Here at Bitchery HQ, we are constantly recommending books, music, and podcasts to one another, and it occurred to me that our podcast recommendations, both for particular episodes and for entire series might be of interest – and that you probably also have episodes and shows you like, too. So, hey, there, new feature!
Seriously, this is one of the things I love about blogging: New idea? Cool! Run it up the flagpole, see who salutes.
Actually, let’s be honest: “Run it up the flagpole, see who salutes” is how I do most things creatively. It’s like the cousin to, “I can’t be the only one who finds this freaking fascinating, right?”
Now, I can’t recommend my own show (HA YES I CAN It’s right here) but in part because I host and produce a podcast, I listen to a ton of others. Here are some episodes and new shows I’ve really enjoyed while walking the dogs or cross stitching.
By the Book is a new-ish show from Panoply wherein the hosts, Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer, try a different self-help book for two weeks and record their results with interviews, candid conversations with their spouses, and a post-book conversation between the two of them. There’s also an epilogue for each where they respond to reader and listener feedback.
One episode in particular that was deeply touching for me was their focus on French Women Don’t Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano. The conversation dealt with self-harm, eating disorders, and Greenberg and Meinzer’s relationships with their own bodies, and the epilogue was equally affecting for me. It also created a new guideline for their show: no more diet books. That episode is available at Panoply’s website, on Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your fine podcasting programs.
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Still Processing is a podcast from the NY Times, hosted by Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham. They discuss culture, current events, music, television, BBQ, and the ways in which the media they consume affect them. From the description: “Still Processing is where they try to understand the pleasures and pathologies of America in 2017.” It’s terrific.
One episode that resonated with me is their recent discussion, “We Revive Tupac and Side-Eye Sofia Coppola.” You can listen on the NYT website, on Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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RedHeadedGirl, who has her own podcast, Anglofilles, recommends the Dunkirk episode of Stuff You Missed in History – and says that pretty much every episode is great. You can listen on Stitcher or at the podcast website.
Amanda says, “I’ve been loving The Daily! It’s produced by The New York Times and focuses on one or two current events, complete with interviews with the people who cover said events at the NYT. It’s Monday-Friday and is usually less than a half an hour. Because it focuses on current events, there’s no pressure to go back and listen to the archives. Unless you really want to!” It’s available on Stitcher and at the NYT podcast page, too.
Elyse recommends Knit 1 Geek 2, which she reviewed here. We also interviewed Super Karen, one of the co-hosts, in a recent Smart Podcast Trashy Books episode.
And finally, my never-ending perennial recommendation to anyone who loves uplifting, funny, and engaging podcasts to try: Friendshipping with Jenn and Trin.
Every time there’s a new episode I squee, and my Thursday afternoon or Friday dog walks, depending on weather and download times, are my favorites. They take questions from listeners about friendship problems, they have the best theme song, and they offer advice from a place of incredibly warm empathy and kindness. It’s one of my very, very favorites, and I’m so happy I found it.
What about you? What podcast episodes or programs do you love? Any that you’ve just discovered? (And would an entry on how you listen to podcasts be helpful? Let me know in the comments and I’ll put one together!)
OOOOOOOH BOOOOOY do I ever have recs!
I like Politically Reactive -a show where two comedians try to make sense of the politics in America.
Nerdette: does EXACTLY what the name promises.
Sci fi wise: I like Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (full disclosure: since I have a paying job now, I’m a patreon supporter). I’m really really waiting for Midnight in Karachi to come back, but her older interviews are really good. I’ve just started Desi Geek Girls, which basically does what it says on the tin.
Because I’m nosey, I enjoy Slate’s Working(a show about what people do all day)
I adore the BBC’s Kitchen Cabinet, which regularly makes me laugh on my commuter train.
And yes, at your recommendations I have added Friendshipping and Knit 1 Geek 2.
If you’re interested in (transformative) fandom, Fansplaining might be for you.
