Any Interesting (Not Disturbing) Podcasts?
Any Interesting (Not Disturbing) Podcasts?
I used to listen to long form essays on Youtube. My favourite ones either break down the history of a conspiracy, teach me something new and cool about the world, or explore a hobby I've never been interested in.
I don't like the ones about killers or heavy drama. I also don't like podcasts that spend half the time reading the latest news from [topic] in verbatim .
What are some podcasts you can recommend me while I chip away at other things?
There's "Well there's your problem". In each episode, the hosts break down an engineering disaster. The episodes are one to several hours long each, and they are thorough, entertaining, and you learn a ton.
There's also a video version that contains slides with pictures and graphs.
I would suggest as a starter episode 139, The impossible railroad, which I thought was a fun one. Or 146 on the Mount Everest, that was eye-opening. Those are the recent ones that stand out to me.
I don't know if it has already been said, but "Darknet diaries" is a podcast i love to listen to, it's basically a history and breakdown of different hacks that happend all around the world, there are also some interviews with pentesters who tell some amazing story's, so if you're into computers thats something I'd recommend listening to
Behind the Bastards and The Dollop are both a lot of fun as they delve into historical events and figures and do a whole comedic + factual examination in that order
If you want a really good episode for people unfamilar with the series-s, I love
- "The Tank Chase" (Dollop)
- "Stalin After Dark" (Behind the Bastards), the guest on Stalin episodes is very funny to me
I've really enjoyed all of these:
Blowback - Deep dives into American imperialism. Each season covers a single topic and goes into the background history, through to the conflict, to the aftermath in about 10 hour long episodes each. The first season was on the Iraq War, the second on Cuba, the third on the Korean War and the fourth into Operation Cyclone in Afghanistan. Extremely well produced with some great soundtracks.
- If you're tech and history inclined, "Command Line Heroes" tells stories about people who transformed technology "from the command line up".
- For stories about really nasty people (interspersed with some good people for the Christmas Episodes), "Behind the Bastards" is a good source. A story is usually split in two episodes, but for long ones it can be five or six.
- For news about science but with intelligent discussion behind it, and several nice fun an intelligent sections, you can't beat The Skeptic Guide to the Universe. If anything, their only defect is that sometimes they're a little naive and technophilic.
Oh No Ross and Carrie is a lot of fun! “The show where we don’t just report on spirituality, fringe science and claims of the paranormal, but take part ourselves. We join religions, undergo alternative medical treatments, and hunt for ghost, goblins, demons, and deities. If it has an extraordinary claim attached to it, we’ll check it out.”
They do a large variety of investigations, including things like ear candling, trying ayahuasca, going to UFO conferences, joining Scientology (a particularly long but very interesting series of episodes), meeting a local flat earther group (and even helping them design and run experiments), be trained in performing exorcisms, etc etc!
I like listening to podcasts that casually destroy my worldview, which means a lot of history and politics podcasts while working. I have 2 suggestions and a secret 3rd option!
First is The Deprogram, a podcast about various topics relating to socialism and leftism. The bromance is strong with this one, it's hilarious. The humor can potentially be a turn off though, very rarely they'll take a joke too far. However the educational info they provide is more than worth looking past imo.
Second is UNFTR, or Unfuck the Republic. This is a much smaller podcast, but the audio quality is great. His voice is very soothing, something tells me he worked in radio at one point. The stuff on youtube is on the shorter side, but still very good.
The third option is one you haven't thought of before, but look up archival footage of speeches! Some of my favorite youtube archive channels are Afromarxist and the Micheal Parenti Library
You’re dead to me - history, different expert and comedian guest every week, very good
No Such Thing as a Fish - superb trivia show
Sci-Show Tangents - “lightly competitive science knowledge showcase”
A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail - science and math facts around a random topic from 3 very smart people
The Infinite Monkey Cage - science and comedy with Brian Cox and guests
Journey to the Microcosmos - interesting things in our microscopic world
I like to listed to Darknet Diaries if I am not listenting to WANshow.
