Hi,
I’m a big fan of podcasts and I’ve been enjoying “Against the Rules” and “Darknet Diaries” lately.
Now, I want to hear your recommendations! What podcasts do you love and why? Let’s build an epic list of must-listen podcasts together.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Big fan of Darknet Diaries.
I like listening to historical podcasts, and my favorites are “The History of Rome” (which has finished) and its followup “The History of Byzantium” and “Hardcore History” . I’ve heard good things about “Revolutions” by the creator of “The History of Rome” but I haven’t checked it out yet.
Also I’ve been enjoying “Fall of Civilizations” a lot, but so far have only listened to a few of the episodes.
I’ve listened to all of these podcasts besides Hardcore history, and I can highly recommend all of them. It’s hard to pick a favourite but it might be Revolutions, which I found the most eye-opening, especially season 3 on the french revolution. I’m currently working my way through Wittenberg to Westphalia, the Wars of the Reformation, which is meant to be on the 30 years way, but takes a very deep dive into the life, economy, history and culture of the middle ages and early modern period.
Fall of Civilizations is the best podcast I’ve listened to. Every episode is amazing.
Behind the Bastards, a deep dive into the various shit people of history. Episode one is Saddam Hussein: Erotic Novelist.
There’s nearly 700 episodes, and I’ve yet to run tio a dud. Loads of great guests. My only gripe is that it’s a touch Amerocentric, but other than that I’d recommend it to basically anyone. Not kid friendly, in case that wasn’t obvious.
I think it’s only fair to add that this podcast has a very left leaning bias. I’m not saying that that is bad, just being objective.
-Last Podcast on The Left - crime and comedy is a perfect mix for me.
-Bow and Blade and The Medieval Podcast - I love medieval history
-Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History -general history (waiting for another episode is like waiting for Christmas)
-Unsolved Misteries Podcast- I love the TV show and that podcast is great too :)
I like; 99% Invisible & Radio Lab, those are my main 2, i also listen to Malicious Life & some others I can’t think of right now.
Mostly on the humorous side:
- My Brother, My Brother And Me - 3 brothers giving not-so-serious advice to listeners, reacting to questions from Yahoo Answers (when that was a thing), and overall being funny/silly
- My Dad Wrote A Porno - 3 people hilariously reacting to an “erotica” book series that one of the guys’ dad published (I would say the books are maybe only 5%-20% explicit, depending on the chapter)
- No Such Thing As A Fish - the behind-the-scenes staff of the show QI bring up interesting facts and tidbits from history/nature/etc. (each episode is split into 4 parts where each member brings up a fact and the others react to it and bring up related facts)
- If I Were You - Jake & Amir from CollegeHumor giving advice to listeners (mostly in a sarcastic/tongue-in-cheek way but sometimes genuinely), mostly about relationships/dating
- SmartLess - Jason Bateman and Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) interview a famous person each episode where only one of the hosts known who it is beforehand (it gets better after the first few episodes)
- Office Ladies - Jenna and Angela from The Office (US) reacting to each episode of the show and bringing up behind-the-scenes stuff (some of episodes include interviews with other cast members/staff)
It’s an old one, but Stuff You Should Know. I’m listening chronologically, a couple a day (I do a lot of driving for work) and I’m still only up to about mid-2018. The hosts are so easy to listen too, and I really enjoy their humour.
Anything from Aaron Mahnke (or his company Grim & Mild). I especially enjoy Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities. For true crime, I like Murder, Mysteries and Makeup or The Casual Criminalist.
Behind the bastards, Self explanatory.
Ear hustle, A podcast about prison made by prisoners in prison.
Knowledge Fight, a couple of dudes who like to sit around and talk about Alex Jones. Essentially deconstructing his bullshit.
A couple interesting options: Good Job Brain - always an interesting listen. They deep dive into different topics from a trivia standpoint… super interesting.
Behind the Bastards - looks at bad people throughout history.
Trashfuture is a great podcast. It is, ostensibly, a tech-pessimist podcast, but every now and then there are some great UK-centric politics that bleed through since they are based in the UK. All of the host are kind of leftist weirdo Marxists and they really take the piss out of “technology companies” that are nothing more than shell games of moving things around that have been around forever and calling it a tech company. One of my favorites.
- The Dollop - A history podcast done by comedians
- Jordan, Jesse, Go! - Interviews done by comedians
- Stop Podcasting Yourself - Interviews done by comedians
- Dumb People Town - Current news stories commented on by comedians
- Ear Biscuits - Rhett and Link podcast
- Do You Need a Ride? - Comedians give car rides to comedians in need of a ride - usually to/from the airport
- Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me - NPR quiz show
- Star Trek The Next Conversation - 2 TV writers, 1 has seen Trek, 1 has not
- This American Life - True stories
Hardcore History. The come out a few times a year and are incredibly long (some episodes are five hours), but listening to Dan Carlin talk is really engaging. Plus he has one of those voices you can fall asleep to.
It Could Happen Here. Keeps my righteous anger at ‘the man’ topped up.
Criminal Records. Fun crime podcast focussed on the weird and less heard of crimes in history.My greats have already been mentioned.
Except this one: The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry - Investigating everyday mysteries with lots of science and just as much humour. A well-produced series that has been running for years! The presenters are established scientists themselves.
- Ologies with Ali Ward - really fun if you like interviews with experts on their areas of expertise (lots of biological/sociological topics)
- Normal Gossip - recommended with the caveat that I have not really enjoyed season 3, but seasons 1 and 2 were great and I’m hopeful for future seasons. Just silly gossip stories about people you don’t know.
- 60 Songs That Explain the 90s
- Hit Parade - Music History
- 30 for 30 - I don’t really follow sports, but I really like this podcast anyway
- Star Trek: The Pod Directive - Probably doesn’t need a lot of explanation