What I’m Listening To: My Favorite Podcasts

Podcasts have finally come into their own. I’ve been listening to Podcasts pretty much from the beginning and for many, many years the content was sparse. What was even worse was content discovery. Thankfully both of those problems are being solved as Podcasts become more popular as a media. But it’s still mostly a word-of-mouth game, so here are the Podcasts that I enjoy if you’re looking for new ones to add to your queue. Of course, there are a lot of ways I could’ve organized/grouped this information (Information Architecture nerd alert), but I’ve grouped it by Podcast Network because I’ve personally found that to be the most useful tool of discovery. For reference, my interests = Psychology (Human Behavior), Storytelling. Comedy.

NPR podcasts

Usually the entrance point to new podcasters and I pretty much have tried them all, but here are my favorites (oh and if you hate NPR programming, you should probably go ahead and stop reading this now – unless you want to tell find what podcasts to avoid – because it looks like our interests are very different).

  1. TED Radio Hour (an audio accompaniment to the popular TED Talks videos) are probably one of the most popular podcasts and fairly well known, so definitely a great place to start. However, what I’m enjoying even more are the relatively new Sincerely, X talks from speakers who want to share their idea anonymously. Either for fear it would hurt someone in their family if they did so publicly or because they are quiet idealists whose solutions could transform lives, but they don’t want to be seen as brand promoting.
  2. This American Life = I love Ira Glass.
  3. WNYC:
    1. Radiolab = a show about curiosity weaving stories and science into sound and music-rich documentaries.
    2. Freakonomics = The hidden side of everything.
    3. 2 Dope Queens = Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams are joined by their favorite fellow comedians for stories about sex, romance, race, hair journeys, living in New York, and Billy Joel. Plus a whole bunch of other s**t.
  4. Hidden Brain = Exploring the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior 
  5. Invisibilia = Invisibilia (Latin for invisible things) is about the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. (<–seeing a theme here?)
  6. Snap Judgement = Amazing storytelling, with a BEAT.

Radiotopia from PRX

  1. 99% Invisible = About all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.
  2. The Memory Palace = a storytelling podcast about the past.
  3. Mortified = Relive the awkwardness of adolescence with true tales of teen angst, from the hilarious to the heartbreaking. Adults share the embarrassing things they created as kids– diaries, letters, lyrics & beyond– in front of total strangers.
  4. Ear Hustle = Ear Hustle brings you stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it.
  5. Criminal = The show tells stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle.
  6. The Allusionist = Scratches the surface of why we say the things we say. English is a big messy mutt of a language, formed by military invasion after military invasion, plus countless tiny idiosyncratic decisions made by its users along the way.

And while this one isn’t a Radiotopia one, it is another PRX project:

  1. The Moth = True stories told live on stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment.

APM (American Public Media)

  1. The Hilarious World of Depression = Frank, moving, and, yes, funny conversations with top comedians who have dealt with this disease, Even if you have not met the disease personally, it’s almost certain that someone you know has. This is a chance to gain some insight, have a few laughs, and realize that people with depression are not alone and that together, we can all feel a bit better. Because by talking about it we can Make It Okay and start to remove the stignma of mental health.
  2. Terrible, Thanks for Asking = A funny/sad/uncomfortable podcast about talking honestly about our pain, our awkwardness, and our humanness, which is not an actual word

Gimlet Media

  1. Every Little Thing = A show about the small stuff. Hosted by Flora Lichtman. <– This is what she’s been up to since she left Science Friday. She obviously keeps her scientific focused point of view and curiosity for her show.
  2. Surprisingly Awesome = A show that reveals the hidden awesomeness in everyday things. <– Sadly, this show only has 1 Season, but it’s worth downloading it.

Maximum Fun Network

  1. My Brother, My Brother, and Me =  An advicecast for the modern era featuring three real-life brothers: Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy. The brothers operate like a streamlined, advice-generating machine. It’s both terrifying and humbling to behold.
  2. Sawbones = A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine. Dig through the annals of medical history to uncover all the odd, weird, wrong, dumb and just gross ways we’ve tried to fix people over the years. 
  3. Judge John Hodgman = Fake internet justice dispensed by Famous Minor Television Personality John Hodgman.
  4. The Greatest Generation = A Star Trek podcast from 2 guys who are a bit embarrassed to have a Star Trek Podcast. AND also The Greatest Discovery = for the new Star Trek Discovery show –  the unofficial, irreverent and filthy aftershow Discovery didn’t know it needed.

Panoply

  • Revisionist History = Malcolm Gladwell goes back and reinterprets something from the past: an event, a person, an idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood.
  • Lexicon Valley = About language, from pet peeves, syntax, and etymology to neurolinguistics and the death of languages. 

Misc

  • The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe =  A different take on the people and events that you thought you knew – short mysteries for the curious mind with a short attention span.
  • My Dad Wrote a Porno = Imagine if your Dad wrote a dirty book. Most people would try to ignore it and pretend it had never happened – but not Jamie Morton. Instead, he’s decided to read it to the world.
  • LeVar Burton Reads =  Levar Burton hand-picks a different piece of short fiction, and reads it to you. <– So good for bedtime

Oh and if you like LeVar Burton, you might want to check out Deadly Manners. Although I’m generally not a big fan of fictional podcasts (like the very popular Welcome to The Nightvale) I’ve been giving it a shot, mostly because of my love of the cast e.g. RuPaul & Kristen Bell and of course LeVar. It’s an old time radio style murder dinner mystery, and I’m interested to see where it goes…