Recommend me some podcasts

fonograph

As of next week I'm going to be making a 2hr/day commute on a train. I figure this is okay as long as I can find ways to amuse myself, and gathering a rich collection of podcasts seems like a suitable strategy. Since you are all wise people with excellent taste, I'm looking for your recommendations!

I've never really gotten into podcasts because I don't like the style in which they're usually done. I'm not interested in listening to a couple of guys goofing off for half an hour, which seems to be the standard practice. I don't want to get to know the hosts, I want quality content. I want interesting, well-presented information, or interesting, well-presented fiction.

Two podcasts that I love, because they fit this criteria (largely owing to the fact that they're actually radio shows), are The Age of Persuasion (http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion/) and Wiretap (http://limelight.collectik.net/collectik/feed/21055). While these both have excellent production values, I mainly like them because a lot of effort clearly goes into the writing.

I'm not too fussed about topics. Technology, politics, comics, science, whatever. Just as long as it fits this criterion.

Any thoughts?

Nik Huze

Penny Arcade and Dungeons and Dragons are the obvious choice.

Fleck0

well you did say you don't like a couple of guys goofing off...

But no worries! these are professionals goofing off!

Only ones I follow closely are

The Bugle (Mondays) - John Oliver and Andy Saltzman discussing news and politics (may contain british wit)

The Adam Carolla Podcast (Mon-fri) - Created after the flagship talk station that carried his radio show changed formats recently. Some like Adam some don't, though in less than two weeks of producing the podcast he's gotten more downloads than any podcast ever and is sitting pretty at #1 on Itunes. He pretty much just riffs about whatever with guests from various media. I'd reccomend the one he did last week with Leo LaPorte

edit: aww damn, forgot about this american life, that's a really good one too

An-D

This American Life is an amazing podcast from NPR. Sometimes its a bit heavy, but mostly its just interesting. Focuses on various non-fiction stories that occur (mostly) in America. Three stories to hour-long segment typically, all around (loosely) a theme. Definitely up your alley.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/



And even though you said you don't want guys goofing off, Jimmy Pardo's podcast "Never Not Funny" is good for some light-conversation between friends. You do have to pay for it if you want beyond 20 minutes, but I pay and its definitely worth it. Got a lot of famous guest comedians on it, shooting the breeze with the Pardo. Fun stuff.

http://pardcast.com/blog/

Quid

Seconded This American Life. Great stories on that program.

Edit: Though it's not three stories every program. It's anywhere from one story to several.

mxmarks

I love these podcasts:

The Official LOST Podcast - If you like the show, you'll love it. Usually runs a half hour, comes out every Thursday after a new episode. 10 minute interview with a cast member, and then 20 minutes of the 2 executive producers taking fan questions and actually answering them. They're really great if you love the show, but they're hilarious guys when they just get talking about anything.

Real Time With Bill Maher - I love this because it's literally just the audio from his HBO show. Every now and then I don't understand a joke because he'll reference an image and the auidence just laughs, but I like Bill Maher, he usually has a great mix of guests (he'll have a panel with like, Ben Affleck, Richard Clarke and Ron Paul. He gets great guests from a wide variety of political backgrounds), and it's up the day after his live show airs on HBO.

And my new favorite, by FAAAAAAAAR-

STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW - The hosts are great, and it's just amazing if you're at all curious about life. I have learned where the best place to get shot is, what exactly happens when you enter a coma, how to best survive an airline crash, if a thinking cap could ever really exist (yes, and it does.), what Delta Force is (badass), who's gone over niagra falls, how redheads 'work' and a ZILLION other things. They run a half hour, and I downloaded all of them, so I have no idea how frequently they come out because I just throw "most recent 5 unlistened" on my playlist everytime I sync and I'm yet to run out, but I can tell now I'm getting ones from when Bush was still president ("How Habeus Corpus works"). It doesn't matter though, as none of the info is really that time sensetive - just occasionally topics are selected that pertain to current events ("How the bailout works"). HIIIIIIIIIGHLY recommend.

Elki

I'm moving this to H/A.

Trus

The CBC radio 3 podcasts (Radio 3 podcast, R3-30, Sessions) all have great music with a good mix.

I personally like Drive This! as a sports podcast, its actually a tv/radio show so everything is top notch and they get some great guests (had a really interesting talk with the owner of the Washington Capitals today)

spidah

I like to hear

Sick and Wrong Podcast
-they basically find weird articles online and talk about them...lots of bizarre murders, a story about a guy crapping out of his mouth cause nothing'd come out of his anus, etc. pretty entertaining

Smodcast
-It's Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. Guy who did Clerks. Pretty funny.