I have soooo many good podcasts I can recommend. I always listen to you at SPTB. And here are a few favourites according to category:
Story telling: The Moth and Story Collider. People telling stories from their life, interesting and gives you all the feelings.ö
True Crime: Criminal – stories from real life about strange crimes, and the effect crime has on people and society
Science: Hidden Brain – how our unconscious mind shapes our behaviour.
Sawbones – A doctor and her husband talks about our checkered past in the world of medicine, one topic each week.
Only Human – about health and how our bodies function.
Books: Reading Glasses – tips and tricks for the reader in your life ( you I guess as you are this blog)
Sword & laser – book club for genre fiction, where every second month they read fantasy and every second it is time for sci find. Many good book recommendations and fun discussions about books.
Music: Coverville – a cover music show
And of course I will always recommend Ask Me Another and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
Ahhhh thanks for this post I am so psyched to check it out!
My favorite morning news round up is Up First from NPR (supplemented by the email newsletter The Skimm). About 12 minutes including ads, it’s a quick way to start off my day with some knowledge of national and international events.
Heartily second the recommendation for Nerdette. Lady nerds talking to other lady and dude nerds about the cool things they do, yes please.
I love Bad with Money with Gaby Dunn. It’s not so much about personal finance as about an exploration of the social issues surrounding money and how easy it is for people from marginalized communities (including lacking access to financial education) to be taken advantage of by the system. For example, there’s a tax episode discussing how queer women are disadvantaged by the current tax system in the US, and a credit card episode about how credit history can be insidiously unfair to minorities.
Pop Culture Happy Hour has just been turned to Pop Culture Half Hour Twice a Week, which I adore as it gives me a chance to knock out half an hour of chores on Wednesdays and Fridays while listening (maybe I’m just lazy but I prefer 20-30 minutes for chore-listening podcasts while longer chunks are best for listening during the work day).
I’ll occasionally listen to Bookthingo and XOXO After Dark as other romance podcasts.
That’s what I’ve been listening to lately but I am really really excited to check out all these other recs!
Oh and one thing I’m excited to check out is 36 questions, a musical podcast with Jonathan Groff (<3). It's based on the Modern Love NYT article list of 36 questions to ask someone to form a deep connection with them (there's also a YA novel, 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant, based on the same concept coming out in October). I am a huge fan of musicals so I'm interested to see whether the genre can work in podcast form.
I’m finding Racist Sandwich enlightening. It’s about the intersection of race, gender, and food.
Racist Sandwich is amazing.
I completely forgot: there’s a number of fiction podcasts I enjoy!
Currently working my way through Wooden Overcoats, which is hilarious.
I’ve binged The Black Tapes and Lime Town, both of which gave me chills but SO GOOD!
I’m a total podcast junky. Some of the less intellectual/political ones I listen to:
Sword and Scale: True crime podcast. It can be a bit sensational, but addicting and creepy.
My Dad Wrote a Porno: SBTB recommended this a while ago, and I am still a huge fan. It always makes me laugh when I’m in a bad place. I will laugh so hard I cry.
2 Dope Queens: Would you like to go out and get drinks with a bunch of awesome comedians? That’s what this show is like. It’s particularly awesome because it really gets a diversity of people on the show. Jessica Williams and Phoebe are also amazing and I would like to be best friends with them.
Live from the Poundstone Institute: New from NPR, the awesome comedian Paula Poundstone explores weird science and research.
Welcome to Nightvale: Creepy, surreal and wonderfully strange, this fiction podcast is if Lake Wobegone and Stephen King had a baby.
Ok…I should stop listing podcasts and actually go work on my dissertation now….
I got into podcasts via Doctor Who, and one of my favorite general nerdery and feels like hanging out with friends is : http://blog.staggeringstories.net
Thanks to SB recs, I listen to My Favorite Murder and My Dad Wrote a Porno.
Also, I’ll be a bit cheeky and recommended the generally nerdy pop culture podcast my husband and I do together.
PDAIS http://profdave.libsyn.com
It is also is our love story in audio because we met online (I’m from Florida, he’s from London)when a mutual friend recommended me for a podcast co-host. We fell in love while podcasting together, which you can hear as the episodes go by. Now we’re married and he moved to Florida.
