Podcasts I'm Listening to in 2022

This time around I’ve written a Python script to take the OPML file from Podcast Republic and generate the list along with URLs and official descriptions for all the podcasts. If I have additional thoughts I’ll add them after the official description.

The World Around Us

99% Invisible - Official Description: Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we’ve just stopped noticing. 99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture.

Freakonomics Radio - Official Description: Discover the hidden side of everything with Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics books. Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know(but do) — from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers.

Nice Try! - Official Description: Nice Try’s second season, Interior, is all about the lifestyle products that have been sold to us over and over, and the promises of domestic self improvement they have made, kept and broken. From Curbed and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Reply All - Official Description: “‘A podcast about the internet’ that is actually an unfailingly original exploration of modern life and how to survive it.” - The Guardian. Hosted by Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi from Gimlet.

The Allusionist - Official Description: Adventures in language with Helen Zaltzman.

Radiolab - Official Description: Radiolab Eric’s Commentary: Radiolab is a lot like This American Life except with a much bigger focus on sound effects. It is, in a way, the descendant of the old radio shows of the 30s and 40s.

Music

Alt.Latino - Official Description: Alt.Latino is a spotlight on the world of Latinx arts and culture through music, stories and conversation.

Television and Movies

Boars, Gore, and Swords - Official Description: Ivan Hernandez and Red Scott break down every episode of Watchmen, Game of Thrones, Westworld, Counterpart, Lovecraft Country, WandaVision, and now Loki. Eric’s Commentary: As you may be able to tell from the name, this started off as a Game of Thrones podcast. Ivan and Red covered all the books and TV shows. Once that was over, they moved on to cover a variety of TV shows. Sometimes they’ll do a whole season or series. Other times, it’s just the opening episode.

Doesn’t Sound like Anything to Me: A Westworld Recap - Official Description: Writer Ivan Hernandez and comedian Red Scott break down everything Westworld, including every episode of the HBO series and also the original movies. Eric’s Commentary: If you like Boars, Gore, and Swords this is more of that, but focused on Westworld.

Failure to Adapt - Official Description: Is the book always better? Are they better off as Movies?? Finally, an answer. Author Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Comic Red Scott talk media that moves from one form to another. Whether it’s Stephen King books becoming Steven Spielberg movies, Fairy Tales loosely inspiring animated Disney musicals, or People transmuting into Wolves, this is the podcast with the conviction and insight to determine a story’s correct form. Eric’s Commentary: This is the same Red Scott as the previous two pocasts, but this time paired with Maggie Takuda-Hall. It results in a different dynamic with a slightly more thoughtful (but no less funny) Red Scott.

How Did This Get Made? - Official Description: Have you ever seen a movie so bad that it’s amazing? Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas want to hear about it! We’ll watch it with our funniest friends, and report back to you with the results.

Twinsies - Official Description: Every two weeks, comedians TJ Chambers and Andy Wood get together to take a look at what happens when Hollywood has the same idea twice.

Unclear and Present Danger - Official Description: New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and freelance writer John Ganz delve into the world of 90s post-Cold War thrillers with Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast that explores America in an age of transition to lone superpower, at once triumphant and unsure of its role in the world.

Unspooled - Official Description: Listen up, film fans! Actor & comedian Paul Scheer and film critic Amy Nicholson want your advice as they make the ultimate list of the greatest movies of all time. In Season 1, they watched every one of the AFI’s Top 100 films…and decided they could kick off half. Now, they’re filling in the gaps by investigating wildly diverse areas of film through miniseries on topics like horror movies, documentaries and romantic comedies, with help from listeners’ picks. Along the way, they’ll dissect iconic scenes, spotlight their favorite characters, and talk to some of the actors and directors who worked on these classics. And when Unspooled has built their own list of the best movies on earth, they’ll blast them into space to be immortalized for eternity. Seriously.

ZOOM - Official Description: ZOOM is a new podcast from Focus Features for movie lovers who want to know everything. Fueled by the inquisitive mind of film critic and host Amy Nicholson (“Unspooled,” “Halloween Unmasked”), each episode uses a modern-day movie as a launch pad to discover mind-bending facts about science, technology, and history. What kind of planet might E.T. come from? Do superstar horses “act”? Which Edwardian rules of etiquette could trip up Downton Abbey’s Lord Grantham? Featuring interviews with an eclectic mix of experts and filmmakers, ZOOM explores Hollywood’s uncharted questions.

