Why Aren’t You Listening To These Podcasts? Science and Horror and Kickstarter and More!

By the time you read this, the Steampunk World backer rewards are well on their way, but I’m writing this just as I start the monumental task of packing them all up to mail.

There’s one simple way to keep yourself from going numb while doing such a task:  Listening to podcasts.

It’s been a while since I recommended some podcasts.  And usually I recommend fiction podcasts, so to change it up I’m going to share the nonfiction podcasts listening to, and I think you probably should be too.  (Here’s a quick HOWTO for Android and iOS

Savage Lovecast:  Dan Savage gives great relationship advice.  Seriously.  There are so many jacked-up things that we’ve got embedded in our psyche about relationships, and Dan cuts through almost all of them.  Give the micro version a try for a few weeks (with ads) and I’ll bet you’ll want to subscribe to the Magnum version like I do.

DJ Grandpa’s Crib:  Interested in finding cool stuff you’d never thought of on Kickstarter?  DJ Grandpa has you covered.


Song Exploder: Where musicians take apart their songs and tell you how they were made.  For example, the House of Cards theme or the Bob’s Burgers theme.  You will never listen to music the same way again.

99% Invisible:  You will never look at any packaging, architecture, or design work the same way.  Like this one about how the changing nature of skyjacking changed airport design or how men originally wore high-heeled shoes.


Radiolab:  Constantly examining the world around us, from rap and hip-hop to the glorious stage show that is Apocalyptical, examining endings all around us.  (Seriously, if nothing else, check out Apocalyptical.)


The Faculty of Horror:  Horror – from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Witches In Film to Urban Legends, Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West examine horror in ways that are fascinating … even if you’re not a horror fan.  Great stuff.

What podcasts do you recommend?  Share them with us!

2 thoughts on “Why Aren’t You Listening To These Podcasts? Science and Horror and Kickstarter and More!

  1. I can't listen to anything – and get writing (or anything else) done.

    Writing I can scan, skim, process quickly, get the gist, get out.

    Audio drives me nuts. And the producers can't resist putting a bit at the beginning, and a bit at the end, to identify the producers, etc., making something even longer. Reading is easily 4 times faster than listening.

    That's why. But I'm getting old and crotchety.

    I was very pleased when research at Stanford showed that the college students there – presumably the brightest of the bright – only THOUGHT they were multitasking efficiently, switching among their devices and real life experiences – they were actually doing a bad job.

    Me, I set the timer, and focus. YMMV

    1. Agreed; which is why I'm listening to them while driving/commuting or doing something like housework or putting a couple hundred books in mailers. 😉

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