Community Podcast talk: shows, apps, recommendations

beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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I can't be the only one who spends an inordinate amount of time listening to these while playing games, commuting, cleaning, and other stuff. So let's talk podcasts! I've been trying to diversify my feed a little and was hoping to both share and read others' recommendations. Here are mine, grouped as best as possible.

Videogames
8-4 Play, Giant Bombcast, Beastcast, Giant Bombcast Aftermath, Idle Thumbs (RIP), The Crate & Crowbar

Spooky casts
Mysterious Universe, Astonishing Legends, Welcome to Nightvale

Comedy/documentary
Last Podcast on the Left, The Dollop

Miscellaneous
All Systems Goku (Dan & Jeff from Giant Bomb talk DBZ), The Director's Cut (interviews with filmmakers), Hardcore History (needs no introduction, I assume)

While we're at it, what are your preferred apps/services to listen to podcasts? I'm currently on Pocket Casts (desktop and iOS). Works pretty well, though I haven't been to hot on the latest update. Still getting used to the archive feature and trying to tag all my shows properly. Was thinking of switching back to Overcast, but the annual fee irks me a little. Gave Castro a shot, but I think I'm starting to reach that phase where I'd rather not have to learn an all new interface...
 

xist

Healing...
Nov 14, 2018
90
141
33
I'm virtually a mono-interest podcast listener since whilst I'd like to listen to a broader range of music and science podcasts, there's already too many out there with too big a backlog for me to comprehend (I always start from episode one...which means some of the podcasts I listen to are ancient! I'm only at Episode 8 of Idle Thumbs so that puts me back around 2008. Nevertheless good content is good content, and it's nice to reflect back on history.) Chuck in the occasional audiobook and radio....I thought my gaming backlog was bad! I almost get no time to listen to music these days.....

Also, I'm weird - I don't use a smartphone and all my listening is done exclusively on a Sony NWZA-15 Walkman, with wired over ear headphones. Which means I download every episode via each sites archive..thanks to decent preservation and hosting. My dog feels like I'm ignoring her when we go out walking. :confused:

My list is nothing unusual, is basically retro and Souls themed, but here it is -

Watch Out for Fireballs - love this one, and I want Gary and Kole as real life buddies.

Bonfireside Chat - Soulsbourne dissection area by area game by game. Same presenters as above...in reality the Duckfeed network is well worth a look.

Retronauts - Self explanatory levels of greatness.

Don't Give Up Skeleton - People talk about their Soulsbourne experiences.

Twin Humanites - More Souls talk!

Idle Thumbs - from where I am in the archive I'm retro but it's a nice broad gameplay discussion from people behind the curtain.

Digital Logik - PC gaming podcast. Does what it says on the tin.

Cane and Rinse - They take a game and talk about it in depth...I'm a bit more selective on the episodes I listen to here because I don't want things spoiled and some games hold no interest for me.

Back In My Play - set up by gaf'er Kevin Larrabee, I really enjoy this more personal enthusiastic look at older games. Plus it helped me discover Mike Mika who seems like a super guy.

New Game Plus - of all of these it's probably my guilty pleasure and the most "group of guys talk about old game". But again, I'm at that point where it'd be nice to consider these guys as friends I haven't met yet.

And bonus podcast for listening to at my desktop - Podquisition. It's Jim Sterling talking about stuff with Gavin Dunne and Laura Kate Dale. I thought I'd hate this because of the irreverence, and I imagine it's marmite (British colloquialism for love/hate), but I actually look forward to each new episode!

Heavily retro but I don't have much experience of new games (budget and backlog) so I guess that's where I am at the moment. Don't much is new for the avid podcaster but they keep me busy.
 

SaviourMK2

A Kamen Rider just passing through
Jan 1, 2019
62
113
33
i don't indulge in a lot of podcasts, I only listen to two (Used to be 3 but one ended as it was intended to only be a miniseries). I listen to POD Save America (A left wing political podcast) and the CUPodcast (Pat the NES Punk). The one that ended was "the WIlderness" which was a soul searching series after the Democrats loss in 2016.

I kinda wish I could find podcasts on things like tokusatsu or gunpla. Something I can veg out to when i'm driving.
 

BoosterDuck

Goon Squad
Sep 20, 2018
393
1,088
93
I used to have a shitton of podcasts on my Pocketcasts that I never listen to so I've cut it down to the essentials:



Talking Simpsons: Two former games journalists, Henry Gilbert and Bob Mackey, analyze every episode of The Simpsons with guest hosts including Matt Christman and Virgil Texas of Chapo Trap House, Super Eyepatch Wolf, OK KO creators Ian Jones Quarterly and Toby Jones, Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar, Matt Mcmuscles, Dan Ryckert, Alex Navarro of Giant Bomb, etc.

