10 Podcasts That’ll Make You Love Your Commute
The following downloadable love is as awesome as it is affordable (i.e., free).
Comedy Bang! Bang!
Host Scott Aukerman (of Mr. Show fame) invites top comedians (James Adomian, Paul F. Tompkins, Nick Kroll, etc.) on as guests, some of whom get deep into impersonations and characters along the way. Celebs like Amy Poehler, Jon Hamm, and Kevin Nealon also tend to drop by. Hear Paul Giamatti reveal the experiments he’s gone through for his work, or Alan Rickman discuss coordinating a massive gold heist. Weird, absurdist fun.
Stuff You Should Know
Looking to be less of an idiot? Hosts Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark are both senior writers for HowStuffWorks.com, and for each episode they accumulate a massive amount of research to provide the most efficient and understandable explanations on topics as varied as the debt ceiling, shrunken heads, and what in the hell Interpol is. (We’re pretty sure it’s slang for “interesting Polish person.”)
KEXP Live Sessions
Seattle’s user-powered radio station 90.3 KEXP plays a lot of great music and puts out multiple podcasts. This one is easily their best. You can catch musicians like Gary Clark Jr., Phoenix, Tame Impala, Dinosaur Jr., DjangoDjango, and loads more doing live shows from inside the station.
The Dan Patrick Show
Dan does a three-hour syndicated TV/radio show, and makes it available to the podcast listener. The Sports Illustrated senior writer and former ESPN anchor sounds off on everything from sports to gossip and even his MILF of the Week nominee (it’s a branded segment, don’t you know).
Radiolab
Jad Abumrad (composer/NPR producer) and Robert Krulwich (NPR reporter/creator of the blog Krulwich Wonders) host this award-winning program. Radiolab claims to be where “science meets culture and information sounds like music.” If you’ve got any interest in learning about why parasites are actually good for you or the true story behind the Joaquin Phoenix film Her, then you should definitely pay The Lab a visit. And then visit your mom. It’s been too long, man.
Bret Easton Ellis Podcast
Probably best known for penning American Psycho, writer Bret Easton Ellis sits down and talks with super creative people like Kanye West, Marilyn Manson, Gus Van Sant, and Brandon Boyd. You’ll hear about their different creative processes, their theories on composition, and their disparate developments as artists. Sadly, no recipes.
How Did This Get Made?
Two comedic stars of FX’s The League, Jason Mantzoukas and Paul Scheer, join Scheer’s wife, June Diane Raphael, to take on the shittiest movies ever made. (Scheer, introducing the episode on Fast & Furious 6: “Fast cars, sweaty muscles, amnesia, tanks, and family – it’s what The Great Gatsby would be if he wasn’t such a pussy.”)
Hang Up & Listen
Hosted by Slate editors Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca, you’ll get an array of opinions on sports news that also focuses on the business side of bats and balls. There obviously aren’t any sweet highlight reels, but this show will definitely up your water cooler game by giving you some talking points that SportsCenter won’t.
The Champs with Neal Brennan + Moshe Kasher
Chappelle’s Show co-creator Neal Brennan and prolific comedian Moshe Kasher focus this podcast around their deep desire to be black. There’s a new African American guest on each week (with some exceptions) with names ranging from Blake Griffin to Flying Lotus to the man behind the belt, Pootie Tang himself, Lance Crouther. Sa-da-tay, sa-da-tay.
The Joe Rogan Experience
Joe Rogan: comedian, former Fear Factor host, and a man who, thanks to a strict regimen of sensory deprivation chambers and a whole lotta weed, sees things…differently. On his podcast, Rogan interviews everyone from Anthony Bourdain to Jim Jefferies to Immortal Technique. The show attests to his competence when it comes to current events, as well as his radical philosophies. Just listen to the recent Shane Smith episode if you like losing your shit over the future of technology and government.