Matthew Brunelle's Blog
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Thoughts

What Podcasts Am I Listening To?

I've been listening to some podcast since the beginning, and some are recent additions. Also I wax philosophical for a bit.

On the Topic of Podcasting:

It is crazy how far podcast have come. I remember the days of loading a feed into iTunes and downloading episodes onto my iPod. In my mind podcasting a great example of how well open federated systems can work. Somehow, against all odds, the podcasting ecosystem continues to push back against corporate capture. That's not to say it isn't happening in some places.

For example, I loved the podcast How to Save the Planet. The content was thoughtful and each episode ended with a practical call to action. Then Spotify bought it and then Spotify killed it. [^ One of the hosts Ayana Elizabeth Johnson wrote a wonderful book What If We Get It Right? and that is something at least that Spotify can't kill.] This means that over time podcasts come and go. The feed is always in flux. This is meant to be a little snapshot in time.

On the News and How Much to Consume:

Even though I'm practicing reading long form content, I primarily get my news through audio. In part this is because I can split my attention while listening and do chores or exercise. That is not something I want to do when engaged with a good book. The other reason is there is high signal-to-noise sources for news in audio form. Almost too many good sources.

I used to have a maximalist approach to listening to the news. I wanted to be well informed so I could talk about issues. However that also pays a high mental toll. A lot of what you hear is emotionally heavy. Also you can only consume so much content and retain it well. So I have shifted listening habits to find a balance between being well informed, and not over consuming the news. [^ I had been trying this in a scattered approach but Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism really helped me solidify this.] The main way I realized this was changing from daily news to slow journalism.

I used to focus on multiple short daily news sources: NPR's Up First, PBS News Hour, The Daily [^ I still keep The Daily in my feed. I've been listening since it started. The difference now is I no longer listen to every episode. Instead I try to focus on episodes that provide reporting on gaps in my understanding.], etc. [ ^ In fact way back before podcasting took off, NPR's News Now was just and RSS feed of supercut news clips: no intro, no outro, no ads. chefs kiss]. Now I try to focus more on weekly news. The benefits are:

  • Tranquility. I am not getting a glucocorticord stim constantly from fast news designed to drive engagement through outrage. For me boring news is what I want.
  • Journalists can provide more details and better coverage when they have more time to work on a piece and wait for details to emerge.
  • If someone asks me about a recent event that I haven't heard about, I am still informed enough to participate in the conversation.

As an aside, in 2014 I did a semester at the University of Glasgow. I got to take Economic & Social History 1B: Themes in Globalisation, 1914-c2008. The course covered both World Wars and it was really eye opening to see how other countries, even allies perceive the US. Since then I try to re-contextual events in my life: is this universal or just something we do here? So I also try to include news from outside the US in my media diet.

Some slower news I really appreciates:

  • Inside Europe by DW - Deutsche Welle is a German public broadcaster and Inside Europe is specifically designed as a source of news for people outside the EU to know whats going on in the EU. Its weekly and the content is typically in-depth.
  • The Economist Weekly Edition - Originally recommended to me by a coworker. I was surprised, but it's a pretty balanced and nuanced perspective. Also, as I mentioned in my post about what apps I use on GrapheneOS, you no longer need to use their app and can subscribe by RSS in your podcast player of choice.
  • The NPR Politics Podcast - I don't listen to the weekday content outside of their Friday weekly wrap up. Also with NPR+ they occasionally do in-depth episodes on specific topics.

Anyways, speaking of public news...

On the Topic of Public Broadcasting:

The House has approved a plan to rescind $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If you are in a spot to, please support your local stations since they are most likely to be impacted! I'm pretty lucky that WGBH is both and NPR and PBS. So I can support both at the same time and get NPR+ content. Also consider if your work has matching donation offers at certain times of the year!

Now the Fun Stuff:

When it comes to entertainment podcasts, the McElroy family has an outside footprint in my feed. [^ I own both the Bean Juice and Bean Juice 2.0 mugs.] This is mostly because they were very early to the podcasting scene [^ They even wrote a book Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You).] It also doesn't hurt that they come to Boston frequently and I get to see the live shows. From their media empire I listen to:

  • The Adventure Zone - this is the first TTRPG podcast I ever listened to. I don't always listen to every season, but the recent TAZ vs Dracula was the kind of chaos I crave.
  • The Besties (+ Patreon) - technically only two of the brothers, but this is a really solid games journalism podcast and I often pick up games they recommend before hearing other places hyping them up.
  • The Empty Bowl - A "meditative podcast on cereal". I don't really eat cereal, but it's kind of hypnotizing. It's also fun to share weirdly strong opinions about cereal, regardless of whether people asked for your opinion.
  • My Brother, My Brother and Me - Funny, relaxing and nostalgic.

Other notable podcasts are:

  • The Glass Cannon Network (Subsciption) - I have been listening to it from the beginning and see their live shows in Boston when they come by. The main feed show has been having some difficulties but the Patreon show Blood of the Wild is really good. I appreciate that its a more rules and mechanics heavy show, but still manages to have a strong narrative. I think I'm going to take a break from subscribing for the first time though while they retool all their programming.
  • Hello From the Magic Tavern (Patreon) - The show has been going for 10 years strong! It really is some fun improv and I cannot recommend it enough.
  • Not Another D&D Podcast - A counterpoint to GCN, this is much more narratively heavy and lots of fun. Always a good laugh and the side content like Dungeon Court, 8-bit Book Club and Tortle Tank and much appreciated.
  • RPGBOT.podcast - Excellent TTRPG munchkin energy. I follow their RSS feed online, and add episodes selectively. Usually just the PF2e content.

Now For the Interesting Stuff:

I want to elevate one podcast above the others because I truly appreciate it: Gastropod. The podcast "looks at food through the lens of science and history". I am genuinely excited when I see there's a new episode and usually bump it to the front of my listening queue.

I read Freakanomics and SuperFreakanomics in high school and adored them. So the Freakonomics Radio podcast has been a long time listen for me. The network has a couple other podcasts, but of them I've only really listened to two:

  • No Stupid Questions: I'm not currently listening but really enjoyed it when it came out. This is mostly because one of the original hosts Stephen moved off the podcast. I mostly wanted to mention it because on the last episode that Stephen did, they answered my own listener submitted question: Do You Have a Scarcity Mindset or an Abundance Mindset?
  • People I (Mostly) Admire: it's been really cool to see Steve move away from academia, develop as a speaker, and try to advocate for causes he really cares about.

For the remaining podcasts I'm going to recommend some episodes to try out. Think of them as a little sampler:

Happy listening!

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