11 Podcasts Worth Your Time
Sifting through the sheer amount of podcasts is a daunting task. So, here are 11 for you to try.
Sifting through the sheer amount of podcasts is a daunting task. So, here are 11 for you to try.
Even though there is so much news these days, the bottom line is you’re not going to get the complete story in the tiny two-minute segments. So, here are some other ways to get information and stories without the confines of formatting.
NEWS
The Daily — The New York Times
A 20–40-minute podcast that takes a look at one news topic in greater detail. Host Michael Barbaro provides “a voice for the listener” by offering up questions to his guests (usually fellow NYTimes journalists) and getting clarity on murkier topics.
What Next ?— Slate
Also a 20–40-minute podcast with host Mary Harris. Like The Daily, it also takes a look at a news topic in greater detail. However, unlike The Daily, What Next? gets various journalists and has a marginally more millennial bend to it.
Today in Focus — The Guardian
Like the other news podcasts, this is a 20–40-minute podcast with host Anushka Asthana. The Guardian is a UK based news source so this podcast provides a world view of the biggest news topics of the day. Sometimes they’re American, sometimes British, sometimes another country entirely.
Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill — The Intercept
A 60–90 minute deeper dive into politics with journalist and host Jeremy Scahill. This podcast, like The Intercept, leans hard to the left. However, even as a hard leaning left podcast, it by no means favors either Democrats or Republicans.
True Crime as a genre has never been more popular. I’m not sure critical mass has been reached…or if it ever will be. Its popularity proves two things. One, that the world knows no end, or depth, of shitty behavior and two, the public’s appetite for True Crime is insatiable.
TRUE CRIME
Criminal
Many people do not like this show. I do. A lot. The most criticism around this show is the voice of Phoebe Judge (really her last name). Admittedly, she sounds a bit like a school teacher who could never lose her patience. Given the subject matter, it’s somewhat soothing.
Nonetheless, the stories are fascinating. Phoebe interviews the people around the crime, whether it’s the criminal themselves and/or survivors. In April of this year, she even interviewed the guy behind what became known as “the Stockholm Syndrome”…and the woman who loved him.
And not for nuthin’, the Criminal podcast shop offers up some cool items too, including unique artwork.
Length per episode — 20–45 minutes
Crime Junkie
I got turned on to this one after Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it as one of the best True Crime podcasts. I tend to vacillate back and forth between interest and annoyance, but I do always listen to it. So, that tells me something.
If you’ve ever wondered what two mid-western soccer moms sound like, moments before they pop open a box of Chardonnay to talk about true crime, look no further.
To be fair, Indianapolis-based hosts Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, long-time friends, do a fine job of digging into a story. These are well-researched stories (links provided on their site) that do more than scratch the surface. The interplay between the two reminds me of a Johnny Carson/ Ed McMahon vibe. Which is not to say they make light of the topics or the subjects, they do not — it’s just that Flowers is the one who sits behind the desk were Prawat adds color commentary.
Their odd enthusiasm can be funny at times…annoying at others.
Length per episode — 30–75+ minutes
UPDATE — There is apparently a plagiarism scandal around this podcast. See this post from Brianna Bennett:
Why Citing Your Sources is Always Important in Podcasting
Understanding the “Crime Junkie” plagiarism scandal and its aftershocks.medium.com
To Live and Die in LA
This is part of Payne Lindsey’s Tenderfoot TV and hosted by former New York Times reporter and best-selling author Neil Strauss.
This podcast has nothing to do with the 1985 William Friedkin movie of the same name, starring William Peterson and Willem Defoe. This is a look at the mysterious disappearance of 25-year-old aspiring actress and model Adea Shabani.
This show has been pieced together in such a way that you will find yourself binging on it. I tore through it in one night. Really. It’s got all the turns and smoke and mirrors of a good narrative. It will keep you guessing, and second-guessing, until the end.
