Which Podcasts Fuel Your Listening Pleasure?

[Kel Varnsen]

On 6/2/2019 at 8:27 AM, Fukui San said:

I’ve started listening to a new to me movie podcast Blank Check With Griffin and David.  Griffin is Griffin Newman of The Tick. They choose a director and devote one episode to each film in their filmography, good and bad, in exhaustive but still fun detail. They exalt over the good movies and skewer the bad one should. 

So if you ever wanted someone to discuss The Wedding Banquet, Sense& Sensibility, AND The Hulk this is your podcast. Directors done so far include Spielberg, Warchowski sibs, Shyamalan, and Tim Burton. Occasionally they have off format episodes discussing random movies, like having the screenwriters of Detective Pikachu on for a fascinating look at how the Pokesausage was made. 

This one is actually pretty cool. I downloaded the episode for my favourite movie (Pee Wee's Big Adventure) and I like that they did a deep dive into the making of the movie to the point that the podcast is longer than the actual movie. Although I thought they could have gone deeper (they hardly talked about Phil Hartman's contribution at all) and they spent a bunch of time talking about other hits of 1985, but I still liked it, because where else am I gonna hear people talk about how awesome Pee Wee's Big Adventure is.

Now I am downloading the episode for the movie that I would tell someone I don't really know is my favourite movie (Almost Famous).

[Whimsy]

I just finished To Live and Die in LA.  It's a true crime podcast.  Very interesting.  I listened to the whole thing in 2 days because I found it so interesting.  

[Danny Franks]

Justin Long has a podcast now, called Life is Short. I'm not a particular fan of his, so haven't listened to them all, but he had Anna Chlumsky on last week, and she's so charming and funny. It's also really interesting to hear her talk about being a child star, and struggling to transition that into adulthood.

I've also found Business Wars pretty interesting. So far, I've only listened to the Netflix vs. Blockbuster series (which also focuses on HBO's development from a tiny service offering low grade movies to the behemoth of quality it's seen as today), and it manages to be informative without ever getting bogged down in the intricacies of business dealings.

[Kromm]

On 6/30/2019 at 7:25 AM, Danny Franks said:

I've also found Business Wars pretty interesting. So far, I've only listened to the Netflix vs. Blockbuster series (which also focuses on HBO's development from a tiny service offering low grade movies to the behemoth of quality it's seen as today), and it manages to be informative without ever getting bogged down in the intricacies of business dealings.

Have you also given Household Name a shot?  It's similarly an entree into business that doesn't suffer from being TOO focused on the numbers or intricacies.  They use the theme "names you know" and run from there--making the telling more like a story rather than a lesson in a business class.

[MaggieG]

On 3/26/2019 at 2:12 AM, Danny Franks said:

Honestly, two of my favourite episodes of HWTGM are the Con Air and Face Off ones - Two movies that were very successful, and are well known and well loved by a lot of people, but they're still batshit crazy and of extremely dubious artistic merit. Having Nicholas Cage involved clearly helps with the craziness.

I love the Con Air episode! I love that Jason just keeps defending the movie.

I just started listening to Confronting OJ Simpson by Kim Goldman. Pretty interesting. The first episode got me with the way her and her father talked about Ron. 

[Anela]

I'm listening to The Asset.

[Fukui San]

Today's episode of How Did This Get Made? is an instant classic.  Jason and June really and legitimately loved Drop Dead Fred, while Paul and guest Casey Wilson hated it. They go at it with the intensity of a courtroom drama.

[starri]

23 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Today's episode of How Did This Get Made? is an instant classic.  Jason and June really and legitimately loved Drop Dead Fred, while Paul and guest Casey Wilson hated it. They go at it with the intensity of a courtroom drama.

I actually found it exhausting.

[knitorpurl]

Two that I would recommend:

The Shrink Next Door- about a patient and his psychiatrist and how things went down a bizarre path. A real lesson in trust and how things aren't always as they seem.

The Clearing- A daughter suspects her father of more than one murder. She remembers things from her childhood and goes digging on the internet to find unsolved cases near places they lived. 

[bosawks]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:33 AM, Fukui San said:

Today's episode of How Did This Get Made? is an instant classic.  Jason and June really and legitimately loved Drop Dead Fred, while Paul and guest Casey Wilson hated it. They go at it with the intensity of a courtroom drama.

I also loved it but I really love the episodes where June gets riled up and Casey was a great foil to Jason.

