find me a find/catch me a catch

December 18, 2017 11:27 AM

Looking for some new podcasts to listen to; details inside.

I've asked this question before a couple of times, last time in 2015, so preferably podcasts that debuted in 2016 & 2017 would be best.

What I'm looking for:
-Comedy/humor podcasts centered on a concrete theme (How Did This Get Made?, Doughboys, Dead Authors)
-Retro video games (Retronauts, HG101's Top Games, Maximum Power Up)
-Weird/occult/UFO/etc. (Mysterious Universe, Lore, Myths & Legends)
-True crime about literally anything except murder and/or sexual assault (if there's murder incidentally in it bc it's about the mafia for instance, that's fine. Preferably no sexual assault at all.)
-History of an entertainment medium, industry, etc. (You Must Remember This)
-Curated old time radio (Down These Mean Streets)

What I'm NOT looking for:
-LA Comedy Industry Dudes Chat About The World Of LA Comedy
-Loose improv
-Anything about contemporary video games
-Anything featuring the McElroy brothers
-News/current events
-Making fun of bad movies

posted by griphus to Media & Arts (25 answers total)

I have a friend who I think has similar tastes, and he recently recommended to me Astonishing Legends. I haven't listened to it myself but you might give it a try.
posted by crazy with stars at 11:32 AM on December 18, 2017

Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast might violate your first NOT, but I see it mostly as a massive Old Hollywood documentary. It's much less precious than Maron.
posted by rhizome at 11:35 AM on December 18, 2017 [2 favorites]

-True crime about literally anything except murder and/or sexual assault (if there's murder incidentally in it bc it's about the mafia for instance, that's fine. Preferably no sexual assault at all.)

Crimetown. Pretty good serialized podcast about organized crime and corruption in Providence, RI. Debuted in 2016. IIRC no sexual assault at all, and murder crops up incidentally because it's about the mafia).
posted by googly at 11:38 AM on December 18, 2017 [4 favorites]

For creep and crime, how about Haunted Places, the new Heaven's Gate podcast, Zealot, Mysteries Abound, Not Alone (probably my favorite of this list), Rank & Vile (if you like horror movies), Singing Bones, Spirits, The Secret Cabinet, the Night Time Podcast (sometimes murder but the ep descriptions let you know), Thinking Sideways (same), Criminal (same), Unexplained (same), The Vanished (possibility of murder but more about missing persons), Already Gone (same), or Those Conspiracy Guys?

For comedy and nerdiness you might like Wizard and the Bruiser, which two geeky comedians having a great time talking about the cultural importance of major geek landmarks including famous video games and comics.
posted by WidgetAlley at 11:40 AM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've been liking The Vanished Podcast (literally listening to it right now). The host isn't a natural podcaster, so I think she reads everything she says, but it's still good. It's all about people who have disappeared. Some happy endings but a lot of mysteries.

My friends make a podcast called Historical Hotties. It's a comedy podcast where they dig into history and decide who is the "biggest babe". Loads of good history and learning to be had, and the "hotness" is scaled on physical attractiveness, mental attractiveness, social impact, and je ne sais quoi. It's really fun (disclosure, I was on one episode as a guest). Production is small-time but it's funny and I always learn something.

Dirty John is really, really good. It's a true story.

Crimetown is also good (mafia related, some incidental murder).

I'm assuming you have listened to S-Town. It's not really about murder.
posted by ancient star at 11:47 AM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've really enjoyed Liar City. Some true crime that fits your criteria, as well as...lying generally:

Liar City is a weekly podcast where we break down the biggest lies and the most notorious liars throughout history — while trying to learn a little something about humanity in the process.

The Xerox PARC story was pretty fascinating.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:49 AM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Unexplained, like Lore, does occasionally get murdery, so take care on the episode descriptions. If you like both of those then Pleasing Terrors (not a great title, but a very fun podcast!), covers the same territory.

For comedy/history, RexFactor, in which two guys rate the kings and queens of England on their own totally made up, subjective scale, is pretty great.
posted by backwards compatible at 11:58 AM on December 18, 2017

This isn't precisely in either of your categories, but if you found Mallory Ortberg delightful on the Toast, she remains delightful on the Dear Prudence podcast, which I just mainlined the entirety of. She gives good advice, generally has interesting guests with excellent banter, and is overall pretty hilarious. The content is basically AskMe with a focus on relationships, which I of course adore.
posted by restless_nomad at 12:14 PM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Monster Talk - The Science Show About Monsters From Skeptic Magazine.

I, too, would LOVE a good UFO podcast.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 12:22 PM on December 18, 2017

My recent list of recommendations from the blue. From there, I'd recommend Heaven's Gate (weird, true crime-ish), Oh No Ross and Carrie (weird, science), and The Beef and Dairy Network (weird, best thing on the internet).