What a Cartoon!: Henry Gilbert and Bob Mackey examine individual episodes of various cartoons including Batman TAS, Harvey Birdman, Homestar Runner, Bubblegum Crisis, Excel Saga, Disenchantment, Mission Hill, etc.

Laser Time: Pop culture focused podcast from industry experts discussing various topics such as horror movies, video game cartoons, Mad Magazine, Weird Al, christmas movies, theme park rides, celebrity raps, etc.

Cartoons 101 Podcast: Animation expert Matthew Jay discusses topics such as Satoshi Kon's works (Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfather, Paranoia Agent), Evangelion episodes and interviews with OK KO creator Ian, Space Ghost writer Evan Dorkin, Mission Hill creator Bill Oakley, Craig of the Creek writer Jeff Trammell, etc.

[the deep end]: Matthew Jay and storyboard artist Steve Yurko discuss every season of Adult Swim shows including Home Movies, The Brak Show, Harvey Birdman, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, etc.

Retronauts: Bob Mackey and games industry vet Jeremy Parish discuss video game history and interview experts including industry vets and journalists for topics including Nintendo franchises, retro consoles, arcade shmups, beat-em-ups, old game companies, etc.

VGMpire: Game industry vet Brett Elston plays and discusses the soundtracks of individual games and franchises including Turok, Kirby, Shin Megami Tensei, Monster Hunter, Deus Ex, Undertale, Spyro, etc.

Vidjagame Apocalypse: Game industry vets create top 5 gaming lists and discuss the latest gaming news.

Humans Who Makes Games with Adam Conover: Self-explanatory.

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend: Self-explanatory.
 
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OP

beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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Added some of these to my rotation. Thanks!

Wanted to share one of my recent additions that I've enjoyed a lot: Watch Out for Fireballs!

They do deep dives into videogames, typically 1,5 - 3 hour hour episodes during which the hosts discuss any and all aspects of a particular game worth highlighting and sometimes they even do multi part episodes. The games they cover range from classics to contemporary releases. It's really well produced, the hosts are always insightful, and I've enjoyed listening to episodes of this both on games that I've completed as well as games I haven't yet. Kind of like an auditory "let's play" in the latter case, which is nice since I have a lot more time to listen to stuff than I have to watch. As of this writing, their most recent episode is on the cult-classic Spec Ops: The Line and as you can imagine there's a lot to unpack. I read up on a lot about the game back around when I played it, but they managed to infuse plenty of fresh ideas and observations I'd never made or read about. Highly recommend it.

Their episode on Mario 2 (USA) is what got me into them, and it really highlights why they're so good at what they do. It's not just the usual "did you know Mario 2 was based on Doki Doki Panic" half-hearted attempt at saying something surprising about a game you thought you knew; they really do a deep level-by-level analysis of everything striking about the game, from basic movement mechanics to the soundtrack and visuals.
 
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Ruvon

Chaotic writer
May 15, 2019
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cabinetdechaologie.wordpress.com
Bumping this thread to share this podcast WARNING : it has nothing to do with gaming :steam_cleanseal::


Serial is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig narrating a nonfiction story over multiple episodes.

1st season is about a murder of a girl. His ex-boyfriend was charged and sentenced for life for the murder, but there's a lot of grey areas in this case.
2nd season is about a US military held captive by the talibans for 5 years. He was traded back, but this story is not as straightforward as it looks and his return doesn't please everyone.

So far I only listened to season 1 and 2 but there's a third one. It's really easy to listen (I'm not a native English-speaker), well narrated, episodes are 30 minutes long so it's perfect for my daily work travel.

Si vous parlez français, jetez une oreille à Pardon Maman, un podcast de vulgarisation très sympathique et aux sujets extrêmement variés :

 
OP

beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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That sounds right up my alleys. Thanks for the recommendation!

Noticed just now that I totally missed the Watch Out For Fireballs recommendation earlier in the thread when I posted mine. To think that I could've started listening four months earlier! Shame on me :p
 
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Luminaire

별이 빛나는 하늘
Feb 28, 2019
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Hoo boy, I spend 9 hours a day at a computer for work and listen to podcasts way too much. I'll try and split them up into categories. I don't listen to all of these each week, but often go through phases where I'll only listen to a couple main ones and cycle out others.

