Audio Triumphs: Favorite Podcasts

[evenwolf]

[So I've returned & within a day I've voiced out against UFOs and gov. conspiracies.   I apologize.  Wish to make amends.    Hope to lighten up the mood a bit. ]

I gotta tell you.   I've never been a fan of radio talk shows.    The last thing I want to hear in the morning is people squawking about recent events.  So I held out on podcasts for a really really really long time (with exception to Grundislav's great shows a few years back).    But weeks ago a friend directed me to a radio show that I am now absolutely addicted to.   So here's how we're going to do this.   If you have a show that you think people will enjoy write up a "pitch"  to attract listeners.    Separate your pitch from your overall podcast comments and provide a link. (preferably a "greatest hits" sound bite).  This isn't a contest but look, mine is really really funny so it makes me wonder what else is out there!  Grund feel free to go all out.

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Pitch:   "Hamish and Andy"

A radio show broadcast in Australia starring two young comedians Hamish Blake and Andy Lee.    They have weekly segments such as "Way Back Wednesdays" where they call up a stranger and convince the person that they are old buddies.    Also, they do a lot of publicity stunts like becoming conjoined twins, adopting kids for a week, invent a new flavor of potato chip, and ask viewers to share stories.  They do perform a few TV skits here and there and do interviews with famous Aussies like Hugh Jackman and Catherine Zeta Jones.   Truly the shining gem of the show is Hamish Blake, an improv comedy genius with a reputation for being a slob and playing XBox too much.

"Hamish and Andy" Sample

"Hamish and Andy" Website
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[Eggie]

Adam and Joe was so funny this week I made a fool of myself at a bus-stop.
Now that is achievement. I also listen to Russel Howard and John Richardson, they're also very funny but have an irritating tendancy to quote Family Guy in the middle of shows as a substitute for actual content, also (and this is very important) they rarely sing. Adam and Joe do. All the time.

Also, the They Might Be Giants kids podcast is consistantly entertaining; full of the kind of stuff sesame Street had back when it was still cool and, they've stopped now, but The Minstry of Unknown Science comedy sketch podcast had some real gems.

There's also this odd amateur sketch show by a couple of Austrailian kids I watched 'Electric Television'. It's mostly pretty basic stuff, but there's this ONE character; Chef Grulmasora. Honest to God; it's hysterical, pure genius almost out of place with the rest of it with it's sheer quality as well as being one of the most infectiously quotable things I've ever seen. Which is not reat because no-one will know what you're quoting.

Anyway, look them up.

[Stupot]

I'm not really a podcast follower... I did used to follow the UK Lost podcast with Iain Lee, but I'm not sure if they even do that anymore.

There are a number of Japan-related podcasts which I have found interesting in the past.  Dai Cast springs to mind... it is basically a bunch of westerners (mostly Canadian) who live in Japan just discussing topical issues and some of the weird and wonderful things they encounter over there.

Other than that my podcast listening is limited to catching radio show that I missed, such as Start the week on Radio 4.  It's a general discussion program with guests from the worlds of science, religion, literature and the arts.  I always find it quite interesting.

[[Cameron]]

I love Hamish and Andy. Hamish is the real funny one, Andy I dont find that great. Evenwolf, if you really wanna laugh, try find episodes of Spicks and Specks with Hamish as a guest.
The only podcast I am subscribed to is The Lazlow Show. Lazlow who writes the radio stations for Grand Theft Auto, his own show is juust as funny. Sidekicks Reed and Big Wayne provide plenty of laughs.
I used to be signed up to John Safran's show last year, which was all about religion and worked alongside his TV show John Safran vs God. It was funny and thoughtful, good combo

[Makeout Patrol]

I believe that the podcast referred to as "The Ricky Gervais Show" or "The Ricky Gervais Podcast" interchangably is the most-downloaded podcast in the world, and it's for good reason - it is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. The title is misleading; while Ricky Gervais is in the show, the real star is Karl Pilkington, who may be the dumbest man on earth. Each episode generally revolves around Gervais and the other host, Stephen Merchant, asking Pilkington a few simple questions and drawing out some absurd and unbelievably hilarious musings, observations and speculations from a guy who believes that worms contemplate, analyze and think in the same sense as humans do. He'll say things like, "I thought of a great invention the other day. It's a watch, except instead of telling the time, it counts down until you die. When you saw it getting close you'd know you should go to the doctor."