General deep dives on random topics:
- secretly incredibly fascinating
- stuff you should know
stuff about the animal world:
- creature feature
linguistics and how we communicate:
- lexicon valley
- lingthusiasm
Idk if it will fit your vibe, but I'll always take the opportunity to shout out Astonishing Legends.
The Delta Flyers is a podcast by Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Harry Kim and Tom Paris on Star Trek Voyager, they rewatch the show and interview other crew members, they have completed Voyager, and have started rewatching Deep Space 9, together with Terry Farrell and Armin Shimerman, who played Jadzia and Quark on that show.
Very interesting.
Damn Interesting is a site with long interesting articles about different subjects, they have a podcast under the same name, where they read the articles, it is very well done, but unpdated slowly, but there is quite a few episodes available.
remember when radiolab was THE PREMIERE PODCAST?
The Constant, by Mark Chrysler.
Headlined as "a history of getting things wrong", the host goes into deep dives about what we thought we knew, how we eventually came to figure out we were wrong, the repercussions of both.
It takes a seriously funny and well researched approach to a number of major events in our history, and I absolutely must recommend "the foolkiller" a five episode exploration of a submarine found at the bottom of the Chicago River then lost to history, with a very juicy footnote delivered several episodes later, that I dare not spoil for you.
I know it's older but recently I've been listening to Ologies by Allie Ward. She explores all the different types of science, she's funny, and she finds people who are really passionate about their field of work.
Tides of History is a very well-produced history podcast that deals with ancient history. It tells history in an engaging way and is founded in recent scholarship.
Podcasting is Praxis, a funny politics podcast made by British communists.
Blowback, all the praise heaped upon it is absolutely justified. Listen to it.
We Are Not So Different, an entertaining podcast about medieval history. It has a leftist outlook on things and treats medieval people like people and avoids romanticising as well as looking down on them.
A People's History of Ideas. An amazingly detailed history of the Chinese revolution with offshoots into international Maoism. If you want to listen to an episode about how CPC safehouses worked in Shanghai in the early 1930's, this is a podcast for you.
Heavyweight with Jonathan Goldstein. Jonathan solves human problems, often reconnecting people who lost contact. Jonathan solves serious issues in witty ways. Funny, but serious.
This is a Gimlet Media podcast, bought by Spotify and published for a while exclusively there. As of the latest news, Heavyweight is looking for a new home for next season.
My unmentioned favourite is Jordan Harbinger Show, he invites various guests and comes well prepared for an interview, about topics like psychology, geopolitics, etc. Kinda like Joe Rogan but less stupid, not conspiracy minded and not right wing.
If you like space exploration and science, The Planetary Podcast has been going for like 20 years. Tons of amazing interviews with scientists, engineers, astronauts, administrators.
Pendejo Time.
Jake, a recovering cokehead, trauma dumps about his time as a drug addicted fuck up and his dead father while his friend Thomas grunts out his fever fantasies about talking animals while googling different types of dicks.
Scratches the same itch as cumtown.
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs - This is one of my favorite podcasts, but I'm going to warn you it's not for everybody. The creator of this show, Andrew Hickey, is THOROUGH. A great example is the most reason episode about Hey Jude. Either you will love the concept of a 3.5-hour episode where 80% of the podcast is not about the song but rather the circumstances and lives of The Beatles, Yoko Ono, and the late 1960s music scene leading up to the creation of Hey Jude, or you will be furious that so much of the episode is about stuff that isn't the song.
"Tides of History" a mix of scripted episodes and interviews with archeologists and historians.
Well There's Your Problem Podcast. They do have a news segment at the beginning of each episode, but you can skip past it if you want to.
The History of Rome by Mike Duncan is amazing. It's a decent commitment but once I started I ate it up.
Ologies is very good. Every week they pick a topic and sit down with an expert in the field, from penguins to vampires to apples to near death experiences to sea worms, and everything else in between.
For deeply nerdy computer/network/IT/programming: On the Metal
Only 2 seasons, but some great interviews.