Gaming
Abject Suffering
(Watch Out for Fireballs guys play bad games, often go off topic because they couldn't finish said bad game.)
Aetheryte Radio (Final Fantasy XIV bi/semi-weekly podcast.)
Bonfireside Chat (Watch Out for Fireballs guys talking about Souls games with many Souls community guests.)
Castle Superbeast (formerly Super Best Friendcast, Two Best Friends Play, Super Best Friends Play.)
Easy Allies Podcast (Former members of GameTrailers started a new site. This is their podcast.)
Giant Bomb (Giant Bomb West, usually the more dry and anecdotal of the two podcasts.)
Giant Beastcast (Giant Bomb East, usually the more irreverent and fun of the two podcasts.)
Play This! (A discord-friends podcast where two IRL friends play a game based on the others recommendation and give a report on their experience.)
State of the Realm (Final Fantasy XIV weekly podcast with Mrhappy1227)
The Carve (Monster Hunter World weekly podcast.)
Twin Humanities (Two adorable guys from the UK? share their Souls experiences. Very charming and heartfelt.)
Watch Out for Fireballs (Long-form weekly episodes digging deep into many 'retro' games. A really good series.)
Waypoint Radio (Vice.com's gaming site podcast. It has Austin Walker, Patrick Klepek, and Danielle Riendeau(sp). Pretty good. Did I mention Austin Walker?)


Tabletop / Dungeons and Dragons
Critical Role
(Audio version of the Dungeons and Dragon's hit live-play show with voice actors.)
Friends at the Table (Friends playing tabletop RPGs, starring Austin Walker of Waypoint/Vice/formerly Giant Bomb.)
Join The Party (Dungeons and Dragons Liveplay Podcast. Not sure if I'd recommend it though, one of the main members overacts and is annoying.)
Saturday Morning D&D Show (Two friends talk about their experiences playing D&D with friends, online and in stores.)
The Adventure Zone (Three brothers and their dad play D&D and go on a grand live-play adventure. Very emotional and hilarious.)


Fiction
Knifepoint Horror
(First-person horror stories told in a dry, disconnected manner. Very good, very creepy.)
Sayer (Second-person science fiction / horror about life on an artificial moon / space station. Second person because it is the AI speaking to 'you'/the char.)
The Drabblecast (Short-stories in weird fiction. Some horror, some comedy, some bizarre. A bit irreverent and punchy.)
The Magnus Archives (Wonderful short stories told in the form of statements being recorded. Very heavy horror/creepy/cosmic.)
Wolf 359 (A sci-fi show probably more along the lines of Red Dwarf, I guess? I'm not very far in it but friends love it.)


Writing / Self-improvement
Best Seller
(A show about writing, getting published, and working with editors and their ilk.)
Odyssey Writing Workshop (15~ish minute excerpts from lectures from the Odyssey Workshop lead by editors, writers, publishers, etc)


Comedy
My Brother, My Brother, and Me (Three brothers give advice to people who write in, or just random yahoo answers questions. Hilarious.)
The Roundtable of Gentlemen (Comedians around a table being crazy. Unfortunately its ended and a member passed away, but there are tons of eps.)


History / Educational
Hardcore History
(Some of the densest, impactful history coming from a storyteller, not a historian. Very good stuff.)
Revolutions (A history podcast about various revolutions in history, including the American and French revolution in extreme detail.)
Slow Burn (A podcast about Watergate and how its eerily similar to todays events.)


Other
Abe Lincoln's Top Hat
(A political show from the Last Podcast On The Left guys.)
Last Podcast On The Left (True crime, comedy, supernatural, and the occult all blended together. Quite possibly my favorite podcast ever.}
Mysterious Universe (A show where two Australian skeptics who Want To Believe discuss bizarre, strange, and otherworldly things.)
The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (Two fans of Lovecrafts works cover ALL of his works in 30-45 minute episodes. Highly recommended.)
Skeptic's Guide To The Universe (Skeptics covering news stories and strange events. Sometimes they get up their own ass, but they're fun.)


Some that I haven't listened to in years that people might be interested in would be:
Comedy Bang Bang (Comedy....podcast....Lost of improv)
The Comedy Button (Former IGN employees comedy podcast with Brian Altano.)
The Level (Watch out for Fireballs guy plus some friends. I don't like the format much and some of the guests are grating, but if you need more Kole...)
With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus (Lauren forces her guests to come up with a show for the episode that she is the guest on.)
 
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teezzy

formerly 'deftones r cool'
Apr 19, 2019
540
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I use Podcast Addict for everything.

My favorite podcasts remain Tell em Steve Dave and Retronauts. I'm also fond of Chapo Trap House, Last Podcast on the Left, and the Joe Rogan Experience.

I cant really manage more pods than that tbh.
 