Unicron

Anything from BBC, they cover an extremely wide variety of topics in their podcasts, from business news and views to film reviews

http://bbc.co.uk/podcasts

KalTorak

If you don't like the two guys goofing off format, check out NPR's stable of podcasts. They've got a pretty good passel of news and interviews and that sort of thing. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer is another good one.

Serpent

www.manager-tools.com
EconTalk
TedTalks
The Economist

Ioga

Radiolab!

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/

Incredible hosts, stories, and editing.

This American Life is a close second in my book.

An-D

Also seconding the smodcast. I've almost died because I was laughing so hard (while driving <_< ).

Willeth

Someone mentioned the Moth a while ago, and it's in my weekly rotation now. Some of these stories are incredible.

http://www.themoth.org/podcast

Dman

quarks and quirks podcast (CBC weekly science news radio show)

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/podcast.html

Dalboz

I'll get behind This American Life as well. I also really like The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.

Dark Moon

Ioga wrote: »

Radiolab!

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/

Incredible hosts, stories, and editing.

This American Life is a close second in my book.

This man has your answer. Radiolab is absolutely brilliant, and there's lot of old content to catch up with.

Crashtard

If you watch battlestar galactica the podcast by RDM is pretty great. My dad really likes tech podcasts, although right now I can't think of the one he really likes the most.

cooljammer00

I like Hijinks Ensue Podcast.

Babble

Check out the Giant Bomb Podcast (or the bombcast!) it is done by Jeff Gerstmann and the other writers over at Giant Bomb. Really great if you like video games or technology in general. They also tend to be hilarious so it should be quite enjoyable.

EDIT: Reading back through the OP you say you don't want to get to know the show host's etc. Although there are lots of antics throughout the podcast I would still say the info on them is awesome if you are interested in the topic.

Fuzzywhale

As everyone else has said, this american life is wonderful. Some other podcasts ive gotten into are:

NPR's Planet Money
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/-I had no idea why the financial crisis was happening nor did I know much about economics in general. These guys are quite good at explaining economic things and news in a funny way for econoretards like myself.

Byzantine Emperors
http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/ Lars Brownworth, a former history teacher on long island, gives a survey on 12 influential byzantine emperors. It's several hours and probably the most interesting thing ive listented to. I wish there was more!

Cowboy Bebop

cooljammer00 wrote: »

I like Hijinks Ensue Podcast.

I'd 2nd this, perhaps not what the OP is looking for but this is one of the funniest shows I have ever heard.

poshniallo

In Our Time from the BBC.

It's basically Melvyn Bragg, one of the most intelligent TV presenters around, and three or so experts, all discussing some topic. There's a lot of history and science, it's very intelligent, very interesting, and you'll learn a lot.

-SPI-

I heartily recommend A Life Well Wasted as a game podcast that fits your criteria. Unlike seemingly every gaming podcast out there it's not the "guys goofing off" format. It's an extremely well edited and generally intelligent show about videogames. Although the downside to the quality is a very long period between shows.

Steev

-SPI- wrote: »

I heartily recommend A Life Well Wasted as a game podcast that fits your criteria. Unlike seemingly every gaming podcast out there it's not the "guys goofing off" format. It's an extremely well edited and generally intelligent show about videogames. Although the downside to the quality is a very long period between shows.

Yeah, this is definitely a great podcast. I came in here to recommend it.

cooljammer00

Cowboy Bebop wrote: »

cooljammer00 wrote: »

I like Hijinks Ensue Podcast.

I'd 2nd this, perhaps not what the OP is looking for but this is one of the funniest shows I have ever heard.

I think OP said he didn't want goofing off or back stories, he wants well presented information. Thing is, HE is sometimes a bit disjointed with their stories. They'll reveal an internet story, discuss, and then say it sucks and move on. They sometimes make wild generalizations about things they don't know or understand.

Still funny though.

Marslo

Midnight Poutine

sure its my local podcast BUT its epicaly good,

so yes that's that

cooljammer00

sounds delicious

Kalkino

poshniallo wrote: »

In Our Time from the BBC.

It's basically Melvyn Bragg, one of the most intelligent TV presenters around, and three or so experts, all discussing some topic. There's a lot of history and science, it's very intelligent, very interesting, and you'll learn a lot.

I second this.

Jasconius

It's not really a radio show but TED Talks has a podcast and it is fantastic and will keep you busy for at least a week or two. They're about to put out a new batch too since I think the thing just ended last month.

KetBra

All of the CBC Radio 3 podcasts are great for Indie music, if you're into that.