#tryPod

{7700 words, 30 minutes}

Ambition can be like a weed whose roots go surprisingly deep. #tryPod is/was an NPR marketing push to get podcast listeners to recommend a podcast to someone else through social media. It was active all through the month of March and, being a lover of podcasts, I wanted to participate. But why stop at one podcast to one person? Why not all of the podcasts I listen to?

And then I realized I subscribe to a lot of podcasts, even though I don't even listen to them all. I've wanted to write a brief review of certain podcasts and their hosts and have been playing with certain turns of phrases in my head. So I embarked on this quest to write something for every podcast I listen to, without realizing that I listen to 39 podcasts. Combined with travel during the last third of March, the entire month of #tryPod passed me by while I was still writing.

And 3/4 of the way through writing this, I realized I should have posted in parts instead of waiting until they were all finished. Plus, I either lost a few entries or dreamed that I wrote some. Oh well. My contributions to #tryPod follow this mostly self-explanatory format:

Podcast name (parent organization)

"Tagline or something similar."

One-sentence summary.
Host characterization:
Frequency:
How I found it:
My listening style:

Occasional - I skip episodes that aren't interesting or for lack of time
Regular - it might wait until the weekend but I listen to all the episodes
Religious - the latest episode as soon as I have a chance
Binge - hoarding episodes to consume all at once

Favorite episode(s):

A few memorable episodes I really liked. That's all. Not a definitive list nor necessarily recommendations for a new listener.

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True Crime

Criminal (Radiotopia)

"Stories of people who've done wrong, been wronged, and/or caught somewhere in the middle."

Gripping stories about the human aspects of crimes told in a calm yet dramatic manner.

Host characterization: Phoebe Judge is excellent. Utter calmness permeates her interviews and narration. Whereas people have a different reading voice and speaking voice, it feels like her reading voice is also her speaking or interviewing voice. She is the right fit for the host of a frequently serious and dark podcast. She also has a great accent and a satirical free advice website.

Frequency: every other week
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s):

• Finding Sarah and Philip
• In Plain Sight

Reveal (PRX/Center for Investigative Reporting)

"Investigative journalism and groundbreaking storytelling in order to spark action, improve lives and protect our democracy."

Hard-hitting podcast about deep investigative reporting.

Host characterization: Al Letson's voice is more of a tenor than a bass and is supported by some great musical background hooks. I really like his voice, which takes on a reporter's rhetoric for investigative journalism but has a really natural tone for his delivery even though he must be reading from a script. I don't listen to the podcast as often as I would like but I know if I start an episode, it's going to hook me good. But I did not enjoy the every other weekly extra segments with his interviews, although they are shorter. Every other week, Letson does an extra episode on interviewing controversial subjects, and I respect how he tactfully conducts the interviews, but the segments seem much too short for their topics. Those are a bit disappointing.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Occasional
Favorite episode(s): I'm really behind on listening and I might be too saturated on true crime podcasts to be a dedicated listener. But the main episodes are really good if you like true crime.

In the Dark (APM Reports)

"It took nearly 27 years to solve a notorious child abduction. Why?"

A podcast about one of the most notorious child abduction cases in America, told week by week, and serendipitously, the 27-year-old case is solved just before episode 1 drops; this is what Serial Season 2 should have been.

Host characterization: Madeleine Baran takes on the immense task of hosting a podcast about the murder mystery of Jacob Wetterling. I found it after listening to Serial Season 2 and so I can't help compare both the shows and the hosts (even their websites are filled with additional content in the same style). Interviews and tapes do take a significant portion of the show but Madeleine is the steady constant with her relentlessly dispassionate reporting tone and cadence. Her delivery might not be outstanding or ear-catching on its own, but she doesn't need to be. Her voice in combination with the music and the subject matter synergize into something incredibly riveting.

Frequency: every week, seasonal
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Binge - I listened to the first 3 episodes and then accidentally listened to the last episode, so I'm trying to bleach my brain with time. I'll binge it eventually.

Favorite episode(s): Too soon to tell and less applicable to serial podcasts, but Episode 1 did drop early because news broke about the case, which is an astounding coincidence.

Embedded (NPR)

"We take a story from the news and go deep."

• A journalist reports on her experience in being so deeply embedded into the environs of the story that she nearly becomes part of the story.

Host characterization: Kelly McEvers is a veteran NPR journalist and she brings her reporter skills to the deep dive into a headline story she probably reported herself. But as objective as she is, she doesn't lose the human element in her voice, allowing the listener to identify with the emotions of the moment. It's especially apparent in her intonation when she's giving short narrative asides to explain context and describe the details of the scene she's in. And the scenery can be as riveting as the story, thanks to her attention to descriptive details, as I most strongly recall in "The House" and "The Capital" episodes.