Ruvon

Chaotic writer
May 15, 2019
707
1,642
93
France
cabinetdechaologie.wordpress.com
For Tabletop-RPG players, I liked Helpful Humunculi from Ranged Touch about mastering, playing and having fun in RPG :


2 episodes only, I hope they will continue.

Another interesting podcast from the same people is Game Studies Study Buddies :

Games Studies Study Buddies is a podcast that makes academic games studies accessible, text by text. Rather than focusing on following or forging a “canon” of the discipline, media scholar Cameron and literature scholar Michael instead aim to cover an eclectic body of material. And while we are centrally focused on contemporary videogames, you can expect our discussions (and the work we cover) to account for everything from Dungeons & Dragons to tic-tac-toe.

Texts are chosen in pairs, juxtaposing the old and new or the popular and obscure. Each episode is a discussion of a single text, walking through its arguments, posing clarifying or complicating questions, relating it to anything else we’ve read, and situating it within the larger study of games and the critical study of media and culture.

Here’s another way of putting it: we’re two friends who make and write about games, think way too much, and read a lot. We want to have a productive, friendly discussion about the diverse body of work that constitutes academic game studies, and we want that discussion to be available and informative whether you’re a researcher, a teacher, a student, a game designer, a game player, or just someone who likes podcasts. If you’re interested at all in games, their history, their cultural impact, and the massive amounts of great critical work produced about them over the decades, then we invite you to become our games studies study buddy.

They do other stuff too but I haven't listened yet.
 

BlueOdin

Dec 3, 2018
995
2,665
93
Gamign wise I listen to the Giant Bombcast, Giant Beastcast, Crate & Crowbar and gaming-adjacent the Giant Bombcast Aftershow.

For movies I listen to We Hate Movies which are four guys from New York watching sometimes bad and sometimes not so bad and sometimes superhero movies in the cinema and give their commentary. Usually only catch an episode if I have seen the movie but I find them entertaining.
For TV shows I listen to the TV Talk Machine with Tim Good from The Hollywood Reporter. Found some shows through it which I enjoyed. Also started listening to Scriptnotes with one of the screenwriters of "Chernobyl". Really entertaining but I don't commute much currently so I sometimes skip episodes. Same reason why I haven't listened to a Hollywood Handbook episode yet.

Then there are the German podcasts I listen to. My current favorite one is Zeit Verbrechen where journalists from the newspaper "Die Zeit" talk about crimes and the resulting police work that happened. Highly recommended.
Another one is Podcast Ufo. Hosted by two people who work at btf (Bild- und Tonfabrik) which is behind the show Neo Magazin Royal. One of them also wrote on How to sell drugs online (fast) which premiered on Netflix this year. Podcast is sometimes hit, sometimes miss but overall I like it.
Then there are Eine Stunde Liebe and Eine Stunde History from the radio station Deutschlandfunk Nova. The former deals with sexual and relationship trends, questions but also with sex crimes e.g. what brings someone to being a sexual predator especially in younger years or where victims can find help. The latter is often about a historical topic. Can recommend both of them.
Also listening to Die Blaue Stunde with Serdar Somuncu. He is a comedian of Turkish heritage and probably the most German German I ever listened to. The show is good and he is well read, has good music taste and often recommends lesser known artists. But overall it is a comedy podcast. Only skip most of the episodes when he has a guest on it because often I don't enjoy his interview style.

I think that was it for the time being. And I hope we can all agree that live-shows as a podcast are a blight on this world.
 

Kthulhu

Junior Member
Feb 28, 2019
25
36
13
I mainly use Pocket Cast for my podcast listening.

Tech

Rise of Amazon
: Land of the Giants
An ongoing podcast from Vox about how Amazon got to where it is today and the affects it has had on people. I really recommend it regardless of your opinion of the company.

IRL Online Life Is Real Life: IRL - Online Life Is Real Life
Made by Mozilla that talks about how technology and tech policy affects people.

Waveform: Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
I've been watching MKBHD's videos for years now. While the podcast is new I have enjoyed it so far. I don't know how much appeal it has for people who don't follow him though. It focuses on tech news and reviews.

The Vergecast: The Vergecast
A podcast by The Verge, Vox Media's tech site. It is mainly a news show with a couple of interviews focusing on tech.

Linux for Everyone: Linux For Everyone
I've been trying to learn more about Linux over the past few months and I was pointed too this podcast by someone on Twitter. You don't need to be very knowledgeable on Linux or computers in general to enjoy the show, it is very community focused and talks about recent developments in the Linux community and FOSS.

Why'd You Push That Button?: Why'd You Push That Button?
Yet another Vox Media podcast on tech. This one is more philosophical, focusing on people's relationship to the technology they use day to day.


