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 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!
His follow up Revolutions is even better
That’s how I was made aware of “The History of Rome”. I listened to the last chapters of “Revolutions” and decided to start from the beginning before listening to the rest.
My current “roadmap” of sorts is to finish “The History of Rome”, then "The History of Byzantium* (not made by Duncan) and listen to the rest of “Revolutions” afterwards
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.
You might also like:
- Search Engine
- Tech Won’t Save Us
- Moderated Content
- Mystery AI Hype Theater
Search Engine had been my favorite podcast in the last year or so.
I wanted to finish Wheel of Time, but couldn’t slog my way through all the books again, so I listened to the Dragon Re-Read. A ton of fun conversation and saved me so much time and reading.
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
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.
- The Decentered Podcast - discussions about fediverse projects and interviews with the people working on them
- SANS Daily Stormcast - daily cybersecurity alerts
- Risky.biz - weekly cybersecurity news and discussions with industry professionals
- Security Now - weekly cybersecurity news and topical deep dives
- NPR: Up First - daily US and global news
- LeVar Burton Reads - LeVar Burton reads short stories
It Could Happen Here is often talking about what’s going on that week in the world. I wouldn’t try to listen to their whole backlog, but I usually catch an episode or two a week.
Behind the Bastards is great. Since I found it (Summer 2020, I’d reckon), I’ve listened to most of what has come out since.
Cool People who did Cool Stuff is a sort of spin off of btb. Deep dives on people and movements who were resisting the bastards. It’s only been going on a couple of years, so the backlog is more manageable if that’s your thing.
I listen to Past Times on the Dollop feed most weeks. The Dollop is another deep dive history podcast. On Past Times, they read headlines and articles from different newspaper every week. Usually from the late 19th through early 20th century, but they’ve gone as far back as the 1600s.
Anything by Jamie Loftus is great. She’s mostly done short run things on a single topic. She’s on the Bechdel cast, too which I listen to occasionally.
You might enjoy The Deprogram, which has a less daunting backlog.
I want to like Cool People who did Cool stuff, but the way information is presented by Margaret almost reads (listens?) like fiction storytelling. I appreciate the source quotes and media critiques of BtB which the few episodes of CPWDCS I’ve listened to didn’t really have.
I like listening to people play RPGs. I mostly enjoy them playing Pokemon but have run out of them I used to listen to M&M and now listen to DnD.
•Bear Brook
•We’re Here to Help
•Reveal
•Radiolab
•Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me
Metis in Space!
Been going through Behind the Bastards and I enjoy it a lot. I started from the beginning which was excellent for understanding some of the memes and ongoing jokes.
I skip the “It Could Happen Here” episodes personally because they are very long and tend to bring me down, but they’re also really good and they really highlight the vulnerabilities of contemporary systems of government.
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.
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
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.
- Rough Translation
- P3 Dystopia
- Madigan’s Pubcast
- Omnibus
NECRONOMIPOD
You get: Aliens Cults Cryptids Conspiracies True Crime
And so much more. It may just be three dudes from Ohio bullshitting around in a basement but I fucking love it