Approximate frequency: every week, seasonal
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Binge - dangerous for mental stability but it's that good.
Favorite episode(s):

• The House
• The Capital
• We Found Joy
• The Hospital
• The Arctic

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Food

The Splendid Table (APM)

"For people who love to eat."

A food podcast that interviews prominent chefs, restaurateurs, and cookbook authors but keeps everything accessible to casual listeners followed by a call-in portion where the host answers listener questions about food, cooking, and provides recipe ideas on the spot.

Host characterization: Longtime host Lynne Rossetto Kasper (yet another "Carl Kasell" public radio name that is not spelled the way you hear it) has a warm voice of a doting grandmother and a cadence that belies her genuine excitement in describing cooking and recipes with listeners. Prepare to clean up your drool.

While I'm super sad that Lynne Rossetto Kasper is retiring from The Splendid Table podcast after 30-some years, but I'm actually quite excited to hear Francis Lam take over. I think he's a bit flat in delivery right now because it takes some time to find the right voice for the podcast and Lynn's irreplaceably conversational tone has had 30 years to age beautifully. But he's a rare Asian-American voice that I value and his spot-on pronunciations of noodles ("soba, udon, tong min, tong fun, pho") in his first solo episode were such earful joys. And he opens the pho segment with how to pronounce it? You've won my heart already, Francis.

Frequency: every week, reruns on off weeks
How I found it: local NPR programming
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s): I listen to TST in the background so they all kind of blend together as a slow accumulation of knowledge about cooking. But I recommend any episode with Lynne as the host and Episode #626 to hear Francis as the new host and his pronunciations of noodles.

The Sporkful (WNYC)

"It's not for foodies, it's for eaters."
"Eat more, eat better, eat more better."

It's a food podcast that prides itself on being accessible and having fun while talking about food and everyday questions about food.

Host characterization: Dan Pashman is clearly having a lot of fun and it's infectious. He's got a good sense of humor, is down-to-earth, loves to argue about food classifications, and also asks good questions of his various guests despite a relatively short show. His laugh took time to grow on me but it is so genuine.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: Foodie and eater friend's recommendation
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• Pi day ("Is a cheesecake a pie?")
• Is Cereal A Soup?
• May contain nuts, pt. 1: Alpha Gal Returns (collab with Radiolab)
• Pho: The Love of Slurping Noodles (interview with David Hu, a professor at my alma mater Georgia Tech)

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Comedy

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (WBEZ)

"The NPR News Quiz!"

A news quiz show with listeners calling in to answer questions about public figures in the national and international headlines, who then get roasted by panelists, and unbelievable headlines of everyday people doing strange and absurd things, and are also roasted by panelists.

Host characterization: Peter Sagal and company are simply the best at that characteristically self-deprecating, self-aware public radio humor. The rotating panelists and celebrity guests add to the fun, which can really pile on once they start to play off of each other's jokes. He also has a ton of experience in playful banter with the celebrity guests and listeners alike, which can occasionally get him into some comically unplanned conversations.

Frequency: every week, "Best Of" episodes on off weeks
How I found it: local NPR programming
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s): Usually the most recent episode, although anything post-election has been pretty good.

Best of Car Talk (NPR)

"If you have a question about your car, or anything else,
call us at one-eight eighty-eight, double two,
seven, eighty-two, double five."

Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers, take listener calls about car troubles and humorously attempt to avoid answering them (because they don’t actually know) while interrupting each other to wax morally, ethically, and philosophically about the human condition.

Host characterization: Tom and Ray Magliozzi were the beloved hosts of Car Talk and have humble beginnings, despite their MIT educations, as a fix-it-yourself repair shop to being invited to fill in a local radio show to being a breakout success that broke the stiff mold of public radio's dry delivery and pioneered an era of comedy and human warmth over the air waves. There is much more to be said in praise and eulogy by others since Tom passed away a few years ago and the show actually stopped production in 2012. But its popularity was so strong that they re-branded as the "Best of Car Talk" and pull or re-cut reruns of the show every week. Ray still does updated advertisements for the show, for example for NPR One.

Frequency: every week (all episodes are re-runs)
How I found it: local NPR programming
My listening style: Regular - joyful on its own, but casual enough to leave on in the background
Favorite episode(s):

• #1429: Click and Clack vs. Electric brakes and the follow-up (#1430: The Andy Letter, where we learn if "two people who don’t know what they’re talking about know more or less than one person who doesn’t know what he’s talking about?")
• #0829: Max and the Schnauzer - the dealer who attempts to replace a dog he left inside of a client's car during an overnight repair job
• #1352: Bouncing Across Antarctica
• #9307: Lost in Space
• And many, many others … (thousands of episodes in their archive!)

2 Dope Queens (WNYC)

"Yas, queen, Yas!"

Two comedians, who are black, female, and best friends, talk about sex, romance, race, and life in New York with no holds barred.

