What's the best *podcast episode* you've listened to lately?

[Trudie]

Joe Gardener- excellent science-based, organic gardening advice

[sui generis]

This episode of the Confessional with Abby Wambach was great: https://nadiabolzweber.com/203-abby-wambach/

I've never listened to that podcast before, but by the sounds of this episode, I'm interested!  I also generally don't follow soccer and yet this was fascinating (well to be fair, it's not *much* about soccer, it's about Abby's recovery from an injury and a dark spiral she went down).

[sui generis]

Such an interesting podcast on language and how it influences how we see the world, vs just describing how we see the world, independent of lanaguage: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/19/630482636/radio-replay-watch-your-mouth

[maisymouser]

I had about 6 hours of driving time for work earlier this week and binge-listened the Dirty John podcast (which will also be a TV show soon). The podcast was deep dive into a woman's relationship with a sociopathic con man. It is definitely worth a listen, though honestly difficult at times.

OMG YESSSSS that podcast was really fun to binge. I listened to it in a single day at work while having to do some pretty mindless stuff for 8 hours.

[PDXTabs]

Freakonomics: Does Anyone Really Know What Socialism Is?

[Wrenchturner]

Michael Mina: Rapid Testing, Viruses, and the Engineering Mindset | Lex Fridman Podcast #146

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-RuvUkcyJI

Lex's podcast is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

[iris lily]

Have you guys heard Hunting .warhead? I listen to a lot of audio and this one is head and shoulders above others, it is absolutely gripping. It was horrifying. I’ve listened to it twice all the way through.

It is about a child pornography ring, the guy who heads up the websites that provide the porn, and catching him in the act with small children. The main bad guy is Canadian.

I heard it on Spotify.

[sui generis]

A fun story about the intersection of Star Trek and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/ridiculous-history-how-mlk-influenced-the-direction-star-trek.htm

[J Boogie]

For me a big standout is Peter Thiel "The Straussian Moment" Interview by Peter Robinson.

Really focuses on the big questions.

[Moonwaves]

I think I've mentioned The Blindboy Podcast on the general podcast thread before but I'm finally catching up and just listened to this episode from February 2019. Interesting hot take on how the film Big was more accurate at describing the future of 2019 than films like Blade Runner (even though Big wasn't trying to describe the future). I found quite a lot of food for thought.

https://play.acast.com/s/blindboy/rectumpenpals

The name of the episode has nothing to do with the content, by the way, he just likes to pick random weird stuff for most episodes.

[totoro]

I walk and listen to the Stanford lectures on Human Behavioural Biology by Robert Sapolsky or episodes of This American Life.  The Sapolsky lectures are good to listen to in order and there are lots of interesting and sometimes bizarre insights from research into human mis/behaviour.   I loved This American Life episode 165 - An American in Paris: Him Talk Pretty about David Sedaris and episode 721- the Walls Close In about the orchestra pit of the phantom of the opera. 

[Luke Warm]

anyone listen to the 'desert oracle' podcast? it takes a minute to get used to the guy's voice but he has a very dry delivery.

[maisymouser]

Been enjoying How to Save a Planet- any episode is pretty good. Educational and provides some concrete directions for steps that us little people can take to make big policy changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (not just things like "use reusable bags! cut down on your driving!").

[iris lily]

I walk and listen to the Stanford lectures on Human Behavioural Biology by Robert Sapolsky or episodes of This American Life.  The Sapolsky lectures are good to listen to in order and there are lots of interesting and sometimes bizarre insights from research into human mis/behaviour.   I loved This American Life episode 165 - An American in Paris: Him Talk Pretty about David Sedaris and episode 721- the Walls Close In about the orchestra pit of the phantom of the opera.

There’s really not much better out there than This American Life.

After listening to Ira Glass  for years I’m a little tired of him, but TAL  set the standard for podcasts. I’m surprised really about how many just plain bad podcast series there are out there.

At the moment I am addicted to Joe Rogan but I can see that coming to an end because I’m a little tired of his geewhiz I didn’t know that commentary about certain things that most of us know about.

