Heard on the Street

While I wasn’t listening, podcasts became great. Here are the audio gems that have been captivating me of late.

A while ago I commented on Twitter that I was having a hard time finding good podcasts. The best seemed very hit or miss (leading me to pine for an episode-level review site of some sort), and most were just boring. One funny reader commented that the best way to get some alone time was to start a podcast. I sort of agreed.

Luckily, podcasting has exploded recently with great personalities and new production houses.

And, as a consequence of training for a marathon this past winter and logging a lot of earbud time, I’ve had a chance to listen to a lot more. It took a while to wade through so many shows though, so I thought I’d share my favorites in case it’s helpful:

Criminal. There’s probably no single podcast I look forward to each week as much as Criminal, which just started earlier this year. It’s a bit hard to describe, but I believe the host, Phoebe Judge, is the Angela Lansbury of our generation. The show focuses on the personalities and situations surrounding crimes, so it is more of a sociological exploration of cases than pure reporting.

Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin. You either love or hate Alec Baldwin, I happen to think he’s our Dean Martin. He’s been recording this podcast, which is basically him hanging out with other famous people, for a while now. But I couldn’t get into it before. The trick for me was to ignore my type A inclination to listen to every episode thoroughly, in order, with the show notes, and instead just pick and choose the guests that sound interesting. It’s sort of “Inside the Actors Studio” but, you know, with two actors.

Hourly News. This isn’t as much of a podcast (it’s a stand-alone app), but a compilation of news podcast snippets that I listen to every single day. You can pick and choose channels like NPR and the BBC, and the app strings together snippets that are updated on an hourly basis. It is the perfect way to get up to speed on the day’s big stories while getting ready in the morning. Consider this a #lifehack.

The Sporkful. Dan Pashman is obsessive about food. Not just obsessed with food, but about everything related to it — preparation, presentation, delivery, atmosphere, spelling, personalities, etc. It’s always fun to listen to people who are totally, singularly captivated by something, especially if it involves doughnuts, beer and burritos.

The Mystery Show. This is a new one from the folks at Gimlet Media (who also produce Start Up and Reply All) so it’s early, but I’m optimistic. Each week Starlee Kine tries to solve a mystery. This isn’t “who killed JFK” level stuff, but the fun is in the personalities and stories that emerge from even minor whodunnits.

Reply All. this is the only podcast I listen to regularly about technology, or more accurately, the internet’s influence on culture. PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman don’t focus on the 0s and 1s, but rather the impact the Internet has on people (and the impact people have on the Internet). There’s a lot of odd, funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking stuff online — they do a good job of surfacing the best and telling those stories.

You Made It Weird. This is a podcast for those 20 mile runs, or whatever your version of that might be. While ostensibly a show about comedy and comedians, episodes are long (~1–2 hrs) so it’s a pretty thorough study of the personalities and practice of comedy. The show is rarely funny, but it is interesting to listen to people dissect their craft in such detail.

Finally, I remain devoted to the old standbys: 99% Invisible, Radiolab, and This American Life. 99% Invisible is the perfect quick-hit of content that proves the devil is truly in the details. It is no surprise to me that Roman Mars was a highlight of this year’s TED conference. Radiolab is just that — a mashup lab of science, culture, technology, history — sort of a cornucopia of…stories? Anyway, what I really love is they incorporate interesting, smart people into their shows who you haven’t heard of before, but immediately want to go follow on Twitter. This American Life continues to thread together interesting people and themes, though I’m pretty choosy about the episodes I listen to, since an hour is a substantial amount of time.

I’m excited by the momentum and creativity in the podcasting space. It reminds me a bit of the early days of blogging, when now-famous personalities were just developing their tone and beat. I know podcasting isn’t by any means new, but it’s enjoying a renaissance of creativity and broader appeal right now. I’d still love to see a more systematic and comprehensive episode level review site, and expect we’ll see a “TV Guide” for podcasts eventually.

Footnote: you might be wondering — what, no tech podcasts?? I’m sure there are great ones, but I don’t listen to tech podcasts. I’m immersed in tech news and commentary nearly every other hour of my day. I do wish there were more podcasts focused on tech’s influence on culture, like Reply All, though.

Double-Footnote: I loved the podcast Serial — it’s the only episodic show I’ve come across. Unfortunately it’s on hiatus right now as they record the next series.

What do you think are other must-listen podcasts? I’m particularly interested to know of any great ones dealing in politics or history — but please respond below with your favorites — and why you love them.

Megan Quinn is an Investment Partner at Kleiner, Perkins. She posted this from a train on the Norway-Sweden border.

Cover shot by drestwn via Flickr. (Creative commons)
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