Host characterization: Let this show be proof that I don't love everything NPR or WNYC. Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams, whom I know from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, host 2DQ and hold nothing back in their dialogue, talking about everything from race, asshole men they meet, awkward celebrity crushes, intimate details of sexual experiences, relationship troubles, and the female condition. It can be a lot to digest for the uninitiated, particularly since Phoebe has a very millennial vocabulary. My issue with them is that I find them funny, entertaining, and informative about a perspective I understand little, but the show can be nerve-grating at times and the rotating comics make the show inconsistently funny.

Frequency: every other week
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Regular - I'm still a regular listener, especially if I recognize the comics, but lately the show has been iffy
Favorite episode(s): Jon Stewart came on the show once - it was beautiful to hear him after he left The Daily Show

The Allusionist (Radiotopia)

"Small adventures in language."

It's an English-language etymology podcast hosted by an Englishwoman; what more do you need?

Host characterization: Helen Zaltzman has both the English accent and the English sense of humor to make this podcast shine. She alternates pleasingly between witty and sarcastic narration and interviews with etymology and field experts to make a potentially boring subject into a curious, bite-sized adventure into the history of words.

Frequency: every other week, with occasional breaks
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s): the most recent one is always the most fun but Winterval and Behave are good.

How To Do Everything (NPR)

"How to do everything; how can we help you?"

The most ridiculous use of experts to answer listeners' humorous how-to questions in a heavy-handed dead-pan comedic manner.

Host characterization: Ian Chillag and Mike Danforth are part of the Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me staff and carry with them some of the great humor from that show. Their style of humor is very dry, wry, and deadpan, which might not agree with all listeners, but I really enjoyed it. They pull in some incredibly qualified and talented guests whose answers interesting questions with equally incredible and humorously inappropriate glibness. It's hard to tell if their frequently awkwardly cadence is purposefully done to be humorous or if it's just how they talk.

Frequency: discontinued
How I found it: Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me
My listening style: Religious when it was in production, but still need to listen to over 200 back episodes
Favorite episode(s):

• Pee-Rex

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Storytelling

The Moth Radio Hour (PRX)

"True personal stories, told from the heart, without notes,
in front of a live audience."

It's like a lot of other storytelling podcasts but told from the heart, live in front of an audience, with comedy, tragedy, and emotional redemption all rolled together.

Host characterization: There isn't really a big role that the host plays; in fact, I can't even remember the name of the host because they also rotate. Each episode features different storytellers at locally organized Moth Radio sessions so it can be extremely varied. I've heard voices of Australians, Africans, Europeans, and Americans of all types. So the quality can vary a lot, but each episode usually has a common theme that ties to stories together.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: local NPR programming at first, but NPR One made me a regular listener
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• 360 Beats Per Minute
• Keep Going - Peter Sagal

Snap Judgment (WNYC)

"Storytelling with a beat."

Hard-hitting and dramatically told stories told through alternating excerpts of interviews and narration, typical of NPR's style of radio journalism, but done with a back-beat rhythm to set the mood.

Host characterization: Full disclosure, Glenn Washington is an alumni of my alma mater, the University of Michigan. It definitely breaks the public radio mold and has a unique rhythmic swing to it. It took time but his voice and style grew on me eventually. On the other hand, Snap Judgment uses the variety of contributor voices in the style of This American Life so Glenn Washington doesn't dominate the narrative through the episode.

Frequency: every week, reruns on off weeks
How I found it: NPR News app
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• Where No One Should Go - a story about divers who go into the 3rd largest freshwater cave in the world. The episode was also told at This American Life in the Good Guys episode.
• One In A Million - a collection of stories, but the lightning strike story is riveting.
• Dirty Work - the opening lawyer story is striking.
• And many, many others. Any recent episode is fantastic.

This American Life (WBEZ)

"Each week, we have a theme and we bring you stories on that theme."

Simply legendary; my gateway to podcasts and stories about the human condition.

Host characterization: Ira Glass; who doesn't know his name? Even Saturday Night Live parodied him with Fred Armisen. He's a cultural fixture in radio and the world of podcasts, despite only hosting the show and narrating in between "acts". Truly, his best work is hidden behind the scenes in the writing, editing, and recruiting of talented journalists and producers to create riveting stories and spawn one of the most popular podcasts ever, Serial.

Frequency: every week, with new episodes in spurts and reruns on off weeks
How I found it: Local NPR programming
My listening style: Binge/Queued - I love TAL but it is frequently too emotional intensive and draining for me. Oddly, I listen to it the most when driving, especially on long road trips but lacking a car in Norway, I haven't found a new suitable mode of listening and I'm very behind.
Favorite episode(s):

• 188: Kid Logic (the MLK, Jr. story gets me every time)
• 487, 488: Harper High School
• 352: The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar

Serial (TAL)

"One story, told week by week."

If podcasting was an HBO mini-series.

