What's your favourite podcast at the moment?
I've been looking for more podcasts since I started going on daily walks.
Mine are:
- Conan O'Brien needs a friend
- Wolf and owl
- Off menu
I've been looking for more podcasts since I started going on daily walks.
Mine are:
Darknet Diaries is nothing like every other podcast I've ever listened to. Listened to every episode 2-3x. It's a podcast mostly about social engineering, hacking and cyber security.
Start with episode:
Listening to that right now, crazy stuff, like Microsoft throwing Dev kits away at the dump.
Check out Casefile’s series on The Pirate Bay!
Edit: I was stupid yesterday and conflated The Pirate Bay and Silk Road
Oh shit, I’m so sorry, my brain was pulling a dumb. I was conflating TPB with Silk Road D:
Sorry about that!
That's a good one, used to listen to it then fell out of it for some reason, I'll get back to it.
It's really insanely good. Took a break after binging the first 50 or so episodes. Looks like I haven't even listened to your favourites yet!
I've watched the one about the World Bank and I was mind blown ! The post twist are amazing ! And the story telling very good.
Surprised nobody has mentioned my two favourites:
Most of the other stuff I listen to is either industry specific or fandom/hobby specific.
Having just finished up 6 episodes on G. Gordon Liddy, knowing nothing about him beforehand, I second the recommendation of Behind the Bastards.
I highly recommend the series Gaslit and White House Plumbers for a pair of incredible depictions of this loony.
ONRAC is one of my favorites. They have such a lovely approach to crackpots and charlatans of all stripes. Gentle mockery leavened with genuine engagement with the aim to better understand these bowel movements of human thought and expose the underlying motives of grift behind so many of them.
If you're into gaming I would suggest
Otherwise I really enjoy
99% Invisible is really golden, in particular their recent episode about Mexico City scrap metal collectors and their unique "horn" was fascinating.
In addition to yours: Coldfusion(TV).
Usually though in a video format on YT but he uploaded on Spotify before
His content is about tech and connected topics (like tech politics) between those.
Alternatively: TechAltar. Also video based and more of a 15-20min video topic but very well researched as far as I am aware
On the humorous side:
Eh it’s just not funny to me anymore. Everything is so flanderized and weird.
The old episodes had such a “just three dudes being funny in their basement” feel, and the new ones are like “we ran out of funny so here’s a half hour of Munch Squad”
I can’t blame them after HUNDREDS of episodes but it’s not for me.
In no particular order.
Those are the ones I've stuck with. Also:
Last Podcast on the Left: cryptids, cults, and killers. My go to everyweek they just covered Andrew Cunanan.
Something Rotten: Jacob Geller and Blake Hester analyze darker video games. I love Jacob's youtube channel and Blake Hester has some great insights in this series as well. They are currently covering Silent Hill 2 and just had SuperEyePatchWolf guest star.
The Memory Palace - Short, surprising stories of the past, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hysterical, often a little bit of both.
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser.
I Spy - True stories told by spies who steal secrets, kill adversaries, and turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy telling one dramatic story. Unfortunately, this show seems to be defunct. Still an interesting listen, though!
Limetown - A 22 episode fictional story about the mysterious disappearance of over 300 people from a small town in Tennessee.
The Other Half - Two friends watch the same movie—except one only watches the first half, and the other only watches the second half. Then they get together and discuss the film, and try to figure out the context of what they saw.
Hey Riddle Riddle - My favorite podcast at the moment. Three improvisers answer riddles some of the time, and goof off most of the time. They do improvised scenes and have a good time.
Twenty Thousand Hertz - The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. It's basically 99% Invisible, but for audio.
What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law - Particularly interesting if you live in the U.S., this show takes a look at modern issues and controversies through the lens of constitutional law. You'd think a podcast about legal matters would be dry and obtuse, but the show really is geared for a non-legal-minded audience.
Almost Plausible - My own podcast! A couple of friends and I friends take an ordinary object, such as a pillow, or a ceiling fan, or a toilet brush, and we come up with a movie plot where that object plays a central or critical role. Note: At the time of posting, we have just released our Halloween episode, which breaks from the regular format. So if you go listen to the Pumpkin episode, although it's an entertaining one, it's not representative of the show.
