Podcast bonanza!

Taek

Taek

Well-Known Member
What podcasts do you listen to and why?

Why do you listen to podcasts?

What makes podcasts so addictive?

All these questions, and more, in this thread.

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So here's some that I've recently been listening to...

You're Wrong About. There's a lot of episodes about a lot of different subjects, they've done a few deep dives into certain subjects, with A LOT of episodes about the OJ Simpson trial, but also the DC Sniper and Princess Diana. They also love to talk about historically maligned women, and why we're wrong to remember them that way.

Fall of Civilizations Podcast. Each episodes talks about a historical civilisation and how and why they fell, some of the civilisations he talks about are massive, Byzantium, Mesopotamia, Mayans etc, but he also talks about smaller ones like the Greenland Vikings, and why the Romans left Britain.

You're Dead to Me. Another history one, though this is far more light hearted, hosted by the Horrible Histories guy, each episode he has a historian and a comedian on to talk about people, historical events and periods.

Folkways: The Folklore of Britain and Ireland. Does what it says on the tin really. Not many episodes, and they release pretty slowly, but I always find them incredibly interesting.

And then theres a few long form journalism podcasts that I think people might enjoy.

Bundyville season one and Bundyville season 2. A look into the rise of the far right in the US, how so much of it centres around a single family and a single cause, even if that cause has been repeated in a few different incidents across North America in the last 20-30 years. It can be pretty chilling at times, and if you're aware of modern day Republican politicians, you'll recognise a lot of names in this.

Shit Town. This is a true story about John B McLemore and the Alabama town he lives in. John is basically a genius with very serious depression, and he calls up a journalist about looking into police corruption in his town. I don't want to go into it anymore than that because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. If you only take it upon yourself to check out one of these podcasts in this list, check out this one.
 
Used to listen to Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman a lot where he invited artists, writers, voice actors and all sorts of people from Batman media past and present to talk about Caped Crusader stuff. Unfortunately it became something different along the way and now it's this generic "the newest, hottest superhero movies & TV shows" kinda deal where Kevin basically just creates hype for Marvel and DC.

I prefer audiobooks and audio dramas (especially on cassette!) otherwise.
 
Taek said:
What podcasts do you listen to and why?
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I tend to listen to P3 Dokumentär, but given that it's in Swedish, I won't even bother to link it.

For my Anglophilia, only The Electronic Wireless Show can sate my hunger with its dorky hosts and refusal to stay on the topic of video games. They also made the best actual play RPG podcast ever, and it was all fake!

Whiting Wongs was actually pretty good, despite its tendency to sometime become very inside Hollywood in a ways I find tiresome. A-tier dorkery about how weird Dan Harmon can be, but maybe not woke enough for some folks. Or too woke for some other folks...

Serious Inquiries Only can be neat, but I only listen to the episodes whose headline actually catches my attention. The backlog is well worth checking out, but I'd say that the show is better now that Thomas Smith has frequent co-hosts, though that also means he lets them be more nuanced and he goes off on more tangents and rants. The previous podcast, Atheistically Speaking, can be a "fun" time capsule, but I reckon it's not too valuable for most folks (organised atheism sure was a thing!).

Opening Arguments is another podcast with Thomas Smith, with a perpetual cohost in the form of some lawyer dude. If you, like me, enjoy looking in on the relative shitfest that is US common law from the outside, this tends to be a good listen.

I don't tend to listen to podcasts about entertainment much, so I have none to link.

Taek said:
Why do you listen to podcasts?
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Because I need contant entertainment to drive away the void inside. And because I can't stand audio books.
Taek said:
What makes podcasts so addictive?
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Because I can listen to people talk without having to expose myself to the 'rona. Also because sometimes I cba to listen to music.
Taek said:
Shit Town. This is a true story about John B McLemore and the Alabama town he lives in. John is basically a genius with very serious depression, and he calls up a journalist about looking into police corruption in his town. I don't want to go into it anymore than that because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. If you only take it upon yourself to check out one of these podcasts in this list, check out this one.
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This looks neato!
 
I (sometimes) listen to Trash Taste and Duncan Trussel podcasts. For those who might not know Trash Taste is a podcast where Gigguk, TheAnimeMan, and CDawgVA talk about... stuff? They talk about random shit ranging from anime to their lives? I think. And Duncan Trussel podcasts just talk about life and whatnot, perfect if you're drunk and/or high. Also if you have Netflix try watching Midnight Gospel which he made, that's where I discovered him.
And the only reason why I listen to em bcos they are amazing background noise when doing chores
 
I've two more wot I listen to:

History for Atheists, but I it's pretty ponderous at times (as are the blog and videos), but it tackles a lot of myths about Medieval times and whatnot.

Förintelseförsamlingens Podcast, which is in Swedish and is available only on YouTube, but whatever. The only metal podcast I need, and it gets like four episodes a year on average.
 
touches ground

It's been a long time since someone posted here huh

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I like to listen to story based podcasts. If you like stories with queer characters etc, that are good and kind of lean on noir or fantasy themes (there's two different subplots) - Penumbra Podcast is good. It takes a few episodes to hit its stride, as podcasts tend to go, but quite nice after.

