The Great Podcast Thread

[Mossy Toes]

...aka "Mossy needs podcast recommendations."

I just finished listening through Welcome To Night Vale (through the archive insofar as it exists so far, up to Episode 46--what a cliffhanger!) and found that it was absolutely the most productive method of actually getting models painted: distracting my brain while my fingers worked. That in mind, I want to hear more suggestions of favorite podcasts from the forumites. Are there narrative podcasts that anybody enjoys? 40k-based? Book review? Please, do share.

Wanting to keep this like in the vein of other "Great ____" review threads, I have to gush about WTNV. It's a seamless blend of Lovecraft, David Lynch, and public community radio. Cecil, radio host in a very, very strange desert town, is used to odd goings on that threaten the lives of Night Vale citizens, but absolutely nothing, neither rain nor sentient Glow Cloud nor clawed Librarians shall stay this humble public servant about his business: bringing you, dear listener, the news. Now for a word from our sponsors:

Meat. You are made of meat. Juicy, delicious meat fed by blood-pumping arteries. Arteries that thrum with the primal drumbeat of your heart. A heart that convulses unconsciously, laboring desperately without cease though it knows not why. It knows not why. But should it ever falter, arteries will fail and meat will grow stale and cold as your body stiffens, its brief flicker of light and life bounded on both sides by infinities of nonexistent oblivion. Arby's.

Back to our previous story, listeners, where citizens of Night Vale were stopping in the streets to stare at the sky, screaming at, "the incomprehensible vastness of the boundless void above and, like, everything in it," seventh grader Monica Raymonds reportedly said, before unhinging her jaw again and joining the shrieking citizenry. Like usual for Wednesday afternoons.

[David Earle]

I listen to way too many podcasts! Here are some of my favorites:

Super Best Friendcast: Pat, Matt, Woolie and Liam are behind a ton of Two Best Friends Play videos on YouTube, where they play video games and snark. The podcast is about what they do each week and the latest video game and anime news. It's pretty awesome but the damn episodes are 2-3 hours long.

The Mike O'Meara Show: Mike O'Meara, former radio dee-jay, and his cohorts Robb Spewak and Oscar Santana do a podcast five days a week on pretty much anything they feel like talking about. If nothing else the last ten minutes, where Robb breaks open his Magic Audio Vault, are well worth listening to.

Writing Excuses: Fifteen minutes long because you're in a hurry! And they're not that smart. (Usually) twenty minutes of writing advice from Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler and Mary Robinette Kowal, plus rotating guests.

Final Level: Ice-T talks video games, Law and Order: SVU, music, and not being a hater (but hating s***). I got turned on to this when he talked about doing a Dungeons and Dragons audiobook and I can't stop listening.

[schaferwhat‽]

I only listen to the bugle with any regularity (it is on Soundcloud). Don't bother with the archives it is topical comedy and satire so it can date badly. But it is still neat.

[Mossy Toes]

Oooh, thanks for the reminder about Writing Excuses.

[Rob P]

I've been listening regularly to the following diverse podcasts and thought that some people here might be interested in some of them.

Mysterious Universe - A funny tongue-in-cheek look at paranormal stories with interviews.

Age of Darkness podcast - 30k podcast which is relatively new and usually has a 1hr HH book review at the end of each episode.

Institute of Ideas - Thought provoking discussion and debates on topical things.

[Insomniac]

JRE - while he's not for everyone, Joe Rogan knows how to have a continually funny and informative podcast. Redban isn't as annoying as he once was which is a huge plus. The ones with doctors and MMA personalities are a wealth of information.

Church Of What's Happening Now - Comedian Joey Diaz's podcast. Not for the faint of heart. Or easily offended PC crowd, but really interesting stories and guests.

WTF - I love Marc Maron but sometimes it gets to be a little much. The Obama interview was fantastic. Same with Terry Gross.

Monday Morning Podcast - bill Burr, the best comedian going imho going on a weekly one hour rant on everything and anything.

Other interesting ones are Hardcore History, DVDASA, Turned Out A Punk (Damian from the band F/cked Up interviewing hardcore punk dudes), and The Fighter And The Kid all come to mind.

[Xisor]

Good shouts, Insomniac. I've got a pile of Hardcore History to get through currently.

I've been listening through a big back catalogue of Hello Internet,the CGP Grey/Brady-off-of-Numberphile podcast. Good and very interesting.

Still keeping up with Skeptic's Guide and Skeptics with a K, as well as the newer Be Reasonable. Good grief, that's a tough one. Like a workout for the brain. But about being powerless in the face of a relentless torrent of unstoppable nonsense. Very... stimulating. And infuriating. Fascinating.

In essence, it's just one or two folk sitting down to pleasantly chat politely and reasonably with a third party about their 'non-mainstream beliefs', which include all sorts of daftness. Protesting at abortion clinics? MRAs? Psychic therapies? Chemtrails? All of that, and much, much more.

Like a glimpse through the gates of hell.

