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.
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
Search Engine with PJ Vogt. They do deep dives into all kinds of things and it’s full of interesting information.
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)
- Trillbilly Worker’s Party - Kentucky-centric Marxist jokers hanging out. They always know how to put a smile on my face, even if they’re talking about bleak stuff.
- Fun City - Well produced live role playing of Shadowrun. The game is a few years in and I am just invested.
- ALAB - Lawyers talking shit. They’re funny and I like learning about interesting cases. One of the characters they covered actually sued them and settled for an interview on the show.
- Desert Oracle Radio - Joshua Tree-centric paranormal stuff. Good for an old X-Files head like me.
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.