Gaming

Castle Super Beast
(formerly the Super Best Friendcast): Castle Super Beast
This podcast is mainly for fans of the hosts Pat and Woolie, so I can't recommend it to people who don't know or follow them. They mainly talk about their weeks, answer fan mail, and talk about pop culture news.

The History Respawned Podcast: The History Respawned Podcast
I just started listening to this today. It features historians talking about video games that have historical settings and how they relate to real life. There is a video version as well, but I haven't seen it.

Woolie Will Figure it Out: Woolie Will Figure It Out
Like with Castle Super Beast, I don't know how much you will enjoy this if you don't follow Woolie. It focuses on his and some of his peers former creative projects. It talks a lot about failed projects and it's unique since you don't usually see people open up about their failed projects like this.


Politics

Pod Save America
: Pod Save America
A political news show run by Crooked Media and hosted by some former Obama staffers. It focuses on US politics.

Even More News: Even More News
Run by the people behind Some More News. It is a political news show featuring the host of Some More News.

Comradical: Comradical
I wasn't really taught a lot about socialism when I was in school, and with the rise of breadtube I found this podcast. It is made by Lunar Light Studios and is meant to teach the listener about socialism.


Other

Planet Money
: Planet Money
A NPR podcast on economics. I talks about pretty much everything related to economics and is really interesting if you're curious about economics.

JoJo's Bizarre Explainer: JoJo's Bizarre Explainer
A podcast discussing the manga and anime adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It has a lot of comedy and is mostly just the hosts making jokes about each of the episodes.

Badvertising: Badvertising
Another Lunar Light Studios podcast that is pretty much just the three hosts making jokes about different brands. I think it's pretty funny.
 

BoosterDuck

Goon Squad
Sep 20, 2018
393
1,088
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The Cracked Podcast: This is basically Cracked articles in podcast form. Hosted by comedy writer and 4-time Jeopardy winner Alex Schmidt along with various guests each week.

Factually! with Adam Conover: Adam Ruins Everything in podcast form with weekly guest hosts.

The Three Questions with Andy Richter: Conan's sidekick Andy asks his celebrity guests these three questions: 'Where do you come from?', 'Where are you going?' and 'What have you learned?'

The Dana Gould Hour: Comedian, TV writer and the voice actor of Gex (yes, that Gex) Dana Gould shoots the shit with various guest hosts including colleagues and people from different walks of life.

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard: Self-explanatory.

How Did This Get Made?: Upright Citizens Brigade alumni and comedy performers Paul Scheer (The League, Fresh off the Boat, NTSF:SD:SUV), June Diane Raphael (American Dad, New Girl, Big Mouth) and Jason Mantzoukas (The League, The Dictator, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place) discuss bad movies and everything surrounding them.

How Did This Get Played?: Upright Citizens Brigade alumni, TV comedy producers and video game enthusiasts Heather Anne Campbell and Nick Wiger discuss video games with guest hosts every week.

Doughboys: Nick Wiger and comedian Mike Mitchell discuss chain restaurants and food brands with guest hosts.

Monster in my Podcast: Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross (Watch Out for Fireballs!) discusses every Dungeons and Dragons monster in bite-sized episodes.

Everything to Guppy: Gary Butterfield and A.V. Club writer William Hughes discusses every item, monster and character from Binding of Isaac in bite-sized episodes.
 
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EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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I either missed this thread or went away to dig out some links and didn't come back until the bump. Now i have a bunch of new stuff to listen to.
I don't listen to many podcasts these days but didn't see these mentioned yet.

Three Moves ahead: Strategy & War Game Podcast on Idle Thumbs Network.

The Jodcast: Jodrell Bank Astronomy Podcast. Ran by the Doctorate students so it's not dry and boring and the crew changes every year or so. It's my podcast for No Mans Sky. lol.

Seldom Sirius
: Astronomy Podcast from some ex-Jodcast hosts who graduated and moved on.

An old show i listened to back around 2003 and need to find an archive of was "Life in Fragments" on internet radio, KBCS 91.3. I'd listen to it regularly but distinctly remember putting a bunch of them on my mp3 player for the train ride back home a few times a year. An eclectic mix of genres and great for long train rides when you're bored of listening to your usual stuff. I'm going to have to dig about and find some archives somewhere.

I also listen to a show put out on local/hospital radio by one of my friends which i now remember i haven't checked out in a while. Oops.
 

BoosterDuck

Goon Squad
Sep 20, 2018
393
1,088
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the super mario bros. super show show was just changed to the video games super show show