[Rob P]

Thanks for the heads up on 'Be reasonable'.

I've lined up half a dozen or so.

Currently listening to the MRA one, then planning to move on to the abortion clinic one and not sure after that.

The MRA wasn't completely off the wall in the first 5 min, but i'm 20 min in (and it's 1 hour 30 min along) and i'm less with him by the minute. I don't think the presenter/interviewer is testing him hard enough yet and the arguments he (the guest) makes are a bit old, debunked or stats that have contradictory stats.

[Xisor]

Thanks for the heads up on 'Be reasonable'.

I've lined up half a dozen or so.

Currently listening to the MRA one, then planning to move on to the abortion clinic one and not sure after that.

The MRA wasn't completely off the wall in the first 5 min, but i'm 20 min in (and it's 1 hour 30 min along) and i'm less with him by the minute. I don't think the presenter/interviewer is testing him hard enough yet and the arguments he (the guest) makes are a bit old, debunked or stats that have contradictory stats.

Glad it's giving you summat to listen too! It's tough going, but very interesting, and extraordinarily frustrating. Mostly good for reflecting on one's own means of discussing anything with anyone.

---

I've been doing a bit of a work-through of two at the moment. One is 'Hello Internet', which I think the best review I can give of it is 'interesting'. I really enjoy it, but also find it frustrating and tedious and objectionable at points too. But in a good way, which is, I suppose, the point.

The other is Crowther's 'The History of England', wherein I've covered about three hundred years up to William Rufus... and am only at episode 26. (Episode 160 has reached the 1445?)

I'm very unfamiliar with (specifically) English history and, broadly, bored to tears by Henry VIII unless in the context of some exquisite TV drama (Wolf Hall). So, in that vein, this has unpacked a lot of the really neat bits that (relatively) never get a mention. It's also handy for forcing me to get an idea of English geography more particular than 'Cornwall is on the end, Wales is ocer there and sort of separate, but mostly you'll be concerned with London - a large conurbation in the south east of England'.

It's good. A touch unpolished and lacking in showy pizazz, but does what it does rather neatly and is well suited to both my tastes and needs.

[Rob P]

I'm quite enjoying the odd episode of Stuff Mom Never Told You. It's demographic appears to be the teen-20 to something lady but i'm not letting that put me off. I don't agree with a some of the stuff they say, but overall it's well worth the listen.

2 particularly good and recent episodes are: Feminist transphobia (self explanatory) and Bye Felipe (which talks about men that can't handle rejection).

[Xisor]

I've lately dipped into Private Eye's 'Page 94' podcast. Not a huge amount done yet, but really rather interesting. Just the sort I need to add to my audio quiver.

[Rob P]

I've completely juggled my podcasts around so currently enjoying ...

for politics (ish) - The New Statesman and the Bugle

for laughs - No Country for Brown Men, The Adam Buxton Podcast and The Comedian's Comedian Podcast

for warhammer - The Age of Darkness (ok this is not new and annoying on headphones as sound not equalised), Ashes of the Imperium, The Triumvirate, The Black Sun and Hard 6

for everything else - Codeswitch, fFeakonomics (though a fair few repeats), Tea and Jeopardy, History of Philosophy in India (really good), Tell Me Something I Don't Know, the History of India, They Walk Among Us (not even sure I like this one but I keep listening), This American Life and Writing Excuses.

I heartily recommend them all.

[Xisor]

I've similarly juggled some around a bit too, even including some new ones.

I'd reiterate that the Private Eye 'Page 94' is excellent.

That said, for hobby stuff: Combat Phase is enjoyable and very interesting interviews.

Stuff that I'm very much not the target audience: S'laughter (British True Crime), The Guilty Feminist, How Hip Hop Saved My Life, Scroobius Pip's one.

All very enjoyable, and mixing decent laughs with more fascinating topics.

I'd finally re-plug Skeptics with K, Sketics Guide to the Universe and my favourite cultural review: Film Fandango. All great, and usually a good laugh too.

[Squiggle]

the threadomancy is strong with this one!!!

[theCrowe]

I listen to mostly History podcasts. The British History Podcast, When Diplomacy Fails, The a history of WW2 podcast and The history of English (which is more a language history thing) and The Memory Palace (which is beautiful)
Binge Thinking history podcast is also a pretty solid series.

Imaginary Worlds has been an interesting newcomer- discussions on a wide range of world building genres .

I also enjoy a bit of 99 percent invisible (architecture and design)
Song Explorer fulfils my music curiosity needs.
Long time West Wing fan so The West Wing weekly has been a lot of fun too.

For more interesting topical stuff its Freakanomics radio and Radiolab.

Then the Tolkien Professor feels like a life long companion by now- the Mythgard accademy being the single greatest book study podcast in the history of existence.

I used to listen to a lot of flash fiction podcasting too. Podcastle, Escape Pod, the Drabblecast (really loved that one), Beneath ceaseless skies, the truth.