I love The Worst Bestsellers. Love love love. Nothing makes me laugh harder than them reading Twilight drunk. (They actually defend it quite a lot despite themselves, it’s awesome and funny and feminist.)
Welcome to Nightvale was already mentioned, but it’s worth mentioning again. Funny and creepy.
The Worst Bestsellers Despite the name, they do end up liking some of the books and they aren’t all bestsellers, but snarky comments about bad books are always a win for me.
God Awful Movies Three guys watching and then making fun of, mostly*, bad religious films. (I will note they do often make fun of people’s appearances and they don’t shy away from things like rape jokes, so this definitely isn’t a blanket recommendation.)
*The first one I listened to was on Vaxxed: From Coverup to Catastrophe
There’s a new podcast called Reading Glasses that I am really loving that is all about reading.
Thank you for reminding me about By the Book! I listened to the first one before they knew whether it would be a regular thing and then promptly forgot about it.
Ear Hustle is an interesting, well-produced podcast done by inmates at San Quentin prison here in Nor Cal, and I’ve also been listening to some “actual play” role playing game podcasts like The Adventure Zone (Justin McElroy from Sawbones is on it) before bedtime to de-stress.
I really wish Knit 1 Geek 2 would get on Stitcher!
Oh, also meant to mention Get Booked from Book Riot. They actually like and recommend romances *gasp*!
Okay, so in addition to a hearty second (or third?) for Nerdette and Pop Culture HH, I love just about anything released from NPR:
Invisibilia, Hidden Brain, Code Switch, the Politics podcast, Wait wait don’t tell me (Classic!!) and the TED radio hour
Crimetown and S-Town were total binges for me.
I’ve found some of my favorite podcasts from guest stars on other podcasts- so I listened to Switched on Pop because of a rec from SBTP and the guest star on the La La Land episode hosts The Next Picture Show which compares and contrasts a current release movie with a former hit. As far as movie podcasts go it’s become my favorite because they focus on more than just highbrow art house type films. For example they compared CHiPs with The Brady Bumch Movie
Someone here will love Song Exploder! I found it last week through a mention in the Switched on Pop podcast and it is amazing! It’s a podcast in which the host does interviews with different musicians about the stories behind their songs. Most of them lately have been in that alternative/Indie area.
Also for various types of history, You Must Rember This for old Hollywood, The Bowery Boys for NYC, Footnoting History which is exactly what it says, and Backstory which takes a topic in the news and does the history behind it.
I mainly listen to NPR podcasts and film podcasts. My favorite film podcasts are Filmspotting, Filmspotting: SVU (Streaming Video Unit), and The Next Picture Show.
Has anyone listened to the new Levar Burton podcast that’s being billed as Reading Rainbow for adults?
Absolutely jumping onto the Stuff You Missed in History Class and Welcome to Night Nightvale love bandwagon. Both are excellent.
Fictional (or are they?) podcasts Limetown and The Black Tapes have already been mentioned, and they are AMAZING. The Black Tapes is headed into it’s third and final season on August 6th and I’m biting my nails in anticipation.
For more fictional podcasts, King Falls AM is fun (particularly the secondary characters), The Bright Sessions is trippy, and Wolf 359 will tear your heart out and make you enjoy the experience. That final one is one of the best written things I’ve ever experienced, with nuanced callbacks and hints of greater mysteries threaded through each episode– and they’re never the hints you think they are.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Lore. This is a non-fiction podcast about all things creepy, chilling, and macabre. Yet Aaron Mahnke’s voice makes it soothing and relaxing as well. Make sure you listen all the way through until the credits!
My favourite podcast (other than Smart Podcast, Trashy Books podcast) is Anna Faris is Unqualified . Every week Anna and a celebrity guest (or two) call people who have come forward with relationship problems. It’s very funny and sometimes moving.
Some of the guests give amazing advice. Sharon Stone was like a therapist. Terry Crews was a revelation. Jeremy Renner had no time for bs.
And the Tiffany Haddish episode is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.
