Useful summaries of popular podcasts for you, an informed podcast listener
The Daily, with Michael Barbaro: Some guy screams today’s New York Times print edition all the way through.
Slow Burn: A podcast breaking down the intricacies of one yoga pose each episode. It is mostly silence and breathing noises but it is also hosted by Bill Clinton (?).
Ear Hustle: CrossFit for your face.
Reply All: Punk’d, the Podcast. Couple of nerds send replies to office-wide emails and follow the resulting anarchy. (I should really listen to this one).
Serial: I know it’s not, unfortunately, about breakfast food, but other than that I only know that the theme song is about two-thirds of each show and the other third is something sad.
Radiolab: Every episode, a plucky partnership try to build a perfect cyborg dog that will teach them the secrets of science.
The Joe Rogan Experience: I have no clue what this is about or know anyone who listens to it, but it is also the most popular podcast in America.
Pod Save America: Could be: three BarackBoys interview applicants to join them in their planetary escape capsules to America II. Actually is: just an online store with branded t-shirts, totes, and beanies.
The Moth: Average Americans tell their tender, loving, and humorous stories about human encounters with bugs.
S-Town: This is probably an industry podcast for speech pathologists, which is not even that niche, all things considered.
All Things Considered: They are only a tiny fraction of the way through the things, I bet.
2 Dope Queens: Phoebe and Jessica debate the pros and cons between a pair of women rulers in history. It’s about feminism, romance, race, and also about which queen would hypothetically win in a UFC cage match.
Still Processing: An avant-garde pod. The Young Hip People at the New York Times invite human statues on air for one hour of reverse talk-therapy, or something.
How Did This Get Made: A thirty-part series on True Detective Season 2 and 19th century Nihilism.
MailChimp: Not entirely clear what it’s about, but this is an extremely popular podcast.
99% Invisible: A podcast about crippling anxiety among instagram celebrities.
This American Life: A podcast about people discussing podcasts, recommending podcasts, vaguely agreeing to listen to that recommended podcast, not listening to podcasts, slowly getting buried under the weight of unlistened-to podcasts, and finally accepting ignorance and turning it in to content.
