Quick edit. I had no idea pod casts were so popular. Thank you all for posting. I have a lot of content to check out.
I like behind the bastards, you get to learn the history of both living and dead ass holes in some good detail.
If I want a laugh at pop culture, the weekly planet is my go to, it’s funny chat about comic books, movies and comic book movies. Plus the back catalogue is huge so chances are they’ve had an episode about something you’ve liked. I just really like laughing at things I’ve enjoyed.
Also check out debunking a murderer. Remember making a murderer on Netflix? Turns out that doc was bullshit, dude totally did those murders. Hear the prosecutors side and all the evidence the Netflix show left out.
Finally, slow burn. A long format episodic deep dive into recent history. Each season covers some important events, like Nixon, tupac and biggie, Bill Clinton, etc. I learned a lot from it.
I second Behind the Bastards. I would also check out Knowledge Fight if you like making fun of Alex Jones. Dogg Zzone 9000 is great for just laughing your ass off.
I tried behind the bastards, and really liked the first few (older?) episodes. But it soon felt too shallow, especially when the main host isn’t speaking – imo the other guests were only there to provide quips. Personal opinion, of course. Maybe this got better?
I switched over to QAA to scratch this itch for laughing at conspiracy theorists.
Also check out debunking a murderer. Remember making a murderer on Netflix? Turns out that doc was bullshit, dude totally did those murders. Hear the prosecutors side and all the evidence the Netflix show left out.
I don’t know one way or another but it was pretty clear that there was a lot of shaky evidence and a lot of coerced confession stuff which definitely doesn’t seem like justice. There was also a second season of that show where they brought in a much better lawyer (who specializes in exonerating false convictions) and showed some more significant problems with the prosecutor’s case and also that the guy’s defence lawyers were not the most competent (and IIRC also uncovered that the guy’s brother in law had a collection of r*pe porn images on his laptop)
You’ll enjoy the podcast for sure. Give it a listen.
I might. I’m not as big on the podcast format for true crime stuff. I much prefer the docu format. But it’s okay, what I believe on the matter doesn’t matter that much. I’ll take your word for it that the podcast makes a compelling case for the other side.
The Darknet Diaries. It covers cyber crime and security and they have a lot of interesting episodes.
The freedom for flash drives is a particularly interesting one.
Ep 45 & 46: Xbox Underground
Ep 92: The Pirate Bay
Both are fantastic.
Citations Needed, excellent reporting on the way corporate news distorts various issues to shape public opinion, occasionally with historical examples going back to the antebellum period.
I’m seeing a lot of stuff with the lable citations needed, who is the creator?
Label looks like this
Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi
Darknet Diaries - interesting (and mostly first hand) stories about hacking, the dark web, etc. it’s so crazy how some of these hackers (good and bad) get access to data/companies.
I recently started the podcast and I enjoy the old episodes but the new episodes seem to have a lot of unnecessary filler
5-4
Lefty lawyers discuss Supreme Court cases and why the Supreme Court sucks. They’ve got a backlog going back years, covering 100+ cases with analysis for every decision, concurrence, and dissent. Also special episodes discussing specific Justices and their jurisprudence, a miniseries about the Federalist Society, and lots of eps about law school in general.
On the subject of the US Supreme Court, I can also recommend What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law.
It started out as What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law, in which 99% Invisible host Roman Mars talked with US SC expert Elizabeth Joh about the various constitutional crises Donald Trump kept driving the country into. But then Biden got elected, so they made it more general. It’s still fascinating though.
The Dollop is a good palate cleanser to go with Behind the Bastards. Both history podcasts with a comedic bent, but Dollop is usually much more light-hearted/bizarre happenings.
The Dollop: now with 90% less child murder than Behind the Bastards!
Its true, I was the mics
So many good ones. I’ll just paste the (slightly edited) podcast descriptions of three I enjoy here:
Twenty Thousand Hertz A lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.
Under the Influence Under the Influence gives listeners a rare backstage pass into the hallways, boardrooms and recording studios of the ad industry. Fascinating (and humorous) stories that connect the dots between pop culture, marketing and human nature.
Freakonomics Radio Uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior.
I’d like to recommend The Trojan Horse Affair. Its a limited series and a few years old now, but a a really interesting listen
Its about the scandal in the UK in 2013, where an anonymous letter ‘exposed’ an Islamist conspiracy in Birmingham schools to radicalise children.
The investigation in the podcast is helmed by two people; a rookie journalism grad who is muslim, and an experienced white journalist. The contrast in perspectives and emotion between them adds to it
And yeah it’ll probably make you angry, and for those not in the UK it might key you in a bit on the tensions that do and don’t exist with British Muslims, how they’re viewed and treated by lots of parties here (including the Government)
Binged it and it was good.
No Such Thing as a Fish. Made by the fact researchers for the British show QI. Hosts are intelligent and have good rapport with eachother. Light hearted, interesting, something I can zone in and out of a bit.
Seconded! They often invite guests over as well, who are pretty well versed in their own field. Funny British humour with 4 facts in an hour? Sign me up
Exactly!!!
Noted!
Cautionary Tales
We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups - and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They’ll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser.
I think the description is better than what I can write.
A few from my list:
- Darknet Diaries - Interviews with interesting people around hacking and cybersecurity. This includes a lot of the actual criminals themselves and you get to hear their motivations and how they did what they did. Really neat for understanding the minds of folks who do bad things.
- FiveThirtyEight Politics - This one is good for staying abreast of US politics, polling. While the political bias of the hosts is pretty obvious, this is less punditry and more about the numbers.
- Risky Business with Nate Silver Maria Konnikova - A neat podcast covering risk, poker and politics. Just a good listen for thinking about risk and probabilities in life.
- The Lawfare Podcast - Lawyers talking about the law, and how it shapes and is shaped by whats in the news. Great for getting a legalistic view of the world.
Co-signing 538. Great podcast, especially for those that are good at processing/understanding data
Dan Carlin’s history podcasts are amazing. No ads or anything so you don’t have to sit through 15 minutes of sponsors
Depends on what you’re looking for. Most generally, I’d suggest Conan O’Bien Needs A Friend. Aside from the excessive ad breaks, the guests and discussions are almost always interesting.
A few I’ve been big on lately:
The Meat and Dairy Network Podcast - A British humor surrealist comedy podcast about the inner workings of the meat and dairy industry.
The Horror Virgin - A guy who hates scary movies has two friends who make him watch them.
The League of Ultimate Questing - High production actual play DnD podcast. Very funny with some fun hooks.
Always glad to see a fellow beef head out in the wild. Beef out!
The Formosa Files. Two history geeks living in Taiwan, giving an incredible look into its past. I am not a history guy, but a friend recommended it. I started listening to give it a quick listen. I can’t put it down. Absolute hidden treasure.
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
AntennaPod hell yeah!
It’s so good!
All the other ones surprisingly suck compared to AntennaPod
Thx!