I share the love for Stuff You Missed in History Class and the various NPR podcasts. I like the NPR one app, because I have also been able to listen to non NPR podcasts from Slate and other channels that I would not have found on my own. I regularly listen to The Rachel Maddow Show on podcast, because I don’t get MSNBC with my minimal cable package. I actually like the podcast better than watching because it has no commercials. Even though I can’t listen in real time, it is usually available the same evening (although I listen in the following morning). I also listen to the Bill Maher show on podcast, although it is a little harder to follow because I can’t always tell who is speaking.
I will have to check out some of these other suggestions.
I currently love these podcasts:
How Did This Get Made? – A bunch of comedians (hosts Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas, with a rotating guest host) skewer really bad movies. Definitely listen to the Howard the Duck episode, any of the Fast episodes, and the Spice World episode (because Retta discussing the Spice Girls is a thing you need in your lives).
Can I Pet Your Dog? – Do you like dogs? Do you need something happy and pure in your life? GO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. And maybe join the Facebook group. As long as you aren’t a bot, you’re in 🙂 I routinely post pictures of my pup, Marty McFly, there.
Pod Save America – Former Obama speechwriters take on the news of the day. It’s serious as heck, but it’s funny, too.
First off, thanks, podcast recs are always so welcome in my life! Adding Wooden Overcoats and Friendshipping to my list asap.
And I wanted to add on to the Night Vale discussion in a few comments above– a really excellent piece of the show would in my opinion be the live show Ghost Stories, which is emotional and sweet and simply lovely. The recording is available on their band camp, I believe.
And because I’m a Night Vale nerd, Within the Wires and Alice Isn’t Dead (both produced by the same team) are also thoroughly excellent for people who want more weird in their lives.
Finally, the brothers McElroy have about a dozen to choose from but every single one so far has been a joy to listen to. Sawbones, My Brother My Brother and Me, The Adventure Zone, and Rose Buddies are my faves.
I think most of my favorites have already been mentioned, so I’ll just throw in a few more. (Also, we have a thread on this topic going in the Ravelry group.)
It’s Been A Minute is a new NPR show with Sam Sanders (formerly of NPR Politics Podcast—did that get mentioned yet? Love!) and rotating guests. An in-depth discussion of current events (political, popular cultural, what have you) with fascinating people.
Hellbent Podcast is the resisting and persisting feminist commentary on U.S. current events and news. Lots of cursing and calling a dickwad a dickwad. It’s very cathartic. They do wonderful interviews with people, give action items, do dishonorable mentions of dickwads of the week, and give out a weekly Maxine Waters Prize For Badassery(?)—well, Maxine wins every week but they announce the second place.
And if you’re a knitter, VeryPink Knits does a weekly Q&A podcast in addition to the YouTube videos.
My husband and I started watching The West Wing during the election, because well, the election, and we’re still watching it, because everything is on fire. As a result, I started listening to The West Wing Weekly some months back, which is a podcast where Joshua Malina (Will Bailey on TWW from season 4 on, and lately of Scandal) and Hrishikesh Hirway (TWW superfan) watch and discuss the episodes. They’ve had various cast members on there as guests, and also bring in a lot of political commentators and people that have worked in some of the staff roles in actual WH administrations to talk about how certain things were addressed and portrayed on the show. It’s fascinating on several levels, and Hrishi and Josh have great chemistry, and a genuine affection for what they’re talking about, even though they also throw out criticism and things that don’t land with them (Josh Lyman’s treatment of Donna and the treatment of women in general comes up a lot). It’s fun.
So many good podcasts here–i’ll try not to repeat. I don’t think anyone has mentioned some British podcasts I listen to each week: Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 (which rotates between several different shows; my favorite is The News Quiz), No Such Thing as a Fish, Answer Me This, The Allusionist, The Why Factor. I also love Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly (economics and culture from the Marketplace team; really informative and usually funny), Backstory, Innovation Hub, RadioLab, Freakonomics. Also: The Sporkful, Slate’s Hang up and Listen (sports!), Hot Takedown (more sports!),
I love podcasts! And I’ve been having to do a LOT of driving lately and the library’s audiobook apps always mess up downloading books to my phone so that I can’t listen to books without running out of data, so I’ve been using podcasts instead.
