even really like DND but MontyGlu is an amazing voice actor and role player… Like you can tell she genuinely cares for her NPCs and can tell the differences in characters from the nuisance of her characters and the candor in which they speak. I haven’t had much luck finding that else where. And that’s ignoring the fantastic world she has built for her players.
WARK.
My pocket cast stats: You’ve listened for 115 days 14 hours
Honorable mentions not yet seem in this thread (English only):
- The Guardian: The Audio long read - full articles read by real people (30-45 min.)
- Economist: Drum Tower - China correspondence about culture and politics
- Aquired - 3h+ episodes about tech IPO and the history of companies. Sounds boring but it gives a look behind the curtain of the tech industry from the 30s to today (fun example episode: PowerPoint)
- WNYC: On the media - Meta talk about media topics and enshittification
- Law and Chaos - Previously on Opening Arguments, now in their own podcast: US justice topics, GOP bashing and of course: Trump
I’ll always recommend Blowback. Specially season 3. Death to America.