 

[BlueHouse]

This American Life:  The Room of Requirement.  When I first heard this episode, my mouth dropped open a few times.  Then I had to go out and buy the Richard Brautigan book.


https://www.thisamericanlife.org/664/the-room-of-requirement

 The Room of Requirement

Episode 664, December 28, 2018

One of This American Life’s newer episodes, this show focuses on the American library and the wide range of roles it can hold in the lives of Americans.

First, producer Zoe Chace introduces a unique library on the border of Canada that has become a critical space for a select group of visitors. Next, a series of surprising coincidences emerge during the story of a library that was inspired by Richard Brautigan’s novel “The Abortion.” Finally, Stephanie Foo reports on the real impact libraries can have on communities and the people within them by sharing the story Lydia, who spent hours upon hours in a library as a teenager without realizing why.  With a mix of humor and emotion, the stories capture the true spirit of a part of life that we may typically take for granted.

[onecoolcat]

I enjoyed Parcast's Serial Killers cross-over with their Cults podcast.  It was on Adolfo Constanzo who was dubbed the Narcosatanist.  Never knew about him and it was wild.

[OtherJen]

I’ve enjoyed listening to “60 Songs That Explain the 90s” lately. Based on his musings, the host seems to be in my age group, and it’s a fun combo of middle school/high school (class of 1996) nostalgia and detailed context. I was an insane pop and rock music nerd in my teen years, so it’s like listening to a kindred spirit.

[Chaplin]

Rich Roll's podcast with Kevin Smith and about he almost died of a widowmaker heart attack and his subsequent health journey.

Notable mentions: all episodes of the The Osterholm Update (COVID-19 info) and The Mad Fientist's recent interview of Jacob Lund Fisker (ERE).

[sui generis]

This American Life:  The Room of Requirement.  When I first heard this episode, my mouth dropped open a few times.  Then I had to go out and buy the Richard Brautigan book.


https://www.thisamericanlife.org/664/the-room-of-requirement

 The Room of Requirement

Episode 664, December 28, 2018

One of This American Life’s newer episodes, this show focuses on the American library and the wide range of roles it can hold in the lives of Americans.

First, producer Zoe Chace introduces a unique library on the border of Canada that has become a critical space for a select group of visitors. Next, a series of surprising coincidences emerge during the story of a library that was inspired by Richard Brautigan’s novel “The Abortion.” Finally, Stephanie Foo reports on the real impact libraries can have on communities and the people within them by sharing the story Lydia, who spent hours upon hours in a library as a teenager without realizing why.  With a mix of humor and emotion, the stories capture the true spirit of a part of life that we may typically take for granted.

I loved this episode, too, and it handed me a favorite quote for the institution I revere: [the library is] one of the last places you can go that you don't have to buy or believe in anything to come in.

[JGS1980]

This American Life:  The Room of Requirement.  When I first heard this episode, my mouth dropped open a few times.  Then I had to go out and buy the Richard Brautigan book.


https://www.thisamericanlife.org/664/the-room-of-requirement

 The Room of Requirement

Episode 664, December 28, 2018

One of This American Life’s newer episodes, this show focuses on the American library and the wide range of roles it can hold in the lives of Americans.

First, producer Zoe Chace introduces a unique library on the border of Canada that has become a critical space for a select group of visitors. Next, a series of surprising coincidences emerge during the story of a library that was inspired by Richard Brautigan’s novel “The Abortion.” Finally, Stephanie Foo reports on the real impact libraries can have on communities and the people within them by sharing the story Lydia, who spent hours upon hours in a library as a teenager without realizing why.  With a mix of humor and emotion, the stories capture the true spirit of a part of life that we may typically take for granted.