I think I’m repeating a couple but that’s OK.
Well, the Smart Bitches podcast of course. It’s one of the ones I’ve listened to the longest.
Can He Do That? is by the Washington Post and it’s basically “Is this person (usually the President/another member of the administration/government) allowed to do this thing?” and they talk through tradition and legalities etc.
My Dad Wrote a Porno is NSFW and hysterical. The host’s dad wrote a very poorly written erotic novel and he reads it out loud and he and his two friends from college react.
The History of English is a deep dive into the history of the English language. It is very accessible but also LONG — we’re only up to the 1300s or so and it’s already at 90+ episodes, most of which are 45-75 minutes long.
Sunday School Dropouts is “an ex-Christian and a non-believing sort-of Jew read all the way through the Bible for the first time”. NSFW and not safe for kids, they bill it as not a Bible study podcast but it feels like a fun and hysterical Sunday school class to me.
Lingthusiasm is about linguistics and hosted by 2 practicing linguists. One of the hosts did all the Internet linguistics articles on The Toast, so I started following her blog, so I found her podcast. Fun even if you have no idea about linguistics — the totality of my knowledge comes from one class in college that fulfilled some requirement for my English degree and reading the Toast articles.
RFI – Journal en français facile is a daily 10 minute podcast from Radio France. It’s French and world news done in French but the speakers are speaking clearly and not quickly, but not so slow as to be annoying. If you want to improve your French/get an international perspective on the news I highly recommend it.
I recently started listening to No Such Thing as a Fish, which is the writers from the show QI talking about amusing facts they’ve found each week, and I’ve been binging the back episodes. If you like QI you’ll like this.
So many great ones already listed, but I also love Revisionist History. Some of the episodes are literally 😉 mind-blowing; I only wish there were more/longer. And for movie reviews, I like Movie B.S. with Bayer and Snider.
I love podcasts – I do full-time data entry and my workday goes so quickly! In addition to SBTB, some of my favorite podcasts are:
Awards Chatter – interviews with nominees based on awards season (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony)
Love Food – Health At Every Size and the anti-diet movement
Minorities in Publishing – discussion of the need for diverse books hosted by two women who work in publishing and are POC.
Pop My Culture (celebrity interviews) and Totally Mommy (parenting community) – both cohosted by comedian Vanessa Ragland
I am not a regular listener of podcasts, but there are three in particular I want to mention:
1. The Bugle – Andy Zaltzmann and John Oliver, a hilarious take on current (or recent) events. John Oliver left the podcast last year because of personal and work commitments but there are a ton of episodes with him, and the current ones feature new guests on a regular basis.
2. Judge John Hodgman, where John H. acts as a judge over daily grievances sent in by listeners. Examples include: is a hot dog a sandwich, can a man brush while in the shower, is it okay to eschew Christmas traditions in favour of Star Wars on Christmas Day, and other such hilarious and riveting issues plaguing humanity today.
3. More Perfect – this is a legal podcast, only about 6 episodes so far. It looks at important cases, new or old, and analyses them from various perspectives to understand how those cases impacted jurisprudence in the United States. An example would be Lawrence v Texas. The reason this podcast is so interesting is because it doesn’t just tell us the cold facts and judgment, but makes a story of the case, to the point where the listener is completely engaged by the story behind the case more than the pure legal aspect of it.
@CelineB
I wasn’t aware Levar Burton had a new podcast, and can only say THANK YOU! Thank you, found it and could listen to him read for hours. The two episodes I’ve listened to are awesome.
I’m addicted to podcasts – it’s becoming uncontrollable.
The History Chicks – two friends read a bunch of biographies about famous/infamous women and discuss that woman. They make an effort to warn you about bad things that will come up so if that bothers you, or you want your kids to listen, you can make that decision. Favorite episode: Josephine Baker – so much more to her what is remembered of her.
Grammar Girl – because I need all the help I can get.
