Which Podcasts Fuel Your Listening Pleasure?

[LJonEarth]

47 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Did you get the June 2nd episode? 

No! I swear I checked for activity in May. Thanks! That's the other thing about podcasts ghosting or "ending." When is it safe to delete the feed?

[biakbiak]

Just now, LJonEarth said:

No! I swear I checked for activity in May. Thanks! That's the other thing about podcasts ghosting or "ending." When is it safe to delete the feed?

I deleted my feed for it a long time ago but I follow Adam and Scott on Twitter so knew they went to the LA show of the current tour so figured there would be another episode so I kept my eye out but yeah it can be annoying.

[Fukui San]

12 hours ago, LJonEarth said:

It seems like most of my fun go-to podcasts have ended in the past year DWITGAOATP, The Indoor Kids, and U Talkin' U2 To Me?, or are changing hosts or styles like FanBros and Radiolab. I have about 35 hours of time to fill during my work week. I really don't want to be stuck with political shows on a daily basis.

Does anyone have anything to replace Radiolab's sciencey content now that they've shifted focus?

Invisibilia has been sounding like an early days Radiolab tribute band. (Not a critique)

[ABay]

DCMT: Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theater entertained me greatly when I listened to the 1st 2 episodes last night. They're classic mystery parodies with a set of 4 (I think) sleuths, each with their own set of episodes. The first one is obviously based on the Thin Man although there's only a Nick and Asta, not Nora. Maybe she shoes up later. The second one featured Myrna Sinclair, a fast talking society dame during Prohibition. The puns flew by so fast I missed some of them. I don't know if Myrna is based on a fictional detective--if so, I don't recognize her--but the speech patterns are straight out of His Girl Friday. It started 3 years ago and has ended, which is sad because I always want more, but at least I know going in that the series ended so there won't be an endless wait for another season that never comes.

Edited June 15, 2017 by ABay
Spell checking spell checker

[Fukui San]

Hey folks, so I'm joining the ranks of podcasters by starting a podcast to support my playwriting habit. It combines readings of plays by and interviews with Boston area playwrights. It's called Boston Podcast Players and you can download the season 1 trailer at bostonpodcastplayers.com or subscribe on iTunes and such. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by Fukui San

[Kromm]

On 6/8/2017 at 11:44 PM, Valerie said:

This season of MDWAP is killing me. I was laughing so hard I was crying in the first episode at the O2 scene. “Twenty thousand ladies…” sets me off every. damn. time.

I’m still following Babysitter’s Club Club as well. which was an ace recommendation in this very thread. Those books were my jam as a teenager.

Highly recommended: The My Dad Wrote A Porno gang talk to their celebrity Superfan Stephen Mangan:

Here's an interesting one. Lea Thau's ongoing Podcast series, Strangers, is having a sequence about her trying to reconcile her beliefs in empathy to all with how angry she is with Trump voters. She's only produced two episodes so far in this mode, but supposedly more of "Lea in Trumpland" are coming.

 

Lea In Trumpland Episode #1
 

 

Lea in Trumpland Episode #2
 

[zxy556575]

On 6/8/2017 at 11:44 PM, Valerie said:

This season of MDWAP is killing me. I was laughing so hard I was crying in the first episode at the O2 scene. “Twenty thousand ladies…” sets me off every. damn. time.

I'm currently starting on season 2 -- has there ever been an episode without Alice? I sometimes can't tell Morton and Cooper apart when they interject quick comments. I know they're both funny, but Alice makes the show for me. She is so charming and quick-witted with a lovely voice and fluent speech. (Which is important in radio, dammit, and too much ignored.)

[editorgrrl]

34 minutes ago, Lord Donia said:

I'm currently starting on season 2 [of My Dad Wrote a Porno]. Has there ever been an episode without Alice? I sometimes can't tell Morton and Cooper apart when they interject quick comments. 

All three are in every episode.

I have no problem telling the guys apart, but I'm hopeless with A Scottish Podcast. The guys sound the same to my American ears. 

