My podcast-listening has been severely reduced since I stopped commuting for 3 hours every day!
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Yeah - I serve a lot of communities that are pretty far - the farthest is 14 hours - so there was definitely a lot of podcast listening going on pre-covid .
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I’ve just started rewatching West Wing. Is the West Wing Thing worth listening to alongside?
I love the West Wing Weekly. There’s loads of interesting stuff about casting, direction, acting. It does give away the story a bit, but it didn’t spoil it for me. It doesn’t change much, so if you like the first couple you’ll like all of it and vice versa.
The first set of live ones are a bit annoying because it’s full of people whooping and cheering at every word. They edit those episodes better at the end.
But I’m very, very nerdy so take my opinion with that in mind.
Oh, and The West Wing is even better than you remember (just finished a whole rewatch a fortnight ago)
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I think so but its probably worth knowing -
they are NOT fans and have been breaking it down episode by episode addressing the hugely problematic elements present in the show. Including the weak politics and rampant misogyny in the show.
Hosted by Dave Anthony (The Dollop) and Josh Olson (screenwriter, A History of Violence)
I’ve never seen the show, but have found the podcast really interesting.
Sorry, I’ve just read your message properly, I assumed you meant WW Weekly. I’ve not heard of West Wing Thing.
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Yes it was the West Wing WEEKLY I was thinking about but I may have a listen to the West Wing THING as well!
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I recommend it - they’ve had a few people get in touch to tell them that they were initially huge fans of the show and it’s been tainted if not ruined completely. They provide some pretty interesting context and have really strong criticism - I strongly recommend it 
I adore the West Wing. I don’t think I want it to be tainted in any way. 2020 is bad enough already!!
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@Captbnut I was about to say the same!! Maybe once I’ve finished this run through I’ll listen and see what they’ve got to say.
Tbf I’m not too fussed about the politics in many ways - I just want to be able to talk that smartly in real life!
I think their major issue is that the way politics are done on that show has informed the way a lot of people try to conduct politics- particularly on the left and the idea that “Speeches will solve everything”. They have some interesting insights into Sorkin as well, all being screen writers. It’s a lot of really fascinating context and additional information. I think any more about it and we’ll probably be going against the topic of this particular thread though haha.
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I’m just sad my offices don’t have that many corridors. I have time or 2 or 3 pithy lines, at best.
Yeah, there is a thread running throughout that everything will be solved by politicians saying a very noble thing that reminds everyone what a fine country the free nation of the United States of America truly is. Watching as a European, there were times it bordered on an Office style sitcom in its lack of self awareness.
A few years ago the first season (or was it second?) felt a bit awkward to me with that way they challenge racism. I can’t imagine how it reads in 2020.
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I work from home in a tiny boxroom. I could exchange witty banter with the dog on my floor I guess…
Podcastwise, I’ve massively felt the loss of the walk to work - as well as my normal lunch break (escape the office and eat over a podcast) and, thanks to a knee injury that I’m just shaking off, running. My consumption has dropped dramatically.
I enjoy Whartson Hall and IRTD, even though I’m now in one of those. For other gaming I have Nameless at YSDC, and RPPR Cthulhu/Delta Green is my other mainstay. I think partly because I don’t strongly want to play Delta Green, but I can enjoy other people enjoying it… Recently I’ve been listening to Effekt for their Coriolis actual play, as I’ve just started playing in a PBP of that system. System Matters is also good for general gaming talk for any German speakers. I haven’t listened to Miskatonic University Podcast in ages for some reason.
Outside gaming, I find some episodes of the Food Programme (BBC) very interesting - the three about catering in extreme conditions were great, covering food at the polar research station, on a nuclear sub, and in space. I pick and mix other BBC pods, mostly about science, medicine or history.
For the rest… Haclediad is my primary Welsh podcast despite my not being particularly techy. HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast is of course very solid, and the Double Shadow was a good equivalent for Clark Ashton Smith before vanishing (I can arrange episodes if anyone wants them).
Honestly, I find many podcasts quite irritating to actually get, because I don’t use any of the myriad apps that most seem to come through and it is often a huge pain trying to just get an audio file out of them. I’ve given up on quite a few podcasts because of that.
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Preach it!
In normal times I drive for several hours a week (to and from games), and listen to audiobooks and podcasts on the way there and back, and a bit at home. The system I built for this is essentially:
- get the podcast audio file
- autosplit it into roughly five minute chunks (with silence detection)
- put it both on my music server and on the little portable audio player I plug into the car
- when I get to the end of a trip or I’m interrupted, note which chunk I’ve got to, and next time I listen (there or somewhere else) I know roughly where I should start from.
But this does require me to have the actual audio file’s URL available, not “click here to listen”, and modern podcast templates are increasingly disinclined to reveal this information to me. Also, tag your files people! (SU&SD have finally started to do this.) Because the music player doesn’t know or care about your shiny web site, it only sees the file…
Things I’m listening to:
- RPGs
- YSDC nameless, though that’s now shut down for a while
- How We Roll - their Call of Cthulhu rather than D&D
- Esoteric Order of Roleplayers - about half what they’ve done, I’m not keen on the World of Darkness / indie stuff
- The Film Reroll - a bunch of actors taking a film’s initial situation and improvving round it to get a potentially completely different plot, using GURPS rules
- boardgames
- So Very Wrong About Games
- No Pun Included
- SU&SD though I’m finding it less enjoyable than I used to
- Our Turn Podcast, just restarted hurrah
- Tabletop Inquisition (because I’m a fan of Board Game Inquisition though I listen to this more than I watch that)
- not games
- Terrible Lizards, because I’m a fan of Iszi Lawrence
- Decoder Ring Theatre, huge back catalogue of pulp radio-style drama
- will try some time soon
- Monster Hunters
- The White Vault
Gosh, that seems to be more than I thought…
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For years now, and after many a frustrating experience, I’ve used BeyondPod on Android for all of my podcast listening. Riddles recommended it to me, if I recall. It has a search function for adding new feeds and does a pretty fair job of finding most of the podcasts I’ve looked for.
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I was really enjoying BeyondPod. Up until they completely redid their UI. Now I cannot stand it but can’t be bothered at the moment to switch to another app.
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I forgot to mention - HorrorBabble. Which is technically not a podcast, I suppose, because they release on YouTube. But it needs only a very slight modicum of technical cunning to convert a YouTube video into an audio file.
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Pocketcasts is rather excellent.
ETA: Good god, this thread is ancient! Sorry for the necromancy.
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