Wednesday List: podcast recommendations

I play podcasts any time that I'm sewing, walking around, doing something that doesn't require much brain power at work, commuting, shopping at the supermarket, cooking, cleaning... I like the radio, I like human voices, and I also like self programming. 

Of course, most podcasts are only issued at intervals - once a week (if I'm lucky), bi-weekly or monthly. This means that my listening capacity far exceeds the capacity of creators to make content and so, I am constantly discovering, subscribing and re-listening.

Gentle reader, I have listened to MANY podcasts, and now I would like to share some recommendations with you.

Some awesome stories

I think that actually attending a story-telling night would be a little bit too much like going to see stand-up comedy (true story: I pretty much hate stand-up comedy). However live story-telling makes great radio.

• The Moth podcast is a well produced show of live recordings from story-telling events in the US and Canada. There is some variety in the awesomeness of the stories, but as a rule the podcasts themselves are well-curated and have a good spread of experiences.
• RISK! is Moth-esque but about 300x more risqué.
• Spark London is a story-telling podcast from - obviously - London. A bit more raw in production compared to the other two.

Podcasts that are centred around telling stories outside of the context of a live story-telling event make up the core of my listening. Even better: when they include primary sources (be still my beating heart).

• The entire catalogue of the Radiotopia network. I am especially in love with The Stranger, Love + Radio and the Radio Diaries (see: the Radio Diaries Strange Fruit episode which is disturbing and a truly amazing piece of radio).
• This American Life (a given).
• Radiolab has been in constant rotation since my earliest days as a podcast junkie. It's a blend of science and story-telling and, like many of the Radiotopia shows, has some really interesting sound work.
• Everything is Stories has amazing content and is beautifully produced. This is one of my favourite podcasts at present and I am extremely excited because as I started writing this I discovered a new episode had just been released. 

Je suis un History Geek

I listen to many history podcasts, some of which are very hit and miss and very geeky and some of which have terrible sound. In an effort to respect that your geekery may not be as well developed as mine and to preserve your sanity (such bad sound!) here I suggest the better ones.

• Sawbones is a comedic look at medical history presented by a married couple - moments of genuine hilarity. Also! History!
• Stuff You Missed in History Class, which is can be really interesting and is always well researched. The hosts tend to do a very broad sweep so the relevancy of a particular episode to your interests may be hit and miss. Also, in recent years I think the episodes have become too short and with farrrrrr too many advertisements. I recommend using your powers to skip these.
• Last Stop to Nowhere covers the more obscure aspects of Australian history (Somerton Man!) but isn’t afraid to look at the more difficult and painful aspects of Australian history like the Frontier Wars.

Radio drama

Listening to old Agatha Christie radio dramas lead me to the love of Golden Age detective novels. Current favourite radio dramas include

• Welcome to Nightvale, which is simultaneously completely left field and utterly formulaic. I think it helps to listen to the series from the beginning as oppose to jumping in halfway through, because of character development and understanding of in-jokes.
• BBC Homefront - which is an ambitious attempt to create a four year long radio drama dramatising life in England during the First World War. Extremely gentle programming, the episodes only last a few minutes each. Soooothing. Also, we're only a few episodes in so it's not too late to listen to the entire series!

Special mentions

Too good not to mention, but falling outside of the categories above.

• The Call Your Girfriend podcast, which makes me miss Bex, but also feel like I'm living inside The Toast or The Hairpin. Feminism! Robyn! Rants!
• The Sporkful is hands down the best food podcast that I listen to, and makes me think about eating delicous food but not also agonise over the kind of oil I'm using (which is a very real problem form me)
• Finally, shout out to Pocket Casts, my podcasting app of choice, which is so much better than iTunes.

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Brief life update

Right now I am writing this in bed, in advance, on a Saturday. The weather is fairly shit, and I'm not really loving my job at the moment so the weekend is a blessed relief. 

 

Also: drinking my second cup of coffee and obsessed with Thomas Tallis's Spem in Alium piece which is an English Renaissance choral work for 40 voices singing 40 separate parts.