I finally got an iPhone this year, after being a late adopter of smartphones in general and then having a Windows Phone for a bit. Although I'd listened to podcasts before, the iPhone streamlines every part of the process so much that it made me really delve into them, and they've become a significant enough part of my media diet that, like with TV, movies, books, etc., I've had to make priorities because there isn't time to just take everything in.
So after exploring, expanding, and winnowing, this is what I listen to. I don't listen to every episode of everything. I listen to some or a lot of the following.
Interviews
WTF with Marc Maron. The first podcast I listened to on a regular basis. Longform interviews of the kind that you don't see anywhere anymore - Charlie Rose doesn't even really do this anymore, Tavis Smiley is only half an hour. This is Dick Cavett stuff. Some of the guests you expect to be great certainly are -- Paul Thomas Anderson -- but you'd be surprised how great the Ed Begley Jr interview is, and Maron may arguably be at his best talking comedy with comics you might not have heard of.
On Being with Krista Tippett. Tippett's interview subjects cover a wide range of areas - anyone engaged in some way with the human condition. At times I think she could interrogate some of her softer subjects a little more instead of just letting them have the floor, but I suppose that's not the show.
Anna Faris is Unqualified. A newer podcast, Anna Faris and her guest answer relationship questions, often preceded by an informal interview with the guest.
The Scholars' Circle Interviews. Hosted by Maria Armoudian.
Television
Kumail Nanjiani's The X-Files Files. My favorite TV podcast. Kumail -- you may (and should) know him from Silicon Valley -- goes deep on the X-Files, even going back and reading mid-90s alt.tv.x-files posts about the episodes being discussed. It's a labor of love about a show we all love, and you would think, is there anything new to say about the X-Files? There really is! This is one of the few podcasts I don't skip episodes of, but I've discovered it recently enough that I'm not at all caught up.
I love that podcast enough that I've tried to find similar TV podcasts, but ... well, it's a tough standard to live up to. I found a Friends podcast, for instance, hosted by twentysomethings who keep talking about how they were seven when they saw such and such an episode and how Friends was their first sitcom. My first sitcom was like, Taxi, or Welcome Back Kotter. More power to them, but I can't relate to the conversation. There's a Buffy podcast that tries too hard to be polished and funny, and somehow even when it succeeds it's offputting.
But there's also these two:
Better Call Saul Insider. Hosted by Better Call Saul editor Kelley Dixon, this is an indispensable accompaniment to one of the best shows on TV, a cut way above the after-shows that have proliferated TV and frankly better than most audio commentaries these days (which have become so rushed and perfunctory).
The West Wing Weekly. This got a lot of press when it started, probably because it's co-hosted by West Wing co-star Joshua Malina (though he didn't join the show until a later season they haven't gotten to yet). So far so good.
Religion and Philosophy
History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps. The preeminent philosophy podcast, it is exactly what it sounds like, and it is mammoth.
The Religious Studies Project. Weekly discussions from scholars around the world.
Homebrewed Christianity. Probably the leading progressive Christianity podcast, started by Tripp Fuller and including interviews with big names like Crossan, Wright, Caputo, etc. Also hosts of the Theology Nerd Throwdown and other podcasts.
Seminary Dropout. An interview-focused podcast by young Texas pastor Shane Blackshear.
Nomad. "Two friends who like Jesus but dislike religion." Sound familiar?
Judaism Unbound. A relatively new podcast on Judaism hosted by, if I remember right, a Gen Xer and a Millennial.
New Books in Religion. What it says on the tin.
Religious Studies News. From my peeps at AAR.
Miscellaneous
Radiolab. You know Radiolab. Radiolab is one of those shows everyone listens to.
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Very very long episodes about various topics in history. I usually have to make a block of time to listen to these, since the run to four hours.
The Brookings Cafeteria. As you know, Bonker, the Brookings Institution is a social sciences and public policy think tank on Think Tank Row. The Brookings Cafeteria is a Brookings-hosted podcast on a wide assortment of topics.
This Week in Law. Just what it sounds like! A weekly discussion of legal issues. I don't blog about legal issues here much because, hey, I'm not a lawyer. But it's a topic I keep an ear out for, in no small part because, as a religious studies scholar, I'm sensitive to the fact that the law, like religion and politics, is something that people talk and opine incessantly about without knowing shit about it. So I want to know more than shit about it.
The Psychology Podcast. Pretty general interest, I tend to skip around and look for the interesting ones.
Bon Appetit. Interviews and other brief discussions with the magazine's staff.
Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men. X-actly what it sounds like.
Decompressed. Phonogram creator Kieron Gillen's podcast about the craft of comics.
Podcasts I have on my iPhone that I have not listened to much yet but seriously I have been meaning to
NoSleep
Pseudopod
Escape Pod
PodCastle
Drunks and Dragons
Critical Hit
Philosophize This
How to Be a Person
Off Camera with Sam Jones
Black List Table Reads
Story Worthy
Sklarbro Country
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