About 6 months ago, in April, I wrote a blog post called, "Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today". It was all about how I had just started this new hobby, and included my suggestions of the best podcasts I had been listening to. From that post, I received a few suggestions from friends and I still have been driving in my car just as much, so I began to listen to even more Podcasts. If you like podcasts just as much as me, do yourself a favor and read the first post before reading this one! Now get listening and read about 10 more podcasts to start listening to.
Update: Listen to 10 more podcasts I found interesting in early 2018!
Update #2: Check out the fourth installment from October 2018
Updated #3: Check out the newest 20 at Let’s Talk Podcasts #6 and Singular Story #5
10. Revisionist History
"Revisionist History is a new podcast from Malcolm Gladwell and Panoply Media. Each week for 10 weeks, Revisionist History will go back and reinterpret something from the past: an event, a person, an idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood."
Many of you may be familiar with the name Malcom Gladwell, as he is a famous author of the best-selling books Outliers, The Tipping Point, and Blink. Even though I think Malcom Gladwell is kind of a "know it all who thinks his opinion is always right," he makes some interesting points in this 2 season, 10 episode per season podcast. A lot of the topics covered in this podcast include racism, sports, rich vs poor, and even McDonald's! Now you only have twenty, 30 to 45 minute episodes to listen to, so get on it and start to question moments from history!
9. Convicted
"In 1996 Richard Nicolas was accused of the murder of his two year old daughter. He was convicted and is now spending the rest of his natural life in prison. The thing is - what if he didn't do it?"
This new "serial-esque" podcast is only 11 full episodes and reminds me of two of the podcasts on my last list of 10 Podcasts to Listen to, "Serial" and "Up and Vanished." Serial in the sense that it is about trying to prove a man's innocence, and Up and Vanished because it is a new podcaster going at it for the first time. In fact, this was recorded in the closet of the author, Brooke Gittings. So if you liked Serial, you should enjoy this podcast, although it got somewhat repetitive at the end, I suggest you give it a try.
8. Up First
"NPR's Up First is the news you need to start your day. The biggest stories and ideas — from politics to pop culture — in 10 minutes."
Don't have time to read a bunch of news articles or watch the news on TV like my parents? Try out this Monday-Friday podcast from NPR. Up First delivers the daily news in 10-13 minute segments that usually cover how dumb the President of the US is lately, all of the natural disasters that have been hitting the US, and other worldly news. I highly recommend for those who are fans of NPR.
7. Hidden Brain
"Hidden Brain helps curious people understand the world – and themselves. Using science and storytelling, Hidden Brain reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships."
Another NPR podcast on the docket, no surprise here as they always are putting out great content. This podcast hosted by Shankar Vedantam really gets you thinking about certain trends and styles from a psychology and neurobiology standpoint. With most episodes coming in around 25 minutes every week, you'll be thinking and using your brain regularly.
6. Sword and Scale
"Sword and Scale is an internet radio show and website covering the dark underworld of crime and the criminal justice system’s response to it. The show features stories of murder, abduction, rape and even more bizarre forms of crime. It’s the purest form of true-crime where nothing is off the table. Everything from 911 calls to court testimony, interviews with victims and sometimes with perpetrators give listeners a 360 degree look at the entire story. Told from the narrator’s point of view, Sword and Scale goes beyond the news clips and the sensationalist headlines to give listeners the whole story and deeper insight into the cases it covers than any other medium."
Shout out to Adam for getting me hooked on this podcast. These hour long episodes usually come every 2 weeks and never disappoint. Providing new stories of crime, mystery, and murder. Some episodes are definitely better than others, but my crime junky friends definitely need to give it a listen or two.
5. Song Exploder
"Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made."
This is a super unique podcast that I came across over the past 6 months. It takes a song from a specific artist and breaks it down literally instrument by instrument, lyric by lyric. The latest post was about the song Sober by Lorde. This podcast is also released every 10-14 days and covers a wide variety of music genres. I highly suggest quality headphones for this one as sound quality is key! The best part about Song Exploder is that you hear all the reasoning and details behind the song straight from the source, the artists themselves.
4. Ear Hustle
"Ear Hustle brings you stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it."
Ear Hustle is one of the coolest podcasts I've come across, as it takes you inside the walls of San Quentin State Prison in California. The podcast is produced almost entirely by inmates in the media lab there, although it always needs to be approved by the guards of course. It gives insight, knowledge, and fantastic stories about what goes on behind bars of a prison. Soon enough, you'll be waiting for every new informational episode every two weeks, just as I do.
3. S-Town
"S-Town is a new podcast from Serial and This American Life, hosted by Brian Reed, about a man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. He asks Brian to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But then someone else ends up dead, and the search for the truth leads to a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man’s life."
Even though S-Town is only 7 episodes long, it was one of my favorite podcasts, episode to episode, I've listened to over the last few months. It is produced from the same people as Serial and This American Life. Both featured on my last blog about 10 podcasts to listen to. This podcast immediately caught my attention and covers the story of a man named John B. McLemore. He is definitely somewhat autistic, fixes clocks for a living, and is tired of the town he is living in, which he names Sh!t Town. Although I don't deal directly with the same issues John has, he makes many statements that epitomize the entirety of the US. This podcast was downloaded a record of 10 million times in 4 days on its release, so why not join the masses and give it a listen?
2. Radiolab
"Radiolab is a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience."
After a little bit of research, I discovered that Radiolab was started in New York in 2002 by a guy from a school I played in lacrosse back at Adrian, Oberlin College. Quite different from the 3 hour episodes that aired on the radio back in 2002, most episodes now are around 45 minutes and cover a variety of topics through stories, interviews, and experiments. There are pretty much an endless amount of episodes, so start listening to the fun today!
1. Reply All
"Reply All features stories about how people shape the internet, and how the internet shapes people."
Coming in at number one right now is Reply All. Shoutout to Megan for introducing me to this hilarious podcast. This is one of the only podcasts that makes me laugh out loud almost every episode. Hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman, this Gimlet Podcast is focused on internet trendy stories and very nerdy. The regularly have a section called, "Yes, Yes, No" where they explain confusing and complex tweets which is super helpful to those of us who don't understand the internet slang of today. They also cover a variety of topics and often do some intense reporting/journaling on those topics. One of my favorite episodes I listened to recently (#102 & #103) was about investigating a scam call center in India, where Alex Goldman ends up going to India trying to uncover the scam they are running. If you like the internet, or want to know more about the things that go on there, check Reply All out, my number one podcast of the second half of 2017.
Just as I stated the last time I made a post about podcasts, I hope that you can take some time to listen to these wonderful podcasts. Each production crew does an amazing job to make the stories unique and an enjoyable experience for their listeners. The best part about podcasts though... they are FREE! Just download them on itunes, listen on their website links which I provided above, or listen through a Podcast app on your phone like me.
I now have a collection of 20 great podcasts that I listen to regularly. And if you haven't already, check out my first 10 podcasts to listen to: Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today
Do you know of any other top notch podcasts that I didn't mention? Please don't be shy and let me know about them in the comments below!
Thanks for reading, and maybe listening.
Josh