Current podcast recs for light shared background entertainment?
December 29, 2023 4:41 PM Subscribe
I need recs for podcasts matching very specific criteria. Previous asks are a few years old, with many recs no longer active. More details below the fold, but in a nutshell I need: Current episodes. Nothing heavy, or occasional heaviness easy to spot and skip. Informative episode titles. Panel of hosts that regularly include women and who are generally likeable as people. Amusing but not comic, entertaining but not chatty. Thoughtful but not heady. Oh...and most episodes in the 20-30ish minute range, or 45 minutes tops.
I'm coming at this request from a specific listening context. At this time of year, my spouse and I typically spend about 40-50 minutes after dinner puttering at a jigsaw puzzle together. I got them hooked on listening to PCHH as background entertainment while we do this, and it fits the brief for us very nicely! But, we go through episodes faster than they come out, and we're almost through the available backlog.
I'm looking for shows of a similar vibe: Multiple smart-ish people exploring subject matter in a cogent but non-academic way, with enough interesting takes that we can choose (or not) to have opinions about and lightly discuss while the other halves of our brains are occupied. I want podcasts that are good bets without scanning for specific episodes. Stopping the flow of puzzling or having to plan out a queue in advance defeats my larger purpose. Anything with general banter is out the window. The topic doesn't have to be pop culture (we share a broad range of interests in the world at large), but pop culture has worked because the stakes are low, and it's easy to avoid anything heavy or depressing during our chill-together time.
Looking at past recs yields some ideas, but many of these have a longer episode format. I don't want to split episodes over multiple evenings, and 2 snack-sized episodes is often perfect -- even lower stakes! I would consider podcasts that are no longer producing if they meet every other criteria.
I'm coming at this request from a specific listening context. At this time of year, my spouse and I typically spend about 40-50 minutes after dinner puttering at a jigsaw puzzle together. I got them hooked on listening to PCHH as background entertainment while we do this, and it fits the brief for us very nicely! But, we go through episodes faster than they come out, and we're almost through the available backlog.
I'm looking for shows of a similar vibe: Multiple smart-ish people exploring subject matter in a cogent but non-academic way, with enough interesting takes that we can choose (or not) to have opinions about and lightly discuss while the other halves of our brains are occupied. I want podcasts that are good bets without scanning for specific episodes. Stopping the flow of puzzling or having to plan out a queue in advance defeats my larger purpose. Anything with general banter is out the window. The topic doesn't have to be pop culture (we share a broad range of interests in the world at large), but pop culture has worked because the stakes are low, and it's easy to avoid anything heavy or depressing during our chill-together time.
Looking at past recs yields some ideas, but many of these have a longer episode format. I don't want to split episodes over multiple evenings, and 2 snack-sized episodes is often perfect -- even lower stakes! I would consider podcasts that are no longer producing if they meet every other criteria.
What is PCHH?
posted by Silvery Fish at 5:12 PM on December 29, 2023
posted by Silvery Fish at 5:12 PM on December 29, 2023
Now You're Asking somewhat takes the place of Fortunately, which ended last year, except with Irish accents.
posted by zadcat at 6:33 PM on December 29, 2023
posted by zadcat at 6:33 PM on December 29, 2023
I think Gastropod ("food through the lens of science and history") checks your boxes: female hosts, well-researched and casual but not overly chatty, mostly not too heavy. Sample recent episode titles: "The Case of the Confusing Bitter Beverages: Vermouth, Amaro, Aperitivos, and Other Botanical Schnapps," "Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit," "We’d Like to Teach The World to Slurp: The Weird and Wonderful Story of Ramen’s Rise to Glory."
(On reread: it might run a little long for your requirements, sorry! Episodes tend to run more like 45-50 minutes.)
posted by eponym at 7:33 PM on December 29, 2023
(On reread: it might run a little long for your requirements, sorry! Episodes tend to run more like 45-50 minutes.)
posted by eponym at 7:33 PM on December 29, 2023
Best answer: Ologies with Alie Ward almost fits... except the episodes are a little longer that requested. However if you pick out the "Smologies", they're shorter, more family-friendly versions of the original episode.