"A Scottish Podcast is a serialised modern audio drama.

When washed-up radio DJ Lee finds himself “between jobs,” he decides to launch a paranormal investigative podcast series inspired by the likes of ‘The Black Tapes’, ‘The Message’, and ‘Limetown’. Enter ‘The Terror Files’.

Aided by his long-suffering sidekick, struggling musician Dougie, the pair embark on their first investigation—by heading down into a newly uncovered vault underneath Edinburgh’s old town.

Lee is prepared to sprinkle a bit of fiction into his reporting to keep things lively. But it soon becomes clear that these long forgotten tunnels harbour a secret far darker than he ever could’ve hoped to conjure up with his own imagination…"

[Athena]

18 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

I'm currently starting on season 2 -- has there ever been an episode without Alice? I sometimes can't tell Morton and Cooper apart when they interject quick comments. I know they're both funny, but Alice makes the show for me. She is so charming and quick-witted with a lovely voice and fluent speech. (Which is important in radio, dammit, and too much ignored.)

Alice definitely has an edge over the guys. To the best of my knowledge, she is the only one of the three with professional experience as a presenter and broadcaster. I knew who she was before MDWAP because she is on BBC Radio 1. I think the guys have improved more over the seasons, but Alice has always been consistently quick and articulate. 

[Valerie]

Alice definitely has most of my favourite moments. “OH MY GOD WHERE IS THE SEX?” “I never thought of my vagina as tupperware.” and of course the monster dick song.

James and Jamie are also delightful though, and the chemistry between the three is definitely what makes the show so good.

[Sarahendipity]

The MDWAP crew appeared on a podcast called 'Kismet', telling the story of how they met. It's pretty interesting.

[Qoass]

I was test driving Judy Gold's Kill Me Now because I love her performances and she's got some great guests but the podcast isn't very good.  From the misspellings in the episode descriptions to the poor audio levels to the loud, frantic shrieking accompanied by bell ringing (yup), it's just not for me.  Meanwhile, Pod Save America gives me hope and the shakes at the same time.

[Princess Sparkle]

56 minutes ago, Qoass said:

  Meanwhile, Pod Save America gives me hope and the shakes at the same time.

The entire Crooked Media lineup is really fantastic, though when I get behind on my podcasts, Pod Save America and Pod Save the World take precedence over the rest. 

[Fukui San]

Here's the first episode of my podcast: Boston Podcast Players Episode 1: Shameless Breathing by Mimi Augustin

[topanga]

Will check it out. Sounds interesting 

[Kromm]

I've been regularly listening to NPR's Up First podcast every morning, "News of the day in brief" is a whole genre of podcast, I guess, and several news outlets have such a thing, but I like the length of Up First (usually about 12 minutes, but it's not an exact fixed length). their editorial slant and delivery. 

The one downside is that since they drop this about 5 am every day, they're basically reporting yesterday's news plus overnight developments. I might consider an alternative news of the day cast which drops early evening, because it seems like that would be the best time to document things rather than so early.

[Qoass]

I've just subscribed to Live from the Poundstone Institute. Paula Poundstone can do no wrong in my esteem so I can't be impartial but I think it's fast paced and funny. It's from the same team that do Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and sounds much like a compilation of Poundstone's rants from that show.

[Athena]

What do you all think of podcast networks? It seems there is a proliferation of them and that the only way to break even and get help for a podcast is by being signed with a network. Are you more likely to listen to podcasts by certain networks? If so why/why not?

I am a podcast addict so I've found that I have podcasts subscribed mostly to the following:

• NPR: Not solely a podcast network, but has a lot diverse educational content. Planet Money, PCHH, Embedded, Hidden Brain...
• Maximumfun: Probably my favourite network in terms of trying new things from them and supporting the actual talent. I love Judge John Hodgman and Greatest Generation the most
• WYNC Studios: Like NPR. Freakonomics, Note to Self, 2 Dope Queens, New Yorker Radio Hour
• Gimlet Media: Mixed bag. Some I like but then they change or drop shows.
• BBC: Mostly for food and news

Podcasts are changing networks too whether because one drops them or because the podcast itself wants to expand e.g. a podcast recently went from Maxfun to Earwolf.