[biakbiak]

On 8/2/2019 at 6:33 AM, Fukui San said:

Today's episode of How Did This Get Made? is an instant classic.  Jason and June really and legitimately loved Drop Dead Fred, while Paul and guest Casey Wilson hated it. They go at it with the intensity of a courtroom drama.

#TeamSanity!

[knitorpurl]

On 3/2/2019 at 4:46 PM, BuyMoreAndSave said:

True Crime Garage is another good one although it's based off of publicly available information so it's more of a background noise podcast for me. I also liked The Dream (podcast about MLMs)

Just finished listening to The Dream on your recommendation. Thanks for that.

And now that The Clearing is wrapping up next week might give True Crime Garage or The Vanished a shot. I can only do one true crime at a time - I start getting the facts mixed or the sadness of it all starts weighing on me.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 6/30/2019 at 7:25 AM, Danny Franks said:

I've also found Business Wars pretty interesting. So far, I've only listened to the Netflix vs. Blockbuster series (which also focuses on HBO's development from a tiny service offering low grade movies to the behemoth of quality it's seen as today), and it manages to be informative without ever getting bogged down in the intricacies of business dealings.

I like that one. I listened to the whole Budweiser vs Miller series. The only thing that bugs me is that I am pretty sure that all the reenactment voices (even the voices of women) are done by the same person (the host I think). The problem is he doesn't have that good a variety of voices he can do.

[Jenniferbug]

My recent favorite podcast is Science Rules! with Bill Nye. Highly recommend it if you're a fan of his or interested in scientific topics. They usually have people submit questions on a topic (ie, climate change) and he has an expert on who answers. 

I enjoyed David Tennat Does A Podcast With as well, so hoping a second season comes out soon. Some episodes are better than others, but overall I enjoy him.

I haven't had a chance to listen to The Bake Down with a couple of contestants from Great British Bake Off, but I'm excited to start it. 

Depending on the guest, I'll listen to Armchair Expert, Justin Long, or Anna Faris. 

Other than that, my playlists are heavily NPR and podcasts for my children (Wow In the World, Brains On, Story Pirates, etc). 

[Jenniferbug]

I started listening Limetown after reading this thread yesterday, and I'm wondering- is there a definite resolution/answer? I don't want spoilers, just to know I'm not going to waste my time for something that's going to leave me hanging. 

Also I saw there's a prequel book coming out soon. I might be interested in reading it when I finish listening (which won't take too long).

[Kel Varnsen]

Lately I have been listening a lot to BBC's 50 Things That Made The Modern Economy. They are short episodes about 10 minutes each. Each one focuses on a different invention or discovery and how it changed the world. It sounds boring but I like it. Things like barbed wire, insurance, concrete, and the Billy Bookcase. 

Also been getting more into Business Wars. Listening to the WWF vs WCW one. It is good, but when you know what the real people involved are supposed to sound like (like Vince McMahon, Ted Turner and Hulk Hogan) it make it even more obvious that the guy doing the voices only knows how to do 3 difgerent voices. Ted Turner sounds like everyone else just with a Southern twang, and Hulk Hogan just says Brother a lot.

[SVNBob]

9 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

and Hulk Hogan just says Brother a lot.

I fail to see the problem here.

[Kel Varnsen]

7 hours ago, SVNBob said:

I fail to see the problem here.

Hogan does say brother a lot. But you can't talk in your normal voice and say brother a lot and call it a Hulk Hogan impression.

[Danny Franks]

12 hours ago, SVNBob said:

I fail to see the problem here.

In real life, he also says "dude" and "jack" quite a lot too.

[ABay]

@Jenniferbug, Limetown, as best I remember doesn't end on a cliffhanger and resolves most of the questions. They probably left the door open for more but it was definitely an end. The tv version is supposed to be on somewhere in October, according to Wikipedia.

[piccadilly83]

My favorite podcast of the last five/six years has been Answer Me This. It's a couple of Brits answering questions sent in by their listeners from around the world.  Their observations are cheeky and clever. Unfortunately the hosts of the podcast only broadcast one new episode every month these days.  It used to be once a week.  The show has been on for like ten years though, so there's a treasure trove of episodes.

For news and current events I listen to Chris Hayes' Why Is This Happening?, Center for Investigative Reporting's Reveal, ProPublica's Trump Inc., and New York Times' The Daily.

Of course I loved the first season of Serial (I was a big This American Life listener back in the day); but I've found the third season to be difficult to get through. It's just so infuriating the things that Sarah witnesses in the Cuyahoga county justice system.

