Ten Great Podcasts to Check Out

• FitzDog Radio
• This podcast is GREAT. I listen to this consistently and as of recently it’s the main podcast I’m always antsy for a next episode of. If you don’t know Greg Fitzsimmons by name you may recognize his face but regardless; his podcast is hilarious and packed full of celebrity guests almost every episode, unique comedy segments and some insight into how Greg has survived a mid-life crisis and 20 years of sobriety. He’s just a really funny guy who very much has his shit together at this point in his life and it’s just very clear that although his stand up is amazing—he is meant to be a podcaster.
• The Moth Podcast
  • The Moth is a great organization that produces this easily addictive podcast. Hosted by Dan Kennedy, The Moth consists of people telling true stories in front of a live audience without notes. The always interesting and often humorous stories range from strict humor to horror or purely inspiring true stories of conquering adversity. The storytellers consist of all kinds of people from comedians to authors  to NY Police officers—really anyone with the courage to share a true story and the charisma to entertain with it. Definitely a must have for anyone with interests in stand up, storytelling or any other such live performances and something that everyone should check out at least once.
• Stuff You Missed In History Class
  • This comes from a section of HowStuffWorks.com (a great site if you’re not familiar with it) which is a great source of basically finding out about how almost anything works. I originally fell in love with this podcast shortly after high school, when I suddenly became enamored with history, for two reasons: It always has somewhat obscure and always interesting tidbits of history and also had some sort of aural-crush on one of the original hosts (who is still the History editor for the site but no longer does the podcast) Candace Keener. How I could have a crush on someone based purely on her articulation, enunciation and fascination with Jefferson is beyond me but it’s totally true. Although my beloved is no longer hosting the podcast is still a favorite of mine and a great source for interesting I-never-knew-that’s of history.
• Stuff You Should Know
• This is yet another from HowStuffWorks and although they have many other great podcasts these are the two I couldn’t live without. Hosted by the sometimes hopelessly nerdy but always loveable Josh and Chuck this podcast covers everything from how memory in dogs, serial killers, flamethrowers and hangovers work to even more hypothetical or random topics such as how to best clean up an oil spill or top ten most bungled crimes. This is a must-have podcast with tons of interesting information and a good portion of it is even useful! At the very least you’ll have some awesome conversation pieces for your next cocktail party—or kegger or tea party or whatever such social event you attend.
• NPR Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
• Any list of great podcasts without an NPR podcast is pretty lacking. NPR produces several great podcasts and I listen to three of them pretty consistently but probably this one the most. It can basically be summed up as weekly game show that uses the past weeks events as a base for trivia. The questions are organized into entertaining segments and is played not only by listeners calling in but also a panel of three celebrities that always make humorous contributions. This is one of my favorite ways to catch up on the weeks news—which actually leads me one of my other favorite ways to do so…
• Real Time with Bill Maher
• This is a show that airs on HBO and the podcast is merely an audio recording of the show. Seeing as I don’t have HBO this is the easiest way to catch the show and only very rarely is there a visual-specific gag that you’ll miss through the podcast. There’s a lot of humor in this as you’d expect from a comedian and although there is a small helping of pop culture included in the shows they are heavily based in politics; as are the guests on his panel with the exception of one “token celebrity” on each episode. I actually feel like a jerk for recommending this since he just finished his finale episode before the summer break but you can check out older episodes to see if you’re into it and he’ll be back in early September!
• WNYC’s RadioLab
• Think This American Life meets fringe science and the most fascinating of fascinating bits of culture. I really can’t describe it better than its own description so I’ll just type that up here: On Radio Lab, science meets culture and information and sounds like music. Each episode of Radio Lab is an investigation—a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea.It is very much like This American Life in terms of format but I just find that This American Life puts me in a tone of pensively stroking my chin with interest whereas RadioLab is much more likely to cause me to slide to the edge of my seat or exclaim in excitement or want to share it with a friend. In two words: Absolutely Fascinating.
• WTF with Marc Maron
• This is much alongside the style of Greg Fitzsimmons’ podcast in the sense that it’s a comedian who often has other comedians as guests on his show. Marc is a much more acquired sense. He is self-deprecating and neurotic but very aware of that and seeking solutions. When I first listened to him he was so much of a mess that I would get annoyed listening to him complain about not having enough success or whatever else and since I’ve started listening again he’s seemed to be much more together. He was always funny and his interactions with his guests (mostly comedians) are full of laughs and insight into the world of stand up. Not my favorite but definitely worth checking out and it’s a great source of comedy while I’m waiting for the next FitzDog update. Which leads me to my other source of comedy while awaiting Greg’s updates…
• The Adam Carolla Show
• I don’t even know what to say if you don’t know who Adam Carolla is. When Loveline ended, a little part of me died. It was only in the past year or so that I discovered Adam had his own podcast and well it just so happens to be THE podcast in the podcast community. Adam is often considered to be for podcasts what Howard Stern is to radio. It’s a great podcast. For some reason I’m not nearly as into it as I was into Loveline and I’m not usually dying to hear the new episodes but I always listen to and enjoy them. Each episode includes over an hour of Adam ranting, the wonderful Teresa Strasser reading some news, and great interviews with guests that often (mostly due to Adam of course) go all over the place in a way that is always entertaining.

So I guess that’s it. I listen to a few others here and there and that doesn’t include any video podcasts but