Ive come into the habit of listening to Kevin Smith and his partner in media Scott Mosier's podcast titled "SModcast" since Smith's whole too fat to fly thing lead to the site to hear his side of the story in whole. Since then three other podcasts have popped up in the SModcast "network" plus a seemingly lucritive advertisement deal with fleshlight that has Smith and company touring North America doing live podcasts.
Its now a part of my regular activities to sit here listening to the podcasters shoot the shit and tell stories while I play solitaire. I know Adam Corrola has moved to podcasting to escape censorship and a myriad of other restrictions but I have yet to take the time to listen.
Who do you listen to? are there any over-hyped podcasts or under-rated that you know of?
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
I suggest On Point by WBUR on NPR for news commentary as well as cultural topics, book reviews, etc. My brother has a podcast for toucharcade.com if you care about iPhone games.
Posted by umberhulk (Member # 11788) on :
Any of you guys want to start a podcast? A friend and I are gonna try it out soon. Starting with videogames.
Posted by Rodger Brown (Member # 11476) on :
I listen to a local (Salt Lake City / Utah) podcast called Geek Show Podcast. They delve into a myriad of subjects and entertainment possibilities. Their sponsors are local and they talk of local events but on the whole the vast majority of air time is good for all areas. Also available in NSFW and Clean versions.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
As I have a job that would cause me to shoot myself in the head out of boredom otherwise, I have taken to listening to podcasts over the last couple of years. My favorites:
This American Life: recommended here on Hatrack on a regular basis, and for good reason. Stories on a wide variety of themes. Excellent 95% of the time, only an occasional dud. They put out one episode a week for free on iTunes, and I believe they charge for the backlog.
The Moth Podcast: in a similar class as TAL, each week is a recording of someone telling a story live, without notes. The podcast seems to be a greatest hits kind of thing, taken from cds they've issued, so you usually get something good. Updated every week on iTunes.
Smodcast / Tell 'em Steve-Dave / Highlands: A Peephole History: The aforementioned podcasts of Kevin Smith and friends. In the flagship podcast, Smodcast, Kevin Smith and longtime producing partner Scott Mosier discuss a wide-range of ridiculous topics. Many genuine LOL moments in this show. Kevin Smith is perhaps the most honest and open person I've ever listened to. Tell 'em Steve-Dave features two of Kevin's long-time pals, Bryan Johnson and Walt Flannagan, who've also appeared on a number of episodes of Smodcast. They are also genuinely warm and funny, but a lot of the jokes assume a certain level of knowledge about Smith and Smodcast. A Peephole History is Smith, Johnson and Flannagan talking about Highlands, NJ, where they grew up. The great thing about all of these podcasts is that their entire backlog is available for free on iTunes or www.smodcast.com EDIT TO ADD: These shows contain a lot of swearing and graphic talk about things of a sexual nature.
Radiolab: A science podcast in the vein of This American Life. A scientific theme, and stories related to that theme. I get it off iTunes.
The Adam Carolla Podcast: started as the Adam Carolla Show after Carolla was fired from his job as a morning show DJ. This one depends very much on whether or not you're a fan of Carolla, as a good deal of it is him ranting on various topics. He has a guest on each show, but they're usually relegated to the role of audience to Carolla. It's also daily, so if you don't have a lot of time to fill with podcasts, you might want to pick and choose the episodes with guests you enjoy. www.adamcarolla.com or iTunes. EDIT TO ADD: This show contains a fair amount of swearing and some graphic talk about things of a sexual nature.
Jordan, Jesse Go: two guys talking about stuff with a guest. Jesse Thorne hosts The Sound of Young America and Jordan Morris is a host on Fuel TV. They're consistently hilarious. I don't know what else to say. Again, backlog available on iTunes. Start with a guest you recognize to get into it.
Man, I could go on, but I'll just list the rest: Doug Loves Movies, WTF with Marc Maron, Wiretap, You Look Nice Today (another really funny one), The Ricky Gervais Podcast (you've probably heard of it, I think they charge for it now), The History of Rome.
I also listen to a bunch of video game ones to fill in the cracks, but I won't say much about them. The best ones are Rebel FM, The Geekbox, and Retronauts.
All of this stuff is free on iTunes.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Fitz, do you not like The Mo and Glo(ria) Show? admittedly its not as regularly entertaining but I do enjoy empathyzing with Malcolm Ingram on how wierd it is to discuss topics with someone who reminds me of my grandmother.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by AchillesHeel: I know Adam Corrola has moved to podcasting to escape censorship and a myriad of other restrictions but I have yet to take the time to listen.
