My current podcasts of choice

Some of my favourite regular podcasts faded away a couple of years ago, and I've been in an auditing phase ever since, trying out a lot of new regular ones. And I'm rarely going past that first taste, because I get put off by baying laughter, stupid accents and other unimportant bullshit (like being unable to download an episode onto my hard drive, because my podcast habits don't extend to streaming, I like to save the audio and have it available anytime).

But I still need something to listen to when I'm cleaning up the house (often in six minute chunks) or when I go on long walks, so I keep trying, and have found some new faves. A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs by the splendid Andrew Hickey remains my top pick - recent episodes have been getting into Led Zeppelin and Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the series remains intellectually informative and emotionally moving. I've even signed up to the Patreon for the bonus episodes, and have almost caught up on them, even as the supposed 10-minutes bonuses get longer and longer (this is very much not a complaint).

Hickey's podcast is the peak of informative shows, filling my brain with loads of interesting facts. I also went through all the Cocaine and Rhinestones episodes for all the stories behind country music, and for movies, the best podcast for straight up trivia is What Went Wrong. Most movie podcasts are much more about how interesting the host is, but this one has Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer bringing a tonne of facts to each episode, while still placing events in their proper context, and calling out injustice when they see it.

The only other movie podcast that I never miss an episode of is the sublime hot takes of Lexg, and I only really listen to the Movies that Made Me, Brett Goldstein's Films to Be Buried With, or the Team Deakins depending on what guest they are getting in. That's usually the case when it comes to podcasts focused on interviews - although I will listen to any of Adam Buxton's interviews, especially when I have no knowledge of the person he's talking to, because his ramblechats are always fun - but even  interview with comic creators, like SKTCHD  and Dollar Bin Bandits, depend on the guest. (I will always go for any show that interviews Evan Dorkin and Grant Morrison.)

I also like podcasts about Grendel and 2000ad, and very occasionally I get sucked in by the sheer enthusiasm of Rob Liefeld (and his incredible gossip about the highs of 90s comics). I also enjoy in-depth podcasts about history, but my two faves - Fall of Civilization and Hardcore History are about a year between episodes at this stage.

And that's all I'm really listning to at the moment, although that is enough to get me through the dishes. Some podcasts have faded away, some entire websites have shut down - I went back to listen to a Comic Books Are Burning In Hell episode, only to discover the entire Factual Opinion site has disappeared - and while there is no shortage of interesting people rambling about interesting shit, I'm always looking for more.