Despite a little less time for podcasts, and my lamentations last year that they are harder to find, this year had a number of really excellent podcasts to listen to!
If you’re someone who loves movies, and misses the early seasons of You’re Wrong About, this podcast might just scratch an itch for you. The hosts are hilarious, have fun but not tangential banter, and each episode is meticulously researched.
Good movies, bad movies, great movies, and cult classics all get their day in the sun with this podcast, and it really does beg the question: how did that get made?
Suggested episode(s) to start on: Shrek (Part 1, Part 2), Lord of the Rings (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), Gone with the Wind
I’ll start upfront by giving a warning that the advertisements on this podcast are sometimes hot garbage – absolute bottom of the barrel, grifty supplement nonsense with zero science backing and some pretty suspect claims. But this is the media ecosystem which we live, I guess. To make a show about cult survivors, you’ve gotta shill some wellness nonsense.
Outside of that, I initially did not like this podcast (I’m really selling it here, but bear with me). The tone felt too playful, and c’mon, not everything is a cult, right?
I came around after a while of back and forth with myself, because I feel like we live in a time where people are so fearful and looking to protect themselves in any way, and this fear opens the door for con artists who are looking to help themselves to power, money, and influence by using those fears against us. By having these conversations in an easy to absorb manner, we can start to identify the red flags of coercive control, and better protect and look out for one another.
On the tone issue, the hosts explain it very clearly. By laughing and making jokes at the expense of the controllers, they begin to lose their power. The survivors in the podcast are laughing right along, making jokes and taking back what was taken from them. While I was initially taken aback by this tone, I’m really starting to see the value in what these two are doing.
Suggested episode(s) to start on: Multi-Level Manipulator (MLM): “Hey, Hun! Hey, Girl! Hey, sis!”, S-Factor – PT1: “Pole Dancing to Solve the Patriarchy”, S-Factor Pole Dancing – PT2: “Emotional Roadkill”
As someone who is always trying to widen what news and media information I’m engaging with, one of the issues that I’m running into is how difficult it is for science backed ideas to take hold. I’ve seen countless times that effective and balanced science reporting is increasingly difficult to get right. More often than not, news sources are getting it wrong. With the chorus of “do your own research” becoming more frequent, it is increasingly evident that very few people actually know how to read the evidence that is available to them.
What I think the Science Vs. team is incredibly good at is putting a granular lens and asking a few specific questions, and saying outright what the data can or cannot say. They are incredibly good at framing what can be known with the data that is available, and where areas of further research are needed. Science isn’t scary, but out of context science most certainly is terrifying, and it’s taking hold fast. By offering a voice for the actual science, not the headline, this podcast is carving out a much needed corner of the media ecosystem.
And like a little wish list just for me, not only are all their sources are listed for each episode, they end every episode with a number of citations.
Suggested episode(s) to start on: The Pill: Is It Messing Up Our Brain and Body?, Trans Kids’ Healthcare: Are We Getting It Wrong?, Intermittent Fasting: Hungry for Facts?
Not everything is going to be OK, but it’s going to be OK.
If you’re like me, life, the universe, and everything can sit heavy in your brain.
It’s going to be OK is a less than ten minute reminder every workday that things are going to be OK. It’s helped me immensely to give myself the courage to look for little joys and it has become a lovely part of my morning routine.
It’s a little break from our anxiety boxes that reminds us to connect with the wonderfulness that is being a human being.
Suggested episode(s) to start on: (honestly any of them) Airport Camaraderie, Walks With Dad, World Champion Worrier
This is such a charming podcast, and only 16 episodes in, I’m intrigued to see where it goes. Basically, the host talks to a random stranger, and doesn’t reveal who that stranger is (although arguably if someone you knew personally in real life, there’s likely enough details for you to recognize them). There’s something very interesting that happens when people are given a somewhat anonymous medium to share their story – sometimes, as is revealed here, human beings are so willing to be brave and share who they are and what is important to them to a complete stranger.
Suggested episode(s) to start on: I Threw My Phone in the Pond
This is a strong, well-researched podcast that looks at over 100 years of history (yes, 100 years) around sex and sports. With incredible nuance, this podcast delves into the stories and the real life impacts around what it means to be an athlete whose biology doesn’t match a binary in today’s day and age, and what it practically means to get to that illusive black and white of male or female (spoiler alert: it’s probably a lot more complicated than you think).
Suggested episode(s) to start on: Episode 1: The Choice
Defunct Podcasts to Visit:
Sometimes, it’s worthwhile to visit podcasts that are no longer creating episodes, but still have an available catalogue of exceptional episodes.
I spent some time with Reply All again this year. And dang, this was an exceptionally made podcast. Clever, tenacious, and unexpected, this was some of the best audio storytelling I have come across. Their strength was not only the camaraderie, but the no-stone-unturned approach to deep dives.
Reply All ended after a number of serious allegations of a toxic workplace were made public. I’m not going to hand wave these allegations. I don’t know how to balance this information with the fact that I don’t know who is getting any money from me listening to old back episodes, because I genuinely don’t know how any of that works. I want you to be aware of this before you choose to listen, because I can’t speak one way or another what your listening ears are supporting or not.
Not technically cancelled (officially) (yet), this fiction podcast does stand alone audio storytelling. The sound mixing is some of the best, the stories are always exciting and new. Check out Dark End of the Mall to start.
And These are Always on my List:
These are basically a gimmie. Both have slowed the number of episodes they release in the past months, but are always worth a listen!
What I love about both of these is that they are focused on tackling what is passively assumed to be the truth. What does that oft-cited quote say? A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.
A little sassier than Science Vs above, Maintenance Phase tackles head on the health and wellness grifts that are so incredibly pervasive. Funny and well laid out, these are incredibly easy to listen to and dive deep into what statistics we have (if we have them) and where our narratives have gone wrong.
The bad premises, outright lies, and funky statistics of our best loved airport books are taken to task in If Books Could Kill. Just because it’s in a book doesn’t mean it’s factual!
Past Years (in case this isn’t enough!):
Top 10 (Plus Some More) Podcasts I Listened to in 2021