Two other good non-fiction podcasts are Planet Money and How I Built This. 

Finally, if anyone wants a good guilty pleasure fictional story to listen to, I recommend Gossip.  As far as I know, there's only one season, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Jenniferbug]

I finished Limetown. The second season was a letdown compared to the first. It doesn't sound like they're planning to do any more.

I binge listened to The Deca Tapes yesterday. It was amazing. If you like murder mysteries with a dash of sci fi thrown in, listen to it. I wish there were more than 8 episodes because I wanted more depth, like other characters reactions to some events. I think it would make a pretty good book, which would allow for shifting viewpoints between chapters. Dying for people to talk to about it so let me know if you've listened! 

I started Marsfall today and am liking it so far. It is definitely straight sci fi and the voice acting is sometimes a bit shaky, but it is well written and interesting. I think they are planning to do a season 3. 

If anyone has other audio drama/comedy suggestions, I'd love to hear them! I don't particularly like horror or zombies but am ok with a little creepiness. I'd love to find something similar to the radio show Cabin Pressure but haven't stumbled upon anything so far. 

[Danny Franks]

For the life of me, I do not get the appeal of true crime podcasts. Or TV shows. I don't understand why people want to dwell on the tragedies of murders/rapes/assaults, solved or otherwise, diving into every possible detail. It just seems grimy to me, yet they're easily the most popular genre of podcast, and pop up all the time when I'm browsing for new stuff to listen to.

[2727]

4 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I don't understand why people want to dwell on the tragedies of murders/rapes/assaults, solved or otherwise, diving into every possible detail.

It's not the tragedies themselves for me, but the catharsis of getting an answer. I won't watch any unsolved mystery type shows; those just chafe. I enjoy following the minutia of detective work and seeing how the techniques of forensic science helped (or didn't) track down the perpetrators. Crime shows present an extremely tidy morality tale with some satisfying justice thrown in.

I also read and watch a lot of fictional content in the mystery and detective genre for the same reasons. In addition, those tend to be series and I really like settling into familiar worlds and spending time with well-loved characters. Many fictional detectives these days have the obligatory dark or tortured side, but they're generally presented as being on the side of good and sometimes even noble.

[pigs-in-space]

I can't believe I didn't know You Must Remember This is coming back until today! I have never been this excited about having a podcast come back before. 

[Danny Franks]

On 10/18/2019 at 3:01 PM, pigs-in-space said:

I can't believe I didn't know You Must Remember This is coming back until today! I have never been this excited about having a podcast come back before. 

That's been on my 'I will listen to this some day' list for a long while now. I just haven't gotten around to it.

But Conan's podcast returned for a second season this month, with interviews with David Letterman and Tina Fey. I'm not a Letterman fan, but Tina Fey was really fun.

[Kromm]

For those NOT sick of Politics, although there are now about two dozen Impechment specific Podcasts, the most entertaining one is probably Buzzfeed's Impeachment Today: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/author/impeachmenttoday

Edited November 24, 2019 by Kromm

[Kromm]

On 9/18/2019 at 3:03 PM, piccadilly83 said:

ProPublica's Trump Inc., 

Trump, Inc. is good. It's good some serious reporting behind it peeling back all the financial nastiness tied to... that individual.

I still also often listen to Slate's Trumpcast: https://podbay.fm/podcast/1093260018

[Kel Varnsen]

On 10/18/2019 at 10:01 AM, pigs-in-space said:

I can't believe I didn't know You Must Remember This is coming back until today! I have never been this excited about having a podcast come back before. 

I started listening to that for the Song of the South miniseries. It is really good and incredibly well researched. Plus I love the host's way of speaking, it is super relaxing. And the way she says Zippedy Doo Dahh is hilarious. Although between that and the 1619 podcast I now know a lot more about minstrel shows than I ever expected I would.

And speaking of things that aren't well researched has anyone listened to the Alarmist. I found it on Stitcher and it was described as being about who was at fault when bad things happen. I thought it would be a well researched thing like Behind the Bastards or You Must Remember This. But it was the exact opposite. I tried the break up of the Beatles episode and it was all speculation, Wikipedia references and looking things up while talking. It wasn't good.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Dick Wolf of Law & Order fame has produced a crime fiction podcast called Hunted. It starts Parker Posey as a U.S. Marshall based in Texas who's working a prison break. It's been advertised as "season one" so presumably it's going to continue.  I enjoyed it. The production values are great, though parts of the storyline are a bit predictable. Warning: some of the dialogue is NSFW.

