I listen to a lot of podcasts during the day while I’m working and particularly when I go out on runs. Here are some of my current favorites in no particular order.
TeeVee (Speedy Arrowcast)
This a little bit of an oddity in that it’s a subset of the greater TeeVee podcast feed that encompasses several other podcasts about television shows (many of which I also listen to like the discontinued one about The Flash and the new one about the Defenders). In this case I’m singling out the TeeVee episodes hosted by Dan Moren, Guy English, and John Moltz that cover the CW’s first DC Universe show, Arrow. Those three Biffs1 provide consistently funny and interesting analysis of my current favorite broadcast tv superhero show.
Clash of the Type-Ins
The premise is straightforward: Ryan Veeder and Jenni Polodna play through text adventures while the game author guest hosts and narrates the game. If you’re a fan of the interactive fiction games like I am it’s pretty awesome to listen in as they play, discuss, and deconstruct the games. Ryan has written a ton of games himself and often swaps roles with his guests to narrate one of his own text adventures in follow up episodes.
Eaten by a Grue
This is actually the podcast that lead me to Clash of the Type-Ins. Kevin Savetz and Carrington Vanston discuss and review classic Infocom games, text adventures, and interactive fiction. If I had more free time I would play more games like this, but since I don’t, listening to podcasts about them makes for a pretty good substitute.
GM Word of the Week
I’ve been on a bit of a Dungeons & Dragons media kick over the last six months or so and this podcast was a happy discovery along the way. Written by The Angry GM and produced by Fiddleback this podcast is a highly entertaining weekly rabbit hole into the history, mythology, gaming, and pop culture ties of words like doppelgänger, eldritch, mana, drow, ranger, dragon, and so much more.
The Adventure Zone
The McElroy brothers are most famous for another podcast that they do2, but the idea of these funny guys teaming up with their dad to play Dungeons & Dragons together was too good for me to pass up. The result is an entertaining show with an offbeat fantasy storyline, and fun community interaction.
Lore
"Lore exposes the darker side of history, exploring the creatures, people, and places of our wildest nightmares."
Aaron Mahnke’s hit podcast is probably the most mainstream thing I listen to, but I got on board fairly early before things really blew up. The subject matter isn’t always my favorite, but I admire his storytelling skill and approach to the material. I’ve been thrilled to watch this podcast take him from struggling indie graphic designer who writes and podcasts on the side into a full time writer and podcaster with an Amazon Prime show coming in October. I can’t wait to see how Lore translates to the television screen.
Analog(ue)
A Casey Liss - Myke Hurley collaboration about the human side of living in an increasingly technological world. This one shows up on my phone every other Sunday and it’s always exactly what I want to hear during the most relaxing day of the week.
Readers of the podcast will understand what a high compliment this is!
My Brother, My Brother, and Me (MBMBaM) which at the the time of this writing I have never actually listened to. I have an aversion to what I consider hyper successful or borderline mainstream podcasts like This American Life, Serial, etc. There are exceptions if I feel like I can get in on the podcast somewhat early, (or I just like the premise/material- looking at you S-Town) but otherwise I chafe at the idea of giving my limited listening time to the podcasting 1%.