Tenderfoot TV is the group behind Up and Vanished and Atlanta Monster podcasts. They do some of the best podcast work and any of their series are fantastic.
Length per episode — 30–45 minutes
Bardstown
“Welcome signs proclaim it “The Most Beautiful Small Town in America.” It’s considered the Bourbon Capital of the World. And in many ways, Bardstown, Kentucky is just like a lot of small, tight-knit communities all across the country.
But just under the surface, there’s something darker. Not everyone wants to talk about it. And a lot of people would rather forget. That’s because since, 2013, Bardstown has also been the site of five unsolved murders.”
With that kind of lead-in, how could you not be interested? This was a recent discovery, so I’ve not heard all the episodes yet, but what I’ve heard has been quite good. It can be a little too scripted, but it’s a good story (so far).
Length per episode — 25–40 minutes
Others worth listening to.
WTF with Marc Maron
This podcast is now part of the Public Relations machine when folks have something to promote. What you’ll get here are A through D list (and beyond) celebrities.
Maron is a good interviewer but particularly excels with comedians (for obvious reasons). Over the years, I have grown tired of his 10–20-minute preamble and rants so I just skip ahead to the interview. Marc Maron is a good comedian, but his riffs can be irritating and distracting for me. But aside from that, he has grown from being an almost too self-involved interviewer to one who actively listens and is engaged. His obsession with himself has abated over the years which only makes for a better listening experience.
Length per episode — 50–75+ minutes
APM Reports — In the Dark
American Public Media Reports is simply some of the best investigative journalism you will find.
The Peabody Award-winning first season was about the abduction of Jacob Wetterling in Minnesota. The show investigates how law enforcement mishandled one of the most notorious child abductions in the country and how those failures fueled national anxiety about stranger danger and led to the nation’s sex-offender registries. The mystery yielded no answers for 27 years.
The second season tells the story of Curtis Flowers. A man who has been tried six times for the same crime. Constantly maintaining his innocence for 21 years, he’s won appeal after appeal. But every time, the prosecutor just tries the case again. Riveting story.
This first season led to an arrest after a quarter of a century and the second season helped bring that miscarriage of justice to the United States Supreme Court. SCOTUS ruled on the Flowers case in July of this year. The second season continues to play out as Flowers was only recently transferred from death row back to county jail to await determination if there will be a seventh trial.
Length per episode — 30–45 minutes
Behind the Bastards
Host Robert Evans takes a close look at some of the most awful people in history. But this goes beyond the Hitler’s and Stalin’s, the show digs into people who have created some of the very things we use today. A recent episode was titled “How Chiropractic started as a Ghost Religion”…so, yea. It can be some grim stuff indeed but always told with the right amount of snark.
Thankfully, he’s often accompanied by comedians to help bring some levity to the gravity of telling the story of these bastards. And the subversive approach to advertising breaks is quite welcomed.
Two of the best co-hosts he has on are Cody Johnston and Katy Stoll, hosts of the Even More News podcast. The three of them have launched Worst Year Ever which purports that “2020 isn’t going to be fun for anybody, left, right, or center. What many call the Most Important Election of Our Lifetime is going to be exhausting, ugly, angry, and probably at least a little racist.” Just launched, so I can’t wait for that.
Length per episode of BtB — 45–90 minutes
Frankly, there are just too many good podcasts to list in one post. These are just 11. There is Serial, This American Life, S-Town, Dirty John, Hell and Gone, The Ballad of Billy Balls, et al. The production value can vary on these podcasts. But the industry is becoming more normalized. So I suspect some of these other podcasts will be weeded out.
I’ve linked to these podcast pages, but you can find them in the Apple store or wherever you get podcasts.
Are podcasts the future of broadcasting? Probably not, but they’re going to be a big part of it. And as of now, podcasts are not terribly regulated or driven by advertising or have directives from corporate conglomerates…all very good things for listeners who choose to participate.
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