Anybody got good ones? I go through periods where I cull my list down – usually because I've got too many in my queue and realise I'll never get through 'em all – and periods where I subscribe to loads of stuff, but I'm always in the market for recommendations.
My current subscription list includes:
The only two I ever listen to are biggies – Kermode and Mayo's film podcast, and No Such Thing as a Fish (which is the researchers from QI doing their own podcast).
I can never find the time to dig out more obscure ones.
I like Broken Record; billed as a Malcolm Gladwell/Rick Rubin podcast about music which doesn't feature either of them very much (in season 1, season 2 might be different).
Classic Scottish Albums is a repackaged BBC Scotland radio show which I didn't expect much from but it's actually pretty great. Must have come out in the early 2000's because there's a Glasvegas album featured. More episodes are being made at the moment apparently.
I occassionally listen to the first 20 minutes of Pod Save America to get an idea of what's going on there. Also Podlitical for UK/Scottish politics.
Home of the brave is a podcast from a veteran radio producer & This American Life contributor Scott Carrier. His approach is always interesting and his book Prisoner of Zion is a great read and makes conversations with Mormons in Glasgow much more interesting.
I only really listen to Super Castle Beast (run by Pat and Woolie formerly of Super Best Friends) which is just a general gaming podcast, sometimes the Abroad in Japan podcast which is a podcast from a brit who has lived in Japan for like 6 years or so and actually does really good british humour style videos on what it's like to live there.
I really only listen to Daft Souls these days, but as they only manage an hour or so every couple of months it’s hardly a regular habit.
I have been listening to James O’Brien’s show a lot lately, as it’s available via catch-up on the LBC app each day: his air of quiet bemusement and despair over Brexit tallies pretty exactly with my own, though he’s kinder and more conciliatory towards various fuckwits than I think I could ever manage.
I've been listening to a few RPG podcasts recently.
The Grognard Files has an awful name but is a really enjoyable deep delve into roleplaying in the UK in the 80's. It's very relaxed and funny without being silly.
Dice For Brains is a well edited actual play podcast. They mostly play Star Wars: Force & Destiny and with only three players it's a lot less noisy than these things tend to be.
The Gauntlet and Fear of a Black Dragon discus a lot of different games with a storygame focus. if you are curious about something you can probably find it in here somewhere.
My favourite murder.
True crime talked about by two California women, one who is in the comedy business and has worked on some big shows.
It's a murder comedy podcast. So funny and gruesome.
Plus cats.
I think I’ve asked this before, but is there a Kermode-and-Mayo-type podcast for video games? Just two likeable mates talking, in a non American-shouty sort of way?
I can’t seem to find a good gaming podcast.
The Back Page. It's exactly what you're looking for, and the best videogames podcast for years.
I'll have a look, thanks!
I tried one, it's like attending a Liberal Democrat conference in 2014. They're nice enough, but it's two incredibly bland people relaying bland stories about bland things that happened to them. The gaming chat is ok I guess, but not particularly insightful. I felt lucky to finish the episode without finding I'd signed up to a plastic bag tax.
It depends what episodes you listen to, I think. The ones where they actually talk about games are generally excellent. They've done deep dives into the Hitman, Zelda, Phoenix Wright and Yakuza series and each one has been superb. They've also done "best of year xxxx" podcasts which have also been really good, and "drafts" of theoretical console minis.
Sadly these are interspersed with interminal episodes where they waffle on about stuff that happened to them on gaming magazines 15 years ago, often with a guest star who turns out to be one of their tedious mates. So skip those ones.
Also, they're very very touchy. I referred to them in passing as "gaming gammons" on an rllmuk thread and they were so offended they've complained about it on at least two separate episodes. Seems they only like positive feedback.
Oh, wow, that was you? Ha.I didn't get the sense they were particularly put out by it, though, just bemused.
They were moaning about gaming gammons on the one I listened to. Amazing.