Edited December 21, 2019 by Joimiaroxeu

[shantown]

I love Twenty Thousand Hertz. All about recognizable sounds - the Price is Right theme song, or the "You've Got Mail" soundbite, for example - and how they came to be. Plus they're fairly quick episodes, usually around 25 minutes, which is nice when I don't have time to commit to 45+ minutes for a podcast ep.

[Browncoat]

I didn't see this one mentioned, though I might have missed it -- This Podcast Will Kill You.  Each episode is about a different (usually) infectious disease, and they go into the history, treatment, and how concerned we should be in the future.  The ones they had on the Plague and Smallpox were really interesting!  And the scurvy one was fun, and one of the few non-infectious diseases they examine.

[Danny Franks]

So I love Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, and the last episode, with Charles Barkley, was a lot of fun. But it highlighted something that seems to be a problem with his TV show as well - his interactions with his staff are much, much funnier than his interactions with his guests.

In this one he compared Matt Gourley, at length, to a disinfectant, then talked about how Sona arguing with her mother on the phone sounds like "two draculas fighting over a cookie." I would honestly prefer him just talking to the two of them for an hour than some of the guests he's had.

[RealReality]

I love the true crime genre.  

I would suggest In The Dark particularly season 2 as it's good and really, really, really shines the light on racism and prosecutorial misconduct.  It's upsetting, but interesting and important.  It's also cogent right now as the case has been reviewed by the Supreme Court and is in the news.  

I like long format stories, but I've been enjoying more shows that do a single episode on a crime or criminal.  Con Artists, Sports Criminals, Female Criminals, Cults, Crimes of Passion, The Dark Side Of, American Greed, Murder Made Me Famous.  

There are also shows that I really like for the podcaster such as Once Upon A Crime, Disgraceland and Swindled

[Kromm]

On 1/13/2020 at 11:54 AM, Danny Franks said:

So I love Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, and the last episode, with Charles Barkley, was a lot of fun. But it highlighted something that seems to be a problem with his TV show as well - his interactions with his staff are much, much funnier than his interactions with his guests.

In this one he compared Matt Gourley, at length, to a disinfectant, then talked about how Sona arguing with her mother on the phone sounds like "two draculas fighting over a cookie." I would honestly prefer him just talking to the two of them for an hour than some of the guests he's had.

That's not so much a problem as it is a lost opportunity.  I mean he actually interacts a bunch with Sona and some other staffers on his TV show, but it should be even more.

[Kromm]

For those NOT trying to duck politics, here are some new recommendations (I've made plenty in the past).

 

For a fairly whimsical, yet newsy, take on Impeachment, try Buzzfeed's Impeachment Today: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-impeachment-today-51569975/

It certainly won't claim to not take a side (guess which?) but as these things go is fairly entertaining.

There's also NPR/WNYC's "Impeachment: A Daily Podcast", presented by well known talk radio host Brian Lehrer:  https://www.npr.org/podcasts/767280204/impeachment-a-daily-podcast  

It's less whimsical, more straight newsy, but gets major guests (the same kind who go on the news networks, except this is longer and more in depth).

Less centered on the Impeachment, but still arguably political, is The New York Times' podcast, "The Argument" It's basically three NYT opinion columnists, who'd I'd say range from far left to center left to medium right, debating all kinds of stuff.  I'm calling the classic conservative on the panel "medium right" just because while in other days he'd be more identifiable as far right, he seems not to be totally in line with the current administration, so... medium right (a little to the right of a genuine centrist Republican, if any still existed): https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-new-york-times/the-argument  

[aradia22]

I go back and forth on thinking there are too many podcasts to listen to... and then collecting more podcasts to listen to. I'm also totally fine in digging through old episodes if a show isn't too topical or doesn't have an overwhelming back catalog.

My current favorites are Who Weekly? and Off Menu. I make time for Keep It even though I don't love it because it's that perfect show I can half-listen to without getting distracted from whatever else I'm doing or worrying about missing a few words. I like Anthropocene Reviewed but I can work my way through it slowly. 

I just started getting back into my political podcasts when I realized I was running out of the pop culture podcasts. I keep meaning to jump into You Must Remember This and Your Favorite Band Sucks but it's hard for me to start out with someone whose voice I don't know. Podcasts make me fixate on how annoying I find particular voices. And that's before you even get into the content and style of the show. 