Host characterization:

• Season 1: Sarah Koenig is a familiar voice for This American Life listeners and her journey through this meticulous study of Adnan Sayed and Hei's murder gripped listeners like no other podcast at the time. Her cadence and tone is objective journalistic first, but reveals on occasion moments of her human emotions, like shock, confusion, and exasperation, that resonate with the listener. although it made some unexpected decisions at times, her experience and her doggedness pushed Serial to the top of the charts.
   
• Season 2: Sarah returns, mostly, but a number of factors contributed to a poor showing for Season 2, in my opinion. First off, Sarah steps out of the driver's seat to let Mark Boal, who's making a film about Bowe Bergdahl, take over the narration with Bowe. It doesn't feel like it's her show anymore and she's relegated to doing contextual explanation in between snippets of Boal and Bergdahl. Second, the choice of topic was disappointing. Not that Bowe Bergdahl didn't have an interesting story, but I think Serial Season 1 captured listener hearts because it brought a small-time story into a big-time spotlight. It was a commonplace setting, something listeners could connect to. Meanwhile, Bergdahl was overexposed on national headlines and his circumstance as a soldier, in Iraq, fighting the Taliban, remains like so many other modern war stories so distant and tragically disconnected from everyday American life and the average listener. Not only that, the entire story is told through interview tapes, so disappears the groundwork investigation, the physical evidence gathering, and the dramatic, unnerving interviews we had in Season 1. And without Sarah's voice guiding the listener's through her logical reasoning and her emotional turmoil upon revelation, the show loses one of its most powerful assets: the host we have come to admire and respect.

Frequency: every week, seasonal
How I found it: Episode 1 was featured on This American Life
My listening style: Binge
Favorite episode(s):

• Season 1, except the finale

The Memory Palace (Radiotopia)

Historical anecdotes, in story form.

One event or person from history, usually not well known, poetically retold with a sprinkling of wondrous imagination to fill in the minor details that bring a story to life.

Host characterization: Nate DiMeo, upon reflection, has a similar voice to Roman Mars of a Radiotopia sibling show, yet for some reason I like Nate DiMeo's voice very much. The Memory Palace starkly contrasts from the usual podcast fare and its zen-like mood is owed to Nate's stream-of-consciousness style of narration and minimalist background music. His delivery does historical stories justice, however, if you allow some imaginative liberties to be taken with some inconsequential details that bring the scene to life, and each episode is a calming and rejuvenating pause between the chatter of other podcasts.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: listening to NPR One late at night
My listening style: Binge, with back episodes queued - I want to sit down, get the mood right, and drink in the podcast in slow, pleasurable evening, one dreamy episode at a time.
Favorite episode(s):

• Any and all of them are fantastic

The Specialist (KALW)

"A podcast about work we don't think about
and the people who do it."

A cute little podcast that explores through interviews and narration a specialized job, sometimes important or curious, that an expert does.

Host characterization: Casey Miner is pretty cool and I like her voice. She feels close and personable but also upbeat about the episode's focus subject. It's a short and sweet podcast with a cool design focus.

Frequency: every two weeks, seasonal
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s):

• Notary Superman
• Mock Attacker
• Zoo Chef
• Noise Police

StoryCorps (independent)

"Recording the lives and stories of everyday Americans."

StoryCorps is most legendary for consistently making people cry in their car.

Host characterization: Michael Garofalo is the main StoryCorps host but StoryCorps is designed to capture an intimate, heartfelt conversation between two people with a relationship of any kind, whether familial, romantic, surrogate, or friendship. So, in a way, each conversation has its own host, usually the person asking questions of the other, and thus it can vary significantly between episodes. Michael Garofalo sets the mood with a good bass and thoughtful cadence, before getting out of the way for the story. Dave Isay, the founder, also shows up in the podcast for sponsorship statements but his most important work probably happens behind the scenes in running StoryCorps and in writing books that collect details of the most interesting stories.

Frequency: about every week
How I found it: local NPR programming
My listening style: Regular - thankfully, I think I've heard enough episodes that I won't cry as easily. But I can't say that for any story from their 9/11 Voices project.
Favorite episode(s):

• All of the animated episodes are top-tier. Bring a tissue or two.
• "I had my ticket punched by my nephew's blood"

Death, Sex & Money (WNYC)

"The show about the things we think about a lot
and need to talk about more."

Everything you wanted to know, plus some things you didn't, but are afraid to talk about.

Host characterization: Anna Sale has a great public radio interviewer reminiscent of Terry Gross. Her narration style is typical of a reporter but her interview tone feels human and completely focused on the relationship with her subject. It feels like you are not the audience of a podcast but an eavesdropper to two people having an intimate conversation. Anna tackles the shows titular sensitive topics with questions that, true to the spirit of the show, are important and challenging to social taboos but with a tactful cadence like that a close confidant. There are interview moments that are simply paralyzing with gravitas.

