November 23, 2017 Podcast Episode Recommendations

Time for more podcast episode recommendations!  

Why a recurring post of episode recommendations? Two reasons! First, it’s Thanksgiving here in the US, and maybe by now you need a break from all the talking and also the talking. I can relate. I’ve got a few thought provoking and fun recommended episodes, and I hope they bring you a few moments of relaxation or at least control of what you’re hearing. I often find that when my introverted self is way, way too over-stimulated, being in control of what I am hearing relaxes me within moments. So grab your earbuds, and maybe hide in a closet? (True story: one time, I found an outlet in a coat closet, and under the guise of “charging my phone,” hid in that closet for two straight hours. Glorious.)

Second reason: it can be really intimidating to be told about a great podcast, and then find they have a few dozen (or over two hundred – hi!) episodes in the archives. Which one? Where to start?

With that feeling of, “Uh…there’s a lot of mp3s here,” I have picked out some recommendations, including…my podcast.

Specifically, I’ve called out some of the most popular episodes on the Smart Podcast page, so folks who are meeting us for the first time can either start with the most recent, or start with one of our most popular.

And, after you’ve listened to all 270+ episodes (kidding!), here are some other terrific episodes I’ve been enjoying lately.

Thirst Aid Kit logo, with red lettering of the title on a purple background with a pair of lips in the middle, the lower lip being bitten suggestively in a sort of UNF poseIn the new and utterly, ridiculously enjoyable department: Thirst Aid Kit with Bim Adewunmi and Nichole Perkins.

Thirst in this case is lust. Each episode – and there are a handful now, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t dive on in to the entire archive – highlights a particular individual worthy of inspiring much thirst.

They talk about all sorts of things, such as cultural contexts of lust and the results of expressing lust publicly. Then they write a drabble, or a short piece of fanfic, about the object of their thirst, inviting listeners to vote on which was better.

But! I just said this was a recommendation collection of episodes, not entire programs. So of course, I will give suggestions of where to start. Among my favorites so far: Southern Baes and John Cho for President.

You can find Thirst Aid Kit on iTunes, Stitcher, and wherever you find your podcasts.

Reply All - white lettered title and this is really weird - there's this guy halfway over a chainlink fence so you see mostly his butt and legs, and in silhouette on the other side of the fence he is giving you a thumbs up? Honestly, it's weird for a logo but whatever. Logos are hard.Reply All from Gimlet Media is a show I just discovered – and Amanda was pretty surprised I hadn’t encountered it before.

When I raved about the episode I’m recommending, she replied that the whole program is terrific. Well, the dogs need a walk every day, and I have a step goal, so I guess subscribing is the way to go, right?

The episode that blew my mind to the point that I started talking to the dogs about it while I was listening is this one: 104. The Case of the Phantom Caller. I don’t want to spoil it because this story is a ride and a half, but basically, a woman at an office keeps getting weird phantom calls, but instead of Rachel From Cardholder Services or a robotic voice offering to refinance your mortgage, she would hear background noises, like someone had butt dialed her. But there were no butts involved.

I’ve also liked the other episodes I’ve listened to, so I’ll probably have more to recommend next time. Reply All is all about technology, most often the internet, and the ways in which it affects people – and the ways people affect it. You can find Reply All on iTunes, Stitcher, and the place where you get yon podcasts.

Weird Work logo with bubble style letters in dark pink against a yellow background on top of splotches of different colors Weird Work is a podcast about folks who have really, really unique jobs. The episode I found incredibly interesting and charming – and boy howdy is there plot bunny bait in this episode so be ye wary! – is “I’m a Professional Bridesmaid.” 

It’s about a woman who hires herself out as a professional bridesmaid for different weddings around the country. Seriously, so much heroine potential in here.

Also in my queue: “I’m the Bachelor in Paradise Bartender.”

You can find Weird Work on Stitcher, iTunes, and wherever you’ve set and baited your podcast traps.

Hit Parade, with title in yellow on the middle label of an LP record Last one: Hit Parade from Slate now has its own feed, and their episodes are nerd-tastic deep dives into popular music.

The most recent one, “The Great War Against the Single,”  was a fascinating exploration of the politics of the Billboard Hot 100. I definitely remember the experience of buying an entire album for just one song because there was no other way to get it. I had to do that a few times in my misspent youth.

Looking back at this manipulation of bestseller/hot lists was interesting for me both for causing me to see parallels in the manipulation of bestseller lists, and to notice the difference in how we now consume and purchase music.

You can find Hit Parade on Stitcher, iTunes, and wherever your podcasts mix and mingle.

What podcast episodes have rocked your world lately? What would you recommend for that two-hour walk to enjoy the solitude and work off some of the turkey coma? 

Comments are Closed

  1. Lostshadows says:

    I can’t really recommend a specific episode, since they rarely run over five minutes, but The Hidden Almanac is a lot of fun, in a sorta Lovecraftian with gardening and way.

    This is the first episode.

  2. Lostshadows says:

    And I have no idea where that stray “and” came from.

  3. bev says:

    I mentioned before, but I love Desert Island Disc. I just listened to the newest one with Sue Perkins as the guest on my commute home last night. There are so many to choose from with many different guest. I love Judi Wench so that was fun. Big Oasis fan in the day so Noel Gallagher ep was nice. Jolly Cooper was fun, though have never read her books. Ricky Gervaise made me laugh. And many who are not famous to me but had wonderful and interesting stories to tell. Oh, Tony Adams and Lily Allen were really good, very open and honest.

    I haven’t listened to as many but Lainey Gossip has a podcast called show your work. Some very interesting discussions that made me think.

  4. Teev says:

    About a week ago I tried out Off Book (on Earwolf) and since then I’ve listened to 12 episodes. That’s how much I like its combination of musicals, comedy, and improv. Each week they have a different guest and improvise a musical. There are only 19 episodes so far and they are all fun. Try episode 9, it’s got cats and robots!

    http://www.earwolf.com/show/off-book/

  5. Stefanie Magura says:

    The latest podcast I absolutely fell into is Unsolved Murders by Carter Roy and Wendy McKenzie. I can’t remember if I found out about it on here, but it is so good. And if you’re a fan of the old time radio format, this is straight up your alley!

  6. Katie C. says:

    From the podcast Constitutional, I would recommend the episode “Love,” about the fight for marriage equality – first racially in Loving v. Virginia and then for gay couples.

    From the podcast Planet Money, I would recommend “The Free Food Market” about the process to efficiently allocate food donations among various food pantries. I would also recommend “Walmart’s Pickle” about the fight between Amazon and Walmart and why Walmart is trying to create a tropical fruit punch pickle.

    From the podcast “Happier” I would recommend the episode “Special Episode: Take Your Sister to Work Day! Gretchen Visits Elizabeth on the Disney Lot”

  7. Katie C. says:

    I thought of a few more – from On Point with Tom Ashbrook I would recommend “‘Museum of the Bible’ Puts Spotlight on Stolen Antiquities,” “Author AJ Jacobs Talks Genealogy And the World’s Family Tree,” “Ron Chernow on Ulysses S. Grant,” “Wolves of Yellowstone are Back,” “Embracing the Word ‘Witch’,” ” Bush Twins on Life in The Public Eye,” and “One Family Reaped Billions from Opiods.”

  8. GraceElizabeth says:

    A little off-topic, but that professional bridesmaid one is actually the premise of the romcom 27 DRESSES, isn’t it? Which is mostly not so great but I will defend it forever on the basis of the excellent karaoke scene to Bennie and the Jets.

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