I really enjoy Flightless Bird. It’s a New Zealand journalist that moved to America to report on all of the things he finds strange about the US. As an American I have fun listening his fascination of all the weird things here especially when it comes to corporate america.
Warning, all content below is In french :
- if you like audio adventures, fantasy (and are quite fluent in french) I urge you to try “reflets d’acide”. Imagine that your typical D&D session is narrated, with meta jokes and lots of wordplay !
- Le comptoir Sécu, Which is a periodic review of cyber security news.
- a list of content creators that you can find in podcasts ( or youtube), pretty politicals : clément victorovitch (rethoric analyst, with a heavy focus on french politics, pretty mainstream but hard leaning left. Mathieu burgalassi ( french journalist focusing on fighting fascism and alt-right, everything he does is heavily sourced and he also did some debates)
Love this. Bookmarking tons of stuff.
I’ll add: A Sense Of Rebellion. Miniseries about the confluence of the rise of computer science and intellectualism and psychedelic culture at MIT in the 50’s and 60’s.
Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford.
Takes stories of errors, mistakes, catastrophes of the far and recent past and analyses the causes of them and what lessons can be learned. Everything from assigning success to personality over circumstance to the “curse of information” to what to do in a plane crash.
Interesting, insightful, exceptionally well written and presented, always interesting and entertaining.
If you’re into HP Lovecraft - there’s a brilliant dramatisation/reworking of his stories setup as a real investigative podcast called “The Lovecraft Investigations”.
There are four seasons: 1, 3 and 4 are on BBC Sounds:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06w5zwg?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
Season 2 is available on the internet archive: https://archive.org/details/the-lovecraft-investigations-the-whisperer-in-darkness/The+Whisperer+In+Darkness/Ep.+1+–+The+Whisperer+in+Darkness.mp3
Thanks for the tip, can’t wait to listen in. It’s also available on Spotify
I think season 2 (Whisperer in Darkness) is missing from Spotify too, but the internet archive copy is good
True. Weird, wonder why that has vanished from the web…
It got too close to the truth!
I made a list for a friend very recently.
404 Media is really good independent journalism. I’m subscribed to their Patreon.
Darknet Diaries is good computer security and privacy focused.
You’re Wrong About focuses on cultural issues.
Noble Blood focuses on historical events through the lenses of nobility (I’m a history nerd).
Grumpy Old Geeks focuses on tech, books, television, etc. the one positive thing in my life that came from Aaron.
Better Offline is Ed Zitron’s excellent newsletters in audio format talking about the tech industry. He’s pretty pissed off about a lot of things and articulates why effectively.
Behind the Bastards is audio essays about terrible people both current and historical.
Last Podcast on the Left (horror movie reference, not political) does true crime-ish stuff, but for example the assassinations of JFK and Lincoln, too.
Strong Songs dissects pop songs with the artists. Depends on if you care about the song for the episode.
Stuff the British Stole is a seasonal show that deep-dives stolen museum items and their legacy.
Maintenance Phase takes on cultural issues like diet fads and policy decisions.
Alphabet Boys looks at cases with government agencies.
Chapo Traphouse is Leftist policy-driven and usually pretty funny.
QAA Podcast originally focused on people involved in the Qanon movement, but broadened to include other cultural issues. One of the funnier shows that I listen to.
American Hysteria focuses on cultural topics like the Satanic Panic or the development of Halloween.
Boonta Vista is a news-based comedy podcast out of Australia that is pretty funny.
Bad Blood is a short investigative journalism show about HIV-contaminated blood exported from USA for blood transfers.
Who the Hell is Hamish is a short investigative journalism show about a conman.
S-Town is a short investigative journalism show about corruption in a southern small town and a genius redneck.
Bed of Lies does seasonal short investigative journalism show about multiple topics.
In the Dark is a seasonal investigative journalism show about multiple topics.
Serial is a seasonal investigative journalism show about government and such. The season on USA crime was mind-blowingly good. They’re very prestige.
The Story Behind the Song is similar to Strong Songs.
What Went Wrong is an excellent behind the scenes film examiner.
