There are so many good podcasts right now and not enough time to hear them all. So drop specific recommendations, or just tell us what you’re listening to these days.
You can link an episode or get a little deeper.
Some ideas:
Did a specific discussion change your mind on something? Tell us!
Did an interview alter your behavior? We need to know!
If a single sentence shattered your worldview, quote it.
Expand on an idea and whether you agree or disagree.
Tell why an episode struck a cord and how it applies to your experiences.
Or if you’re just listening to something for pure entertainment, that’s fun too. Don’t keep it to yourself!
Ironically, I procrastinated even starting it because it’s so dang long, so I’m only hearing chunks of it during dog walks, showers, and driving. But if you struggle with procrastination, it has some pretty good insights.
I’ll second Hardcore History. I’ve now listened to the entire catalog. I’m not a fan of his other podcast, “Common Sense”, which seems to be lacking a fair bit of it. He’s an awesome historical storyteller with a great voice for it, but his opinions on current events are that of a typical boomer/late Gen X who only watches cable news.
For a lesser-known recommendation, check out Jay Jack Uncensored.
It is my BJJ coach’s coach’s old podcast. He ended it years ago, but the episodes are still just as good today as they were then. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about BJJ as a combat-oriented destruction art, not as a sport with rules.
He was also a very good sport grappler prior to a serious car accident that nearly killed him, but the guy is intensely focused on teaching everyone how to mangle and murder people bare-handed. Great guy. He weaves in a lot of stuff about dog training as well, which is the other thing he does professionally. All in all I found it to be an entertaining and informative series that helped me build a prevailing mindset when I was still doing part-time bar security.
Plus my coach makes several appearances as a guest, which was cool.
Jay is the real-deal when it comes to hardassery, and he’s a lifter as well who has competed in local strongman. Rolling with him was like going up against Darth Vader, or Neo. You remain conscious at his leisure and he can bring unbelievably nasty pressure.
I should have said former coach. Sadly, my coach moved away from my area and Jay’s school is prohibitively far for me, so I don’t train BJJ anymore beyond the occasional open mat. Skill-wise, I’m good to go unless I run into one of Jay’s guys out on the streets!
Meh, Strictly amateur lol. Was a Poli Sci guy in college so a lot of history came along with it, and I kind of just always kept looking into it.
Fall of civilizations was good. It’s more of an audio storytelling if that makes sense. One guy, clearly scripted, lots of background sounds and music, makes for really easy listening.
One of the things I especially like about Carlin is that he plainly and repeatedly states that he is NOT a historian, while citing the books by historians that shape the episode.
One of favorite lines from the show was how it is important to believe in ancient history, even if it isn’t always true. I think that was from the Achaemenid Persian Empire series.
The show is such a fantastic bridge between the world of academic literature and the highly condensed pop culture history world of one hour documentaries on PBS or The Hitler Channel.
They are all really good. His earlier ones tend to be shorter and a bit less polished, but are now behind a paywall.
I think Supernova in The East is a perfectly good place to start, since most people have a good understanding of the big events of WWII.
He asks a modest contribution of a buck a show to access the earlier episodes. Out of those I would recommend his Julius Caesar episode “The Celtic Holocaust” as one of his best single episode series. Supernova is LONG, but really well done.