Frequency: every week or two
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s):

• Cut Loose: Your Breakup Stories - a brutal and daring episode about romantic breakups on Valentine's Day. This one was especially personal.

Radiolab (WNYC)

A radio show and podcast weaving stories and science
into sound and music-rich documentaries.

Scientific stories with sound effects and ambient background music accompaniment.

Host characterization: Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich co-host and complement each other well because they are interested in the same phenomena but for different reasons and they see things with different perspectives. Krulwich feels like an older, scientifically-minded whose understanding about the world is regularly blown apart while Jad seems more emotional and humanistic in his perspectives. Both have a powerful curiosity transmitted through their voices and conversations and they have a wonderful chemistry between them like two old friends.

Frequency: every week, reruns on off weeks
How I found it: local NPR programming
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s): basically the last episode I heard

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Psychology and Society

The Hilarious World of Depression (APM)

"Is depression funny?"

Depression is a mental illness that can be cured if we start talking about it more and the funniest people we know frequently have the most intimate relationships with it.

Host characterization: John Moe's name is unfortunately not very memorable (I had to look it up), which is uncharacteristically public radio, but his voice is an honest combination of humor and seriousness. He's got the right tone to treat a delicate subject like depression. I hope to hear more from him when the podcast returns for another season.

Frequency: every week, seasonal
How I found it: recommended by Peter Sagal's Twitter account
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s):

• Peter Sagal
• Andy Richter
• Baron Vaughn

Hidden Brain (NPR)

"A conversation about life's unseen patterns."

A human behavior psychology podcast done in the style of NPR.

Host characterization: Shankar Vedantam has an inquisitive tone that drives the direction of each show. He's a decent interviewer, but most of the show feels narrated. For some reason, I don't seem to be enraptured by him as a host as I am by other hosts. He also does a lot of short sound bites for NPR's All Things Considered, much like Planet Money, so perhaps it's because he has a bit too much of NPR's style. He also did a 60-second science summary segment with a co-host and I found that to be irritating. So maybe he's speaking too fast for me. But bonus points for having some diversity in an Asian host.

Frequency: every week, reruns on off weeks
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Occasional - it's usually an interesting topic but I don't find it as compelling as other podcasts. Probably overdosing on NPR, but it is pretty good overall.
Favorite episode(s):

• Tribes

Note To Self (WNYC)

"The tech show about being human."

The counter-culture movement to technology's strangling grasp on daily aspects of life without any of the holier-than-thou Luddite arrogance and all of the human, guilty pleasure admissions of using technology.

Host characterization: Manoush Zomorodi takes on an interesting question about how technology is increasingly affecting human lives and behavior. I like her approach in trying to understand the human aspects of technology with her own personal experiences, which provides warmth and realism to her voice. But I'm not as steeped in technological devices or behaviors as she is so I don't identify with the topics as much and I don't find her show as compelling as others, but I genuinely think she's a good host and has a good voice leading good social movements through multi-episode miniseries. It'll just take some more time for her to grow on me, I think.

Frequency: every week or two
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Occasional - I got hooked on one really good episode earlier but am significantly behind on the show.
Favorite episode(s):

• The Secret to Making Video Games Good For You
• Blind Kids, Touchscreen Phones, and the End of Braille?
• What Happens to the Videos No One Watches

Code Switch (NPR)

"Race and Identity, Remixed."

The NPR podcast about the tough conversations that need to be had about race, particular the mixed race or racial Americans.

Host characterization: There are several rotating hosts and I unfortunately don't listen often enough to know them all from memory, but Gene Demby's bass voice is really memorable to me (like Sam Sanders). The hosts remind me of the hosts from NPR Politics podcast: relaxed yet focused, casually conversational tone, and genuinely from the heart.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: NPR One, NPR article contributions
My listening style: Occasional - I should listen to it more, but it can be a heavy and sensitive issue at times. I've had a harder time listening post-election and it can be less than accessible because of its racially contextual lexicon (some might consider it "liberal-speak"), but I still think it's an important podcast.
Favorite episode(s): Unfortunately, I can't remember any since I haven't listened in a while.

NPR Politics Podcast (NPR)

"NPR's political reporters talk to you like they talk to each other."

All the politics you need but delivered in a fun way, as if you were hanging out with a bunch of your friends and they were all reporters.

Host characterization: There were nine (9!) total hosts of the NPR Politics Podcast that rotated through, although I would say Sam Sanders typically led the brigade. The others were Asma Khalid, Sarah McCammon, Susan Davis, Ron Elving, Domenico Montanaro, Tamara Keith, Scott Detrow, and Danielle Kurtzleben. Together, they even jokingly talked about forming a musical group called Vocalness. It's a huge group of voices to bring to a podcast but they had a chemistry both between each other and with the listener questions. Each person brought their specialty knowledge to the show based on their journalistic assignment and although it was like being in a big group of friends, they added and explained perspectives to each other to have a variety of opinions and disagreements. And it worked out very well. The podcast exploded in popularity, reaching over 1 million unique listeners pre-election. The hosts have changed a bit since the election but I can't comment on any of the characterization since I haven't listened to the show since Election Day.