Since no one else has said it... 80 days podcast:
80 Days is a podcast dedicated to exploring little-known countries, territories settlements and cities around the world. We're part history podcast, part geography podcast and part ramble. Each episode, we'll land in a new locale and spend some time discussing the history, geography, culture, sport, religion, industry, pastimes and music of our new location.
I like the Triple J Dr. Karl podcast for easy listening. Basically people call the radio and ask science questions.
Science and Tech:
1-Stuff you should know. 2-Skeptics guide to the universe. 3-Programming throwdown.
Gaming:
1-Get played. 2-Triple click.
Comedy and movies and music:
1-Comedy bang bang. 2-How did this get made? 3-With Gourley and Rust. 4-Bizarre albums.
Other:
1-Scam goddess. 2-Qanon anonymous.
Helps you sleep:
-Sleep with me.
Not sure if it would appeal or not, but I've spent a good chunk of this year listening to How Other Dads Dad by Hamish Blake, here in Australia. Just a semi-light-hearted look at dadding in the 21st century.
Pod Yourself A Gun/Pod Yourself the Wire - a rewatch podcast of The Sopranos and The Wire hosted by a pair of comedians and a guest where they go through each show episode by episode.
You probably already know about him, but Andrew Huberman is doing an amazing job on bringing science back to the people.
Sleep, motivation, exercise, mental health... everything in the context of neuroscience so you start understanding a bit more everything that happens to you. Protocols to follow, fully explained and backed up by scientific papers, all for the sake of your health. Amazing source of information.
Explore artistic photography - The Candid Frame
Explore the wine industry - I'll Drink to That
Explore good food and cooking well - The Splendid Tablehonorable mention:
Stay Tuned with Preet
Beyond Organic Wine Podcast
The Art of ManlinessI like Short History Of…. It’s written well, interesting from the first sentence, and read well. The topics vary widely, so you have plenty to choose from.
Also The Soundtrack Show might be interesting for you, not sure if that fits your needs.
The Blindboy Podcast. An artist from Limerick delivered a mix of sizzling hot takes on a variety of topics, reads short stories from his books, lives interviews with range of interesting guests, or talks art, psychology, creativity and what not. Can be quite eccentric at times .
I used to love Reply All before Alec Goldman's shenanigans (awful behavior) came to light. So it was a real bright spot for me to find that PJ's pod has almost everything I loved about Reply All. He's willing to pursue things past the point any reasonable person with a job would and I love it. If you want a deep dive about whatever rabbit hole that takes his interest for the episode, it's a great place imo.
Search Engine http://www.pjvogt.com
RSS address: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/search-engine
No Such Thing as a Fish - It's light and comedic, each presenter explains a little known bizarre or extraordinary fact and the others riff off from it. There's no specific discipline of study it follows, and it doesn't do any deep dives, but it's fun to listen to while doing the dishes.
99% invisible.
The Memory Palace.
The History Listen on ABC Radio National (Aussie)
The Dork Forest, the host invites on somebody to talk about whatever they are really in to. It's ranged from a comedienne talking about comedy, to a pen and paper Marvel/DC super hero RPG history/mechanics, to the Sailor Moon anime series. Its pretty chill and usually a decent listen.
The Past Times, its by the two hosts of The Dollop. (Sometimes Dave and/or Gareth will get wound up and stuck on a bit that can get cringy as it goes on too long.) Dave gets a newspaper from some point in the past and Gareth and whoever they've invited on just riff on the headlines, the content of the articles/advertisements/classifieds, etc. A bit hit or miss, but its decent for having on in the background where you aren't really trying to pay too much attention to it.
The Dollop is alright. Dave reads stuff about an historical event or person to Gareth and sometimes a guest. Everybody riffs on it. Sometimes the jokes are a bit gross and go on for too long. I'd recommend their sports episodes as a person who is not interested in the watching or playing of sports but I do find myself amazed about the history behind leagues, games, competitions, players, coaches, owners sometimes. Some of the episodes can get pretty dark due to the subject of the episode though.