[Gurkel]

I find myself listening to Feral Audio podcasts a lot. The network is somewhat incestuous: the beginning of a podcast episode is usually an introduction to another Feral podcast, and hosts often appear as guests on each other shows. It has introduced me to a lot of good podcasts I might not have known about otherwise: My Favorite Murder, Dumb People Town, Found, and Beyond Yacht Rock. 

The NPR and NYC Studios podcasts are good. The NPR ones are good for when I actually want to learn something. But I mostly  listen to podcasts for entertainment and a few belly laughs. 

Edited July 26, 2017 by Gurkel

[Qoass]

NPR is good although I'll never forgive them for dropping the weekly puzzle segment from their podcast offerings.

As for the rest, I just get everything through iTunes so I don't really notice what network they're with. I do notice that some websites, magazines and other entertainment outlets are really getting into podcasts and in my opinion the quality of their product all around suffers for it.

[dusang]

I also get my podcasts from an app that is network agnostic but I do know that I listen to several shows from the Radiotopia network: 99% Invisible, The Allusionist, and the network recently embraced the resurrected The Bugle.

I've been thinking about ads/sponsor messages in podcasts. When it comes to ads in a podcast I've noticed several approaches, the two most common being: 1) a short, scripted, pre-recorded message from a different voice; and 2) a long, rambling, seemingly unscripted message from a host of the podcast.

The worst example of #2 is Felix Salmon from Slate Money, who has managed to almost insult products as he's shilling them. As you might have guessed from my descriptions, I definitely prefer option #1. I wonder what the pricing model for these sponsor messages is. Do you guys have any preferences when it comes to ads?

[narrating]

On 7/28/2017 at 9:59 AM, dusang said:

I've been thinking about ads/sponsor messages in podcasts. When it comes to ads in a podcast I've noticed several approaches, the two most common being: 1) a short, scripted, pre-recorded message from a different voice; and 2) a long, rambling, seemingly unscripted message from a host of the podcast.

The worst example of #2 is Felix Salmon from Slate Money, who has managed to almost insult products as he's shilling them. As you might have guessed from my descriptions, I definitely prefer option #1. I wonder what the pricing model for these sponsor messages is. Do you guys have any preferences when it comes to ads?

I'm also a fan of option #1. I have often heard podcast hosts say that they try to make their ads entertaining, and unfortunately those attempts usually result in the longer, rambling ads you describe. I don't need the ads to be entertaining; I just need them to be functional. My preference is also for ads to be at the beginning of the podcast, but of course I understand why they're often sandwiched in the middle. 

[Sarahendipity]

OMG. My Dad Wrote a Porno is coming to LA and I got a ticket! I am so excited! October 26 if anyone else out there is interested! So many exclamation marks!!

[Kromm]

On 8/23/2017 at 10:59 PM, Sarahendipity said:

OMG. My Dad Wrote a Porno is coming to LA and I got a ticket! I am so excited! October 26 if anyone else out there is interested! So many exclamation marks!!

Ha, for the first time ever I wish I lived in LA! 

[OldButHappy]

I've been listening to TBTL for the last 3 years.  It's a daily podcast with two guys - Luke Burbank (NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and CBS Sunday Morning) and Andrew Walsh.  They have very different personalities, but both are genuinely interested in one another and enjoy each other's company.  The style is conversational, with discussions of random news topics and events in their respective lives, with many long-running inside jokes and a FB page with very loyal, friendly, fans ("The Tens" - when they started, they joked that they had "tens of listeners", and the name stuck).

It's the kind of podcast that people tend to either 1) love or 2) seriously not understand why people like it.  For me, it feels like listening to friends talk....

https://www.apmpodcasts.org/tbtl/

Edited August 27, 2017 by OldButHappy
Added link

[Sarahendipity]

8 hours ago, Kromm said:

Ha, for the first time ever I wish I lived in LA! 