I also like SciShow Tangents (a lightly competitive knowledge showcase) but again, a smidge too long - most episodes are around 45-50 min. Same deal with Good Job Brain (a podcast that’s part quiz show, part offbeat trivia), episodes are outside your desired length. I feel like that's the harder criteria to hit, for sure.
My favourite background noise podcast at the moment, No Such Thing as a Fish, (a weekly podcast in which QI researchers Dan Schreiber, James Harkin, Anna Ptaszynski and Andrew Hunter Murray share the most bizarre, extraordinary and hilarious facts they’ve discovered over the last seven days) also runs about an hour. But i always fall asleep half way thru and pick it up whereever, and it's totally fine. Or just stop listening when you're done, its fine. There are over 500 episodes, so I dare you to get thru the backlog. However the titles are intentionally vague, but the content isn't dark at all.
Rereading the ask however, you may find these (well, except for Ologies) too chatty, I dunno.
posted by cgg at 7:55 PM on December 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
I also like SciShow Tangents (a lightly competitive knowledge showcase) but again, a smidge too long - most episodes are around 45-50 min. Same deal with Good Job Brain (a podcast that’s part quiz show, part offbeat trivia), episodes are outside your desired length. I feel like that's the harder criteria to hit, for sure.
My favourite background noise podcast at the moment, No Such Thing as a Fish, (a weekly podcast in which QI researchers Dan Schreiber, James Harkin, Anna Ptaszynski and Andrew Hunter Murray share the most bizarre, extraordinary and hilarious facts they’ve discovered over the last seven days) also runs about an hour. But i always fall asleep half way thru and pick it up whereever, and it's totally fine. Or just stop listening when you're done, its fine. There are over 500 episodes, so I dare you to get thru the backlog. However the titles are intentionally vague, but the content isn't dark at all.
Rereading the ask however, you may find these (well, except for Ologies) too chatty, I dunno.
posted by cgg at 7:55 PM on December 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Carrie Nugent is an astronomy professor at Olin College who runs (pretty much single-handed) a podcast called SpacePod where she interviews other astronomers. It is absolutely geared to a regular non-astronomer audience, and is light and fun to listen to, both because of her welcoming attitude and the experts she brings in. Episodes are on the short side, around 20 minutes. She's slowed down to once a month lately, but there's a huge archive of 200+ episodes to catch up on.
posted by intermod at 8:58 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by intermod at 8:58 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Seconding No Such Thing As A Fish and recommending the Spilled Milk podcast; each 30-ish minute episode is about something food-related. The hosts (Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton) have nice friend chemistry and good senses of humour.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:30 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:30 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
BBC Sliced Bread Greg (bloke) Foot answers listeners' queries about products and services: are they the best thing since SB or marketing BS. N=86 25 min episodes: Air fryers; Bottled water; Cycle helmets; Dog poo bags; Eco toilet paper. Sub-genre Toast for products that didn't survive. Expert and listener voices included.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:04 AM on December 30, 2023
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:04 AM on December 30, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks for all the responses so far! I’ll be sifting through these and checking them out over the next day or two and will come back to mark Best Answers.
On reflection, the length criteria of 40-45-50 minutes tops is quite important to me, unless there is a clear throwaway segment that can be skipped at the beginning or end to fit the time. It’s very satisfying to wrap up an episode and use that as an organic signal to move on to the rest of our evening.
posted by shelbaroo at 5:19 AM on December 30, 2023
On reflection, the length criteria of 40-45-50 minutes tops is quite important to me, unless there is a clear throwaway segment that can be skipped at the beginning or end to fit the time. It’s very satisfying to wrap up an episode and use that as an organic signal to move on to the rest of our evening.
posted by shelbaroo at 5:19 AM on December 30, 2023
I would give the podcast version of A Way With Words a try. Generally about 50 ish minutes in length, but each episode includes a quiz segment that I often just skip, so that would cut down on the time. Also, it is mostly made up of small individual segments so you can just cut off an episode at any point with no problem.
posted by gudrun at 9:33 AM on December 30, 2023
posted by gudrun at 9:33 AM on December 30, 2023
I’m on my third listen through of No Such Thing As A Fish so will obviously add my vote to that pile.
