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rynlingThis is what I’m listening to right now…
My Favorite Murder
This podcast releases two types of episodes. I don’t like the full episodes because I’m not into real-world violence. (No judging, it’s just not for me.) Instead, I listen to the “minisodes,” which is where the hosts read and comment on listener-submitted stories. I tend to think that none of these stories are real. They have the urban legend flavor of Jezebel’s annual Scary Story Contest, by which I mean they’re creepy things that probably didn’t actually happen to people who survived and are totally fine. I think the hosts were publicly shamed out of their style of humor at some point during the pandemic, so the earlier episodes are much better than the current ones, and I’ve been listening backwards from the end of 2019. Despite the mild elements of horror and the problematic humor, this is actually a very positive and wholesome podcast that’s extremely respectful of diversity and the experiences of both crime victims and the wrongfully accused.
Bonfireside Chat
The two hosts of Bonfireside Chat explore the lore of the Soulsborne games from a storytelling perspective, and sometimes they talk about game design as well. They also make a lot of references to internet culture, as well as to other works of horror and dark fantasy. The hosts are both hardcore Stephen King fans, which I appreciate, and they have good chemistry and a clever but chill sense of humor. They’re respectful of their guests and a diversity of gaming communities, and they’re progressive without being obnoxious. This podcast has no right to be as good as it is, but I’m not sure how much sense it would make to anyone who’s not at least a little familiar with the games.
The Luke and Pete Show
Luke and Pete are two British sports journalists who are primarily famous for being cohosts of a podcast called The Football Ramble. The Luke and Pete Show is just the two of them casually shooting the shit. Every once in a while they bring on their friend Vish, another sports journalist. When Vish gets sent overseas on an assignment, they’ll talk to him about things like fun snacks and overly complicated toilets. Despite being sports journalists, everyone is politically progressive, much more so than most American liberals. There’s not much to say; this podcast is just bantz with the lads for half an hour every week.
Here are some podcasts I used to listen to…
Welcome to Nightmare
Really good at the beginning but jumped the shark in a major way once it got megapopular at some point in 2016. The main narrator started singing and doing accents, which I couldn’t handle.
The Magnus Archives
The “monster of the week” episodes at the beginning are excellent, but the larger framing story just isn’t that interesting to me. The main narrator is great, but many of the guest character performances aren’t so strong. I stopped listening about halfway through the fourth season, which is when the story became more of a cohesive drama featuring an ensemble cast.
My Brother, My Brother and Me
This podcast was uncomfortably awkward and borderline mean-spirited when it first started, but there was a sweet spot between around 2017 to 2019 when the humor felt fresh and relevant. The podcast more or less fell apart during the pandemic, which I guess is probably true of a lot of things. It probably didn’t help that Yahoo Answers, which was the backbone of the show, shut down. I tried to listen to a few recent episodes, but I don’t think the podcast ever really recovered.
Answer Me This
A British trivia comedy podcast that ended in 2021. I only learned about it right before they ceased production, so I’ve been listening to it backwards. I think the hosts only found their stride in 2017, and it’s difficult to listen to any of the episodes before then.
No Such Thing As a Fish
Another British trivia comedy podcast. It had a rocky start but became super interesting between 2016 and 2018. After that, every episode was a recording of live show, and I could tell that the hosts were starting to get tired.
My Dad Wrote a Porno
The first season was utterly brilliant and fantastic. The rest, not so much.
Serial
The first season was utterly brilliant and fantastic. The rest, not so much.
This American Life
I think, like a lot of people, this was the first podcast I listened to. The episodes were always a little hit-and-miss, but I stopped listening in 2017 when Ira Glass did an endless series about stage magicians. Now I can’t even listen to his voice without wincing from secondhand embarrassment.
Pop Culture Happy Hour
A weekly NPR podcast that used to be really fun but unfortunately got performatively woke in a super cringe way at some point during 2018. I think the podcast hosts were always on the verge of being out of touch with pop culture, and they over-compensated by infecting themselves with Twitter discourse fungus. I think the tipping point for me was when they had a conversation with Kat Chow about a weird and awkward episode she did for Code Switch about whether a shelter dog she adopted is racist.
Radiolab
This was my absolute favorite podcast for a long time, but I stopped listening because I can’t stand Latif Nasser, who has taken over as the primary host of the show. His limited-run podcast The Other Latif was one of the best things I’ve ever listened to, but when he gets breathy and overly excited about pop science I want to punch him in the face.
99% Invisible
Roman Mars is obnoxious. I mean, he’s always been obnoxious, but he’s gotten worse. The tipping point for me was in May 2021 when he literally made an episode about how his shit doesn’t stink. He was like, I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t have organic toilets that don’t flush, and I was like, Okay I’m done here.
Welcome to the Magic Tavern
A fantasy improv sketch show that actually worked, at least for the first thirty to forty episodes. The premise started to fall apart for me when the characters began to establish cohesive backstories. Those first three dozen episodes were really good, though.
This is just my subjective impression, but I think 2017 might have been the high-water mark for podcasts. I feel like everything got a little weird as the social media backlash against alt-right political movements started to become performative and toxic in early 2018, but 2017 was an excellent year for media in general.