PTF

[sui generis]

This Vox Conversations episode on "The Gift of Getting Old" is pretty good and made me very interested in checking out the interviewee (Max Linsky)'s podcast, 70 over 70.  Maybe it's partly a product of retiring early, or just getting into my 40s, but questions of how to think about the loss of physical and intellectual competence is on my mind much more than I thought it would be at this age.

https://getpodcast.com/podcast/ezraklein/the-gift-of-getting-old_9270f2216b

[PDXTabs]

It's hard to pick just one, but the recent Freakonomics stuff is phenominal:

• The True Story of the Minimum-Wage Fight (Ep. 460)
• How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse (Ep. 461)
• The Future of New York City Is in Question. Could Andrew Yang Be the Answer? (Ep. 462)

[iris lily]

This American Life:  The Room of Requirement.  When I first heard this episode, my mouth dropped open a few times.  Then I had to go out and buy the Richard Brautigan book.


https://www.thisamericanlife.org/664/the-room-of-requirement

 The Room of Requirement

Episode 664, December 28, 2018

One of This American Life’s newer episodes, this show focuses on the American library and the wide range of roles it can hold in the lives of Americans.

First, producer Zoe Chace introduces a unique library on the border of Canada that has become a critical space for a select group of visitors. Next, a series of surprising coincidences emerge during the story of a library that was inspired by Richard Brautigan’s novel “The Abortion.” Finally, Stephanie Foo reports on the real impact libraries can have on communities and the people within them by sharing the story Lydia, who spent hours upon hours in a library as a teenager without realizing why.  With a mix of humor and emotion, the stories capture the true spirit of a part of life that we may typically take for granted.

I have not heard this episode of TAL. And gosh it’s been decades since I thought about Richard Brautigan. When I was working in the library he was writing  his books. He is hilarious.

I’m not terribly fond of the true crime genre of podcasts and there seems  to be so many of them. But one that caught my interest was The Lost Boys of Hannibal Missouri a story about three preteen boys who simply disappear in the 1960s. Did they get lost in a cave? Did they get crushed by construction equipment? Were they kidnapped by John Wayne Gacy?

Unfortunately This series goes on and on and on for hours and hours and hours. I’m not going to listen to that level of detail, I want a story  that’s edited down to 6-8 episodes.

The podcast Dirty John that everyone’s listening to —that thing was ridiculously overblown. That was a podcaster who needed a professional editor.

I would like to see Ira Glass take these young people and teach them how to present quality material. Brevity has  value in their art.

[joemandadman189]

The podcasts by Andrew Huberman are really interesting and informative, he is a professor of neurology and ophthalmology at Stanford. The episodes are in the podcasts apps and on Youtube

[draco44]

I found Planet Money's recent segment on the economics of sourcing blood plasma to be very interesting.

The US is one of just a handful of countries in the world (5) that allows payments for blood plasma donations, which some object to, but because unpaid donations aren't high enough to meet the need in other countries, the US exports so much blood plasma that it is the source of 2/3 of the planet's supply.

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/14/996921658/blood-money

[iris lily]

I found Planet Money's recent segment on the economics of sourcing blood plasma to be very interesting.

The US is one of just a handful of countries in the world (5) that allows payments for blood plasma donations, which some object to, but because unpaid donations aren't high enough to meet the need in other countries, the US exports so much blood plasma that it is the source of 2/3 of the planet's supply.

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/14/996921658/blood-money

I sold plasma when I was in grad school and see nothing wrong with it. But of course I don’t know the downside details of it. It provided cigarette and beer money for me.

[Kris]

I found Planet Money's recent segment on the economics of sourcing blood plasma to be very interesting.

The US is one of just a handful of countries in the world (5) that allows payments for blood plasma donations, which some object to, but because unpaid donations aren't high enough to meet the need in other countries, the US exports so much blood plasma that it is the source of 2/3 of the planet's supply.

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/14/996921658/blood-money

I sold plasma when I was in grad school and see nothing wrong with it. But of course I don’t know the downside details of it. It provided cigarette and beer money for me.

It strikes me as creepy in a way to sell parts of your body at a profit. On the other hand, donating plasma is a long and sort of unpleasant process, so it's not surprising to me that there wouldn't be sufficient numbers of people who would volunteer to do it without being paid.

[Samuel]

The podcasts by Andrew Huberman are really interesting and informative, he is a professor of neurology and ophthalmology at Stanford. The episodes are in the podcasts apps and on Youtube

+1

They're actually almost too information dense. I find I can only listen in 20-30 minute chunks or I just don't absorb enough of the details.

(Huberman Lab is the name of the podcast)

[HPstache]

Radical Personal Finance: "Why I got Bitcoin Wrong: An Appology"

Lots of good things to think on for the day...

