Dungeons and Daddies (not a BDSM podcast), an actual pay D&D podcast about four dads and a Honda Odyssey accidentally thrown into the forgotten realms.
The players are the writers and director from the rocket jump YouTube channel, they also made a show called videogame highschool. The DM is Anthony Burch, creator of “Hey Ash, Whatcha Playing?” As well as the lead writer behind borderlands 2 (and basically the reason it’s a good game).
My two favorites are:
Darknet Diaries - a podcast about hackers, cybercrime and hacktivism.
Well There’s Your Problem -
a truecrime podcast about social murderA podcast about engineering disasters, with slides!Underunderstood - Favorite one but on hiatus because they all had kids; side project of some journalists trying to help people
Hyperfixed - New problem solving one from Alex Goldman of Reply All
The Turning - Each season explores an organization that people don’t commonly call a cult (but probably should)
Shell Game - Funny and frightening exploration with LLMs
I tend to go for story-telling podcasts, and within those I gravitate towards Twilight Zone-style weird anthologies. I don’t know how under-appreciated they are, but I rarely see the genre represented in discussions much.
Right now I’m finding a lot of great stuff in:
- The Other Stories (all kinds of stuff, they have a different theme every month or so)
- The Wrong Station (similar, but less likely to stick to a theme for a while)
- Gray Matter (lots of modern adaptations of older horror/sci-fi, like Lovecraft)
- The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings (higher ratio of dumb stuff, but still some gems)
- The Program (Black Mirror-esque)
- The Truth (various radio plays. Many aren’t sci-fi, but still weird in some way. Kind of reminds me of the bits of Inside No. 9 I’ve seen.)–
If anyone else is into stories like these, I do also have to mention “Welcome to Nightvale” and “Alice isn’t dead”.
I loved early WTNV, the monster of the week format just suited me. Today is street sweeping day, RUN! As they moved to longer and longer arcs I fell a bit out of love, persisted a while, then dropped. I still go to their live shows when they roll through though.
In the genre, it surrealism is your jam, Welcome to Nightvale.
I used to listen to Nightvale quite a bit actually. Stopped some time shortly after the mayoral election storyline because IRL stuff meant I just wasn’t listening to as many podcasts at the time. I did like it, but it’s also one that I recall as best listened to in order, so it’s always been on the back burner to pick back up. Maybe I’ll give it another go during some long game sessions this winter.
How would one go about finding other story-telling podcasts?
Podcasting as a concept sort of slipped me by and I wouldn’t even know where to start.
The app I use, Podcast Addict, has given me some pretty decent recommendations from the ones I’ve subscribed to. I’ve also had some decent luck search for the keyword “anthology”.
I can give you a few more recommendations that are less tipped toward weird, as jumping off points:
- LeVar Burton Reads (Exactly what is says on the tin. Reading Rainbow for adults. Be prepared to hear Geordi say “fuck” once in a while.)
- Myths and Legends (Snarky narrator retelling classic mythology in an accessible modern tone)
- Fictional (Same guy as above, but for classic lit like Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and Frankenstein)
- Short History Of… (Various bits of interesting history told in narrative form)
Ologies with Alie Ward, for fun dives into specific topics!
Knowledge Fight. Two great dudes who break down the insanity of Info Wars
I’ve always liked 99% invisible
This Podcast Will Kill You if you want something brainy. They cover various deadly phenomena along with their biological and medical histories.
BigSoftTitty.png if you want something a bit more loose. Two married comedians find odd things on the internet and make fun of each other, basically. Very knowingly stupid and very intentionally silly. They’ve had Paul F Tompkins on a few times, just to give an idea of their comedic sympathies. One host actually has a “gameshow” on YouTube (So You Wanna Win A Penis Pump?) in which Paul was a contestant…by way of a tablet strapped to her husbands face because they live in Australia where Paul is not. Just good, stupid fun.
Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford
Articles of Interest. It’s nominally a fashion podcast, but they tie it into lots of other topics: history, culture, identity, religion…
I have no way of evaluating what is popular or under appreciated but I just started listening to Too Many Tabs (Pearlmania 500) and I’m very much enjoying it.
I don’t know if they are under appreciated, but:
My brother my brother and me
The Adventure Zone
Sawbones
NADDPOD is my jam right now, it’s four comedians playing D&D
Two ordinary cops. It’s two ex coppers talking about their time as coppers in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Kill James Bond