My Favorite Murder
This podcast releases two types of episodes. I don’t like the full episodes because I’m not into real-world violence. (No judging, it’s just not for me.) Instead, I listen to the “minisodes,” which is where the hosts read and comment on listener-submitted stories. I tend to think that none of these stories are real. They have the urban legend flavor of Jezebel’s annual Scary Story Contest, by which I mean they’re creepy things that probably didn’t actually happen to people who survived and are totally fine. I think the hosts were publicly shamed out of their style of humor at some point during the pandemic, so the earlier episodes are much better than the current ones, and I’ve been listening backwards from the end of 2019. Despite the mild elements of horror and the problematic humor, this is actually a very positive and wholesome podcast that’s extremely respectful of diversity and the experiences of both crime victims and the wrongfully accused.
Bonfireside Chat
The two hosts of Bonfireside Chat explore the lore of the Soulsborne games from a storytelling perspective, and sometimes they talk about game design as well. They also make a lot of references to internet culture, as well as to other works of horror and dark fantasy. The hosts are both hardcore Stephen King fans, which I appreciate, and they have good chemistry and a clever but chill sense of humor. They’re respectful of their guests and a diversity of gaming communities, and they’re progressive without being obnoxious. This podcast has no right to be as good as it is, but I’m not sure how much sense it would make to anyone who’s not at least a little familiar with the games.
The Luke and Pete Show
Luke and Pete are two British sports journalists who are primarily famous for being cohosts of a podcast called The Football Ramble. The Luke and Pete Show is just the two of them casually shooting the shit. Every once in a while they bring on their friend Vish, another sports journalist. When Vish gets sent overseas on an assignment, they’ll talk to him about things like fun snacks and overly complicated toilets. Despite being sports journalists, everyone is politically progressive, much more so than most American liberals. There’s not much to say; this podcast is just bantz with the lads for half an hour every week.
Here are some podcasts I used to listen to…
Welcome to Nightmare
Really good at the beginning but jumped the shark in a major way once it got megapopular at some point in 2016. The main narrator started singing and doing accents, which I couldn’t handle.
The Magnus Archives
The “monster of the week” episodes at the beginning are excellent, but the larger framing story just isn’t that interesting to me. The main narrator is great, but many of the guest character performances aren’t so strong. I stopped listening about halfway through the fourth season, which is when the story became more of a cohesive drama featuring an ensemble cast.
My Brother, My Brother and Me
This podcast was uncomfortably awkward and borderline mean-spirited when it first started, but there was a sweet spot between around 2017 to 2019 when the humor felt fresh and relevant. The podcast more or less fell apart during the pandemic, which I guess is probably true of a lot of things. It probably didn’t help that Yahoo Answers, which was the backbone of the show, shut down. I tried to listen to a few recent episodes, but I don’t think the podcast ever really recovered.
Answer Me This
A British trivia comedy podcast that ended in 2021. I only learned about it right before they ceased production, so I’ve been listening to it backwards. I think the hosts only found their stride in 2017, and it’s difficult to listen to any of the episodes before then.
No Such Thing As a Fish
Another British trivia comedy podcast. It had a rocky start but became super interesting between 2016 and 2018. After that, every episode was a recording of live show, and I could tell that the hosts were starting to get tired.
My Dad Wrote a Porno
The first season was utterly brilliant and fantastic. The rest, not so much.
Serial
The first season was utterly brilliant and fantastic. The rest, not so much.
This American Life
I think, like a lot of people, this was the first podcast I listened to. The episodes were always a little hit-and-miss, but I stopped listening in 2017 when Ira Glass did an endless series about stage magicians. Now I can’t even listen to his voice without wincing from secondhand embarrassment.
Pop Culture Happy Hour
A weekly NPR podcast that used to be really fun but unfortunately got performatively woke in a super cringe way at some point during 2018. I think the podcast hosts were always on the verge of being out of touch with pop culture, and they over-compensated by infecting themselves with Twitter discourse fungus. I think the tipping point for me was when they had a conversation with Kat Chow about a weird and awkward episode she did for Code Switch about whether a shelter dog she adopted is racist.
Radiolab
This was my absolute favorite podcast for a long time, but I stopped listening because I can’t stand Latif Nasser, who has taken over as the primary host of the show. His limited-run podcast The Other Latif was one of the best things I’ve ever listened to, but when he gets breathy and overly excited about pop science I want to punch him in the face.
99% Invisible
Roman Mars is obnoxious. I mean, he’s always been obnoxious, but he’s gotten worse. The tipping point for me was in May 2021 when he literally made an episode about how his shit doesn’t stink. He was like, I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t have organic toilets that don’t flush, and I was like, Okay I’m done here.
Welcome to the Magic Tavern
A fantasy improv sketch show that actually worked, at least for the first thirty to forty episodes. The premise started to fall apart for me when the characters began to establish cohesive backstories. Those first three dozen episodes were really good, though.
This is just my subjective impression, but I think 2017 might have been the high-water mark for podcasts. I feel like everything got a little weird as the social media backlash against alt-right political movements started to become performative and toxic in early 2018, but 2017 was an excellent year for media in general.