[BeanCounter]

PTF

[joemandadman189]

Lex Fridman just had David Sinclar on his podcast, Lex is a Computer scientist from MIT (formerly?) and David is a professor at Harvard working on longevity

[Kris]

The You're Wrong About podcast on the Electoral College is great.

[sui generis]

Two recs:

I like Criminal a lot and this last one was pretty cool about an old mystery/puzzle in a children's book from the 70s. https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-169-masquerade-7-16-21/

And this is a short series rather than a single episode so I'm sort of breaking the rules, but Revisionist History recently did a take on the Little Mermaid (and sort of fairy tales in general) and I really thought it was fun and thought-provoking.  The first two at least.  The last one, where they redid the storyline to be better was cheesy, even though it had a lot of famous people doing the voices. 

The two takeaways I found the most interesting from the latter were 1) that Disney fairy tales, where they were changed from Grimm and Andersen fairy tales to make happy endings and make sure the good and evil people each got their just rewards, are even worse than we probably knew.  It turns out, children don't take away from this that they ought to be good and maybe good things will come to them, but that they have *already* had bad things happen in their little lives and because bad things only happen to bad people that means that they might also be bad people.  Mind blown, but also totally true to what I remember from watching these.

And 2) our punitive cancel culture is reflected (or was encouraged by???) these terrible fairy tales, including Grimm, Andersen AND Disney.  When someone gets punished, there is no redemption.  There is no rehabilitation possible.  There is only total destruction.  From Ursula in the Little Mermaid to the Wolf in the Three Pigs (I did not remember that not only did they trap and incapacitate him, but they then boil and eat him) and even the parable of the grasshopper and ants where the grasshopper (hardly evil) dies and never has a chance to learn from his ways and get better.  Would our society be open to being more rehabilitative and less punitive if the fairy tales we heard from childhood were also that way?

[ditheca]

Planet Money did a nice explanation index fund investing, including its origins and advantages.

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1022440582/planet-money-summer-school-2-index-funds-the-bet

[sui generis]

I just stumbled on a new podcast called Long Shadow about 9/11 and listened to the first episode.  With the 20th anniversary coming up, I'm sure we're in for a lot of retrospectives, but I was definitely blown away by this first episode.

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5hY2FzdC5jb20vcHVibGljL3Nob3dzL2xvbmctc2hhZG93?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwjowpie0LvyAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en

[sui generis]

Pertinent to this forum, this was a funny (both in a good and bad way) episode of a new podcast I'm giving a try: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hidden-painting-ep-2/id1578887849?i=1000533049662

In the episode, a now-deceased couple is suspected of having stolen a famous painting and much is made of the fact that the husband retired at age 48 and they did a lot of traveling and WHERE DID THEY GET ALL THEIR MONEY?!?!!?  The wife went back to work as a teacher because "I mean, they had to put food on the table!" but how did they afford to travel that much on just a teacher's salary!?!??!

Lesson of the story is, all of us here need to be careful because the FBI is now investigating.

[sui generis]

This episode of the Moth is really good. Mostly the very first story, about being a Dog Step-Mom.  She's one of the better storytellers I've heard on the Moth: https://themoth.org/radio-hour/dog-mother-tour-guide-and-milli-vanilli

(I've been listening a LOT lately, obviously)

[Mrs. Sloth]

PTF

[Captain Cactus]

I work at home now so not driving around for my work as I used to do...as such I have trimmed back my podcasts to 2:  Money for the Rest of Us and Unsolved Mysteries.

[davisgang90]

I've really enjoyed Spencer Klavan's Young Heretics podcast. Each episode he discusses a great work of Western Civilization. Very enjoyable! I think my favorite so far was his discussion of T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets.

[Moonwaves]

I'm up to April 2020 on the backlog of The Blindboy Podcast and am loving the my current episode. And I'm most likely going to have to listen to it at least once more because it's about quantum physics and my poor little head can't keep up. It's an interview with Dr. Michael Brooks of Science(ish).


Acast link: Quantum Quarantino

Apple link: Quantum Quarantino

[Chaplin]

The War on Cars!