The Women’s War is a short investigative journalism show about women in terrorist-adjacent Middle East. Very good. Behind the Bastards-adjacent.
Your Favorite Band Sucks. Two guys who know a lot about music and the schtick is that everyone sucks, don’t take them seriously. Start by listening to an ep of a band you don’t care about, not someone you really like.
The Fall of Civilizations podcast deep-dives ancient civilizations. Phenomenal.
99% Invisible looks at the built world. It’s produced in Oakland. The episode on progress bars in software was surprisingly interesting.
A Tradition of Violence was a short investigative journalism show about sheriff gangs. Holy crap, it was good.
Bechdel Cast reviews movies from a female perspective.
Behind the Police is another Behind the Bastards-adjacent short run.
History of Rome is a long series of short episodes from a historian. It’s very amateur at the beginning.
Kids of Rutherford County is a short investigative journalism show about state corruption and mismanagement.
Nice White Parents is a short investigative journalism show about policy and education. Very good.
According to Need is a short investigative journalism show about homelessness I. The Bay Area. Very good. 99% Invisible-adjacent.
Order 9066 is a short investigative journalism show about Japanese internment during WW2.
Sad Oligarch is a short investigative journalism show about Russian oligarchs dying mysteriously over the last few years. Good stuff.
Song Exploder is similar to the other song shows.
The Line is a short investigative journalism show about murder by soldiers in Afghanistan.
The Coldest Case in Laramie is a short investigative journalism show about an unsolved murder. Serial-adjacent.
Blowback looks at USA global policy failures by season.
Bed of Lies focuses on British government murder and coverup. Bad Blood-adjacent.
1619 is a short investigative journalism show about slavery in the USA.
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History is one I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time, but I already had to reduce how much time I listen to podcasts as it is. People rave about it.
The Fall of Civilizations podcast deep-dives ancient civilizations. Phenomenal.
One of my all time favourites. I even got one of the signed copies of his book
Ha! Me too!
Bonus: I recently learned that another podcast that I listen too has his wife as a contributer. I won’t name it. It was just a fun reveal.
I have two recommendations from BBC Podcasts:
13 Minutes to the Moon
And
History of Music (hosted by Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason)
If you’re at all interested in numbers and statistics, and even if you’re not but like hearing experts deconstruct the claims and lies made by politicians and business people, then I highly recommend More or Less also from the BBC.
Knowledge Fight
Trailer Park Boys Park After Dark
The Daily Zeitgeist
Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know
Last Podcast on the Left
True Crime Garage
Behind the Bastards
It Could Happen Here
The Best of Coast to Coast AM
StarTalk Radio
Really? no, Really?
Stone Cold Steve Austin has one too if wrasslin’ is your thing. He did an amazing episode about a woodpecker I can’t seem to find anymore. Everything else is just talking shop about the biz.
These are all still active podcasts as far as I can tell. The first four are probably my favorite of the bunch. I’ve listened to podcasts for close to 40 hours a week some weeks. Sometimes I get the urge to look up what the people I’ve listened to for hundreds of hours look like. Just to see how close my imagination is to reality. Never acted on it but it is an itch I want to scratch.
So many excellent suggestions, I have to ask. Where do y’all find the time to listen to all of this!?
You Made It Weird, with Pete Holmes. Really fucking funny comedian Pete has had lots of interesting guests. Usually starts with relatively normal stuff, but usually by the end of any given episode he gets into “Do you believe in God?”, “What do you think happens when we die?”, and “You ever do ayahuasca?” territory. Pete is SMART and has been going on his own spiritual and philosophical journey for a while, and it feels like every guest is another step on that journey. Look up the episode list and find someone you like and listen to their conversation.
Valley Heat. It’s a fictional podcast about a guy who’s a freelance insurance adjuster who thinks his pool guy is using his garbage can as a drug drop. He talks about his neighbors and all the weird stuff they do. One guy has a car wash in his driveway and turns his garage into a 80s style arcade and night club. He gets mad at his wife’s yoga instructor because he sent her a mermaid emoji through venmo. It’s chock full of zaniness.
Crime junkie
Ty and That Guy. They mostly talk about movies, especially 80s and 90s movies, and that’s my jam.
