What's a great podcast you'd like to share?
What's a great podcast you'd like to share?
Behind the Bastards
fun + informative history podcast on awful people and events with a comedic bent
What's a great podcast you'd like to share?
Behind the Bastards
fun + informative history podcast on awful people and events with a comedic bent
Blowback - https://blowback.show/
History of US interventions on different places over the last century.
Darknet Diaries - https://darknetdiaries.com/
True stories from the dark side of the Internet
I highly recommend Darknet Diaries.
I enjoy all of the episodes in one way or another. But here are a few of my recommendations.
Ep 36: Jeremy from Marketing - "A company hires a penetration tester to pose as a new hire, Jeremy from Marketing, to see how much he can hack into in his first week on the job. It doesn't go as planned."
Ep 14: #OpJustina - "In 2013 a hospital was accused of conducting a medical kidnapping against a young girl named Justina. This enraged many people across the country, including members of Anonymous. A DDOS attack was waged against the hospital."
Ep 24: Operation Bayonet - "Darknet markets are online black markets. They are highly illegal, and dangerous to run. Hear exactly how dangerous it was for Alphabay and Hansa dark markets.
Ep 29: Stuxnet - "Stuxnet was the most sophisticated virus ever discovered. It's target was a nuclear enrichment facility in Iran. This virus was successfully able to destroy numerous centrifuges. Hear who did it and why."
Xbox underground is great story too.
I had a friend working at Microsoft in the Xbox division during that time who recommended me that podcast.
I love Darknet Diaries. I want to recommend one in the same genre, Modem Mischief.
Oooo Jeremy from marketing was very fun, gonna keep on listening! Thank you!
The Dollop: THIS is a bi-weekly American history podcast where labradoodle daddy and wearer of pants Dave Anthony reads a story from American history to his nemesis Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the story is about
I love Gary
For anyone looking for a good episode to start with, The Rube is a certified classic.
C’MON RUBE LETS PLAY!
I’m listening to that now and had to turn it off at work because I was laughing so hard.
Got any more great Dollop recs I might have missed? I’m a more recent convert - past few years or so, so anything before then :)
Great shout. Brilliant podcast.
They were on Behind the Bastards for KISSINGER and they were very funny.
I hadn't put that together, will definitely check them out now.
I’m listening to the Elon Musk one now. That is a wild ride.
Not exactly a new one, but I listened to S-town with great enjoyment. It's a little story about an alleged murder, a truly original American man, and rural Alabama. I was never bored, and I certainly learned something. And you get to hear an amazing Alabama accent.
Excellent miniseries! Know of other similar podcasts?
I wanna reply with my town I grew up in with a letter-hyphen combo but I'd dox myself at some point in time otherwise 😜
And u all neva gonna get that, neva gonna get that, tra-la-la-la-LA!
Hell yeah, I love Behind the Bastards, I also reccomend its sister podcast Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, similar podcast I Don't Speak German (antifascists talking about various goings on regarding the far right) and, if you want Something Completely Different, Film Reroll, an actual play podcast in which all the campaigns are based on movies.
You're wrong about (until Michael Hobbes left at least)
If books could kill
Maintenance phase
Maybe I just really like Michael Hobbes...
I actually really like the woman from you're wrong about. Her laid back speech pattern is really appealing to me
To me it just seems like the episodes go on for too long without much actual information? I haven't listened to many old episodes yet, though, so I don't know if that's how it's always been
I still enjoy some of the new episodes, though agree it was more entertaining before. This is super nitpicky and probably more to do with my misophonia but the way he inhales while reading really made me angry though.
Last podcast on the left, their research is great but they lean heavily into their comedy to really make the story entertaining.
I used to listen to them all the time.before the move to Spotify. Once they came out from behind Spotify and I could get them in my preferred app, I just couldn't get back in the grove of listening to them. It seemed like for every 5 of their releases, I would find one interesting.
Don't let this stop anyone else from listening to them as they research the shit out of their topics. Their Jim Jones episodes were more informative than any other description I have ever heard.
It seemed like for every 5 of their releases, I would find one interesting.
You can tell the difference between the episodes researched by them and their research team. I still listen to them from time to time, their recent series on the Survival on the Andes is harrowing, one of their best episodes in recent times.
Comedy Bang Bang - improv comedy where Scott Aukerman interviews interesting people, and by interesting people i mean comedians playing absurd characters. It's been going for fifteen years, Paul F Tompkins, Jason Mantzoukas, and Ben Schwarz are all regulars, and it's the only podcast I listen to almost every week.