[Jenniferbug]

2 podcasts I'm really interested by lately:

1. Reset - focused on technology which isn't usually one of my interests, but I've listened to some great (and sometimes alarming) episodes about things like medical records availability, how we're targeted by online ads (particularly political ones), how online shopping can be tracked, etc. Each episode is only about 20 minutes and I've been working through the backlog of them. 

2. The Dream - the first season focused on multi level marketing companies (like LuLaRoe, Scentsy, etc). It had a lot of interesting info on the history of them, how they're mostly scams, and how involved the government is in them so there will never be protections in place like there probably should be. The second season (currently in progress) is about the whole wellness industry- supplements, oils, alternative treatments, etc and how all of the is regulated (or not, for the most part) and the power of the placebo effect. 

Highly recommend both!

[Anduin]

Are there any history of [country] podcasts done by actual people of that country? Because in my experience, most of them are done by Americans. There's nothing wrong with them, but it would be nice to get a native view. The only ones I know of are History of England, and when Mike Duncan covered the American revolution.

[Kromm]

Dr. Gameshow is an absolutely BONKERS Podcast.  Totally insane. 

https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/dr-gameshow/

I strongly recommend starting with Episode 27, with John Hodgeman as the guest star. 

The explanation of the show doesn't do the show justice. Basically, people send in gameshow suggestions. Callers in and guest stars play them. 

The truth of it is that most of the suggested games are really strange/bad/totally random/hilarious.  That, combined with a pair of hosts who seem like truly bizarre people, and who both have voices like cartoon characters leads into really strange, funny territory (I'd say the female host, Jo, sounds kind of like Kristen Schaal, while the male host, Manolo, has a voice like the version of Garfield the Cat from the 80s/90s TV version).

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Kromm

[knitorpurl]

On 2/11/2020 at 10:40 AM, Jenniferbug said:

The Dream - the first season focused on multi level marketing companies (like LuLaRoe, Scentsy, etc). It had a lot of interesting info on the history of them, how they're mostly scams, and how involved the government is in them so there will never be protections in place like there probably should be. The second season (currently in progress) is about the whole wellness industry- supplements, oils, alternative treatments, etc and how all of the is regulated (or not, for the most part) and the power of the placebo effect. 

I didn't realize The Dream had a new season started- thanks. Loved season 1.

 

[PRgal]

I'm a podcast co-host (not sure if I'm allowed to promote my show here), but for ME, I listen to a variety of business (mostly Wall Street Journal) shows including Tech News Briefing and Secrets of Wealthy Women.  For non-WSJ shows, I love The Mom Hour (where two moms from different parts of the US and kids of different ages talk about mom life) and my guilty pleasure is The Heir Pod (weekly updates on the British Royal Family) 

[lasu]

I'm hoping y'all can help me out: I'm looking for good true crime podcasts, either limited series going deep into one or a few subjects, or series where it's more one-offs on each topic.  The series I've tried so far are Crime Junkies, My Favorite Murder, and Last Podcast on the Left.  I like Crime Junkies the best, they actually seem to research their topics.  But, they don't delve super deep and some of the stories seem like a reach to make a whole episode.  And, I got a little turned off because they were drawing some goofy conclusions that didn't make sense to me.  But, I've listened to a bunch of episodes, I just am looking for a bit of a deeper dive. My Favorite Murder, I really wanted to like it.  But the vocal fry on one of the women was too much, and didn't seem like they really researched their topics.  Like one story, they weren't sure if it happened in Toronto or Quebec.  Finally, holy shit, Last Podcast on the Left.  I didn't even make it through a single episode.  It seemed like there might be well researched stories in there, but damn, it was WAY too manic.

So, I was wondering if y'all had some favorites you might recommend?

[Kel Varnsen]

6 minutes ago, lasu said:

I'm hoping y'all can help me out: I'm looking for good true crime podcasts, either limited series going deep into one or a few subjects, or series where it's more one-offs on each topic.  The series I've tried so far are Crime Junkies, My Favorite Murder, and Last Podcast on the Left.  I like Crime Junkies the best, they actually seem to research their topics.  But, they don't delve super deep and some of the stories seem like a reach to make a whole episode.  And, I got a little turned off because they were drawing some goofy conclusions that didn't make sense to me.  But, I've listened to a bunch of episodes, I just am looking for a bit of a deeper dive. My Favorite Murder, I really wanted to like it.  But the vocal fry on one of the women was too much, and didn't seem like they really researched their topics.  Like one story, they weren't sure if it happened in Toronto or Quebec.  Finally, holy shit, Last Podcast on the Left.  I didn't even make it through a single episode.  It seemed like there might be well researched stories in there, but damn, it was WAY too manic.