I've just (two hours ago) started on Behind the Exorcist, which is a 7 part limited series from Wondery and so far so good. It looks like it transitions into Behind Psycho between those three you get some old Hollywood, some weird, and some true crime all in one.

When it comes to paranormal podcasts, I'm finding it really hard to uncover anything that works as well as Mysterious Universe. Ben and Aaron have just the right level of skepticism, snark, and sincerity for me. Maybe spring for a Plus membership for a month or two? I'm looking to start in on Spirits Podcast while doing some printing over the holidays. I tried Those Conspiracy Guys for awhile and there were just enough throw away reddit-style comments and dickish remarks that I dropped them - I couldn't tell if they were joking or actually believed that stuff so Poe's Law and all that.

I've tried a bunch of the other paranormal podcasts out there, but the psychic gravity of Coast to Coast AM is hard to escape, especially for Americans. I'd love to discover one that focuses on a single topic for 3-4 episodes and them moves on to another where the hosts can joke about it (but not go as far down the rabbit hole as to meet Last Podcast on the Left) but also play with the 'what if it is true...' aspects.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:31 PM on December 18, 2017

Response by poster: Maybe spring for a Plus membership for a month or two?

I've been considering this; how worth it is it? The free show seems to have become one long story (or book review or interview etc.) per episode so did they move the news and so on to Plus?
posted by griphus at 12:33 PM on December 18, 2017

It's worth the 9 bucks a month for me. I don't do the higher bit rate feed or anything. The Plus stuff tends to be shorter and weirder - there's been more Hot Chaff of late, but I think that's due to Aaron's illness, Ben moving, and the slow news time of year. You can also expect some follow up to the Free show, be it something inspired by the headline story or them talking about how they really feel about what a guest had to say. It's like an extra 1.5-2 hours of content a week, so even with the Chaff (which I actually like), that's like a buck an hour at worst for content.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:42 PM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maybe the Australian ABC's series "How Do You Sleep At Night?" ?

"How Do You Sleep At Night? is a new podcast hosted by Hack’s Sarah McVeigh. It’s about people who live their lives in the face of judgement.

You’ll meet characters including a big tobacco lobbyist and big game hunters, a killer and a stock market manipulator. The show explores the different moral codes we all live by. Because no one thinks they’re a bad person, right?"

How Do You Sleep At Night?
posted by trialex at 1:06 PM on December 18, 2017

Critical Role is a podcast made by voice-actors playing Dungeons and Dragons. The DM does amazing voices for the characters and the plot is great! I mean, it has its ups and downs, but there's a ton of content and you should start from the beginning.

I knew nothing about dungeons and dragons getting into it.
posted by bbqturtle at 2:19 PM on December 18, 2017

Your Kickstarter Sucks fits your first category
posted by mikek at 2:57 PM on December 18, 2017

Thirding Crimetown. I got completely hooked on it this weekend.
posted by mudpuppie at 3:52 PM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Food comedy: Spilled Milk
posted by snorkmaiden at 4:14 PM on December 18, 2017

"No Such Thing as a Fish" is a good time. Weird knowledge trivia by the QI elves.
posted by Oceanic Trench at 4:21 PM on December 18, 2017 [2 favorites]

I don't know if it fits your recency criteria but Maximum Fun's "Dead Pilots Society" is table reads of unproduced comedy pilot scripts.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:30 AM on December 19, 2017

I've just started listening to Cocaine and Rhinestones, a podcast about the history of 20th century country music, and I'm trying not to binge listen. You don't really need to like country music that much, because the stories are so good.
posted by plasticpalacealice at 8:11 AM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

Astonishing Legends is worth it in the Weird/occult/UFO/etc. (Mysterious Universe, Lore, Myths & Legends) vein.
posted by lstanley at 12:13 PM on December 19, 2017

Oh No Ross and Carrie is a podcast where the eponymous Ross and Carrie try out different religions and alternative/supernatural practices. The hosts are generally skeptics and frequently poke fun at the practices they encounter.
posted by danceswithlight at 5:53 PM on December 19, 2017

Also, if you aren't already on the S-Town train, get on board. It begins as a murder investigation but that ends up being completely tangential to the (incredible, weird, fascinating) story.
posted by danceswithlight at 5:56 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ear Hustle is pretty entertaining. Great insight into the real world of the U.S. prison system (specifically San Quentin). Personal stories that I really enjoyed, for the most part, interviews with inmates. Interesting, and paints a fantastic picture of prison life that isn't the fictional portrayal we see in pop culture.
posted by liquado at 11:59 AM on December 20, 2017

Vaguely on the Weird/occult/UFO/ theme, the archeological fantasties podcast is worth a listen. (Also n'ting ONRAC, but I expect you've heard it.)
posted by eotvos at 4:04 PM on December 20, 2017