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I'm looking to stock up on podcasts, whether in Mandarin, French or English. Don't worry about my tastes I'll sort it out later
But share good podcasts in other languages if you know any (it might be useful for other people)
I really enjoyed the early episodes of
How I built this with Guy Raz
Chalk Radio from MIT OpenCourseWare
I really enjoy this podcast. It's great to hear that the professors at MIT share their passion and expertise with students and the wider world. One of my favorite episodes is Prof. Eric Grimson's story about making computer science more accessible to everyone. It's really motivating to think that there are so many talented teachers and resources available, which makes me feel confident and excited to keep learning on my own.
I mostly go for nonfiction stuff related to current events or history. Unfortunately some of these aren’t free.
Slow Burn - Each season goes deep on a particular event in recent (US) history. Quality falls off a bit after the first few seasons.
Fiasco - produced and hosted by the the guy that did the first 2 seasons of Slow Burn. Also US centric.
History on Fire - Haven’t listened to too much of this yet but was suggested the episode on Ötzi the Iceman which made me a fan. Probably the only one on here that isn’t US centric.
Throghline from NPR. Another history-ish podcast but focuses on current issues and the history behind them.
Going to check out some of these suggestions.
You are not so smart podcast
Basically a book club about psychology books
I use podcasts to escape so I more lean towards comedy podcasts. My top is
Regulation Podcast (PREVIOUSLY F**kFace)
My Brother My Brother and Me
Clutch my Pearls
We're Here to Help
Then more seriously
Swindled
Nerdland Podcast
Lateral with Tom Scott It's a great non-political podcast.
I loved Stephen Fry's Deadly Sins and Leap Years
Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast (especially series 3 covering the French Revolution) and his The History of Rome series.
It's a watch along podcast for quite possibly the lowest depths of US reality TV, Mountain Monsters.
Their other podcast The Dogg Zzone 9000 is at least as funny, though it is dependent upon which cursed media artifact from the wrong dimension which they're reviewing.
The Linux Experiment
Last Podcast on the Left is my go to for true crime and paranormal related topics.
The Dumb Zone. I promise. I pay for an annual sub. Good fun with some sports mixed in.
While I don't agree with all his politics, I do enjoy his style. He asks a question then he shuts up and lets the other side talk.
Doesn't interrupt.
@ShawnRyanShow On YouTube.
The only podcaster I listen to is John Goblikon. And whatever podcaster he is interviewing. And whatever podcaster has him as a guest the next week.
Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia-97sBw85g
I have honestly never listened to one, so I can't help here, but interested to see if any suggestions sound up my street.
I'm surprised I didn't see anyone recommend The Adventure Zone, especially the first season. One of the best actual play podcasts out there, especially the first two seasons.
I'll recommend some hidden gems that need more love:
Mabel: A woman works as a live in nurse for an elderly woman, and the show is voicemails she's leaving to her ward's estranged daughter. It's poetic and beautiful, and then strange events start occurring.
Dark Ages: a fantasy workplace comedy where an unpopular museum gets a new exhibit, the crown of the Dark Lord, who terrorized the country hundreds of years ago.... Who just recently was resurrected and wants it back. Probably the best produced shows I've listened to with a great intro song.
The Cryptonaturalist: a very normal nature show that is normal about normal nature. Also has poetry! Actually feel good podcast.
Wolf 359: science crew is in a remote space station, and picks up a radio signal out of nowhere. Starts off funny, then gets wild.
Brimstone Valley Mall: three demons disguised as humans, working at a mall in the 90s.
Cult Or Just Weird: in depth dives into things which could be a cult or are just weird.
Wooden Overcoats: British comedy podcast about a funeral home in a small village suddenly having to deal with competition
Everything Is Alive: interviews with inanimate objects
Uncanny County: Welcome to Nightvale meets Twilight Zone but it's also funny
Also there's podcast versions of books written on the Internet, which I'll plug here!
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky: What if Harry was not an idiot and knew what science was and was actually supported at home? Fixes a lot of dumb plot holes from the original series and frankly, is better. Also explores rationalist thinking!
Worm by Wildbow: This is literally my favorite book and will make you never see the superhero genera the same again. Superpowers can happen to anyone seemingly at random. A young woman gets the power to control insects and wants to be a hero, but after meeting some villains the line between hero and villain blurs. There's a chapter that's one short sentence long and I've had conversations over an hour long about what it meant.
-Twig by Wildbow: A world where mad, Frankensteinian science took off instead of the regular kind. Follows a child experiment and his fellow childhood experiment friends on adventures for the definitely evil empire!
Pact by, you guessed it, Wildbow: Guy who just pulled himself out of homelessness who hates his crazy manipulative family gets the inheritance from his grandmother, which he didn't want. Turns out that also involves also inheriting the karma from his family, who were practicing the most hated form of magic possible, diabalism. So now the whole magical community is actively trying to kill him as he's scrambling to survive
Also if you like audio books, check stuff out from your library, too. It helps them out and helps them get funding when people do stuff like that.
Dungeons and Daddies is one I've been working through recently, its a DND actual play, has some talented people, they had an episode with another podcast hey riddle riddle, not gotten to them yet but they seemed good too.
For true crime I really like Murder in America
Some English-language ones I haven't seen in this thread yet:
We Hate Movies- a comedy movie review show mostly about entertainingly bad movies in the vein of How did This Get Made.
No Such Thing As a Fish- some of the researchers from QI share facts they found while prepping the TV show
Unclear and Present Danger- looks at thrillers of the 90's through an historical and leftist lens
Mortal Podkast- Lore dumps about every fighter in the Mortal Kombat series up through MK11. Now over but I still recommend it if you like Mortal Kombat
Mom Can't Cook: A DCOM Podcast- humorous, tangent-heavy recaps of Disney Channel original movies.
Three Black Halflings- insightful discussions about D&D and race from a black perspective. Also some very good actual play series and one-shots mixed in.
All of the "The Rest is..." Podcasts are great that I've heard- Entertainment, Football, Politics, Classified, Money.
No Such Thing As a Fish by the QI elves.
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Curious Cases
I’ve enjoyed Blowback.
I think most of the ones I usually mention in threads like this have been covered, but a glance through hasn’t shown me
I’ll admit that this one may take a minute to really get, but once it locks in you’ll love it forever.
It’s basically just an Irish author, comedian, and former rapper telling stories, talking about mental health (he also has a masters in psychology), and interviewing people. One week he’ll be interviewing a couple of lads about insects, the next he has Cillian Murphy on. Last week was an hour about how he ended up in an office canteen covered in black hair dye, holding a bag of lemons.
It’s a wonderful podcast hug every week, and I can’t recommend it enough.
I looked through a number of comments and am surprised not to see Let's Learn Everything.
Every two weeks the hosts cover two topics in a lot of depth, anything from quantum mechanics to swear words.
The eastern border https://theeasternborder.lv/
A podcast about history and current events in the post Soviet sphere geared towards a western audience by a Latvian journalist. Unfortunately one current topic dominates for the last 3 years. Please take a guess, which it might be.
Almost Plausible is a show where three friends take ordinary objects (for example, a paperclip, a ceiling fan, or a toilet brush) and create movie plots based on those objects.
Full disclaimer: This is my podcast.