So, I was wondering if y'all had some favorites you might recommend?

Have you listened to Bearbrooke from New Hampshire Public Radio? It is about bodies found in steel drums in a NH state park and the work that went into identifying them. It is incredibly well researched and so well done. I don't listen to a ton of crime podcasts but it is easily the best one. Although it is also kind of sad 

[lasu]

2 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Have you listened to Bearbrooke from New Hampshire Public Radio?

I have!  That one and The Clearing I listened to back to back, so they blend together for me.

[Kel Varnsen]

4 hours ago, lasu said:

I have!  That one and The Clearing I listened to back to back, so they blend together for me.

Hitman is also pretty good (not as good as Bearbrooke). The 2nd and 3rd season of Monster are pretty good too (about The Zodiac killer and the DC Sniper). Although I thought the Zodiac one had a lot of filler.

[purist]

9 hours ago, lasu said:

I'm hoping y'all can help me out: I'm looking for good true crime podcasts, either limited series going deep into one or a few subjects, or series where it's more one-offs on each topic.

There are some excellent Australian true crime podcasts if you're interested - here's a list from 2019. Bowraville, Unravel, Teacher's Pet and Trace all made headlines down under, and some of them led to cases being reopened and arrests being made.

Edited April 21, 2020 by purist

[Kromm]

On 8/26/2019 at 6:03 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I like that one. I listened to the whole Budweiser vs Miller series. The only thing that bugs me is that I am pretty sure that all the reenactment voices (even the voices of women) are done by the same person (the host I think). The problem is he doesn't have that good a variety of voices he can do.

True. He mentions like 4 or 5 names in the end credits, and I'm usually like... "Dude... can't you get any of them to help out with the voices?  ANY of them?"

I'd say he does two basic male voices and one fairly laughable female voice.  Oh, I on one episode I heard him do a very insufficient British voice.  

I get wanting to keep costs down and not employ a group of actors. But darnit.  They don't even have to be pros.  Hire from a local drama club or something, on the cheap. Or over the big wide Internet, find people willing to do it just to have credits for their acting CVs.  

They can literally live ANYWHERE and send you audio files. Anywhere.

[Mountainair]

On 4/20/2020 at 1:36 PM, lasu said:

I'm hoping y'all can help me out: I'm looking for good true crime podcasts, either limited series going deep into one or a few subjects, or series where it's more one-offs on each topic.  The series I've tried so far are Crime Junkies, My Favorite Murder, and Last Podcast on the Left.  I like Crime Junkies the best, they actually seem to research their topics.  But, they don't delve super deep and some of the stories seem like a reach to make a whole episode.  And, I got a little turned off because they were drawing some goofy conclusions that didn't make sense to me.  But, I've listened to a bunch of episodes, I just am looking for a bit of a deeper dive. My Favorite Murder, I really wanted to like it.  But the vocal fry on one of the women was too much, and didn't seem like they really researched their topics.  Like one story, they weren't sure if it happened in Toronto or Quebec.  Finally, holy shit, Last Podcast on the Left.  I didn't even make it through a single episode.  It seemed like there might be well researched stories in there, but damn, it was WAY too manic.

So, I was wondering if y'all had some favorites you might recommend?

I agree with your assessment on most of these. Crime Junkie still seems to be my favorite despite the negatives you mention. One I listen to that is "fun" in a morbid way is called Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories. The downside for me is that they are of course unsolved and I like to have closure on these types of things. What makes it "fun" is that they have a cast that acts out the plot so it's a bit different then your typical Crime Podcast.

[IrishPirate]

There's the podcast Serial that made a number of must-listen lists.

I really enjoyed Rachel Maddow's Bag Man, about the shenanigans VP Spiro Agnew pulled that got him in trouble and out of office.

I just finished listening to Floodlines put out by The Atlantic magazine. Fifteen years after Katrina, a look at history, policy, and the aftermath. The last episode has an interview with Michael Brown, head of FEMA, whose obituary will make reference to "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie."

I don't care for the murdered wife retellings nor the long drawn out unsolved mystery. How many ways can these be repackaged?