Radio Free Dystopia – fairly new, talk a lot about dystopian fiction and how it relates to current events.
I don’t know if many here will be interested, but I love Car Talk! It’s their reruns, but still so funny and valuable info. I’m a bit of a car girl, but I think just listening to these two brothers together is hilarious.
I second Ear Hustle, Up First, Invisibilia, Hidden Brain, Embedded.
LeVar Burton Reads is AWESOME!
I’m sure I’ll be repeating a few here. I don’t get a lot of time to listen to podcasts (and I have a huuuuuuge backlog!), but my regulars are:
My Dad Wrote a Porno – hilarious but nsfw, a guy reads “erotica” written by his father to his two friends. Hard to nominate a favourite episode, just start at the beginning.
How Did This Get Made? – Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael talk about crazy movies. My favourites are No Holds Barred, From Justin to Kelly, Sleepaway Camp, Road House and all the Fast episodes. Birdemic and The Room are great too and have some good insights from cast members.
The Dollop – two comedians; one tells the story of a historic event to his friend who knows nothing about it. There are >200 episodes and I’m relatively new to it, but so far I’d rec The Rube and Ten Cent Beer Night as particularly funny.
Chat 10, Looks 3 – Australian journalists Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales talk about politics, books, baking and TV. Usually relatively short episodes, about half an hour.
Unruffled – Janet Lansbury’s parenting (early childhood) podcast. This is fantastic if you’re looking for gentle parenting tips. Best episodes would depend on what kind of advice you’re looking for – for me the RIE parenting basics and toilet training ones have been really helpful.
Adding another rec for Nerdette, also Nerdette recaps Game of Thrones with Peter Sagal is awesome and often hilarious if you’re a fan of the show.
Politico’s Nerdcast is weekly if you want to take a deeper dive into the WTF? is going on in Washington now.
I also just discovered the New York Times Book Review has a weekly podcast about publishing and new books where they interview authors with new books coming out. It’s done by their editor, Pamela Paul, whose book about reading, “My Life With Bob” was excellent
Some of my favorites have been mentioned (RadioLab and More Perfect), but I have a few suggestions to add:
On Point with Tom Ashbrook – two one-hour shows M-F covering topics as wide ranging as politics to arts and culture
Planet Money – quirky fun and informative stories about the economy
FiveThirtyEight Politics – the hosts (Jody, Claire, Nate and Harry) are the best part of this weekly politics show
Constitutional – from the same team at the Washington Post who produced Presidential (and if you are into US history, please check out Presidential immediately) the stories and characters behind the US Constitution
Happier with Gretch Rubin – hosted with her sister Elizabeth Craft, tips and tricks to make your life a little happier
HOPEFULLY WE DON’T BREAKUP is so far up the Smart Bitches alley that it’s on the opposite side of the block. The whole show is comedian couple Giulia Rozzi and Will Miles interviewing other couples about love and relationships. because it is a truth universally acknowledged that it’s easier to ask people you know to do you a favor for free than a stranger, podcast guest tend to also be comedians (but not always). Makes for an entertaining show with huge appeal for people who love eavesdropping (ME!).
Coming up for air after full romance novel immersion to binge on HWDB threw the often stilted and weirdly old-fashioned/regressive tropes of SO MANY contemporary romances into stark relief. I had these refreshing moments of oh yeah, squeezing a ring out of a commitment-phobic paramour is not actually every (any? in 2017?) woman’s dream; Healthy committed relationships can be founded on casual drunk sex without it being punctuated by a vegas wedding or a secret baby; People who don’t want marriage and children don’t need to be cured of what must be the result of a traumatic childhood by the healing power of love and sex… incongruously, listening to couples talk about their real-life relationships can be more comforting than some romance.
I have two kind-of out there recommendations:
Elis James and John Robins on Radio X. If you want to expand your friendship circle, get on this vibe train! There’s also a truly awesome Facebook group of fans of the show.
The Archers. The longest-running radio soap. It takes a while to get into, but it is everything you want in a family drama.
I’m probably not doing the best job at describing these two, but they are so worth it, I promise!