Similar but less comedyish and rather posher, is The Rabbit Hole Detectives. Richard Coles (ex-reverend), Charles Spencer (brother of Princess Di) and Dr Cat Jarman (Norwegian archeologist), each take one topic per episode, mostly historical, explore it, and let you know what fascinating things they’ve found.
There’s a bit of formatting I find totally unnecessary (their producer, referred to as “the disembodied voice” picks a winner each week, for no real reason). But all in all it’s pretty good.
It’s equal parts interesting and weird to hear Spencer chat about life from the POV of landed aristocrat as if it were all perfectly normal (“I couldn’t sleep last night so I went for an early morning walk in the grounds and discovered we now seem to have ten peacocks, we seem to have gained one!” and “Well, I was baptised in Westminster Abbey, but not because I’m important, you understand, it was just that the Queen was my Godmother” etc).
But they’ve all had interesting lives in different ways and are friends outside of the podcast so it works well.
posted by penguin pie at 9:39 AM on December 30, 2023
Similar but less comedyish and rather posher, is The Rabbit Hole Detectives. Richard Coles (ex-reverend), Charles Spencer (brother of Princess Di) and Dr Cat Jarman (Norwegian archeologist), each take one topic per episode, mostly historical, explore it, and let you know what fascinating things they’ve found.
There’s a bit of formatting I find totally unnecessary (their producer, referred to as “the disembodied voice” picks a winner each week, for no real reason). But all in all it’s pretty good.
It’s equal parts interesting and weird to hear Spencer chat about life from the POV of landed aristocrat as if it were all perfectly normal (“I couldn’t sleep last night so I went for an early morning walk in the grounds and discovered we now seem to have ten peacocks, we seem to have gained one!” and “Well, I was baptised in Westminster Abbey, but not because I’m important, you understand, it was just that the Queen was my Godmother” etc).
But they’ve all had interesting lives in different ways and are friends outside of the podcast so it works well.
posted by penguin pie at 9:39 AM on December 30, 2023
Best answer: I have quite a few recommendations, but most of them have variable episode length that includes some that are are shorter than requested in your update. I’ll list them anyway in hopes that some of them will work for you.
ETA: I realized you said 40-45-50 minutes TOPS, not that you were looking for that full length. In that case I think all of my recs fit except for the occasional episodes that run to, like, 54 minutes.
The Allusionist - Hosted by a woman, about language. I would call many of the episodes “socially political” and they definitely lean left, but most of them are not what I would call heavy (YMMV). She is good with content-type warnings for any that may be of concern. Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes.
Articles of Interest - Hosted by a woman, about clothing. Episodes typically ~20-40 minutes
Decoder Ring - Hosted by a woman, about “cracking cultural mysteries.” Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes
Seconding Gastropod. Most episodes are around 45-50 minutes though a few are a little longer.
Science Vs - Hosted by a woman, sometimes others on the production team host specific episodes. They look for consensus on specific scientific questions (recent episodes include caffeine, personality tests, and MDMA/Ecstacy) and sometimes do little experiments themselves. Episodes typically ~30-50 minutes
Switched on Pop - two male hosts with a female producer who often contributes (but I think she talks less than the men). Fun analysis of pop music. Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes.
This is Love - Hosted by a woman. About “love” in all its forms, tagline “love is more than you think.” Very sweet. Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes
99 Percent Invisible - about design, episodes typically ~35-50 minutes. Ongoing and also has a huge back catalog. I think this ticks all your boxes except that the main host is male. Some of the other people who talk are female.