Get Played - a gaming podcast featuring Heather Anne Campbell, Matt Wiger and Nick Apodaca (I've almost definitely misspelled or misremembered at least one of these names). They talk about games whilst being very funny - Heather is a comedy writer, Matt is occasionally on Comedy Bang Bang. It's the only gaming podcast I listen to despite much of their coverage being games I am not interested in.
Sean Carroll - mindscape
Fraser Cain - universe today
David Eagleman - inner cosmos
In a similar vein, I'd like to recommend Skeptics Guide To The Universe. Mostly focused on science news and critical thinking. I believed they've interviewed Sean Carroll several times in the past as well.
It's been around for 18 years, and they have a very rigid format that may not be for everyone, but I personally really like the organization of it
Yes, fully agree, that's my Saturday morning special. Also talk nerdy by Cara Santa Maria can be quite nice.
youarenotsosmart.com psychology, sociology, & more. Sounds boring but is fascinating. His own description:
The central theme of You Are Not So Smart is that you are unaware of how unaware you are which leads you to becoming the unreliable narrator in the story of your life. You Are Not So Smart is a fun exploration of the ways you and everyone else tends to develop an undeserved confidence in human perception, motivation, and behavior. I hope you’ll rediscover a humility and reconnect with the stumbling, fumbling community of humans trying to make sense of things the best we can.
Omnibus. Hosted by Ken Jennings and John Roderick. They are both funny, enjoy each other's company, and extremely knowledgeable. The show covers a swath of esoteric topics.
Farheed Zakaria - Global Public Square.
Great political and events analysis.
Pivot
Tech news and analysis, but they cover many different things.
Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics things. Really well done.
99% invisible
The hidden side of everything. Gosh darn if it the title may seem boring but he covers it extremely well and I've never regretted listening to an episode.
Midnight Burger
Dungeons and Daddies (not a BDSM podcast)
A D&D podcast about 4 dads from our world that get tossed into the Forgotten Realms on a quest to find their missing kids. It's fucking hilarious.
Old Gods of Appalachia
Many eons ago, Earth was a prison for things that shouldn't be. Buried under what we now call the Appalachian Mountains, long they waited. But time weathers all things, and what were once gigantic mountains have eroded to mere nubs of what they once were. Then man, in his quest for coal, cracked open that black prison and things started leaking out... Set in "alternate Appalachia" in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A great, dark story.
Scared To Death
Think of all those scary stories you've ever heard... urban legends, ghost stories, monsters, cryptids, aliens... Of course, most of them are just stories right? But what if one of them was true? And, if one of them was true, what does that mean for the rest of them? Each week, they take two stories found on the internet and two-four listener-submitted stories, tell them, and assuming they're true, discuss what that would mean. Take care while listening.
I bounced right off of Scared to Death; I guess I'm not a fan of their dynamic as hosts? Or maybe I just prefer the narrative style of podcast instead of the 'two zany hosts' format, idk.
Here are some other spooky ones, as well! :
Camp Monsters Podcast
Incredible audio-storytelling podcast for fans of getting into nature, sitting around the campfire and telling scary stories. The audio design is topnotch, and the host does a wonderful job. I'm usually not a fan of overly-produced sounding podcasts, but this one strikes a really good balance of audio-drama type soundscapes and one host telling you a story. The Dark Watcher episode really got me good and spooked while listening to it in bed.
Ghost Story
This is for fans of true crime and ghosts. Some crazy real-life coincidences occur to bring together a man with a ghost in his teenage bedroom and the woman he marries. Turns out, her murdered great grandmother may be the ghost he was visited by. He then uses his skillset as an investigative journalist to look into her and her brother's murder from the post WWI era. While predominantly a true crime podcast, the descriptions of the haunting were quite vivid and scared me while I was home alone at night.
Dungeons and Daddies seconded!
Medical podcasts
This Podcast Will Kill You
Saw Bones
Heavyweight on Spotify.
I've been listening to this series for a few years. People have a regret, encounter, or problem from the past that they wish to follow up but need help. Jonathan Goldstein is a go between in helping these people bury the past or make amends. One particular story is Gregor who lends a CD to a pre-famous Moby. The CD contains the songs that Moby sampled and made him huge but never returned the CD to Gregor. Heavyweight helps Gregor get the CD.
Unfortunately some muppet at Spotify has decided to stop this excellent series so check it out before it goes.
The Age of Napoleon. I'm a Patreon supporter because it's simply an awesome and informative podcast about a hugely interesting and transformative era and person.
Strict Scrutiny
A breakdown of the inside politics of the Supreme Court and the cases before them.
What do you think of Legal AF with Popok?
I'm not familiar but I will have to check it out.
Beautiful/Anonymous with Chris Gethard. Random people call in and have 1 hour where Chris can’t hang up only the caller.
Safety third - chaotic chat podcast from sciency/maker youtubers.
