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
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.
The Amber & Lacey, Lacey & Amber Show gets me into a positive mood.
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is still good when he isn’t bringing up exes.
Worlds Beyond Number is a neat TTRPG live play from last year.
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Bonanas for Bonanza because Maria Bamford is an unsung comedy legend
The Doug Stanhope Podcast
How Did This Get Made? making fun of bad movies is fun.
Lovett or Leave It politics with a spoonful of snark
LeVar Burton Reads reading rainbow will never die!
SmartLess easy listening
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me the sign of a true celebrity is appearing on this show.
Strike Force Five was kinda neat as an insight into unscripted dialogue with competing professionals, but they seemed to gang up on Jimmy Fallon, who, arguably, has the most prestigious late night show.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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
These will probably have a British/English slant to them.
Off Menu: Over 200 episodes, and two live tour runs, and it's still a great and simple format. It's hosted by comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster, who ask guests to pick their dream meal.
Second Tier: If, like me, you follow a football club outside of the Premier League, you'll know just how hard it is to make a show about the Championship. While I don't always agree with them, they're trying their best, and have managed to consistently put out content that tries to cover every team.
Fozcast (The Ben Foster Podcast): Great to listen to if you're a football fan, as Ben puts out a lot of amazing insight into the world of football.
The Happy Hour Podcast: I've no idea who JaackMaate is, but he puts out a solid podcast with some great guests.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Dead Rabbit Radio, been shamelessly shilling it (not my podcast and I'm not affiliated with it any any way) for the better part of five years. Daily paranormal and weird news episodes and Jason Carpenter doesn't have all the cringey seriousness that most high strangeness podcasts have.
We only LOOK Thin
For anyone that needs inspiration to start eating better as part of a path to a more healthy lifestyle. They've helped keep me on track after having lost 80 lbs.
https://www.weonlylookthin.com/
How Did This Get Made
Three mostly comedic actors rip apart famously bad movies. Funnier than it has any right to be. Paul also has another podcast called Unspooled where they break down critically acclaimed movies as well. Both are great listens.
https://hdtgm.com/index/#podcast
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.
We Have Ways of Making You Talk, about WWII, now over 600 episodes. Chatty, inspired, incredible guests. Not all about D-Day and Iwo Jima, but dealing with lesser-known stories and personalities. The hosts are Al Murray and James Holland (whose brother Tom does an excellent podcast called "The Rest is History".
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.
I give a second recommendation for Quick Question with Soren and Daniel.
I also recommend Belief it or Not. They go through histories of different sect of religion. I am pretty sure one of them grew up pretty religious and went to pastoral school, but I haven't listened in a bit. I like to get behind and binge on road trips.
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.
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.
Dark Ages. It's a fantasy/workplace comedy about the staff of the Rivercliff Museum of Mostly Natural History. I won't go into more detail to avoid any spoilers but it's been one of my favorites for awhile now though sadly there's only one season so far.
Also, EOS 10, which is about the medical staff on a space station and the funny/weird/bonkers stuff they get into.
Skatcast has something for everyone. Tuesdays are the Skatcast Show. Cartoons for your earballs. Wednesday is the Dipshit Files. True crime stories with humour thrown in. Thursday is Dave and Angus. Two characters travel to different states, learning about them while also being kicked out of half the places the visit. Friday is Just A Ride. 3 hosts talk about everything from religion and politics, to how to be the best version of yourself, to poop jokes. Saturday is Skat-Tunes. An hour of user submitted music across all genres from unsigned bands. And starting next week, Sunday has a new show (who's name escapes me) centered around video games
"the show where we don’t just report on spirituality, fringe science and claims of the paranormal, but take part ourselves. We join religions, undergo alternative medical treatments, and hunt for ghost, goblins, demons, and deities. If it has an extraordinary claim attached to it, we’ll check it out."
The Constant, a podcast that follows, as its subtitle suggests, humanity’s history of getting things wrong. It covers a history of societies most mistaken ideas, like believing birds flew to the moon or turned into barnacles in the winter, to trying to rejuvenate health by surgically implanting goat testicles, to a seven part attempt to identity a submarine found at the bottom of the Chicago River, tracing many failed designs in the process. The host (a playwright) injects a ton of fun humor and very theatrical reveals with clever writing.
Our Fake History, which looks at historical people, places, objects, and events that have developed a popular mythology, or myths that may have a basis in reality, and looks at what’s real and what’s fake. Was there a pope that was secretly a woman? Did Ty Cobb kill a guy? Was Atlantis based on a real place? Did the Chinese visit the New World? He often tells great stories, and then revels what’s made up about it and why we know. It’s presented by a Canadian history teacher who also composes and plays most of the music he uses.
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.
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.
Fighting in the War Room - four long time friends discuss film and other pop culture; it's just a lot of fun hearing four people who clearly respect and love each other talk about the latest movies and shows!
Valley Heat - a podcast from a freelance insurance adjuster about the goings on in his neighborhood. The primary story focuses on his mission to find out who is using his recycling bin as a drug drop.
It sounds boring but it's absolutely brilliant.
The less you know about it going in the better.
He also has a couple Patreon exclusives that go deeper into the hijinks.
I think the only English one I've ever listened at (for over a hundred episodes) was LORE.
It's about ghost stories in USA:s history.
.
My favorite episode was about
spoiler
A man who fell in love with a woman who didn't want him but who also had a deadly sickness, and he robbed her body after her death and kept sowing her in one piece afterwards.
Almost Plausible is a podcast where three friends make up stories, usually in the form of a movie plot, where something unexpected takes a central or critical role in the story. For example, how would you make a movie about a pillow? Or a ceiling fan? Or a toilet brush? That’s exactly what we try to figure out on the show!
Each episode starts with a brief pitch session, where we take turns sharing the ideas we’ve come up with for each episode’s topic. After we’ve heard all the pitches, we pick one, develop it, and hopefully come up with a story that’s at least almost plausible.
The Magnus Archives. This is a 200-episode paranormal horror podcast. Each episode is based around a statement from someone who witnessed or experienced something paranormal. Episodes increasingly delve into the lives of the people who archive these statements. The character development is fantastic. Only a single curse word is uttered in one of the final episodes.