It ended quite a while ago but, The West Wing Thing, is a pretty long series that follows a popular USA TV series "The West Wing" and the slow descent into maddness by the two hosts and their guests as they watch (almost) every episode and discuss what they watched.
Mr. Ballen is good if your into true crime and random medical mysteries.
No Such Thing As A Fish
More Or Less
This Podcast Will Kill You - this podcast is only disturbing if you find medical issues disturbing. Each episode discusses a disease, medical issue or some kind of medical history. I think it's really interesting.
Hidden Brain - goes into a bunch of different topics about how we see and interpret the world. Very well done.
You're Wrong About - talks about popular misconceptions and such.
Science VS - Talks about science stuff in a fun and entertaining way.
People already mentioned Behind the Bastards and I really like that one but it can be hit or miss. Don't start with the newest episode, instead look for one that sounds like an interesting tooic to you and start there. When it's good it's very good.
History of the World in Spy Objects - ok I actually just found this one and haven't had a chance to listen to an episode yet but it looks good and sounds like it might be interesting to you.
Lore - it's very well done about dark historical takes
Adam Ragusea's Podcast is pretty informative, though I think it's mainly focused on food topics.
NOTHING SEXUAL
Go Fact Yourself is my favorite podcast. It's a quiz style podcast where two (usually minor) celebrities come on the show and answer questions about 3 topic they choose for themselves that they are an expert in, but outside their field of work.
It's very interesting to hear these successful people talk about things they're not really known for, like the music they love, or a movie or sometimes niche topics like marathon running.
Now the really interesting part is they bring on special guests who are experts in the chosen topic to award the points. The guests that they get for this are the real treat of the show. First, you have someone showing off about how much they love a topic, then they get someone really involved to give great in depth details! For instance, someones topic was the Evil Dead movies, and the special guest was Bruce Campbell! He was so awesome to hear talking about the movies. The experts are almost always awesome, from movie directors to the songwriters for Frozen, to book writers on the topic, they're almost always amazing to listen to.
There are a couple of other segments of the show that are also well done. There's a "what's the difference" round that always makes me think. Like, what's the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery? Or what's the difference between roasting and baking?
The hosts are great fun too. J. Keith is the master of punny segues, and Helen Hong is a pretty good co-host. All in all, highly recommended!
Mike Duncan's History of Rome?
"our fake history" is a pretty good match to what you're describing. It's a relatively light hearted, rigorously researched, history podcast with a focus on misunderstood historical figures and events.
"The plastic plesiosaur podcast" is a really fun podcast more focused on cryptids and pop science.
One of the host to plastic plesiosaur has a YouTube channel called "trey the explainer" which is worth a watch.
And if you like low key, entertaining deep dives into machining or tech, check out "technology connections," "this old Tony," and "tech moan."
I listened to the Tim Ferris Show a lot. These days I only listen to guests interesting to me.
Okay I'm not really a podcast person but a friend recommended to me Nightmares of the Americas: Indigenous Tales and I am absolutely obsessed. It's informative, interesting and entertaining. These two brothers just shooting the shit in such an engaging and informative way. I love these guys and I recommend them to anyone interested in history and spooky tales.
"Dark Histories" has some disturbing ones, as it is usually about strange events or Indeed murders, but the descriptions of the episodes allow you to weed through it, and leave those ones out.
I really enjoyed the ones about "Gef the mongoose" or the disappearance of the man who invented the first moving pictures. It goes deep into the history and times surrounding the stories which is very cool, so its main focus is history and society.
Sex Nerd Sandra. Learn about all kinds of weird and interesting stuff about sex and sexuality.
I only listen to disturbing podcasts.
I've been binging Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman and am really enjoying it. The host has no annoying speech disfluencies and she asks intelligent questions, and Bart Ehrman is always informative and entertaining, plus the little segments at the end and the way they are introduced are also entertaining. Makes me feel like I'm listening to a Monty Python podcast.