I don't live in LA!! Gotta take a plane and everything. Slightly stunned by hotel prices. 

Edited August 27, 2017 by Sarahendipity

[luckyroll3]

Another shameless plug.....In case anyone is interested, 2 friends and I started a podcast, Ambition Snark. First episode: HBO's Confederate is Slavery Fanfic and F**k Johnny Bananas 

Link: Ambitious Snark

Edited August 30, 2017 by luckyroll3

[starri]

Looking for opinions:

If you were going to a podcast festival next weekend and had to make a choice between the simultaneous sessions of LeVar Burton Reads and Hello from the Magic Tavern with Paul F Tompkins as the guest, which would you pick and why?

[ABay]

PFT for me. I really enjoyed his stand-up special and he was always a delight on @midnight. 

The Black Tapes resumed this past week and I'm exasperated that they're doing one of the (many)  things that made me stop listening to Tanis: long conversational pauses where one person has to keep saying the other person's name to prompt them to talk. Made up example, Alex on the phone with Simon.

Alex: Hey, how are you? (10 minute pause). Simon?

Simon: I'm fine.

Alex: Great, so why'd you call? (10 minute pause) Simon?

Simon: To be irritatingly enigmatic and unhelpfully cryptic. And there's something else.

Alex: Yeah? (10 minute pause) Simon?

Simon: Yeah.

This is season 3 of The Black Tapes. End of episode.

Also, if they seriously think anyone cares about whether Cora Lee ever shows up again, much less whether she and Strand are reunited, they are reading a very different part of the internet than I am.

[starri]

I have now experience Hello From The Magic Tavern with PFT as the guest.  I am not in a hurry to listen to more.  He was funny.  The rest...not so much.

If you are a fan and have a chance to see Criminal live, I recommend it.

I do not think I can recommend Lore live, however.  Aaron is a good storyteller, but the combo of his relaxing voice  combined with the fact that he went on a bit too long had me starting to nod off.  And I felt badly about that.

Edited September 10, 2017 by starri

[MargeGunderson]

7 hours ago, starri said:

I do not think I can recommend Lore live, however.  Aaron is a good storyteller, but the combo of his relaxing voice  combined with the fact that he went on a bit too long had me starting to nod off.  And I felt badly about that.

I listened to a lot of the Lore episodes this spring when I had the flu and was having trouble sleeping. Aaron lulled me to sleep every time, and I still use his podcast when I can't sleep. Of course I've listed to them all again when I could stay awake, but there's just something so soothing about his manner of speaking.

[dusang]

Any thoughts on podcasts becoming source material for TV?

StartUp: 

 

Lore: 

[Sharpie66]

Adam Savage from Mythbusters has a new podcast for SyFy (shudder over the spelling) and its anniversary, SYFY25: Origin Stories, in which he interviews various SF and SF-adjacent people, from D.C. Fontana (writer for the original Star Trek) and Jonathan Frakes to Neil Gaiman and various ILM creators, as well as someone from Marvel, and others. I have always liked Adam's interviewing style (check out his chat with Andy Weir, The Martian author, on YT), and these episodes are really interesting. 

Two other recent discoveries of mine are The School of Movies, in depth dives into films (set aside extensive time for each ep), and Pop Culturally Deprived, in which one of the co-hosts (usually the woman) watches movies and tv shows for the first time. She grew up actively avoiding most cultural touchstones such as Jaws and Rocky Horror, so it's fun listening to her reactions. I just noticed that this week's ep is Little Shop of Horrors, so I am off to listen.

[Kromm]

Surprised that I'm enjoying Live From The Poundstone Institute as much as I am. I never really was all that huge a Paula Poundstone fan, and the podcast format did not seem like it would be a natural match for her.

But it works.