Frequency: three times a week, including one per day in the two weeks running up to election day
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Religious/queued - every episode since Election Day. I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to anything political since then. I'll binge it when I'm ready.
Favorite episode(s):

• Sam Sanders had a pretty emotional monologue after one of the shootings of a black person.
• The Vocalness episode.
• Asma Khalid's post-election episode about being racial while reporting on race received high acclaim but I haven't listened to it yet. One day …

Invisibilia (NPR)

"The invisible forces that control human behavior -
ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions."

Another psychology podcast but well-produced, in-depth, and with interacting and funny hosts.

Host characterization: Invisibilia is co-hosted by Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller and they make the laudable decision to address the fact that their voices are extremely similar in the first episode. But they have a lot of fun while investigating some very interesting psychology topics. It's been awhile since I listened, which was actually only season 1. Season 2 has an additional co-host of Hanna Rosin, whom I haven't heard yet.

Frequency: every week, seasonal
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Binge - I burned all the episodes onto a CD and played them back-to-back in my car. Twice.
Favorite episode(s):

• How To Be Batman
• Fearless

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Economics and Technology

Planet Money (NPR)

"The Economy Explained."

If you couldn't tell by how many times I referenced this podcast, this one does a lot of things right and it's about the economy, stupid.

Host characterization: Planet Money is another example of success when using rotating hosts. Robert Smith, Stacy Vanek Smith, David Kestenbaum, Jacob Goldstein, Noel King, and Caitlin Kenney

Frequency: two episodes per week, reruns/updates on off days
How I found it:

• Recommendation by a family member
• Local NPR programming, where they get soundbites featured in NPR's All Things Considered

My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s):

• Planet Money T-shirt episodes
• Oil episodes
• Free trade means peace
• The 1040 form
• And many others

Freakonomics Radio (WNYC)

"The hidden side of everything."

It's an economics podcast that goes in-depth in long form.

Host characterization: I think I like the topics discussed and I definitely love the opening music bit but I just can't on-board with Stephen J. Dubner as the host. There's something about his voice that feels off-putting but I can't explain why. Maybe it's the tone or pitch. Sometimes, I feel like his pacing is stuttered too purposefully. I guess it feels unnatural to me. I also dislike the preview soundbites at the beginning of each episode, because I feel like they spoil the best parts of the interview and because hearing the same audio twice is weird in a podcast. The Splendid Table is also guilty of this but the severity is less (also, it's a show about cooking food, not serious economics).

Frequency: every week, occasional reruns
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Occasional - issues with the host and a long time commitment hinder my devotion to listening.
Favorite episode(s):

• How to Get More Grit in Your Life
• How to Become Great at Just About Anything
• How to Be More Productive
• How to Be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future
• In Praise of Incrementalism
• In Praise of Maintenance
• Are You Ready for a Glorious Sunset?

The Uncertain Hour (APM)

"The things we fight the most about can be
the things we know the least about."

A so-called "docu-pod", or documentary podcast, about where federal welfare dollars really goes and the people it benefits.

Host characterization: It's been awhile since I listened The Uncertain Hour since it ended its season back in August of 2016. Krissy Clark, Caitlin Esch, and Gina Delvac lead the charge on some very interesting investigations. If you've listened to Marketplace, I remember it having a similar style and the same public radio tone and production quality.

Frequency: every few weeks, seasonal
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• What's Love (Styles) Got to Do With It?
• Everything but the kitchen sink

99 Percent Invisible (Radiotopia)

"All the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world."

A very unique podcast about all kinds of design in everyday life, including architecture, graphic design, engineering, and industrial design, but you don't think about it or know why something looks and works the way it does.

Host characterization: Roman Mars has a nice bass voice but it still frustrates me to this day that he doesn't modulate his voice tone. He does do a lot of cadence variance, but it can be too easy to tune out his voice because it's so flat tonally. The show's content is fantastic and I've gotten used to his voice over time but it was a struggle at the start.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: Recommendation by family and friends
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle
• Half a House
• Unpleasant Design & Hostile Urban Architecture
• Flying Food
• Fish Cannon
• And many, many others of their 250+ archived

Twenty-Thousand Hertz (independent/Defacto Sound)

"The stories about the world's most recognizable
and interesting sounds."

99 PI but purely for sound and audio design.

Host characterization: Dallas Taylor has a cool name and a seductive voice. He reminds me of Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace and Roman Mars of 99% Invisible minus the monotone. It must be that mix of cadence, flatter tone, and deep bass voice. It really helps the podcast treat the stories behind the sound design with reverent seriousness. Also, the Defacto Sound backers are awesome music makers.