The Magnus Archives is a pretty famous one, as far as horror. Some LGBT+ themes too. While this gets more prominent near the end, the main focus really is on horror and the stories start out as little episodics that become more connected as they move forward. With each being an episodic horror story, they're somewhat hit or miss. There's common themes and ideas behind them, and also some Q&As where the writers discuss what they consider the common elements of fear.
 
I love listening to podcasts! I listen to them on long drives, when I'm taking a walk, when I'm cleaning, to help me fall asleep... I listen to so many podcasts XD

Story-based podcasts

I have to mention Welcome to Nightvale, it was my first podcast, and I credit it with getting me into them. How do you describe this? Local radio show in a town in a desert somewhere...It's creepy, it's cute, it's funny. It's got existential horror, satire, romance, LGBTQ+ themes, amazing voice acting, and it's quotable AF. And it has ~the weather ~
https://www.welcometonightvale.com/listen


Alice isn't Dead is another one by them that's really good. http://www.nightvalepresents.com/aliceisntdead

And Within the Wires, http://www.nightvalepresents.com/withinthewires I need to finish this one, the bit i listened to was very cool.

The Black Tapes is really good as well. http://theblacktapespodcast.com/
I definitely recommend that one if you liked The Magnus Archives. (I just finished listening to that one!)

I listen to a lot of educational/non-fiction/ted-talk-esque podcasts. LOTS of NPR ones lol. I'll list some of my faves.
Throughline https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510333/throughline I've listened to a good bit of these, and they're always interesting. I always feel like I've learned something.
Another history one is Stuff You Missed in History Class https://www.iheart.com/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history-cl-21124503/
I Spy is also a cool one, real spies tell their stories. https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/ispy/

Seconding S-town and You're Wrong About...

Will be adding Folkways, Whiting Wongs, Opening Arguments, and Penumbra to my list!
 
I've never really gotten into podcasts, but I read about one called Old Gods of Appalachia and decided to give it a try. After a couple of episodes it's pretty much hillbilly Lovecraft. It takes some of the deep country in the United States and makes it a place where things unknowable rest deep bellow the surface and under the mountains. There's also an element of classism and fear of outsiders as it's the northern industrialists that come with money wanting to mine the coal in those mountains and cut down the trees in those forests that wake these dark deities of old. The people of the mountains know to fear them, but they are too desperate to escape poverty to turn the outsiders down.

The horrors of the unknowable are there, but the series describes the slow death every coal miner eventually comes to as just as much of a horror. Men trading their bodies for a little money. Even knowing that to take from mother earth means she takes something back.
 
ZetsubouKaiji said:
I've never really gotten into podcasts, but I read about one called Old Gods of Appalachia and decided to give it a try. After a couple of episodes it's pretty much hillbilly Lovecraft. It takes some of the deep country in the United States and makes it a place where things unknowable rest deep bellow the surface and under the mountains. There's also an element of classism and fear of outsiders as it's the northern industrialists that come with money wanting to mine the coal in those mountains and cut down the trees in those forests that wake these dark deities of old. The people of the mountains know to fear them, but they are too desperate to escape poverty to turn the outsiders down.

The horrors of the unknowable are there, but the series describes the slow death every coal miner eventually comes to as just as much of a horror. Men trading their bodies for a little money. Even knowing that to take from mother earth means she takes something back.
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Well, shit I've listened to 8 episodes now. I didn't intend to, but it makes for something good to listen to while driving. I had a few trips to make and ended up just listening the whole way. The atmosphere is spectacular and the narrator's accent and use of dialect give it a down to earth feeling. It was described as a horror anthology so I wasn't expecting all the episodes to link up into a story arc telling of one's towns doom when forces it couldn't comprehend collided.
 
Old Gods of Appalachia episode 4.5:

That monster description was so perfect. Would lose my mind if confronted by such a horror.

It was perfect because it starts out sounding like something you can imagine but it keeps going getting weirder and harder to imagine.
 
Episodes about the Witch Queen are my favorite episodes of Old Gods. They go deeper into the lore without spoiling the mystery. The Witch Queen was once a normal mortal witch, so she had some knowledge of the darker forces out there. After she made a deal with them for immortality, she became their servant. After years, she understands then enough to know she can never truly understand them or their goals.

Also, being a forest witch sounds nice at times.
 
ZetsubouKaiji said:
I've never really gotten into podcasts, but I read about one called Old Gods of Appalachia and decided to give it a try. After a couple of episodes it's pretty much hillbilly Lovecraft. It takes some of the deep country in the United States and makes it a place where things unknowable rest deep bellow the surface and under the mountains. There's also an element of classism and fear of outsiders as it's the northern industrialists that come with money wanting to mine the coal in those mountains and cut down the trees in those forests that wake these dark deities of old. The people of the mountains know to fear them, but they are too desperate to escape poverty to turn the outsiders down.