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/live-from-the-poundstone-institute

[Qoass]

Any podcast that does not have:

A. two or more people shooting the shit who think they're so hilarious that they don't need to prepare anything in advance or have IMDB and Wikipedia on hand.

B. a monologue by someone who is probably a very entertaining writer but who can't figure out how to share their thoughts without sounding like they're reading an essay on what they did last summer.

C. repeating segments with "cute" names or purposes that take longer to explain than the actual segment.

[starri]

7 hours ago, Qoass said:

C. repeating segments with "cute" names or purposes that take longer to explain than the actual segment.

Especially when the segment has a theme song.

I will exempt HDTGM's Second Opinions, since they rotate the themes now.

[topanga]

On 9/14/2017 at 3:04 AM, Sharpie66 said:

Two other recent discoveries of mine are The School of Movies, in depth dives into films (set aside extensive time for each ep), and Pop Culturally Deprived, in which one of the co-hosts (usually the woman) watches movies and tv shows for the first time. She grew up actively avoiding most cultural touchstones such as Jaws and Rocky Horror, so it's fun listening to her reactions. I just noticed that this week's ep is Little Shop of Horrors, so I am off to listen.

Those both sound really interesting! Must check them out. 

 

9 hours ago, Qoass said:

Any podcast that does not have:

A. two or more people shooting the shit who think they're so hilarious that they don't need to prepare anything in advance or have IMDB and Wikipedia on hand.

This. I have little patience for unpreparedness when it comes to movie review podcasts. I suppose I've been spoiled by great ones like "Now Playing Podcast" and "Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time, Period" (RIP). These two podcasts--and a few others--show that it IS possible to be funny and spontaneous while still knowing what the hell you're talking about. 

As soon as a host says something like, "So, Joe Schmo starred in this. Wasn't he also in...?" and starts snapping his or her fingers, they've lost me. Shouldn't you have already researched what other projects your actors have done, Idiot?*

*One exception: Kevin and Kamau on 'Denzel Washington' would sometimes go off on tangents and would forget the name of the movie/actor/tv show they were referencing, but I forgave that since it wasn't part of their main plot. 

[Fukui San]

A Buster Keaton podcast is an automatic subscribe to me. And one just appeared: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-buster-keaton/id1278823612?mt=2

What better way to appreciate the work of a strictly visual artist than through an audio podcast?

[Sharpie66]

A few weeks ago, I got the urge to look for a Battlestar Galactica podcast, and I found a really good one, The Resurrection Cast. The episodes feature two BSG unspoiled newbies, one fan of the show, and usually a guest host from another podcast. They really go in depth into the episodes' themes, and talk at length--episodes average around 2.5 hours each. I am up to Season 2's The Farm, and can't wait to get through the rest of this season and the beginning of the next. 

[ABay]

Has anyone listened to "The Box"? I'm listening to the intro and I want to slap the narrator and scream "get on with it already!" It's not as bad as "Tanis" in that regard, but I've read the synopsis, so let's get on with the story.

ETA: That's a little more like it. I just finished episode 1. If anyone else wants to listen, you can find the older episodes on podbay and a few other places. The website is gone and the links from facebook don't work.

Edited October 18, 2017 by ABay

[SVNBob]

Here's a new one with a bit of a story behind it.

I'm sure most people here are at least aware of the game Cards Against Humanity.  Most years, around this time of year, they do a special subscription promotion, each with a different theme.  Most of them in the past have been related to the holidays, but this year, they decided, with the help of the people that paid into this promotion, that Cards Against Humanity was going to Save America.

As part of this campaign, they launched a new podcast.  It's The Good News Podcast, and it's all about good news, humor, and those little things that can help restore your faith in humanity.  The episodes are short, no longer than 10 minutes or so, and released every weekday.  And they used some of the funds from the subscription campaign to make sure the podcast will be ad-free for an entire year.

The show started coming out only last week, so it'll be really easy to binge and catch up on.  I do recommend it, and probably would even if I hadn't helped pay for it.

