By Christie Pool, Staff Writer
I’m addicted to podcasts. They are the perfect companion while taking the dogs for a walk or on a long drive. Podcasts are a great way to learn things – whether news and politics is your thing or storytelling, history, comedy, true crime, health, sports or technology – any subject under the sun and tons of topics you didn’t even know existed.
For those that don’t know, podcasts are essentially modern radio shows available online and they’ve become ridiculously popular, going from niche to mainstream following the phenomenon of the Serial podcast a few years back.
Google “best podcasts of 2017” and you’ll be shocked at the variety.
One of the recent hits has been S-Town, a real-life Southern Gothic. What starts out as an investigation by a This American Life journalist into an Alabama man bragging about getting away with murder evolves into a haunting character study of John B. McLemore who gave the initial tip in the investigation.
For true-crime enthusiasts there are podcasts like Up and Vanished, based right here in Georgia. This podcast examines the 2005 cold case of Tara Grinstead, a high school teacher and beauty queen who disappeared from her apartment in Ocilla, Georgia. The case was never solved and has become “the largest case file in Georgia history.”
Going to the “Top Charts” sections on the iTunes podcasts, Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History takes top honors with a 5-star review among more than 11,000 people. The podcast re-examines “something from the past – an event, a person, an idea, even a song – and asks whether we got it right the first time.”
NPR’s Invisibilia is another cool podcast. It looks at the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions by weaving narrative storytelling with scientific research that will make you see your own life differently.
Not in the mood to consider the deeper meaning of things? There’s no shortage of wonderful comedy shows, including Comedy Bang Bang, Last Podcast on the Left, and 2 Dope Queens.
A good podcast is like sitting in on an interesting conversation. And like all conversations, some are better than others.
History buffs can try Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. Many of the episodes last longer than the events themselves but go deep from multiple angles, dissecting events and thinking about them in original ways.
One that recently caught my eye – or rather ear – is Ear Hustle, a podcast about stories of life inside prison. This isn’t a standard podcast where a journalist goes out and spends a week, month or years researching. This podcast is produced by those living inside San Quentin State Prison. The stories are sometimes “difficult, often funny and always honest, offering nuanced views of people living within the American prison system.”
Podcasts, like reading a newspaper, enhance your knowledge and keep our brains working. But aside from that, they’re just interesting – and free. Do something for yourself and find your new favorite podcast today.
Suggestions:
• Ted Talks – Any topic imaginable. • Stuff You Should Know – A discussion panel whose name says it all.
• This American Life – A weekly public radio show heard by 2.2 million.
• Great Lives – The BBC Radio Four podcast remembers the great and the terrible.
• Saints of Somewhere – Cultural leaders name the people, places and things that inspired them.
• Lore – A podcast about the dark historical tales that fuel modern superstitions.
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