I’ve followed Freakonomics for a while but don’t listen much. But over the weekend I listened to an episode called The Curious Mr. Feynman. I’ve been a Richard Feynman fan since college; my physics prof was always quoting him.
Anyway it was a fun episode and sounds like it’s gonna be a series.
I’d rather read transcripts for Freakonomics.
Still plodding through Office Ladies and Conan Needs a Friend.
I dunno, I kinda like hearing the voices, especially for the Feynman episode. His daughter is on there, and several people who knew him.
But then I like audiobooks too.
I’ve been enjoying Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It”. Especially the one’s where he’s “having coffee” with his Mom.
It’s not a true podcast, but I regularly listen to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” as a podcast.
Other podcasts I have in my player include:
…but I rarely actively seek out episodes of those podcasts; they just come up in rotation on days/in circumstances where I want podcasts (rather than music, HGTV, Bloomberg, or CNBC) as my background noise.
Lately I’ve been listening to “Ukraine: The Latest” by the Telegraph and, on a lighter note, “A Problem Squared” with Matt Parker and Bec Hill.
Rogan has interesting people on and I listen occasionally.
Modern Wisdom - former male model and club promoter who put that world behind. Areas of interest are evolutionary psychology, dating relationships in the modern world, fitness and health, humor, etc.
Darkhorse - Evolutionary biologists who cover a wide range of health, social, and political issues.
Atomic Shrimp - I’m there mainly for the scam baiting videos.
Benjamin A. Boyce - Lots of gender and trans related conversations.
I feel like I should be listening to more podcasts, so I’m taking notes. 
Various stuff on NPR. There’s a lot of them, though they’re all kind of the same-- smart, funny, engaging, etc. and they risk being reductive, simplistic, pretentious, superficial, twee, or just filler.
Of the bunch, This American Life is usually good and sometimes great. Ira is a solid host, he knows what makes a good story and a bad story, and the focus (slice of life) is less prone to me being like “well no shit I already knew that.” They also tell a lot of political and science stories, but avoid pitfalls.
But I’ve barely explored other podcasts.
I’ll share favorite episodes here as I hear em.
Stuff You Should Know is usually pretty interesting. They mostly talk about science stuff in a real down-to-earth, not too technical way. The hosts are super-mellow and have a really good rapport.
When I want to be angry about horrible people I’ll cue up Behind the Bastards. The host is a bit grating though so I can only take it in small doses.
Ezra Klein usually has interesting people on his show, and I like his style. He’s refreshingly earnest about wanting to learn about new stuff, but realistic about his own biases and limitations. Mostly focuses on political stuff, but delves into psychology and science stuff occasionally.
I’m a big fan of “Kill Tony”. I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of roast style comedy
Caught up on “Office Ladies” – well their show reviews and skipping all the “look backs” – and they seem to be dreading the end of the show’s run. Or, they are planning a huge end-of-show spectacular, with fireworks and a Ferris Wheel,…
So I’ll keep waiting. There are only seven episodes left.
I’ve been listening to a few podcasts lately. One is Revisionist History, which is Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast. I liked the episode I heard today, The Tipping Point Revisited: Broken Windows. He does a look back on the book that put him on the map 25 years ago. The broken windows theory is totally flipped.
I added Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy to my podcast list. It’s a Sci Fi podcast, so you might get takes on a new scifi book or show.
The episode I just got was less sci fi, more real life doomsday. The guest was Malcolm Collins, prominent pronatalist. He’s part of that Thiel/Musk/ new world order bro part of the right wing. That’s decidedly not in my wheelhouse, but his take on the pending demographic collapse was at least interesting.
I listen to Geek’s Guide, especially if they’re reviewing new sci-fi tv shows. It was on that podcast (the episode about Foundation) that I first found out about Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome, which I subsequently listened to and was fantastic. I’m still listening to the follow-up podcast The History of Byzantium, which should be wrapped up by next year (only 115 years to go).
I also listen to The Rewatchables, 99% Invisible, Cautionary Tales and Byzantium & Friends.
A list of podcasts I’ve listened to lately:
Science Friday
Science Vs
Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy
Revisionist History
You’re Wrong About
Stuff You Should Know
Code Switch
The Indicator
Macro Musings
The Globalist
I like these on top of a lot stated before
Huberman
How I made my first million
Diary of a CEO
Founders Journal
I also have some fiction ones I like but they change as the stories come and go but currently following Midnight Burger. I also like sleepy bookshelf. Listen to it to shut down as I go to bed.
All in I follow just over 500 podcasts so I listen to a lot of different things. Most are fiction though.
This is my go-to if I’m working around the house. Must have done twenty episodes when I was doing a lot of interior painting.
I do huberman when I do chores. Would be interesting to hear where others default to.
I could probably use a new podcast, anyone want to recommend a specific episode of something to get me hooked? My current rotation is basically this American life, Radiolab, stuff you should know, what the health (guess what I do for a living), planet money, serious trouble.
Since I asked, I’ll throw out two episodes I loved and still listen to every few years. Sixty Words by Radiolab, about the authorization for the use of military force after 9/11. And Death and Taxes by this American life, about… death, and taxes. The hospice story hits hard, perhaps more so for me since I spent a lot of time working to improve the use of hospice for cancer patients.