Podcasts where it isn't stand up comedians talking and talking (and talking)

[Thad]

If "Beast Wars Megatron performs the Hamlet soliloquy" sounds like a thing you would like to hear, I suggest giving the David Kaye episode of Talkin Toons a listen.

(And yes if anyone on that show was Hamlet it was Dinobot. But that's not the point.)

[Mothra]

Ocksi and I are completely enthralled by The Relentless Picnic, a podcast that moves between philosophy and history, with little asides here and there. It's excellent.

[Bal]

Weird request: Anyone know of some Mom Friendly podcasts? Certain things are too upsetting, like current events, but she really likes history. I've been looking around, but vetting so many hours of content isn't really feasible for me.

[mharr]

BBC Radio podcast dozens of their flagship shows.

[Thad]

Weird request: Anyone know of some Mom Friendly podcasts? Certain things are too upsetting, like current events, but she really likes history. I've been looking around, but vetting so many hours of content isn't really feasible for me.

Slow Burn is about history (specifically, season 1 is about Watergate and season 2 is about the Clinton impeachment) but it might be a little too close to current events for comfort.

[Mothra]

Weird request: Anyone know of some Mom Friendly podcasts? Certain things are too upsetting, like current events, but she really likes history. I've been looking around, but vetting so many hours of content isn't really feasible for me.

Some non-swearin' women-focused ones on MaxFun I've heard good things about:

• Still Buffering: "Join real-life sisters Sydnee McElroy (Sawbones), Teylor Smirl, and Rileigh Smirl as they help bridge the gap between the teenagers of yesterday and today."
• One Bad Mother: "One Bad Mother is a comedy podcast hosted by Biz Ellis and Theresa Thorn about motherhood and how unnatural it sometimes is. We aren't all magical vessels! Join us every week as we deal with the thrills and embarrassments of motherhood and strive for less judging and more laughing."
• Lady to Lady: "Comedians Barbara Gray, Brandie Posey, and Tess Barker host this hilarious and raw weekly show in which they invite a fourth notable guest to play sleepover games, answer advice, and delve into ridiculous tangents."
• Can I Pet Your Dog?: "Can I Pet Your Dog? is a weekly, comedic podcast on dogs. The podcast is hosted by dog owner Allegra Ringo, former dog wanter, newly dog owner Renee Colvert, and producers Travis McElroy and Alexis B. Preston."
• Wonderful!: "Wonderful! is a podcast for joyful and enthusiastic people that like hearing about the passions, big and small, of other people. Each week Rachel and Griffin McElroy will talk about things they love and invite listeners to write in with their treasured items of enthusiasm."

[Bal]

Thanks, I've been looking through some of these.

[Thad]

David Tennant Does a Podcast With... mostly castmates (including Jodie Whittaker, Jon Hamm, Catherine Tate, Krysten Ritter, and a particularly entertaining interview where Olivia Colman talks about the scene in The Favourite where she gets fingered by Rachel Weisz) but also other entertainers (Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Garner, Ian McKellen) and for some reason a former Prime Minister (Gordon Brown). It's good! Tennant has some great interviewees in his contacts, and it turns out he's a great interviewer. He asks good questions and then he shuts up and lets the guest talk.

Of course it doesn't hurt that he knows most of these people and has a rapport with them. (His Broadchurch costars both call him "DT.")

[Bal]

Behind The Bastards is a great podcast for when you want to feel like nothing ever changes and we're just on a 50-100 year loop forever and ever. It's legitimately excellent though.

[Mothra]

Some friends I know through an Achewood fan group started a high-concept Garfcast, and it is a delight:

https://soundcloud.com/idlmpodcast/i-dont-like-mondays-episode-1

[François]

...well that was gloriously ridiculous.

[mharr]

RSS feed for IDLM because soundcloud's site is an obnoxious car crash. Extracted using getrssfeed.com

So by my calculations they'll reach the only good Garfield strips somewhere around the turn of 2100AD.

2.0, the podcast where John and Will Wiesenfeld try to improve things that are already fine. I am in agreement with Tom Francis that Skeletons 2.0 is the best introductory episode.

[beatbandito]

[mharr]

Behind The Bastards is a great podcast for when you want to feel like nothing ever changes and we're just on a 50-100 year loop forever and ever. It's legitimately excellent though.

Last week, they put out 'How YouTube Became a Perpetual Nazi Machine' and it explains everything that's gone so dramatically wrong in the last few years. Google dropped their Don't be Evil tagline, YouTube replaced television, and the Internet in general abandoned its techno-socialist hobbyist roots for commercial, ad-revenue based mass market entertainment.

So Google built an AI and gave it the stupid paperclip maximiser goal 'keep users actively engaged on the website for the maximum number of waking hours', and guess what kind of content is best at doing that.

We're basically all dying to the world's stupidest robot apocalypse. All that golden age SF lore that banned thinking machines had it right.

[Brantly B.]

I've always argued (with slight authority, being an automation engineer) that superintelligent AI isn't what you need to be afraid of; it's the dangerously naive AI that you need to keep tabs on.

(Though even in all those very popular superintelligent AI stories this seems to be understood; the breakdown or rogue state of an AI almost always seems to be a result of being confronted with a choice that exists outside of their problem scope, i.e. a moral choice. The thing people don't seem to realize is that the "dumber" and more specialized an AI is, the bigger the area outside of their problem scope...)

[Bal]

I found that episode lacking only because I was already aware of 90% of what it contained. Still as well made as always though.

[Thad]

Welcome to Night Vale is a delightful bit of surrealist SF/horror/humor, presented in the form of a radio newscast. Here's how the first episode begins:

The City Council announces the opening of a new dog park at the corner of Earl and Somerset, near the Ralph's. They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the dog park. People are not allowed in the dog park. It is possible you will see hooded figures in the dog park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dog park. The fence is electrified and highly dangerous. Try not to look at the dog park, and especially do not look for any period of time at the hooded figures. The dog park will not harm you.

This is a representative joke.

[Upthorn]

Sadly, I found that Night Vale lost something about a year in when the serialized plot threads start to overpower the surrealist slice-of-life format.

[hngkong]

I actually dropped off listening to Welcome to Night Vale a few times for whatever reason, but ended up picking up Archive 81 instead, which is a serialized story of weirdness and magic. The most recent three part story - "Left of the Dial" is a good place to start to see if you like it. It features characters from season 3 and some spoilers for said season though, so if you care about spoilers, maybe not?

If you're looking for a short "weird radio" series that is likely dead, Qwerpline is also fun.

[Thad]

I did not know that Nintendo Power had returned as a podcast. Or that it was co-hosted by Chris Slate, formerly of GamePlayers. Or that he was NP's editor for the last five years before they stopped printing it.

I am a year and a half late to the party on this and haven't actually listened to it yet, but GP sure was a great magazine back in the '90s.