Talkin’ Toons with Rob Paulsen - Official Description: Rob Paulsen, one of the most accomplished and well-known voice actors of our time, sits down with various other voice actors to discuss their experiences! And yes, of course, there’ll be plenty of voice acting games.

History

Blindspot - Official Description: “Blindspot: The Road to 9/11” (Season 1) brings to light what happened before the 2001 terrorist attacks – 10 years of botched leads, near misses, and bureaucratic inertia. Host Jim O’Grady draws on interviews with FBI agents, high-level bure
aucrats, security experts, and people who knew the terrorists personally to create a gripping, serialized audio experience. “Blindspot: Tulsa Burning” (Season 2) transports listeners to the thriving Greenwood District in 1921 – a Black city within a city – and its destruction by a mob of white supremacists. Host KalaLea tells the story of this remarkable neighborhood through the stories of survivors, descendants, and inheritors of its legacy. The series is a co-production of The HISTORY® Channel and WNYC Studios.

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History - Official Description: In “Hardcore History” journalist and broadcaster Dan Carlin takes his “Martian”, unorthodox way of thinking and applies it to the past. Was Alexander the Great as bad a person as Adolf Hitler? What would Apaches with modern weapons be like? Will our modern civilization ever fall like civilizations from past eras? This isn’t academic history (and Carlin isn’t a historian) but the podcast’s unique blend of high drama, masterful narration and Twilight Zone-style twists has entertained millions of listeners.

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Addendum - Official Description: Interviews, musings and extra material from the makers of Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.  If it did not fit in the HH feed it’s probably here

Tides of History - Official Description: Everywhere around us are echoes of the past. Those echoes define the boundaries of states and countries, how we pray and how we fight. They determine what money we spend and how we earn it at work, what language we speak and how we raise our children. From Wondery, host Patrick Wyman, PhD (“Fall Of Rome”) helps us understand our world and how it got to be the way it is.

The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - Official Description: Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds picks a subject from history and examine it. Eric’s Commentary: The main setup is that Dave Anthony is telling a true story from history to Gareth Reynolds who doesn’t know ahead of time what the story is going to be.

Throughline - Official Description: The past is never past. Every headline has a history. Join us every week as we go back in time to understand the present. These are stories you can feel and sounds you can see from the moments that shaped our world.

Business and Finance

Business Wars - Official Description: Netflix vs. HBO. Nike vs. Adidas. Business is war. Sometimes the prize is your wallet or your attention. Sometimes, it’s just the fun of beating the other guy. The outcome of these battles shapes what we buy and how we live. Business Wars gives you the unauthorized, real story of what drives these companies and their leaders, inventors, investors and executives to new heights – or to ruin. Eric’s Commentary: many of these series are very interesting, especially when you see how history has set up the business world we have today. I tend to skip the businesses I don’t care about.

Marketplace - Official Description: Every weekday, host Kai Ryssdal helps you make sense of the day’s business and economic news — no econ degree or finance background required. “Marketplace” takes you beyond the numbers, bringing you context. Our team of reporters all over the world speak with CEOs, policymakers and regular people just trying to get by.

Planet Money - Official Description: The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, “Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.” Now imagine that’s actually a fun evening.

The Indicator from Planet Money - Official Description: A little show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator helps you make sense of what’s happening today. It’s a quick hit of insight into work, business, the economy, and everything else.

Psychology

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Official Description: We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They’ll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser.

You Are Not So Smart - Official Description: You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we’ve learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.

Technology

Codebreaker, by Marketplace and Tech Insider - Official Description: None Eric’s Commentary: A tech podcast. Season 1 asked the question “Is it Evil?” of various technologies. still on my feed, but hasn’t release a new episode since Dec 2016.

Command Line Heroes - Official Description: Stories about the people transforming technology from the command line up. Eric’s Commentary: A podcast produced by Red Hat that tackles different tech topics, organized around a seasonal topic. Season 2 was about programming languages and introduced me to the Python podcasts that I listen to. Season 3 is about the history of computer hardware. The current season is about malware.

