What podcasts do you listen to (and why?)

[CleverNickName]

I only recently started listening to podcasts, and only two of them with any frequency.
Welcome to Nightvale, and The Magnus Archives.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Stuff you should know and other spin offs from that are my go to. Lots of really interesting stuff. Mom and dad are fighting is another good one for parents. Then one offs like Serial

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

I also periodically brows 99% invisible

Avid 99PI listener. Also WBEZ Chicago's Curious City, answering listener questions about Chicago trivia and culture. Those two typically make up my "weekend lawnmowing listen."

Technically, they're radio programs first, but I listen to Science Friday and Sound Opinions, "The world's only Rock & Roll radio show."

Irregular listener of Two Pint PLC, since it blends education (my profession) with drinking (which my profession induces.)

Some friends of mine used to do a wargaming podcast called Geeks of the North. They would review KS and new games. They also painted minis at the same time. Listeners were invited to do the same. I did. They abandoned the project because of covid-19 and real life

That's a shame. I met them at Hayward Muskiefest right when they were getting going. Seemed like fun guys, listened to an ep or two.

 

[Zaukrie]

I do like Sound Opinions a lot. And science Friday.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I love podcasts! I listen to them a lot when I'm doing chores. I used to listen while commuting, but then I bought an electric bike!

Here's what I listen to:

Comedy Bang Bang - it's a crazy improv comedy podcast that's like being let in on nonstop inside jokes. This show replaced political podcasts I used to listen to before the election of Trump.

99% Invisible - I've been listening since it was a 4-minute podcast. I always learn something new about design, architecture, or history!

Memory Palace - Maybe my favorite podcast of all time. Each episode is between 10 and 20 minutes long, and is a kind of narrative retelling of some historic event, place, or person. It's just crafted so well, and is a lovely podcast to listen to. Highly recommended!

Selected Shorts - This is a long-running Radio Show that is now two podcasts, one called "Too Hot For Radio." Both shows have actors on stage reading short fiction. I'm a big fan of short stories, and this show might as well be custom-crafted for me.

Hidden Brain - A really cool nonfiction show about our brains, focusing on psychology, sociology, and science. I always get something out of it, and I was almost on an episode once!

Snap Judgment - Storytelling with a beat. A great, great radio show / podcast about... everything. It's a mix of narrative, personal storytelling, and investigative journalism all with style. I got to see a live show once, and it was fantastic.

Imaginary Worlds - A podcast about science fiction and fantasy. It touches on a lot of my interests, and the ones about subjects I don't know a lot about (like Dr. Who) help me appreciate new subjects and genres.

The Moth - True stories told on stage without notes. The stories always stick with me. If I need to pass the time, this is the one that always transports me somewhere new.

 

[Zaukrie]

The Moth is quite good!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I went to a few of the live Moth regional shows and dang, were they funny. Except for the one person that, had they had one of the shepherds crooks to use to yank them offstage, they would have.

My general podcast listening consists of:

The Appendix N Book Club - As anyone that has followed the What Are You Reading threads would know, I love Appendix N lit. This show does a wonderful job discussing it, with both love and criticism when due.

Hello From the Magic Tavern - Funny stuff indeed. Nowhere near caught up, but I'm working on it.

The Friendship Onion - It's Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan talking about their life experiences and friendship together. Super-wholesome stuff.

The Purple Stuff - I'm a nostalgic guy, and though some of the references they make are a hair after my time, on the whole this podcast nails it. Where else can you hear someone talk about Fireball from The Running Man and having a fit and praying for a Modulok action figure?

Bonefireside Chat - The Soulsborne series is one of my favorites, and it's surprisingly enjoyable to revisit Dark Souls 1 in all its joy and despair. Hearing how other people suffered just as much in Blighttown is reassuring.

EDIT: Removed the TTRPG-related podcasts, missed that part.

 

[Yora]

Well, There's Your Problem "the podcast about engineering disasters, with slides." (Which you see only in the youtube version.)
It's three engineers with strong socialist leanings who talk about big industrial disasters and cover both the technical facts and the years of corruption and negligence that made the disasters possible in the first place. Often really bleak stories, but still a really funny show, with lots of jokes about the social and environmental evils of capitalism. Also "cars bad, trains good". Certainly an acquired taste and preaching to the faithful, but I always find them very entertaining.

From Rewatch With Love, a now completed series about rewatching and then reviewing every single James Bond movie in order, with looks ahead and back at the production history of the entire series. Also has a version on youtube that doesn't have a lot to look it, but the occasional hilarious visual joke by the editor.
Great series I really recommend to all James Bond fans.

 

[Zaukrie]

There are some interesting podcasts about music and scores in movies that really examine how they change how we feel about the movies. Though I can never remember which one is which.....

 

[Ryujin]

Rather sadly two podcasts I would listen to regularly have effectively ended. "Odd Tonic", a podcast about weird history, weird science, and the paranormal is officially on hiatus because of the lockdown, and the economic realities contained therein, and I'm hoping it comes back. It's done by Jennifer Page (a name some here would almost certainly recognize) and Maxwell Holechek (God, but I hope I spelt Max's name right!).

Coddiwomple was a podcast out of Matt Vancil's (another possibly familiar name to folks here) Patreon. It's not the podcast of the same name, that seems to have recently started up. Matt would discuss a variety of topis including some peeks into his writing process and his works, past, present, and future. Matt closed his Patreon, a while back, and also ended his podcast.

Two Bards is the project of Scott C Brown (there's another one of those possibly familiar names) and Andy Dopieralski. It's gone rather intermittent, again owing to the realities of the Covid world, but is still running. They discuss their lives in the American Pacific Northwest, gaming (both electronic and RPG), film making, and general interest.

Why did/do I listen? They're all friends. It's a way to keep up with them and hear voices that I miss hearing, when I can't talk to them directly. A 3 hour time difference might not seem like much but when I'm up at 5:00am or earlier for work, it's more like a 6 hour difference.