The horrors of the unknowable are there, but the series describes the slow death every coal miner eventually comes to as just as much of a horror. Men trading their bodies for a little money. Even knowing that to take from mother earth means she takes something back.
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I've also started listening to this and only a couple of episodes in, but it's a lot of fun
 
Taek said:
I've also started listening to this and only a couple of episodes in, but it's a lot of fun
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I'm starting the second season. The first season gets really nuts at the end in a good way. However, I actually think the three episode mini-arc between the first and second season about the Wolf Sisters are my favorite episodes so far. One thing that made it stand out was a Melvin. An everyman that is caught up in this situation because he's a genuinely kind and decent person in a series where there aren't many of those. He's loud and not the brightest, but he was endearing.
 
So I took a break from Old Gods, but last week I started up again and before I knew it I had flown through season 2. The writing is so fantastic and nuanced. It weaves in some pretty obvious social commentary about the price of progress and other other themes about the disenfranchised without every breaking character to stand on its soap box. The horror and mystery is always at the forefront but in the background there is a consistent theme of how the industrialization of the US happened so fast due to exploitation. It's not hard to miss all the worst villains are associated with the railroad or the coal mines.

I love so many of the recurring characters. All the Walker women are super cool. Even haints like Skint Tom grew on me. Hell, I even enjoyed the comedy act between The Rail Road Man and the two Amish bone men; they had some great jokes slipped into their dialogue. Melvin Blevin's is still an all star, especially now that you know exactly what happened to his daughter.

Ending the season with
the re-binding of the Queen of the Dead made for an epic climax that wasn't as grand as the first season, but is probably more important in terms of the overall narrative. RIP Skint Tom, you were an unlucky SOB right to the end.
 
@ZetsubouKaiji
Have you ever tried The Magnus Archives? It's pretty famous horror anthology wise, so I figure you might've heard of it at least. I think it's nice.

It's an anthology horror podcast that has episodes that are slightly connected and become more connected later. The first few seasons are especially easy to binge because they're not very connected. Since its focus is on horror and the creators routinely discuss what aspects of horror are compelling, patterns of horror, common fears etc and there's a bit of... horror meta in it? It might be interesting to you.
 
Claptrap said:
@ZetsubouKaiji
Have you ever tried The Magnus Archives? It's pretty famous horror anthology wise, so I figure you might've heard of it at least. I think it's nice.

It's an anthology horror podcast that has episodes that are slightly connected and become more connected later. The first few seasons are especially easy to binge because they're not very connected. Since its focus is on horror and the creators routinely discuss what aspects of horror are compelling, patterns of horror, common fears etc and there's a bit of... horror meta in it? It might be interesting to you.
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I started The Magnus Archives right after I caught up with Old Gods. I am about 20 episodes in so some of the connected elements are just starting to show.

It's quite a bit different from Old Gods as it's a lot more clinical. The stories are like good urban legends and folk horror, but I think my favorite bit is the after parts where the grumpy archivist takes the piss out of his coworkers and tries to work out how skeptical to be about each account.

I do like the episodes aren't too long. I can usually finish an episode on my way to work and another on my way home.
 
ZetsubouKaiji said:
I started The Magnus Archives right after I caught up with Old Gods. I am about 20 episodes in so some of the connected elements are just starting to show.

It's quite a bit different from Old Gods as it's a lot more clinical. The stories are like good urban legends and folk horror, but I think my favorite bit is the after parts where the grumpy archivist takes the piss out of his coworkers and tries to work out how skeptical to be about each account.

I do like the episodes aren't too long. I can usually finish an episode on my way to work and another on my way home.
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Way back I used to listen to an episode or two of the Magnus Archives in the early morning college lecture rooms with the lights out while I waited for more people to arrive. It was a good atmosphere for the episodes and since they were so short you could reliably finish one or two while waiting.

I'm curious how you end up feeling about the larger narrative that ends up getting woven around the stories. I liked the Q&As thst occurred between seasons or between certain episodes where the writers talked about what building blocks of horror, etc. because those are definitely interesting to think about.
 
Just finished the second season of The Magnus Archives. The first season was good, but the way things started to come together was on another level.

I quite like the way they described the entities as being so much more vast than humans that trying to wrap our minds around them is like an ant trying to understand a human about to step on their hive.
 
For more mainstream recommendations: Behind the Bastards and Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. The former probably doesn't need any introduction, but the latter is a less doomscrolly version for our shitty timeline (take that, Pangloss!). Its framing tends to be very dark, though, given that they are about resistance in times of extreme turmoil and strife.

As far as entertainment-related podcasts go, I can recommend Bad Books for Bad People, a pod about discussing more offbeat books (and The Witcher series, but I've never bothered to listen to those episodes).
 
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The Magnus Archives episode 100:

This one was a lot of fun. It's an episodes that hangs a lampshade on that one of the biggest difficulties the institute would face. Most people suck at telling a story even if it happened to them. This mix of crackpots would make up the majority of the statements receive.

The show stomped on the gas for the last part of season 2 and hasn't let up in season 3 at all. It's like one "oh shit" moment after another.
Something tells me that Johnathan's ability is going to make him super overpowered if he can learn to control it. Being able to compel information is a powerful weapon in this struggle.

Just feel like I need a flow chart to keep track of the characters and their allegences.
 
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