What am I listening to these days?
My podcast diet tends to vary over the course of the year. Here’s what’s in my ears lately. This is not exhaustive, but I think it’s formative.
Leading up to the US election in November I was main-lining political content. After the election I find myself running away from that same stuff.
I’ve been returning to podcasts like Neal Brennan’s and Mike Birbiglia’s. Comedians interviewing, usually their peers, or someone in an adjacent role. These two podcasts in particular might yet be the closest I’ve come to attending therapy. I feel good after listening to these guys.
Beyond these I’ve also been drawn in to Soft White Underbelly, Diary of a CEO, and this week I started into Trevor Noah’s podcast.
Soft White Underbelly isn’t really an interview, it’s a “portrait”. I usually catch these on youtube, where he has someone sitting in a chair against a matte backdrop and they just talk - tell their stories. I could listen (and have listened!) to the mobsters go on for hours. The 30 minutes from the ~20 year old, recovered fentanyl addict was enlightening.
Diary of a CEO is a weekly long-form interview. He is a great interviewer and he’s really gotten some top tier guests this past year. Within this list, this might have some of the most click-baity bylines, but it’s generally one line out of a 60 minute interview.
Trevor Noah’s podcast, I’m just breaking into it and I think it will stay in the rotation for a bit still - but I hope I’ll have more to say later. I was probably one of the detractors when he joined the Daily Show, but I’ve come to appreciate the way he observes life and engages people. He engages so well with people, interviewing is where he really shines.
Neal and Mike have been in the rotation for at least a year now. The bottom three have been regulars for the past few weeks.
- Blocks w/ Neal Brennan
- Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out
- Soft White Underbelly
- Diary of a CEO
- What Now? with Trevor Noah