Here's a good on: https://thewaroncars.org/2021/09/21/the-e-bike-radicalization-of-jessica-valenti/

It might make a good episode for them to interview MMM.

[sui generis]

I loved this episode of the Ezra Klein Show: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-sarah-jaffe.html
 "The Case Against Loving Your Job"

The kinds of things they discuss are exactly what brought me to desire early retirement in the first place.  A lot of disgust at the idea that work was supposed to be so central and fulfilling in our life.  That we were supposed to be passionate about it and the attempt to frame every job as something that changes the world for the better.  And, to be honest, the fact that I just never found a job I could be passionate about.  But what if you do?  That's an interesting discussion, too, because it's still not great to spend inordinate amounts of time on just your job. 

And finally, one thing that I'd never thought of before or seen discussed is that retirement and people being unemployed or just if we worked less....is not as fulfilling as it may have been in decades past due to the underinvestment and dismantling of non-work institutions in our communities.  I wonder if some people we have seen in the FIRE community that have been dissatisfied with RE would have been, had they done it 50 years ago when there were a lot more community insitutitions to engage people in things that felt meaningful.

[sui generis]

Radiolab had a good one this week that was . . . not exactly lighthearted, but I think struck a good chord for these tough times.  It's called Worst. Year. Ever. and was inspired by how horrible, terrible, no good 2020 and 2021 have been. . . as we enter 2022 with some doubts about whether we can even be hopeful about it?  In it, one host makes the case for what he thinks was the worst year (and really the decade that followed it) in human-recorded history.  I won't spoil it, but it's a good one.

They also briefly discuss why things might be perceived as worse in modern times, even if they are objectively not, and I think I really agree with their thoughts on it.

It's a short and fun one!  https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/worst-year-ever

[Chaplin]

Strong Towns episode "Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why"

Can be found here: https://www.strongtowns.org/podcast

A very interesting explanation of why the traffic fatality rate increased during the initial pandemic drop in overall driving, but stayed up once volume returned.

[Glenstache]

Strong Towns episode "Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why"

Can be found here: https://www.strongtowns.org/podcast

A very interesting explanation of why the traffic fatality rate increased during the initial pandemic drop in overall driving, but stayed up once volume returned.

We were discussing this just the other day and am queing it up now. Thanks for pointing to the ST podcast. I see lots of things that I want to listen to in their library.

[iris lily]

I’ve been listening to Criminal  podcast lately, based on recommendations here and elsewhere.

I like Criminal because the segments are short, usually around 30 minutes. The story is told in one session for the most part. They are not big “ C” criminal acts usually, but illegal acts in some way. In other words these are not your typical murder stories Although there are if you have a side stories in these broadcasts.

For those who have interest in financial skulduggery, episodes 51 and 52 tell an astonishing tale.

[Chaplin]

Strong Towns episode "Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why"

Can be found here: https://www.strongtowns.org/podcast

A very interesting explanation of why the traffic fatality rate increased during the initial pandemic drop in overall driving, but stayed up once volume returned.

We were discussing this just the other day and am queing it up now. Thanks for pointing to the ST podcast. I see lots of things that I want to listen to in their library.

If you like it, you might also like "The War on Cars" podcast and the "Not Just Bikes" YouTube channel.

[Glenstache]

Strong Towns episode "Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why"

Can be found here: https://www.strongtowns.org/podcast

A very interesting explanation of why the traffic fatality rate increased during the initial pandemic drop in overall driving, but stayed up once volume returned.

We were discussing this just the other day and am queing it up now. Thanks for pointing to the ST podcast. I see lots of things that I want to listen to in their library.

If you like it, you might also like "The War on Cars" podcast and the "Not Just Bikes" YouTube channel.

I'll  check those  out

[sui generis]

I know I posted several episodes of the Ezra Klein show here, but this one really honestly blew my mind in like 17 small ways at different points in the discussion.  It's an interview with C Thi Nguyen a philosopher of games.  And with a title like that....well actually I assumed the episode would not be interesting to me at all, but it was simply fascinating.  Hope some folks here will enjoy it similarly.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/25/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-c-thi-nguyen.html