I listen to every show. He's very good in that format, if you like that sort of thing, which is a ymmv situation.
I also listen religiously to Planet Money (co-production of PRI and NPR), the Stuff You Should Know podcast from Howstuffworks.com, the Economist, the Onion Radio News, PRI the World's Tech podcast, Today In the Past by John Hodgman, and El Mundo BBC.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
The History of Rome - A great overview of Roman history. A great overview of Roman History. Currently it covers up to the Severan Dynasty, and is updating weekly.
Astronomy Cast - An extremely awesome show for anyone at all interested in astronomy. They cover a ton of different topics, and really do a good job explaining the subject matter. Their motto is "We'll help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know.", and they really deliver on it. For anyone even remotely interested in space, I can't recommend this show enough.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
I don't listen to it, Achilles. I like Malcolm from his various appearances on Smodcast, but the description of that show doesn't really appeal to me. I'll give it a try one day when I'm searching for something to fill in the gaps on my playlist.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Between This American Life, Planet Money, and Adam Carolla, I have more than enough to fill the podcast listening time that needs filling.
Carolla's a somewhat distant third. I find him entertaining but 90 minutes a day is more than he can fill compellingly.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
The Bugle, hilarious weekly news commentary from The Daily Show's John Oliver and comedian Andy Zaltzman. Excellent.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Recently started listening to the Sinica podcast which is run by a number of prominent and well-informed expats, including a decent number of foreign journalists based around China.
Good discussions on politics, journalism, and the like.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I will very strongly second This American Life and Radiolab. The two shows are just brilliant and far and away my favorite podcasts.
I've found a third one recently called Wiretap, which is out of the CBC. It's hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, who is the former producer of, and regular contributor to, This American Life. The format entails monologues by Goldstein and series of conversations with his oddball friends, which tend to be stories/comedy shtick, disguised as conversations. There are also readings of stories a la This American Life. It's very funny, but also can be poignant in a way similar to TAL.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
Wiretap is awesome. I can't get enough of Howard. I wish it was longer than 25 minutes.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I know, I just caught up on everything they had available on iTunes in the last month. I'm going to go through withdrawal being cut down to once a week now.
You wouldn't happen to have podcasts from earlier than a year ago would you? I know I can stream them on the website, but if I can get them in bulk, that would be much easier.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
Sorry man, I don't. The oldest episode on iTunes is the first one I listened to.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
There was one episode, that I heard on the radio, where they did a series of back and forth letters between the character in Kafka's Metamorphosis (who is trying to get help with his problem) and Dr. Seuss (who is helping him). It was fantastic. I need to find it.
Posted by Selran (Member # 9918) on :
I like Hardcore History. Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
I'm a fan of You Look Nice Today, which is really just three guys talking. But they are hilarious. They also haven't done new ones in...over two months. But their old ones are still great.
Also, I was just introduced to Filmspotting, which is a really cinephile oriented podcast. I've only listened to two, but so far, so good.
Posted by Amberkitty (Member # 12365) on :
For non-NPR? I like Kink On Tap, Polyamory Weekly, Savage Love, and Litopia.
But nothing really beats Wait, Wait .. Don't Tell Me or the Diane Rehm Show.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Fitz, I just listened to Smith and Ingram do the new Blow Hard performed live at SModcastle... and Ingram actually shocked THAT audiance at one point. Looking forward to the Smith and Mewes show about getting older, see if Mewes can be kept on topic.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
Geez, two new podcasts? Good thing you mentioned it, since I use iTunes and rarely visit smodcast.com.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
quote:Originally posted by Strider: There was one episode, that I heard on the radio, where they did a series of back and forth letters between the character in Kafka's Metamorphosis (who is trying to get help with his problem) and Dr. Seuss (who is helping him). It was fantastic. I need to find it.
Funny you should mention this. They played it in this week's episode.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
I primarily listen to two local (Salt Lake City) podcasts:
The Geek Show Podcast is a great resource for all things geeky. I highly recommend it. They release a safe-for-work and NSFW version every week.
Radio West is a decent program on the local NPR station that delves into a number of subjects: politics, local stories, national headlines, books, etc. I really like it because each show is dedicated to only one topic, making the discussion a lot more in depth than other talk shows.
The more nationally recognized podcasts I listen to are podcasts of This American Life, Talk of the Nation, Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me, and To the Best of Our Knowledge.
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