@bladesurfer said in Podcasts:
99% Invisible
Ditto this.
Oh good, I've been running out of podcasts. I mostly listen to radio drama, which don't come out regularly.
This became very, very long, so I'll title this section:
=== Thenomain's Ten-Second Reviews =======================
My current list, in order of my adding it, and what I think of it.
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Decoder Ring Theatre: "Black Jack Justice", because I like noir, and some Canadians doing detective noir is fantastic. Great half-hour mysteries, but waaaay too slow release schedule for me. They're currently doing an audio book, one chapter at a time, but you want to listen to at least the first season just to feel connected with the characters. Classic radio drama.
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Welcome to Night Vale: Do not look into the dog park. We've gone over this one on Soapbox before, but if you like a mix of Garrison Keeler's slice-of-life and Lovecraftian strangeness, then you're going to like WTNV. Some of the seasons do drag on (I'm not a fan of The Smiling God), but it's always trying something fun and strange. Presented in a style of listening into a local radio public service announcement.
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Our Fair City: The world freezes over and the only known survivors live within what was originally an insurance company. Yeah, imagine your dystopian future is controlled by a business structure and everyone is known by their Policy Number, not their name. Sci-fi near future, but the science is more for show and gives often a silly, adventure-show veneer over the horrible future. This series is commentary on corporate culture, but I think they find logical reasons for their decisions, which makes me almost sympathetic with the iron-grip of tyranny these people live under. Good cast, absolutely fantastic audio effects.
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Alice Isn't Dead: The second show from Night Vale Productions (see: WTNV, above). A travelogue, a woman takes a job as a truck driver and leaves her life behind to find her wife who she presumed was dead for several years. She hauls freight through Twilight Zone style situations, monologue her day's events to a dead CB channel so she can try to piece together what's going on. Pretty good; I like the writing, but it feels loose.
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Ars Paradoxica: Another classic radio drama, heavy on the drama. A woman's science experiment from 20xx interferes with a naval experiment in 1936(ish) and gets sucked back in time. Time-travel is discovered, but can only go backwards to that point in time, and all the issues that arise. I like this series, but I have the same problem with it that I do many non-arc shows: Is anything going to get better for these people?! Paranoia, government agency, science, and a good hard look at what time travel means.
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Within the Wires: Another Night Vale Production. I admit, I'm hooked. Season 1 is over, a complete and compelling storyline, a very The Prisoner undercurrent to this world where children are brainwashed at age 14 so they can be properly integrated into society, and The Institute who has collected our protagonist for being too interesting, for seeming to remember some stuff from before. The entire Season 1 is made of pre-recorded tapes from someone else who is there to prepare our protagonist for what comes next. A+, can't wait to see what they do next season.
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Wolf 359: Three unlikely spacemen and one glitchy AI are waiting a long stint in a creaky space station around the star Wolf 359. At first I thought this was going to be a goofy slice-of-life show, like a toned down Red Dwarf, but by the end of the first season it became more like a study in paranoia and trust 7.8 light years from home. Classic radio drama. I'm probably going to drop this because it suffers the same "why must I listen to endless emotional pain" as Ars Paradoxica, but isn't, I think, anywhere near as compelling.
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The Bright Sessions: A psychiatrist apparently helps people with psychic powers (TKs and TPs mainly) come to terms with their unusual physiological and emotional issues. Starts very slow with short episodes as a build-up to the main plot. Presented as a series of audio journals taken at the sessions; my favorite being the girl who can read minds who starts out believing that she's being guided by angels. Now that the main plot of Season 1 is complete, I'm worried that we will be treated with the same "never-ending soap opera drama" of Ars Paradoxica and Wolf 359. I do like it, tho, so I'm going to give it more time.
Non-Fiction:
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The Myths and Legends Podcast: Myth-loving history buff tells the myths and legends in his own voice, summarizing quite a bit very well; if he skips something, he'll tell you; if he takes great liberties, he'll pause for an aside. I added this one on a lark after seeing it in the "New & Notables" section of iTunes' podcast listing. Partially because I need to brush up on my folklore, and partially because eh, why not. What a great choice.
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Science Vs.: Recommended by a co-worker. A woman with a science degree asks questions of modern issues and tries to find whether or not science supports or debunks them or, in some cases, neither. The episode on hypnotism was really great, and listening to this Aussie's voice is good. It's presented in a very Gen-X/Millennial or "Bill Nye" way where if we're going to put in sound effects to keep the mood very light then sure, why not.
That's it. That's all I got.