Was going to suggest this too.
Comedy Bang Bang
Great improve podcast. Lots of funny people.
F**kface, it's not really about anything, just very funny ramblings, listen a lot when I'm cooking and can't have full attention on something educational.
I love listening to f**kface on their YouTube channel because sometimes they will post pictures about what they're talking about. Every episode seems to have at least one visual element to it
I tend to like history podcasts by academics, so here are three:
History of Egypt Podcast
Emperors of Rome
AskHistorians podcast, but I admit I pick and choose episodes with that one. I do wish they'd come over to the Fediverse, but I kind of get it, as their stated goals are broad outreach and getting warm&fuzzies for their mostly younger academics.
Another good one is History of English
Do you mean Kevin Stroud's linguistic history one? If so, I do listen to it and like it a lot. I didn't include it because his degrees are in poli-sci and law, but he at least follows my main shibboleth for a thoughtful podcast by not shying away from "it depends" as an answer.
What I don't like as much are the "well I need to make sure I tell a good story" types who read one secondary source, misinterpret one primary source, and then spend the rest of their time making sure they are awesome and dramatic. I don't have time or motivation to keep up with the literature on Egyptology, but I'd prefer to get my survey of the subject from someone who does.
These will probably have a British/English slant to them.
Ars Paradoxica
It may be a little older, in podcast terms, but it's a great time travel journey from 20XX to 1943. Even for being a fictional story, it does get a lot of things right in historical context.
I recommend it because it's one I started with and still keep coming back to just because it's such a good story.
Edit: Bonus of being older, it's complete so you can binge to your heart's content
Late to the party here. Love many of the podcasts already shared, but I'd like to reccomend a couple.
The Weekly Planet: if you're somewhat interested in keeping up with movies. Two aussie blokes, James and Maseau, have great banter keeping up with the entertainment industry. They originally kept up with comic book movies and adjacent content, but they do all kinds of movies. Doesn't take itself seriously, but never devolves into repeating every click bait headline you read. Been keeping up for 8 years now.
Filthy Casuals: three aussie comedians, Tommy Dassalo, Ben Vernel, and Adam Knox, keep up with the video game industry. Similar to my last recommendation, but if you're interested in video games.
National Park After Dark: hosted by two lovely ladies, Danielle and Cassie, and covers many different topics. Topics covered have included true crime, cryptids, and folklore but the two hosts try to keep a focus on outdoor experiences. They want to encourage people to get out and visit the many parks across the US, but to do so safely and respectfully.
Blocks w/ Neal Brennan - "Based on his Netflix comedy special, "Blocks." Neal Brennan interviews friends and colleagues about the things that make them feel lonely, isolated, and like something's wrong - and how they are persevering despite these blocks."
Well, there's your problem. It's a podcast about engineering disasters. With slides.
As a mechanical engineer, you had me sold at engineering disasters. But with slides?? That's the cherry on top.
Time Suck with Dan Cummins. He covers a variety of topics with lots of irreverent humor and inside jokes. His most recent topics include: the Riverside killer, cult of the twin flames universe, Colonel Sanders, and the protocol's of the elders of Zion.
Join the Cult of the Curious and listen to our Lord Suckmaster today! 3/5 stars, wouldn't change a thing! Go team meatsack!
Dudesy is a fun pod show with Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen. First and only podcast written by and direct by an AI. Don't break kayfabe, brother.
You ever watch The Dudesons? Amazing shit lol
The Apocalypse Players - A Call of Cthulu TTRPG. Two of my favorite are: Machine Tractor Station Kharkov-37 and A Christmas Inheritance.
The Duncan Trussell Family Hour - Lot of the guests tend to be Buddhist monks, comedians, spiritual gurus, occultists, etc. Ranges from mundane topics to esoteric ones.
Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman and Data Over Dogma - Both discuss the Bible from an academic view. The cultural context behind the Gospels, the biases in each Gospel, the non-canonical gospels
Hi-Phi Nation - Uses stories to talk about philosophical topics. Recommend: Wishes of the Dead, Moral Exploitation, The Morality of War, and the 2 Part Hackademics.
The Cracked Podcast - Generally it's comedians and journalists talk about various topics. Really good episodes are: 4 Mind-Blowing Truths About America (Made Clear By Baseball), Why Americans Hate The Poor (with David Wong & John Cheese), and Why A New Civil War Will Be Fought By A Thousand Sides.
The Rest is History. Two brits historians talking about world history stuff informally, twice a week. It's really fun! Also Mike Duncan's Revolutions and the History of Rome.
Andrew Huberman --> Huberman Labs
Neuroscientist and professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University.
