2024 Favorite Things: Audio & Video Podcasts
Podcasts:
While plenty of podcasts and video channels provide information and entertainment, I have been mainly utilizing them for comfort. Ok…brutal true crime? That’s a different thing. That’s either when I’m working at my desk or driving (using different areas of my brain). For listening to podcasts, I’ve been using PocketCasts in the car. Otherwise, I’ve seen that most podcasts also have a simulatenous YouTube file which may or not have something going on visually. Once in a while, I use Pandora, but the commercials get so annoying. We have the paid version of YouTube and it fabulous!
My top choices are in bold.
| Title | Platform | Description |
| Breaking Bread with Tom Papa | YouTube | Tom keeps conversations pretty light and superfluous,but you get to know his guests in a more thorough way than what they can fit into their comedy specials. |
| Working it Out with Mike Birbiglia | Mike interviews other comedians; his “working it out” segment is to break down a joke that isn’t ready for the stage yet; he always ends with asking the guest to name a charity they support which is a nice touch. | |
| Retired FBI Case Files with Jerri Williams | One of my favorites because Jerri writes fiction and non-fiction in her post-FBI life; she interviews retired agents (and occassionally a criminal) to get detailed background of specific units and cases. | |
| Writers Detectives Bureau | Definitely a cop show but the premise is for writers to hear from police experiences in order to get their fiction details correct. | |
| Cops & Writers | Obviously a pro-cop show, however Patrick acknowledges when policies have changed and why; he doesn’t get preachy about what cops go through; he’s able to get his guests to talk about their own origin stories and how they got into or out of jobs in the LE/legal spheres. | |
| Rachel Maksy | YouTube | Basically a creative hobbit who has become such a massive YT success, she was able to buy a big house with a barn and transform them; thrifting; sewing without patterns; decorating; won a make-up contest years ago for her incredible SFX transformations. |
| Prickly Alpaca | YouTube | Fun artist in the middle of nowhere; illustration; painting; sewing/designing costumes; sculpting |
| Science Vs. with Wendy Zuckerman | Gimlet Media | Well-researched, has expert guests from around the world discussing hot science topics in the news. |
| Evan & Katelyn | YouTube | crafters/makers |
| Adam Savage: Tested | YouTube | short and fun; inspires creativity |
| Punished Props | YouTube | crafters/makers |
| Much Props | YouTube | crafters/makers |
| Wicked Makers | YouTube | crafters/makers |
| Ben’s Worx | YouTube | crafters/makers |
| Letters from Sing Sing: Dan Slepion, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez | NBC | This is a heart-breaking 8-part true crime podcast about the wrongful conviction of man who lost 20 years of his life in prison while trying to fight the case in court to be exonerated. J.J. Velasquez would not appease the Parole Board which is an entity that requires incarcerated people to admit their guilt and remorse for the crimes that landed them in prison. Instead J.J. reached out innocence organizations that led him to better pro-bono lawyers to continue appeal after appeal trying to get a hearing before the judge. The incestuous ties from the police department to prosecutors to the judge and even a witness should have been brought up at the original trial along with many other things that later came out. The dedication of NBC News producer Dan Slepion showed audiences how it was impossible for JJ to have committed those crimes in the first place; yet, it took many years after NBC Dateline’s report for JJ to get released. |
| Culpable | True crime | |
| Strict Scrutiny | SCOTUS updates – left leaning hosts | |
| The Closet Historian: Bianca Esposito | YouTube | Even though she speaks rapidly, there’s something soothing about watching her design and sew. She’s also a big nerd. |
| The Stitchery: Charlie Nebe | YouTube | N/D creator who knows show business; makes her own clothing without patterns; loves to talk about books, but admits she doesn’t have much to like about modern fiction except for a few big favorites. |
| Kathleen Madigan: Madigan Pubcast | YouTube | Gives a little bit of music news and talks about things that might miss mainstream news. She always opens the show with tasting snacks and beer people have sent from different parts of the country. |
| Neal Brennan: Blocks | YouTube | Neal clearly wants the public to separate his art from his actions; in his standup special titled, “Blocks,” he clearly denounced Dave Chapelle’s transphobia; in his latest special, “Crazy Good,” he tells people to essentially disregard things comedians say. Yet, he has this podcast where he interviews other comedians to get them to open up about sensitive areas of their lives. he tends to act like he’s smarter than anyone of his guests because he’s been through his own lifelong self-help journey. |
Related 2024 Faves:
Books, Comics, Picture Books
TV
Movies
Documentaries
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.