[Athena]

Does anyone have recommendations for music-only podcasts? For example, I like the Song of the Day podcast which features no commentary and each episode is one song. I also like any curated playlists but with no to minimal commentary. I do not want any talk podcasts with a bit of music thrown in. I like it as a way of discovering new and old music that I do not have on my phone. Unlike radio that I stream, I can take it on the go as well. I'm flexible on genre except I don't really listen to a lot of country, metal or I guess anything deemed hard-core for commute and work. 

Thanks! 

[SVNBob]

On 6/11/2017 at 1:26 AM, SVNBob said:

Some of you might be familiar with the popular Twitch/YouTube series Critical Role.  For the unfamiliar, it's a live stream on Twitch, later posted to YouTube, where a group of voice actors, led by Matt Mercer, get together and play D&D.  This video series just hit 100 episodes of the campaign proper.  And to celebrate, they released the first 10 episodes (well, 11.  There's an Episode 0 introduction to the characters that was played often during the original video airings) as an audio-only podcast.

Updating this recommendation with new info.

First off, the original game campaign has finished.  After 115 episodes, each at least 3.5 hours long.  And the new campaign (same players, new characters) has just begun.

As for the podcast version:

They have released the entirety of the first campaign in the audio only format.  So all 115 episodes are available.

They're also releasing the new campaign now on a weekly basis, instead of multi-episode blocks whenever a lot were done.  The podcast releases are exactly one week after the episode livestreams on Thursdays.  The first episode of the new campaign went up earlier today as a podcast, and Episode 2 of the stream happened hours later.  And as part of the first episode, they acknowledged that they've got a lot of new viewers/listeners that may still be working their way through the archives of the original campaign, so they're trying really hard to avoid spoilers.  Which means that if this is something you're interested in, now is a really good time to join in.

[ABay]

I'm currently bingeing the Magnus Archives.  

[Joe]

Anyone know what happened to From the Sublime? Their site, podcast, and twitter have all disappeared.

[FozzyBear]

I’ve listened to fivethirtyeight for a couple of years now and I usually enjoy it. BUT...is the just me or has Nate Silver become sort of insufferable? I still like the show but i feel like Nate Silver throws a temper tantrum whenever the other hosts disagree with him.

[rainbowmonkey]

Mile Higher Podcast, The Conspiracy Show those 2 are the best ones for me

[MusubiMyHomie]

I'm really liking Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air. It's my current favorite podcast to fall asleep to with my headphones on and then play back the following morning to re-listen to the parts where I dozed off. A podcast is a much more ideal format for Wilmore than The Nightly Show was.

I miss Jordan Carlos' hilarious Dennis Rodman impression and any of the segments with Robin Thede, Mike Yard, Franchesca Ramsey, Grace Parra or Holly Walker. But I don't miss the panel segments, which were pointless and overcrowded, with multiple comedians constantly jockeying for as many laughs as they could get within only five or six minutes of chatter. I'm glad I never watched the much-maligned panel segment where Ricky Velez and Michelle Buteau were constantly interrupting Bill Nye. Longer conversations with just one other guest are a better fit for Wilmore than those panel segments ever were.

The Black on the Air episodes with Robin Thede and Malcolm Gladwell are standouts. At one point, Wilmore and Gladwell argue about golf because Wilmore loves the sport and Gladwell has attacked it for being "crack cocaine for rich white guys," but it's all done in jest. I don't know why, but two nerdy middle-aged black guys disagreeing in their nerdy voices about golf just cracks me up.

And Wilmore's Nightly Show catchphrase directed at Cosby — "I haven't forgot about you, motherfucker" — never gets old and has, of course, resurfaced a lot on the podcast lately.

[opus]

I'm nearing the end of Seincast, an episode by episode discussion of Seinfeld.  Only a few more to go, unless they segue way into  Curb Your Enthusiasm, which one of the hosts seems to want to do, while the other doesn't.

[ABay]

@MusubiMyHomie, thanks for posting about Larry Wilmore! I loved the Nightly Show and miss its voice, and didn't know about the podcast.