Frequency: every two weeks
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Religious
Favorite episode(s):

• Cars
• Audio Descriptions: validation of my theory that podcasts are the Netflix of radio.
• Mystery Hum: happens near my hometown!
• NBC Chimes: very interesting stories behind the scenes.

Transistor (PRX)

"A science podcast."

I don't listen that often so I could be wrong but it's a really cool science, engineering, and design podcast that really impressed me early on with a very different style from other science podcasts but I haven't been able to follow it well since.

Host characterization: Genevieve Sponsler is the host but I honestly can't remember what she's like, except that I subscribed to Note To Self at the same time and I got her confused with Manoush Zomorodi early on.

Frequency: monthly
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Occasional - haven't listened to it for a while due to lack of updates and because Stitcher was having issues with playback.
Favorite episode(s):

• The Art and Science of Polynesian Wayfinding
• Outside collaborations: Devil's Highway (two parts), and Struck By Lightning (also featured by Snap Judgment)
• The Last of the Iron Lungs

Reply All (Gimlet)

"A podcast about the Internet."

It's about the Internet, but it's really about humans.

Host characterization: Listening to Reply All document the incredible adventures of Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt gives me a vibe like they're my friends, like I get the NPR Politics podcast team. But despite their casual banter and delving into silly Twitter meme explanations with their Yes-Yes-No segments, they talk about some super important topics in society and internet technology and how those relationships are changing. So, I think they make the podcast both intellectually engaging and still a lot of fun.

Frequency: every week or two, reruns on off weeks
How I found it: NPR One
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• Man of the People
• 1000 Brimes
• In the Desert
• The Cathedral

TLDR (WYNC/On The Media)

A short podcast about the Internet.

The Internet technology podcast progenitor to Reply All.

Host characterization:

• Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt got their start here before moving on to bigger things at Gimlet Media. You can see the roots of Reply All as well as some less polished ideas. Still, if you are starving for more Reply All as I was at the time, it'll do to scratch an itch.

• That is, until the next host takes over. Meredith Haggerty tries to continue the spirit of TLDR despite it having left with Alex and PJ to Reply All. Trying to replicate a two-host interaction with one is the first mistake, but she tries hard to carry on. It stumbles and shines periodically but episode 45 is her downfall, when she joins a guest in criticism of Vivek Wadhwa, who is trying to support women in STEM but is viewed as occupying space as a man (essentially, the question of whether men in the tech field can be effective feminists) and accused of sexually harassing women by direct messaging them on Twitter (another senseless question). Since that episode fails to provide him with an equal chance to respond to criticism, it fails a well-known journalistic standard. That episode then becomes a media firestorm, gets retracted, and the next episode apologizes and tries to recover by interviewing him for the entire episode but it's a complete mess of hurt feelings mixed with emotional cross-talk. The show is axed after a few more episodes.

Frequency: discontinued
How I found it: Reply All mentioned the original show during a long break of reruns.
My listening style: Binge - listened to them all in my car, except for the retracted episode.
Favorite episode(s):

• Anything with Alex and PJ as the host.
• Episode 45 if you get thrills from reading retracted content.
• Episode 46 if you truly have schadenfreude.

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Other

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor (APM/Minnesota Public Radio)

"Be well, do good work, and keep in touch."

Notable anniversaries and one poem a day, both read by Garrison Keillor.

Host characterization: Garrison Keillor is in a league of his own from his longtime show and creation, A Prairie Home Companion. His bass voice is evenly paced and modulates in pitch to keep the reading of the text dynamic. Occasionally, you can hear the shuffling of papers with makes the 5 minutes feel so authentic. It's one of the best ways to hear Garrison's voice now that he's retired from APHC but since the episodes are put together using pre-recorded segments that are re-used (after all, famous birthdays don't change), sometimes you can hear the tremendous difference in his voice if the podcast jumps from young Garrison to today's Garrison.

Frequency: every single day
How I found it: Daily broadcast on local NPR programming
My listening style: Binge
Favorite episode(s):

• They are all relatively the same in quality and notability.

DTR (Gimlet)

"Defining relationships in the digital age."

A podcast about online dating behaviors and relationships, brought to you by Tinder, of course.

Host characterization: I don't remember Jane Marie too well, but she was relatively fun, honest, and realistic. Despite technology providing us endless tools, there is still this dance of the unknowns in trying to read another person's mind in online dating and she provides some good insight from both sides. Her style of hosting is pretty conversational, almost too much in her interviews, but then again, online dating is probably too ridiculous of a topic to treat seriously.

Frequency: every week, seasonal
How I found it: other Gimlet podcasts
My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• Hey
• Dick Pics - because something that offensive yet pervasive does actually need analysis. It also brings together two opposite perspectives.
• Tinder Takeover

Why Oh Why (Panoply)

"Where dating and relationships meet technology."