Darknet Diaries is right up there. All about hackers, malware, and penetration testers. Too bad the guy is on a mental health sabbatical. Plenty of binge worthy there though. Click Here is in the same space and of similar quality.
And yes, I listen to all of these and more (but these are the English ones), I really like podcasts...
Right now I'm listening to The Deprogram. It discusses the problems with capitalism from socialist's perspectives. It's very entertaining
Recently bigned 85 episodes of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. It's released monthly and hosted by two linguists, one of which is Tom Scott's writer and the other is a linguistics professor in New Zealand.
IMO, Sean seems more intent on impressing the audience and the expert rather than conducting a good interview. I listened to an episode that involved category theory and he regularly interrupted the guest so he could show off how much he knows about it.
I'm relistening to that episode now because I'm curious about what it is you perceived.
He interjects sometimes to help tie things together ("and this is interesting because of [earlier observation]") or to adjust the level of technicality to suit his intended audience ("we're allowed to use the word torus here"). Not all Mindscape guests have a solid feel for the podcast and default to giving popscience breakdowns with analogies and leaving out technical jargon, and so he has to set the bar a bit by explicitly allowing the introduction of technical terms and bringing together of complex related topics.
Don't know if that's what made you feel like he was trying to show off.
I perceived this when he interrupted the guest to jump to different aspects of category theory that she isn’t talking about at the moment.
Well I don't know what you are referring to, but I'm not going to argue about your perception. I listened to the whole thing again (there are usually things that pass me by the first time, so I don't mind doing that for the interesting episodes) and I don't know how he could have done a better job at steering the conversation. He's a podcast host; he needs to pick at the parts that are of particular interest to him and his audience in a limited amount of time, as well as keeping the level of technicality just right so as to be digestible.
For someone familiar with the topic, it's natural to feel like they could have gone on about something at a more advanced level, and for someone entirely unfamiliar, it's natural that they would want to linger on things they don't quite get instead of moving on to something else.
Anyway, I'm not really going anywhere with this. Just curious about your perception since I tend to think of SC as someone quite smooth and approachable around people (unlike me). I guess even he can't be smooth enough for everybody all the time.
I'm a history buff, so :
-The Age of Napoleon: brilliant podcast that covers the entire Napoleonic era from different angles, currently about halfway, one episode per month
-The history of Rome: finished podcast that goes over every era and emperor in Roman history
I thought you may be interested in u/pringles followup comment
Are there any good podcasts that try to connect the dots regarding the American and French revolutions and related events?
Good question, but I don't know the answer. I'm sure there are, but I would guess those will likely be in French.
I find them all good, but he does make some episodes about lesser known aspects. He has a series of 4 or 5 episodes where he really takes a deep dive in Haiti and its tumultuous history. This was a french colony at the time and one of Napoleons, if not the most questionable, decisions. He dives into the history of the Haitian resistance, the slavery, the politics, etc .. and then ties it in with why Napoleon did what he did (reinstate slavery in Haiti). The guy who makes the podcast is a history student and took such a deep dive in the history of Haiti he is now considered one of the foremost experts in the field, and has been asked to give lectures about it. Fascinating stuff.
But if you want to know about Napoleons brilliance in battle, the entire Italian campaign is legendary for a reason and the episodes do it justice, while also doing a good job at separating fact from fiction (and in the process explaining the birth pf Napoleons propaganda machine).
Also the battle of Eylau episode gave me goosebumps. Incredible episode.
Awesome, I'm sold! Downloading them now. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this. Looking forward to listening!
Obviously Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is hands down the greatest podcast of all time. Unfortunately, because he does so much research, his turnaround rate on episodes is one of the slowest in the business. That said, there's always his back catalog to take a deep dive into, which is fucking awesome.
A toss-up between Philosophise This and the BBC's In Our Time for me. Thinking Allowed is also in the mix and I've recently started Mike Duncan's Revolutions which is proving entertaining too.
Probably "Philosophize This"
Any episode of any of these that especially stick out to you?
Probably “Philosophize This”
Ha, spellcheck got to it.
That one takes few episodes to settle down but all from around ep 40 or so are good. The last few - starting with 179 - are looking at AI and consciousness and covering a lot of great viewpoints.
In Our Time - "Polidori's The Vampyre" and "Thomas Paine's Common Sense" are both ones that I heard recently and found particularly interesting. Also Thinking Allowed's "The Petite Bourgeoisie".