Perhaps a little left field: The Yarniacs - hosted by two women who are friends. They talk about knitting and crochet. Not sure how interesting this will be if neither of you knit/crochet, but it’s mellow and friendly and good background listening. Also has a huge back catalog. Episodes typically ~50 minutes.
Another possibly left field recommendation: Africa Science Focus. I just found this one and havne’t listened to many episodes, so I don’t know if some of them may be heavy, but the episodes I have listened to skew towards positive (solutions rather than problems) and it’s had several women on it. Episodes all seem to clock at almost exactly 30 minutes.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 5:29 AM on December 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
ETA: I realized you said 40-45-50 minutes TOPS, not that you were looking for that full length. In that case I think all of my recs fit except for the occasional episodes that run to, like, 54 minutes.
The Allusionist - Hosted by a woman, about language. I would call many of the episodes “socially political” and they definitely lean left, but most of them are not what I would call heavy (YMMV). She is good with content-type warnings for any that may be of concern. Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes.
Articles of Interest - Hosted by a woman, about clothing. Episodes typically ~20-40 minutes
Decoder Ring - Hosted by a woman, about “cracking cultural mysteries.” Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes
Seconding Gastropod. Most episodes are around 45-50 minutes though a few are a little longer.
Science Vs - Hosted by a woman, sometimes others on the production team host specific episodes. They look for consensus on specific scientific questions (recent episodes include caffeine, personality tests, and MDMA/Ecstacy) and sometimes do little experiments themselves. Episodes typically ~30-50 minutes
Switched on Pop - two male hosts with a female producer who often contributes (but I think she talks less than the men). Fun analysis of pop music. Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes.
This is Love - Hosted by a woman. About “love” in all its forms, tagline “love is more than you think.” Very sweet. Episodes typically ~30-45 minutes
99 Percent Invisible - about design, episodes typically ~35-50 minutes. Ongoing and also has a huge back catalog. I think this ticks all your boxes except that the main host is male. Some of the other people who talk are female.
Perhaps a little left field: The Yarniacs - hosted by two women who are friends. They talk about knitting and crochet. Not sure how interesting this will be if neither of you knit/crochet, but it’s mellow and friendly and good background listening. Also has a huge back catalog. Episodes typically ~50 minutes.
Another possibly left field recommendation: Africa Science Focus. I just found this one and havne’t listened to many episodes, so I don’t know if some of them may be heavy, but the episodes I have listened to skew towards positive (solutions rather than problems) and it’s had several women on it. Episodes all seem to clock at almost exactly 30 minutes.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 5:29 AM on December 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks again, everyone! After giving a sampler of episodes across various podcasts a listen, it looks like No Such Thing as a Fish is going to tick our boxes really nicely. It's delightfully light and entertaining, and the chattiness is contained within the context of the fun info-shares rather than random friend-talk. The Allusionist episode we tried was also interesting, with more low-key energy, so I'll tap into that when that energy is a match.
All that said, I'll be referring back to this thread for other options under various listening conditions. You're all great!
posted by shelbaroo at 3:25 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
All that said, I'll be referring back to this thread for other options under various listening conditions. You're all great!
posted by shelbaroo at 3:25 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
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I also think movie podcasts might be good. I have a few I like where the deal is that each episode, they talk about a different movie and examine it from different angles. Again, very low-stakes but often really interesting discussion. My faves are The Bechdel Cast and You are Good. I also enjoy The Rewatchables but it can be a bit bro-y.
Have you listened to You're Wrong About? It can get a little heavy but I always found it really enjoyable to listen to in the first few years with the original hosts. The episode titles are very descriptive so you can use those to choose which episodes to listen to. I HIGHLY recommend the series recapping Jessica Simpson's memoir (really!).
Two more I like: The Celebrity Memoir Book Club and Bandsplain. The former is pretty self-evident, the latter takes on one band or artist each episode and walks through their history/discography, with some great guests.
posted by lunasol at 4:50 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]