Why is podcasting getting more and more popular? To answer that question, consider this: how many YouTube videos can you watch while driving or walking? How many blog posts can you read while washing the dishes or working out? When you watch YouTube videos or read blog posts, there aren't many other things you can do at the same time. Podcasts, on the other hand, can be played at anytime without any need for such narrow, intense focus. You can play them during routine boring parts of life that transform those times into extremely interesting and mentally stimulating periods.
I knew about podcasts for years but the first time I remember hearing about podcasts among non-techies was when Serial went viral. I still didn't give in though. While Adnan's story was compelling, I still wasn't sold on the idea of listening to a podcast. Serial is important to podcasting though because it put the spotlight on a fledgling medium that not many people were paying attention to. Now, everywhere you turn, some celebrity or influencer is launching a podcast and there is a show for your every interest, no matter how small the niche.
I got really into podcasts after listening to a particularly frightening and riveting episode of The NoSleep Podcast at the suggestion of an article on the popular blog, Jezebel. Then I started obsessively listening to pop culture and hip hop podcasts.
POP CULTURE/COMEDY
The Read
Filip from Plan A Magazine actually put me on to this podcast and it is hands down, my absolute favorite pop culture show right now. Kid Fury (of the gossip blog, The Fury) and Crissle throw shade and talk about hip hop, the most viral stories on the internet and in the news and pop culture. If you like snark (and you know I do), then this is the show for you. I laugh my ass off every week when they upload a new episode. For real, I look forward to a new episode and am terrified of bingeing because then I'll have none left to listen to.
The Breakfast Club
Updated every morning and featuring hosts DJ Envy, Angela Yee And Charlamagne Tha God!. I honestly feel like this podcast doesn't need any explanation because most people either listen to them on the radio, in podcasts or watch all their episodes on YouTube. Whenever Chris Rock is in the studio with them ends up being a favorite of mine.
Bodega Boys
Desus Nice and the Kid Mero are the undisputed “Kings of Quoteables.” I followed both of them on Twitter and from there, ended up subscribing and becoming a fan of their podcast (they also have their own show on Viceland now too). Warning: you might need to listen to a few episodes of theirs to get used to their way of talking. They move thru topics super fast.
Mad About Movies
Each show the three hosts of this podcast break down all the latest movie rumors and offer a detailed but easy to follow and often hilarious analysis of their chosen movie of the week. They also do throwback episodes where they will discuss an old favorite (chosen by their followers) and how it holds up today. Throwback spoiler: Good Will Hunting is not nearly as amazing as you thought it was back in high school.
Star Wars Minute
For the most serious Star Wars fanatics only. This podcast is updated daily and each episode is dedicated to one individual minute of each Star Wars movie, in order, from beginning to end. Right now they are on Return of the Sith, minute 28.
Side note: Can the dudes of WhatCulture please get it together and do a podcast? I enjoy their movie reviews on YouTube but watching videos aren't always a feasible option for me.
LEARN SOMETHING
Hidden Brain
If you enjoy reading books like Freakonomics, Outliers, and other titles about social psychology, then you will enjoy this podcast. It's part of the NPR network so you can guarantee good sound production and presentation along with a left-leaning bias. I have always been curious about why people do and feel the way they do and was hooked on episodes like "Why do people get stuck in boring jobs?" and an episode where they took a deep dive into the world of personality tests like the Meyers-Briggs assessment.
DOCUMENTARY
Podcasts have breathed new life into the notion of the documentary genre. Many of my favorite podcasts employ the same storytelling techniques as traditional documentaries:
Inside The Exorcist
This is a 7-episode series about the inspiration and making of the movie The Exorcist. There is an emphasis on atmosphere as well as research and this entire show works as a biography.
Serial Killer
Updated every Monday (like most podcasts), this show highlights the lives, methods and psychological profiles of some of the most notorious serial killers. Tip: Skip the Jack the Ripper episode. I don't understand the fascination with him. All the other episodes are great.
HORROR
Let's Never Meet
The people that started this one were fans of NoSleep and created their own podcast show modeled after it.
NoSleep
The one that started it all for me is still among my favorite podcasts of all time. This is the podcast that actually made me look forward to sitting in traffic.
After my first blog post about podcasts and my Halloween horror story blog post, a bunch of people have told me I need to check out Lore. I already have and it's boring to me. I know it's well-written and produced and it's even a live tour now but I just can't catch on. I'm not interested in listening to that kind of story. Sorry not sorry.
NEWS AND POLITICS
NPR's Up First
NPR for people with short attention spans. Every morning at 8 AM EST, Up First is updated with a new episode giving you a brief roundup of the past 24 hours' news headlines. Also, every episode is only 10 minutes long.
This Filipino American Life
Four Fil-Am (Filipino American) friends from LA and the Bay Area talk about the nuances of straddling two different cultures. If you're Filipino, start with this episode about our accents.
Model Majority
A podcast about politics, culture, and life through an Asian-American lens, by cohosts Tony Nagatani and Kevin Xu, two former Obama organizers. At this point, you're probably asking me why there are almost no Asian American podcasts on my list. It's because there are almost no good Asian American podcasts.
Deray McKesson's Pod Save The People
Some of the best conversations about culture, social justice, and politics. His interview with Edward Snowden is fire. Start with that one.
SHAMELESS PLUG
My podcast with Plan A Magazine has launched! Listen to our launch episode and origin story, hosted by myself and Oxford Kondō. (Side note: Oxford is also our in-house sound engineer so that's why our production always sounds big budget like we're recording in a studio even though we're not.) In this episode, we explore the topic, what if Asian Americans stopped trying to be either white or black or whatever, and instead, Asian?
Recent Posts
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I usually do a write up of the events I’ve organized or hosted and my most-read articles at the end of the year. This was an unusual year (obviously, there is no need to go into it here) so I didn’t bother. Instead I want to highlight a project of mine that I am particularly proud of — it’s my new podcast show, Unverified Accounts, that I cohost with my frequent collaborators, Chris Jesu Lee and Filip Guo. If you're a big movie/TV/book buff, have leftist sympathies, but can't stand 'wokeness' dumbing down our culture, then we're the podcast for you. So far in our 25 episodes, we’ve covered a range of contentious topics.