For a medium that requires enormous effort, is hard to make a living from and appeared to be on its way out a few years ago, the podcast is in spectacular health. Never before have we had such a wealth of audio entertainment to choose from and all for free.
A list like this is always going to be subjective, but here we have picked out 10 genre-spanning podcasts that we think you will enjoy listening to. From advice on how to earn money from a side career to the grisly details of unsolved murder cases to a sitcom examining the reintroduction of the death penalty. We've got both dark and light covered. And an enormous amount of listening material.
1. Reply All
It is a show hosted by P JVogt and Alex Goldman about internet culture and how it's changing.
It should listen because internet culture is fascinating, and although it sounds niche, the concept encompasses all facets of life. To give you a taste of how diverse this podcast can be, the memorable episode has included one of the presenters letting another hack his smartphone, how a Facebook group mocking office life got taken over by the wrong people, and details of a Reddit community that tries to cultivate voices in your head.
The episode is between 30 to 60 minutes long and new ones are released every seven to 14 days.
2. Unfiltered With James o'Briena
A one on one chat delving into the lives and experiences of a public figure with LBC journalist James O'Brien.
It should listen because it isn't your average celebrity interview. Each show is about an hour long and delves below the surface into the guest's personal life, while O'Brien's sensitive yet probing questioning encourages deep reflection on their past and where things could have gone differently. Bill Browder's story about becoming a thorn in Viadimir Putin's side (via a spell on the Interpol wanted list) is absolutely fascinating and offers rare insights into just how sinister the Russian state can be.
Weekly each episode is around an hour-long, including some post-interview analysis at the end.
3.Heavyweight
Everyone has a moment in their life where things changed. Jonathan Goldstein takes people back to that moment and tries to fix them in the here and now.
It should listen because each episode is a self-contained story, with a certain amount of charm to it. Revisiting our own past can be tough, but visiting someone else's is a pain-free moment of enjoyable voyeurism. For example, we meet the man who lent moby an album that was sampled a lot on his hit album play- the one that catapulted him to mega-stardom. Gregor wants a little acknowledgment-or at least his CD's back-and Goldstein seeks to mediate. And, yes, Moby does make an appearance.
Heavyweight is broadcast in series and the second series ended in December 2017. I hope it will be back for a third, but for now, there are 15 episodes to get your teeth into.
4.Hardcore History
It is Dan Carlin's deep-dive into fascinating pockets of history, from the reign of Genghis Khan to the First World War.
If you care about history, it's absorbing. Dan Carlin doesn't call himself a professional historian, but a voracious reader of books documenting interesting periods of time. You can definitely tell; each massive episode is packed with facts, quotes, and analysis.
Carlin's podcasts take a phenomenal amount of research. Each episode is upwards of five hours long, and a series can be six-episode in length. it's seriously in-depth. As such, new episodes appear every few months, making it a nice surprise when it pops up in your feed. If you want a relatively short taster, The Destroyer of Worlds is a great place to start: a six-hour podcast outline how Russia and America rationally got themselves into the irrational position of owning enough nukes to destroy the world several times over.
5. This American Life
No "best podcasts" list could be complete without This American Life. A radio institution, the show has been broadcast on public radio in the united states for more than 20 years and was quick to spot the podcast as a format to massively increase its listener base. It's a show of stories. Each week there's a theme, and then stories are told on that theme.
It should listen because the stories are almost always fascinating and cast light on topics you may not have thought deeply about before. It's also very varied, with tales ranging from the tragic to the ridiculous. You may cry-but you'll always feel something. There are over 600 episodes archived and dozens of memorable ones. The drama of a car dealership trying to break even, for example, doesn't sound like great radio, but it had us hooked.
Every week, and they're always an hour long.
6. The Political Party
It is comedian matt forde interviews MPs from across the political spectrum in a podcast that shows a side of politicians you rarely get to see.
Forde has a unique way of getting politicians to open up-no matter their political persuasion. Not only does this give a unique insight into life in Westminster, but it also reminds you that there's a human behind the rosette. A human that generally wants to make the world a better place.
Past guests have included rising stars such as Anna Soubry and Stella Creasey, current big beasts such as David Davis and Tim Farron, and a list of grandees that includes Tony Blair, Nell Kinnock, Paddy Ashdown, and William Hague.
There's usually half an hour of comedy, followed by an hour-long interview. So around 90 minutes. Even if the comedy isn't to your taste. It's worth skipping in for the interviews, which take a very different tone. Shows come out on a monthly basis, with a break over summer, when Forde is busy working, at the Edinburgh Festival.
7. Opening Arguments
It is Journalist Thomas Smith interviews legal expert Andrew Torrez on the legalese behind the stories in the news.
Unless you have a law degree and possibly even if you do-the legal nitty-gritty of what's in the news is easily lost. Although there's a big disclaimer at the start ("don't take legal advice from a podcast"), the show offers a legal perspective in plain English about the story behind the story.
The episode that brought the show to our attention is titled Stormy Daniels is a legal genius. It's not a facetious title; the porn star battling Donald Trump over the legality of a"hush agreement" has played a legal blinder, and this is a scandal that could well bring down the president of the United States although not for the tawdry reasons you might expect...
Each episode of Opening Arguments is just over an hour-long, and you can except two per week. That's a lot of legal chatter.
8. Capital
A six-part, semi-improvised sitcom about a civil service trying to implement the will of the people after a hastily arranged referendum. In this case, the death penalty is to be reintroduced to Britain on a majority of 50.9% to 49.1 %.
Well, first of all, because it's very funny with excellent performances by the comedians who write and perform it. But more importantly, it gives an insight into the (exaggerated) kind of discussion that must be going on in Whitehall right now as Brexit is implemented in a deeply divided country. If nothing else, it's a good reminder as to why referendums are a terrible idea. Listen out for Harry Enfield as the minister in charge of the death penalty, too.
Half an hour per episode, just like a classic sitcom. The first season is six episodes long, but it's unclear if there will be more.
9. Criminal
It is a look at real-life criminal investigations-but not as some kind of police drama. This podcast involves interviewing the officers, relatives and even sometimes the perpetrators themselves to get a unique insight into the world of criminal investigations.
It should listen because the stories behind the crime and investigation are sometimes more interesting than the facts themselves. They give a fascinating insight into the psychology of the criminals, as well as the sociological issues that get in the way of investigating them. Take the episode Angle, which deals with the brutal killing of a homeless woman from a community that has no interest in talking to the cops. Or the episode American Dream- an interview with a man who got away with a string of thrill-seeking bank robberies in the mi-2000s before turning himself in.
Fortnightly, and anywhere between 15 and 40 minutes.
10. Love and Radio
An interview-well, more of a monologue, given the interviewer chips in so rarely- with"intriguing characters who aren't quite who you think they are when you first meet them"
You will almost certainly never have heard interviews like these before. The people involved aren't necessarily notable but have had extraordinary experiences that you're unlikely to see covered in the mainstream media. One episode gives an inside look into the life of internet blackmailers, while A Red Dot features a sex offender explaining his life experiences.
For overall impact, however, it's difficult to look past The Living Room. We won't give away anything-even explaining the premise reveals too much-but suffice it to say this is a genuinely sad episode that will make you think about relationships and mortality in a completely different way.
Usually between 30 minutes and an hour. Episodes have become quite irregular in scheduling - which is understandable given the effort involved in each story.
Comments
Post a Comment