Does amazingly detailed, up-to-date, research backed podcasts with many other Doctors and such discussing topics involving the brain, sleep, dopamine, routines, diet, mechanisms of action, etc
My favorite podcast I'm always down to listen to and it's on basically every platform.
ENJOY! :)
The Blindboy Podcast
Blindboy Boatclub, famous as one half of The Irish duo The Rubber bandits, shares intimate and interesting "hot takes" on various subjects, interviews with interesting artists, and original short fiction all against the backdrop of an original soothing ambient piano track. This is my comfort podcast.
If you haven't seen it already check out Bobby Fingers on YouTube. Only 4 videos so far (all amazing) and is the other half of the Rubber Bandits. Very talented VFX artist
Please Stop Talking A bunch of youtubers (SirMeowMusic, Noodle, Mandalore Gaming, Brendaniel, etc) get together and tell hilarious stories. There has yet to be an episode I've listened to where I didn't leave laughing. They even do other types of shows beyond PST. They talk about watching horror movies (and also Bob's Burgers) in Pondering Spooky Tapes, they just aired a pilot for a new gaming podcast called Press Turbo Start, and they're about to start up a new DnD campaign in Perilous Storytelling.
I highly recommend this podcast. They're so funny. https://www.youtube.com/@PleaseStopTalkingPodcast/featured
Smart Enough to Know Better - Australian podcast where two guys discuss things that interest then in a humorous way. Could be the latest astrophysics news, could be the location of stomachs and diet of a centaur.
www.theskepticsguide.org Separating science from pseudoscience, medicine from quckery.
Distractible (if you already follow Markiplier, muyskerm or lordminion777)
Girls who don't DND (a refreshing take on DND from people who take it with humour, highly entertaining)
Uhh Yeah Dude They've been doing the podcast since 2006, and just surpassed their 1000th episode. Listener supposed and ad free. Just two guys trying to figure it all out.
Imposters on Spotify is another gripping show following people who lived off huge whopping lies and upset people along the way.
The episodes about Wayne Simmons who passed himself off as a deep cover spy for the CIA and managed to lie his way to be a regular Fox News "expert" and Whitehouse access. Amazing example of how far you can get with balls of steel and being an arrogant loud mouth.
My personal short list of Podcasts:
Chilluminati Podcast: A mystery, supernatural, true crime, UFO/UAP comedy podcast. The cast has a lot of chemistry and they research into the paranormal with both hopeful naivety and critical skepticism.
Let's learn everything: Three people passionate about science cover different topics and answer variety questions that delve deep into the world of scientific research.
Lateral: Tom Scott's quiz show where guests try to answer obtuse and unexpected questions with even more obtuse and convoluted reasoning.
Cox 'n' Crendor show: Youtubers Jesse Cox and Crendor do a weekly morning radio show spoof where they just talk about random stuff that happens in their lives.
Play, Watch, Listen: Game devs, writers and actors, get together whenever they have a chance to talk about various topics regarding the world of video games, movies and music. Mainly Alanah Pearce (writer, God of War), but also Troy Baker (voice actor and musician, The Last of US), Mike Bithell (programmer, Thomas was alone) and Rahul Kohli (actor, Midnight Mass).
The Geekenders: Streamer and Youtubers Dodger (Brooke Thorne, Dexbonus) and Jesse Cox gather every weekend to meet a weekly guest and talk about variety topics, mostly about video games. Sort of a spiritual revival of the legendary Cooptional podcast format that was lead by Total Biscuit (John Bain, The cynical brit).
I would also list The Podcats but Daniel Hardcastle (Nerdcubed) can barely be bothered with scheduling recordings with MATN and Mattophobia anymore.
Fictional is great, when he actually does updates. He tells sort of cliff notes versions of classic literature, with an accessible modern tone and language. Lot of Sherlock Holmes and Shakespeare in longer multi-part episodes, but also just some good short stories like ones from Poe and Philip K Dick.
Very Presidential on Spotify.
This is a revealing insight in to past US presidents and shows the murkiness and greed of politicians embarking on power and making the most of it whilst they can.
They tell of Lyndon B Johnson who enjoyed showing off his prodigous cock in front of people. JFK who was drugged up most of the time whilst playing Russia at Nukes. Gerald Ford seemed to be the only normal genuine president.
The Constant: A history of getting things wrong
History of Everything
History of Rome
Revolutions
Crime in Sports and Small Town Murder, same hosts and very funny. You don't need to know about sports (more about the crime)
Improbable Research The chemistry between the host and readers is what makes me love it. And the subjects, of course. It's a podcast by the ignobel prize people, about weird, fun and interesting research.
The Connect With Johnny Mitchell. Great stories and guests about prison, cartels, drug trafficking, etc..