Podcasts

These shows used to be listed in random order because there weren't so many of them. But the list has grown a lot since, so I've sorted them into three categories: favourites, shows I always listen to (and honestly look forward to new episodes); recommendations, shows I try to keep up with; and lastly, dropped, shows I listened to a whole lot of, but no longer do so anymore. Most of these shows are hosted on several platforms. I personally use [evil-Swedish-audio-streaming-giant] for all of them.

Favourites

Jacobin

Jacobin only has one or two shows that strictly "belong" to them, but I think the company sponsors some others on their "channel". I first learned about The Jacobin Show on YouTube, after I read an article on Jacobin's website. Long story short, I was instantly hooked on their interviews and coverage. I found most of the other podcasts in this list thanks to the Jacobin Show's hosts and guests. I've always wanted to use the word "ecumenical" and I think that's the best way to describe what Jacobin was like for me. Unfortunately, the weekly show ended (RIP 2019-2022) because the hosts were too busy to keep it going. Still, Jacobin has plenty of ongoing content, including Behind The News, Michael & Us, The Dig, Long Reads, and Jacobin's flagship(?) show, Jacobin Radio. I no longer listen to each individual show actively, so I'll eventually divide this listing into their own sections.

Woke Bros

Wozny "Big Woz" Lambre and Nando Vila are two of my favourite podcast hosts. I couldn't get enough of Nando's humour when he was co-hosting Jacobin Weekends on YouTube and ended up finding him here.

Cargo Cult

I don't know much about either of the hosts, but I heard them on an episode of GTAA (another show listed below) and was hooked. Despite how funny it can get, it really is a tech podcast that's such a nice mix of casual and sardonic when it comes to making fun of the nonsense in and around the tech world. Parasocial friendship with Chapo ended, now Cargo Cult is my best parasocial friend.

Economic Update

One of my favourite economists is Richard D. Wolff because he always explains complex economic ideas in plain language. His understanding of the economy and curren events is refreshing and pragmatic. Like a lot of other podcasts on this list, I found out about this one after hearing Wolff's interviews on The Jacobin Show. I've always enjoyed hearing his thoughts on the current state of the economy, whether in the US or internationally.

Class Unity

Class Unity comprises episodes that are sometimes gossip about contemporary politics (with a focus on class), interviews with interesting people I've never heard of anywhere else, and deliberately educational discussions about history. What the group, Class Unity, represents is much better explained on their website, https://classunity.org. Some time in 2021, I joined one of their somewhat frequent reading groups. The book they read was about heteredox macroeconomics and it was hosted by a member of Class Unity, Daniel Burnfin. I was really impressed with how well he led the group and how much he (and the other reading group members!) understood the topics covered in the book. Sadly, I ended up dropping out of the group due to other commitments, but I still learned plenty from the little I read and heard from Daniel and the others in the group. I'm particularly effusive about this podcast because they represent politics I align with most, which is anti-elite, analytical and humanistic at its core. I'm also a big fan of Nicholas Kiersey, the host behind most of the episodes.

Recommended

This Is Revolution

TIR doesn't always put out great content (for me), but it's mostly because of how diverse their guests are. I think it's best to judge each episode by the topic and the guest. They also spend a lot of time goofing around at the start, which can get pretty funny, but I can see why others might be turned off by it. Admittedly, I sometimes skip the intro bits to get right into the interviews.

Left Reckoning

Matt Lech and David Griscom interview a slew of great guests while making fun of general American demagoguery. I personally consider this the de facto sequel to The Michael Brooks Show because the hosts of LR were former members of TMBS. Like TMBS, I think its format and topics are very approachable for anyone. However, the show spends a fair amount of time just "reacting" to things, which limits how much unique "substance" is in some of their episodes.

Give Them An Argument

Ben Burgis takes a mostly academic and sometimes philosophical approach to current political affairs in the U.S. Solid show overall. But despite being the point, their counter-reactionary chatter is just chatter and often goes around in circles. Very similar to Left Recokoning in format, but they cover different topics.

American Prestige

Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner's sarcasm is the only way I can follow current events around the world without being bored. Their interviews can get very academic (and therefore somnolent or sleep-inducing) depending on their guests, but I mostly keep up with their weekly news updates which are always informative. It's also depressing as hell, which in today's world is pretty ordinary.

Ones and Tooze

Adam Tooze is one of today's greatest living intellectuals. I don't always agree with his or his co-host's perspectives, but I think they're enlightening to listen to nonetheless. The appeal of the show for me is the odd topic choices, like the economics of love or the economics of fireworks. The show itself covers two topics each week, almost always related to business or economics. Technocratic, but palatable.

Norman Finkelstein's Podcast

This is a very new podcast. It's basically a high-level undergrad class, hosted by Norman Finkelstein and open to the public. Finkelstein and his audience talk about Russia-NATO relations, race politics, and really anything historically or politically significant, particularly from a non-mainstream perspective. It's best listened to alongside a (free) subscription to Finkelstein's Substack, which he uses to express his own thoughts independent of the podcast as well as address or clarify ideas covered in each episode. Again, it's like a university class, so episodes can run quite long, but the audience is often asked to participate. The classes in my final years of uni were similar, but hardly this thought-provoking. Anyway, I should also leave a warning that it's volunteer-run (by Finkelstein's former or current students?) and recorded remotely, so there are inevitable technical issues, adding to the episode runtime.

Dropped

Zoned Out

Some of this show's content is pretty basic, which is excellent if you're new to politics, but not great if you've already heard most of this stuff before. For me, I got a lot of it from Jacobin show, and ironically when Jacobin ended, they advertised this show on their final episodes and I obliged. The guest conversations sometimes feel a bit amateurish when they deviate from the main topic, but tangential chatter is pretty common in most podcasts. I don't listen to "most" podcasts for that reason, but maybe that's why you might be interested in it.

A World To Win

Grace Blakely is an intellectual force of nature. She mostly covered UK events and interviews guests from Europe. Sadly, I think the show ended, and without any announcement, too! If you don't mind old episodes about the UK, Europe, and sometimes beyond, the recordings are all still available.

Unf*cking the Republic

I never really kept up with UNFTR but it helped kill time when I ran out of podcasts to listen to during the winter of 2022. It's similar to Zoned Out in terms of content quality: very educational when it's focused on specific topics, too tangential and chaotic when it devolves into chatter, so it's best for those newly interested in non-mainstream politics.

Chapo Trap House

CTH is the most subscribed/popular podcast on this list. I used to keep up with all of the free episodes but I dropped it after a few months because honestly I didn't understand most of their obscure references. (It's usually not worth the time to look up said references, either - they're very American-centric.) Matt Christman is the best of the three hosts and I look forward to listening to what he has to say when he appears as a guest on other shows.

Krystal, Kyle, and Friends

I found Krystal Ball through her appearance on the Jacobin Show and most of their content is "reaction" based. Their guests are hit or miss. Both of them have really nice voices though, so I guess this show is the most "radio talk show" out of every single other show on this list because admittedly I've sometimes just let it run in the background while paying 0 attention to what they say. Kyle Kulinski has an uncanny ability to talk a lot about nothing but make it sound good and Krystal has a pretty voice! (... which is an insult to both, but in a good way?)

Disclaimer

Podcasts ultimately range from switch-your-brain-off entertainment to genuinely valuable edutainment. The content is conducive toward parasocial relationships which some of these podcasters openly admit, and I may be guilty in indulging in it sometimes. I usually don't listen to any podcast without doing something else on the side, which is usually housekeeping, exercise, or hobbies.