The latest, best show about online dating.

Host characterization: Given Planet Money's slick style, confident presentation, sharp editing, and fast-paced voicing, listening to Andrea Silenzi talk about her breakup was an uppercut to the aorta. The tenderness in her voice is palpable and enrapturing. It's almost irritating how exposed and honest she sounds, but only because it feels like being handed something so fragile and pure it compels tenderness in myself that I don't want to admit. I was tempted to think that she was acting because of the pitch, but after a few episodes in which you hear her conversational tone instead of host tone, it became clear she genuinely sounds like that. I had qualms in a few early episodes but she really gained my confidence when she followed up an awkward episode to protect one of her interviewees/experimental subjects. She's talented for how young she is and I think she's one to watch in the new generation of podcasters. My opinion is only based on a few episodes thus far, so I hope it keep going well but I'm not too worried.

Frequency: every week
How I found it: Planet Money had an episode in which an economist attempted to help Andrea optimize her search for a boyfriend on Tinder. It changed her life.
My listening style: Regular - working my way up from Episode 1.
Favorite episode(s):

• Episode 5: A Celebration of Awkwardness, a good recovery for a bad situation in Episode 3.
• Episode 8: How Will I Know, the Planet Money episode and sure-fire hook.

Mystery Show (Gimlet)

"Mysteries that can’t be solved online. Mysteries you can’t solve yourself. Up until now, there hasn’t been anyone to help with this.
That person is now me."

A kitschy, not-so-serious investigation podcast about seemingly trivial things

Host characterization: It's guilty confession time: I love Starlee Kine's voice. I think I first heard her on This American Life and always found it strangely attractive like a moth does light. I know it actually really irritates some people but there's just something about it. It's also really unique and thus, I like being able to recognize it (like recognizing a famous actor's brief cameo in a movie). The podcast is fairly whimsical, which Starlee sets quite well with her tone, although she does sort of treat her investigative goals seriously. It's a kind of ambiguity that makes the show kind of fun but ready to turn dark and serious at any moment, much in the style of TAL, actually.

Frequency: discontinued
How I found it:

• Browsing Gimlet media's website during a season refresh
• Might have heard it from This American Life

My listening style: Regular
Favorite episode(s):

• Video Store
• Britney

A Prairie Home Companion (APM)

"Lake Woebegone, the little town that time forgot
and the decades cannot improve,
where all the women are strong,
all the men are good-looking,
and all the children are above-average."

A classic, old-style radio drama sprinkled with musical numbers, guests, humorous sketches with a fantastically talented radio acting company, and the legendary Lake Woebegone monologue.

Host characterization:

• I've been listening since I fell in love with the rib-splitting sketches and sound effects, but I'm very attached to Garrison Keillor as the host. He is a legendary icon in public radio, having a very, very long career in it, but he also felt like a Midwestern grandfather I didn't have. Age has certainly taken its toll on him and his voice but it also has a worn familiarity, like a favorite chair or a wooden toy.
• Chris Thile has an immense task as the new host but I haven't listened to him host the show yet except as a guest. I'm reluctant to move on, so I'm listening to old broadcasts from over a year ago and trying to catch up, but it's pretty difficult since it's a two-hour show.

Frequency: every week, reruns on off weeks
How I found it: local NPR programming
My listening style: Occasional - at two hours per episode, it's a hefty commitment.
Favorite episode(s): anything with Garrison Keillor.

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Queued

• S-Town. The new podcast from the creators of Serial. A crime documentary or something.
• Offshore. True crime podcast based on stories from Hawai'i. I really wanted to get into this since visiting Hawai'i in 2015 for the Pacifichem conference.
• Accused. Another true crime podcast (I have a problem, don't I?). I found it through NPR One and it sounded a lot like In the Dark but I put it in the queue.
• Startup. Podcasts get meta when Gimlet does a podcast about starting up a new business: themselves.
• The Story Collider. This seems to be a science-storytelling hybrid podcast. I've tried to avoid most science podcasts to get broader listening experiences but this one seems to keep popping up on my radar.
• The Truth. A fictional radio drama written like a movie script but for audio and using sound effects to describe the scenery. It's a very neat concept that I think is starting to take-off and it could be a convergence point for audiobook-style fiction and Netflix-quality writing.
• Homecoming. This is also a seasonal radio drama that Gimlet made, which sounded quite interesting from a teaser trailer that emphasized a lot of sound effects. Like "The Truth", it's a new concept that I want to explore. There's only six episodes, so it might be easier to queue up and binge.

If you read it all the way down here, congrats. I couldn't believe it myself that I listen or try to listen to a whopping 39, thirty-nine (!!), different podcasts. And now, enough blogging; time to play catch up.