Open Source Security Podcast - Official Description: A security podcast geared towards those looking to better understand security topics of the day. Hosted by Kurt Seifried and Josh Bressers covering a wide range of topics including IoT, application security, operational security, cloud, devops, and security news of the day. There is a special open source twist to the discussion often giving a unique perspective on any given topic.

Python Bytes - Official Description: Python Bytes is a weekly podcast hosted by Michael Kennedy and Brian Okken. The show is a short discussion on the headlines and noteworthy news in the Python, developer, and data science space.

Talk Python To Me - Official Description: Talk Python to Me is a weekly podcast hosted by developer and entrepreneur Michael Kennedy. We dive deep into the popular packages and software developers, data scientists, and incredible hobbyists doing amazing things with Python. If you’
re new to Python, you’ll quickly learn the ins and outs of the community by hearing from the leaders. And if you’ve been Pythoning for years, you’ll learn about your favorite packages and the hot new ones coming out of open source.

The Real Python Podcast - Official Description: A weekly Python podcast hosted by Christopher Bailey with interviews, coding tips, and conversation with guests from the Python community. The show covers a wide range of topics including Python programming best practices, career tips, and related software development topics. Join us every Friday morning to hear what’s new in the world of Python programming and become a more effective Pythonista.

Non-Financial, Non-Political News and Current Events

Common Sense with Dan Carlin - Official Description: Loud, fast-talking and deceptively funny, this politically-independent “forward-thinking pragmatist” looks at the events shaping our world through a uniquely American lens. It’s smarter than you think, and faster than you expect. Eric’s Commentary: I like this show because Dan Carlin takes the same analytical mind he uses for Hardcore Histroy and applies it to current events.

Fresh Air - Official Description: Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio’s most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross, the show features intimate conversations with today’s biggest luminaries.

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah: Ears Edition - Official Description: Listen to highlights and extended interviews in the “Ears Edition” of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. From Comedy Central’s Podcast Network. Eric’s Commentary: Also currently contains the audio of the full TV episodes.

Misc Pop Culture

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Official Description: After 25 years at the Late Night desk, Conan realized that the only people at his holiday party are the men and women who work for him. Over the years and despite thousands of interviews, Conan has never made a real and lasting friendship with any of his celebrity guests. So, he started a podcast to do just that.Deeper, unboundedly playful, and free from FCC regulations, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly opportunity for Conan to hang out with the people he enjoys most and perhaps find some real friendship along the way.

Decoder Ring - Official Description: Decoder Ring is the show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.

It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders - Official Description: Each week, Sam Sanders interviews people in the culture who deserve your attention. Plus weekly wraps of the news with other journalists. Join Sam as he makes sense of the world through conversation.

SmartLess - Official Description: “SmartLess” with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversationfilled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind.

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Official Description: Marc Maron welcomes comedians, actors, directors, writers, authors, musicians and folks from all walks of life to his home for amazingly revealing conversations. Marc’s probing, comprehensive interview style allows guests to express themselves in ways listeners have never heard.

Song Exploder - Official Description: Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.

Short Story Podcasts

Escape Pod - Official Description: The Original Science Fiction Podcast Eric’s Commentary: This podcast features great selections of short stories. I added it to my podcatcher to get a dose of fiction among the more non-fiction podcasts I usually listen to. Also, there’s something great about short-form fiction where you have to build the world AND tell the story in a very concise way.

Give Me Fiction - Official Description: Give Me Fiction is a prose reading series hosted by Ivan Hernandez. Each month at GMF’s live show, some of the finest minds in comedy, literature, and the arts write pieces based on a theme. Each week on this podcast, we deliver one of those stories to the listening public. No new episodes since May 11, 2015

Politics

FiveThirtyEight Politics - Official Description: Nate Silver and the FiveThirtyEight team cover the latest in politics, tracking the issues and “game-changers” every week.

On the Media - Official Description: The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Host Brooke Gladstone examines threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear. Eric’s Commentary: It’s not always about politics, but that’s often a key reasons for a lot of the media matters they discuss - especially over the past 2 decades.

Political Gabfest - Official Description: Voted “Favorite Political Podcast” by Apple Podcasts listeners. Stephen Colbert says “Everybody should listen to the Slate Political Gabfest.” The Gabfest, featuring Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, is the kind of informal and irreverent discussion Washington journalists have after hours over drinks.

Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell & Hari Kondabolu - Official Description: W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu are comedians who take politics seriously; and longtime friends, trying to help keep each other sane. Join them as they pull the alarm on the dumpster fire that is American politics, and talk to the creators, thinkers, and leaders doing the work to defend and reinvent our democracy.

What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law - Official Description: Professor Elizabeth Joh teaches Intro to Constitutional Law and most of the time this is a pretty straight forward job. But when Trump came into office, everything changed. During the four years of the Trump presidency, Professor Joh would check Twitter five minutes before each class to find out what the 45th President had said and how it jibes with 200 years of the judicial branch interpreting and ruling on the Constitution. Acclaimed podcaster Roman Mars (99% Invisible) was so anxious about all the norms and laws being tested in the Trump era that he asked his neighbor, Elizabeth, to explain what was going on in the world from a Constitutional law perspective. Even after Trump left office, there is still so much for Roman to learn. What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law is a weekly, fun, casual Con Law 101 class that uses the tumultuous activities of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to teach us all about the US Constitution.

The Experiment - Official Description: Each week, we tell the story of what happens when individual people confront deeply held American ideals in their own lives. We’re interested in the cultural and political contradictions that reveal who we are.

Radiolab Presents: More Perfect - Official Description: From the producers of Radiolab, a series about how the Supreme Court got so supreme.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Culture

Imaginary Worlds - Official Description: Imaginary Worlds is a biweekly podcast about science fiction, fantasy and other genres of speculative fiction. Host Eric Molinsky talks with novelists, screenwriters, comic book artists, filmmakers, and game designers about their craft of creating fictional worlds. The show also looks at the fan experience, exploring what makes us suspend our disbelief, and what happens when that spell is broken. Fantasy worlds may be set in distant planets or parallel dimensions, but they are crafted here on Earth and on some level relate to our daily lives. Employing his years of experience in public radio, Eric brings a sophisticated, thoughtfully produced voice to the far-out and fantastical.
Intentionally Blank - Official Description: Join bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells as they search for the perfect podcast name and talk about the weird things they love—such as food heists, the perfect popcorn salt, and whether any art can truly be perfect. Listen for commentary on movies, TV shows, books, video games, and wherever else their conversation leads them.

Our Opinions Are Correct - Official Description: Explore the meaning of science fiction, and how it’s relevant to real-life science and society. Your hosts are Annalee Newitz, a science journalist who writes science fiction, and Charlie Jane Anders, a science fiction writer who is obsessed with science. Every two weeks, we take deep dives into science fiction books, movies, television, and comics that will expand your mind – and maybe change your life

The Sword and Laser - Official Description: Different worlds, different discussions! Eric’s Commentary: The official podcast of the Goodreads reading group of the same name.

Science

Probably Science - Official Description: Professional comedians with so-so STEM pedigrees take you through this week in science. Incompetently. Featuring hosts Matt Kirshen, Andy Wood (and sometimes Jesse Case or Brooks Wheelan) along with a rotating cast of special guests from the worlds of comedy and science.

StarTalk Radio - Official Description: Science, pop culture and comedy collide on StarTalk Radio! Astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities and scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about lifein the universe. Keep Looking Up!

The Infinite Monkey Cage - Official Description: Witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists’ eyes. With Brian Cox and Robin Ince.

Food

Proof - Official Description: A disappearing food franchise. The story behind how a Vietnamese spring roll ended up on the menu of Senegalese restaurants. We take America’s Test Kitchen’s inquisitive and relentless approach to telling unexpected, funny, and thought-provoking narratives about food and drink. This is not a recipe show. And this is not a show about celebrity chefs or what they like to eat. Proof plunges into history, culture, science, and the psyche to uncover the hidden backstories that feed your food-obsessed brain. Hosted by Kevin Pang. A production of America’s Test Kitchen.

Writing

Writing Excuses - Official Description: Fifteen minutes long, because you’re in a hurry, and we’re not that smart. Eric’s Commentary: Famous SFF authors talk about the craft of writing. Tends to be organized topics which take 4-8 episode to fully explore. Even though I do not want to become a fiction author, I love the behind-the-scenes view into how the storytelling craft works.

• Podcasts