Another one I listen to is "The Absolute Peach." It's two English guys riffing off of each other, basically. It's not a must-hear like the Gervais show, but it's pretty funny at times and good to listen to when you're drawing or whatever.

I'd also point people to my friend's podcast, "The Josh Tabish Show." He hasn't made a new one in a while, probably because he decided that he'd rather be a lawyer than a radio personality, but he and a few of my other friends made a fantastic, high-quality, well-performed product before he gave up on it. Some people will be turned off by some of the humor, and to be frank a lot of the political discussion is superficial and moronic, but it's still pretty funny stuff.

[evenwolf]

Oh wow.   Plenty of shows to catch up on already.  TMBG have a podcast?!!!!  Also, I'm a huge fan of Gervais (it was awesome to see him in GTA4).

Cameron:   I've seen 2 clips of Spic and Speck but my favorites are the sketches they do for Rove and Thank God You're Here.    Have you seen this one from the UK?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsKJNOA5NJo&feature=related

Hamish is so amazing at improv.   And oddly enough his humor and behaviors a tad Gervais-like.

[veryweirdguy]

I tend to be quite a podcast junkie - although most of the stuff I listen to is of personal interest to me rather than entertainment value to anyone else (some Lost stuff, some music stuff, some comic book stuff...)

THAT SAID I also highly recommend the Ricky Gervais podcast - although you have to pay for it I think? There are some free ones, but most of them are just short videos of Ricky acting like a prat. The really entertaining ones are the longer ones (usually half an hour or so) where he talks with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. Great stuff.

ALSO, I think they are discontinued now (as the feeds haven't updated in about a jillion years) but the Secret Pants and Dutch West podcasts brought me much amusement. Secret Pants was just sketch comedy, but Dutch West did some entertaining audio ones.

I will try out some of the ones in this thread, cheers all who recommended things!

[Hammerite]

Adam And Joe's Radio 6 podcast is very funny.

[EldKatt]

I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but there is one that I do listen to, and I like it so much that I'll return momentarily from the dead to mention it here.

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. In their own words:

"The Skeptics Guide to the Universe is a weekly Podcast talkshow produced by the New England Skeptical Society (NESS) in association with the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) : discussing the latest news and topics from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims from a scientific point of view."

It's basically a bunch of guys discussing the above issues in a rather informal manner. (Kind of like eavesdropping on a dinner conversation... in a good way. You get to know and like these people very quickly.) For the most part, they understand their purpose very well: there are no needless attacks or rants against stuff that they do not have a solid basis to criticise, and their conclusions hardly ever miss the mark from a scientific point of view; largely thanks to host Steven Novella, a clinical neurologist who really knows his stuff, not only in his own area but in the general philosophy of science. (I've heard him in this and other contexts debating people with, to put it mildly, quite peculiar ideas about how science works, and it's really remarkable how calm, thoughtful and objective he can remain, even when talking to the most aggressive advocates of pseudoscientific or antiscientific ideas. Not once have I heard him lose his temper, or say something I'd imagine he might regret saying.)

It's quite entertaining, and an easy way of getting a weekly update on controversial issues from a very objective and sane point of view; but it's also a great way to learn about the scientific method, and what makes real science different from nonsense--as well as to be reminded (as people on both sides of the fence, as it were, probably need from time to time) that there's more to scientific skepticism than being bitter and angsty and shouting at people. Go have a listen.

[MrColossal]

Dammit Eldkatt, I was just coming here to mention this podcast.

It's the only one I listen to [not counting This American Life since it's more than a podcast] and I love it.