I love podcasts. I spend most of my free time listening to them, and now the rest of that time is spent making podcasts…yup!
I’m going to start with a caveat: I am not including This American Life, RadioLab, Planet Money or On The Media in this list…because they collectively would hold the #1 spot, and many people regularly include them in their own lists…so recognize that I like these shows. Freakonomics and The Moth also sit at a close tie for 1.5…again…you know these…so…
In no specific order:
No-Budget Nightmares
On Podomatic and iTunes. Consistently the show I most look forward to. I LOVE low-budget flicks, and so do these guys. Even if the movie is awful, the episode ABOUT the movie is amazing (Hip-Hop Locos and Barely Legal Lesbian Vampires is still among my favourites). Moe and Doug have a great rapport, reminding me a bit of the chemistry between Hometown Tales’ Gene and Bryan.
Here’s The Thing
On iTunes and WNYC. Alec Baldwin…talking to interesting people. How could you NOT love them. The Fred Armisen, Billy Joel and David Letterman episodes are especially amazing.
Lexicon Valley
On iTunes and Slate. Bob Garfield from On The Media joins Mike Vuolo of Slate to discuss words, grammar and the english language. Bob gets to let his hair down MUCH lower than he can on OTM, and Mike is a perfect foil for Bob’s oft-times cynical repartee. You are entertained, and learn. What I like most is that there is often an attempt to bring the subject matter some history, which many of us forget language has!
Jay and Silent Bob Get Old
On Smodcast and iTunes. OK…I admit it…I’m a Kevin Smith fan. I was obsessed with Clerks when it first came out. I have a Clerks hockey jersey from the original video release promo (the local video store knew I was obsessed). This is an intervention podcast, where Kevin helps keep Jason Mewes on the straight and narrow…by telling dirty sex stories, cautionary tales, and going on hilariously filthy tangents. NOT for the weak of heart, or spirit. Definitely for the Gen-X and Why’ers who grew up loving the foul mouthed Jay and silently-wise Silent Bob.
99% Invisible
Web and iTunes. Genius. Seriously. This show has the capacity to change not just podcasts but radio as we know it. Roman Mars talks design and architecture. If I describe episode by episode you will probably think I’m crazy (the rules of flag design, giving names to all the areas in an urban space that have none, a big purple building) but I’ve never been so hypnotized by a show before. RadioLab meets University Lecture after taking gentle hallucinogens.
Honorary Mention: Hometown Tales
Website and iTunes. I love this podcast, but they’ve updated two or three times in the last year. I’m SO glad I chose to write in when I did…one of the last ‘proper’ episodes they did (#350, possibly that last ‘proper’ episode actually) they read my hometown tales and I had a mention on the show. I listened to this show backwards, from newest to oldest, which was an amazing experience I should write about in another blog. If there were two guys I would want to have a beer with and talk about ‘everything’ it would be Gene and Bryan. I’m not sure if the show is dead or just ‘temporarily inactive’ so I include it here…a show I would listen to as often as they post…so hopefully they post again!
I guess here I’ll drop in a quick note about the podcasts I do myself! I in NO way compare mine with these, but the shows above are partly the reason I got into podcasting (and in the case of No-Budget Nightmares, the door I used to get in!)
FUZZY NOTES: My most popular show, about the music made by furries. If you don’t know what furries are, they’re the lovable oft-misunderstood fandom of people who associate themselves with animals. Some like to dress in costumes (most people do not, despite what the media likes to say!) and some draw art…and some do music! I felt that there was a need for a hub for furry music, so I made one! Over 500 downloads a week and growing, it seems to be working!
SOMETHING WEIRD THIS WAY COMES: It’s irregularly updated at this point, but I’d like to change that in the new year. Originally a podcast about low-budget films…now about the music of low-budget films. Here’s a link to the inaugural episode of the ‘music’ format where I play songs from the various films Moe and I had discussed in the first eight episodes of the original ‘series.’
DALE SPEAKING PODCAST: My work podcast, a show about music, musicians and the music industry from what we hope is a unique perspective! We talk about the music industry and artists in Canada and try to identify tips, tricks and trends!
What do you think? Any opinions on these shows? Hate my shows and blog? Talk to me! Either here or in Twitter @Potoroo.
Under the Pink 