Fill my head with words!

November 10, 2011 4:02 PM

Yet another "what is a good podcast for (X)" question! Whee!

I am going to Hawaii for 10 days, and I need podcasts for both on the plane and for nighttime/driving time. I already subscribe to

WTF
Filmspotting
NPR's All Songs Considered
The Bugle
Best Show Gems
Sound Opinions

and as vague as this sounds, I want more stuff like that. I like talky podcasts, I like a good sense of humor that doesn't take itself or its subject too seriously, and I like some intelligence and depth.

Note, however, I have listened to and do not like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Jordan Jesse Go/Sound of Young America, This American Life, or anything Paul F Tompkins. I'm not crazy about Slate's Culture Gabfest, either. The tone of all of these is very off-putting to me.

I guess I'm looking for intelligent, funny podcasts about things like

Baseball
Music (Rock/punk rock/indie)
Soccer (already subscribe to Football Weekly)
Movies
Comedy

that isn't one of the aforementioned podcasts. What you got?

posted by pdb to computers & internet (14 answers total)

A favorite of mine recently (although it's from 2009) was Camille Paglia discussing religion and Hollywood. At first I scratched my head, but once she got going I was spellbound. She's quite a motormouth, but other than that really entertaining and informative podcast.

Link here: http://castroller.com/Podcasts/BigIdeas/1310179
posted by zenpop at 4:10 PM on November 10, 2011

Pop Culture Happy Hour
posted by clerestory at 4:11 PM on November 10, 2011

I really dig Dinner Party Download. It's a bit on the shorter side, but they've interviewed quite a range of interesting people and their interview format is consistently one of my favorites.
posted by raihan_ at 4:21 PM on November 10, 2011

Uhh Yeah Dude
Stop Podcasting Yourself
The Flop House
The Champs
posted by pilibeen at 4:45 PM on November 10, 2011

Seconding the Dinner Party Download, and adding:
Widely Ranging Interests
KQED's Forum
Tank Riot
posted by tautological at 5:15 PM on November 10, 2011

Ricky Gervais.
posted by Brocktoon at 5:48 PM on November 10, 2011

If you like smart sports podcasts, you can't do better than Hang Up And Listen.
posted by escabeche at 6:24 PM on November 10, 2011

I loves me The Incomparable podcast.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:26 PM on November 10, 2011

Answer Me This! I've been an ardent fan ever since I discovered it through a recommendation here on AskMe. It is chatty, lighthearted, and often surprisingly educational. The two hosts, Helen and Olly (and the echo-voiced Martin the Soundman), are all delightfully witty and charming. Helen is actually the sister of Andy Zaltzman from The Bugle, and shares a similar sense of humour.

Every week for 30 minutes or so, Helen and Olly answer questions that people have sent by e-mail or left via Skype/voicemail. It's kind of like Ask Metafilter, but chattier.

A sampling of questions from last year:

home & garden: There is a dead fox in my garden. How do I get rid of it?
science & nature: What would dinosaurs have tasted like?
human relations: I just headbutted my housemate. What’s the best way to clear the air?
writing & language: Why is the word ‘blue’ used to describe dirty movies or rude language?
chatfilter: If you were fleeing your burning house, what three things would you take with you?

There are over 100 episodes available for free, and their oldest shows are available for purchase if you manage to burn through all of the free ones. (They are well worth it.)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:02 PM on November 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Another good soccer podcast - and good for plane trips, at about an hour a time - is 5 Live's World Football Phone-In. It covers the South American game with Tim Vickery every week, and Sean Wheelock (for North America) alternates with Andy Brassell (for Europe). Occasionally they have guests covering Africa and Asia as well.

To add to a couple of the good answers you've received up-thread: zenpop's link is to one of TVO's Big Ideas podcasts (also previously on the blue), which are lectures from Ontario educational institutions. These are also pretty much an hour each. Reasonable Discussions from the Onion's AV Club is a 'rival podcast' to clerestory's suggestion of Pop Culture Happy Hour that runs about 45 minutes per episode.
posted by smcg at 12:53 AM on November 11, 2011

Self-links are okay if they answer the question, right? The Worst -- A Podcast for Nice People. We haven't recorded in a long time (but plan to do so again soon). 13 episodes available. I think we fit your criteria. (My recommendation of The Worst in this thread was marked best answer, FWIW. And I have nothing to gain, financially, from this, BTW.)
posted by HerArchitectLover at 1:12 AM on November 11, 2011

Sklarbro Country is a great sports-themed comedy podcast.
posted by look busy at 7:25 AM on November 11, 2011

I recommend the full episodes of The Best Show. When I first tried it, I found it tiresome and very long, but I loved Best Show Gems.

After listening to every single episode of that, I needed more - so I went back and started listening to the main show - and now I love it. I can't get enough. Every time Tom hangs up on a caller mid-sentence I giggle with delight. And, as a bonus, there's a new Jon Wurster call somewhere in the middle of each show.

At 3 hours each, that should fill up a lot of time.

Heave ho!
posted by kpmcguire at 8:37 AM on November 11, 2011

I can't believe no one has recommended Nerdist -- like WTF, they interview a lot of comedians, but the tone is much more light/optimistic (which I don't mean to imply anything against Maron -- but he certainly gets dark). Especially the earliest episodes, but still some in the newer ones, there was a lot of talk about the "process" of writing jokes/working as a comedian/etc. You'll probably like it more or less depending on how you feel about the hosts (Chris Hardwick, with Matt Mira and Jonah Ray), but I love it. The episodes without a guest's name in the title are just the hosts chatting amongst themselves.

I also love Mike and Tom Eat Snacks, which is just Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh picking, rating, and eating a different snack each week -- although quite often the snack is relegated to second fiddle status behind general hilarity. Again, if you like the hosts, you'll love it, but if they annoy you then you should just turn it off.

My favorite, though, is Doug Benson's Doug Loves Movies, in which comedian Doug Benson is joined by [usually] 3 comedian friends (or actors/movie-related people) to chat for a half hour before playing the Leonard Maltin Game.
posted by bah213 at 6:27 PM on November 11, 2011