Great podcasts that get you through workouts or other tough times.

[feloniousmonk]

Someone asked me for a podcast recommendation in another thread. Instead of hijacking that thread, I decided to start a thread where we recommend good podcasts for getting through workouts, commutes, and other times we need to occupy our brains.

Movies
How Did This Get Made: Three hilarious and smart comedians pick bad movies and talk about them. Incredibly funny and entertaining.
Doug Loves Movies: A total stoner hosts comedians, actors, and directors for movie trivia games. Tons of fun.

Funny
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks:Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanaugh pick a snack, eat a snack, and rate a snack. The premise is simple and sounds uninteresting, but it is hilarious!
Comedy Bang! Bang!:It's now a tv show on IFC, but it started as a podcast. It's very offbeat and has an unusual format, but it's a lot of fun.
Pod F. Tompkast:Paul F. Tomkins creates a crazy world of weird narratives and games. He does entire sketches where he does (as characters) Ice-T, Cake Boss, Andrew Lloyd Weber, John Lithgow, and John C. Reilly trying to find a film project to do. He also has hilarious bits where he feeds movie scripts into google translator and has people act out whatever google spits out. And, my personal favorite, he finds advice column letters from the 50s and answers them from a modern day perspective. The first half hour is usually just him talking and I usually skip it. Once the bits start, it is unstoppable.

Interesting/Informative
Radiolab: By far my favorite podcast. It is basically about human behavior from a micro perspective. The creators keep things fun, but it is smart smart smart. I never hear an episode without coming away with new way of thinking about things.
Freakonomics: Freakonomics is by the two guys responsible for the book of the same name. They explore what's behind what you see in the world. It's great because it's always backed up by data. It's always fun and incredibly interesting. Some of my favorite episodes expose wine experts (and I mean, the very best in the world) for the frauds that they are. Another uses data to undercut the logic behind the local food movement.

Music
Sound Opinions: is the way to go. Two incredibly smart guys reviewing new music, interviewing current artists, and giving music history lessons. I almost always disagree with their reviews, but they review intelligently. I've been exposed to some great new and old stuff listening to it.

So, those are ones I like. How about you? Good recommendations for podcasts?

[geek23ka]

radiolab is a w e s o m e.

and really, that's all i got! i wish i could have brought something to the thread. thanks for these though. we are about to go on a road trip and need stuff to listen to. all we were going on was radiolab and a free download of moby dick.

[michpc]

The "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" and "Car Talk" podcasts are the only thing that allow me to run ever. And "This American Life" and "The Moth" for long drives. God, I hate running. And I'm completely devastated that Car Talk is ending this fall. So sad. Will look into some of these others, for sure!

[feloniousmonk]

I should have included This American Life. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I generally love the investigative journalism they do. I cannot stand, however, when they have authors on there who simply read one of their pieces (I'm looking at you David Sedaris). Authors never understand the difference between writing for a reading audience and writing for a listening audience. As a result, the readings are just awful. Plus, I can read. And, if I wanted to read whatever some author wrote, I would just do that.

I also think Ira Glass is a snake. Those phone calls to people who listen, but don't pledge are just contrived, manipulative piles of garbage whose very concept is so ill-conceived that they call into question the intelligence and reputation of anyone who would participate in them. And, his hit piece on Mike Daisey disguised as a mea culpa was the most dishonest journalism I've encountered outside of actual fabrications.

Crap. I can see I've made it sound awful. It's not. It's quite good. Download. Listen. Skip the bad parts.

[michpc]

I should have included This American Life. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I generally love the investigative journalism they do. I cannot stand, however, when they have authors on there who simply read one of their pieces (I'm looking at you David Sedaris). Authors never understand the difference between writing for a reading audience and writing for a listening audience. As a result, the readings are just awful. Plus, I can read. And, if I wanted to read whatever some author wrote, I would just do that.

I also think Ira Glass is a snake. Those phone calls to people who listen, but don't pledge are just contrived, manipulative piles of garbage whose very concept is so ill-conceived that they call into question the intelligence and reputation of anyone who would participate in them. And, his hit piece on Mike Daisey disguised as a mea culpa was the most dishonest journalism I've encountered outside of actual fabrications.

Crap. I can see I've made it sound awful. It's not. It's quite good. Download. Listen. Skip the bad parts.

haha, totally agree. When it's just being good old fashioned random stories about random Americans, it's at its best, in my opinion. Though, either way, it's always an excellent way to get through a long car ride.

[geek23ka]

you guys have all mentioned some of my all-time fave radio shows, and i didn't consider that they have podcasts.

thank you.

[michpc]

you guys have all mentioned some of my all-time fave radio shows, and i didn't consider that they have podcasts.

thank you.

The free podcasts are the BEST!

[drarmament]

You don't lift to hard heart pounding music, do you ppl even lift? Talk radio and other crap, your doing it wrong.

[geek23ka]

i actually listen to nothing while i lift. i have to keep an ear out for the bb.

[michpc]

You don't lift to hard heart pounding music, do you ppl even lift? Talk radio and other crap, your doing it wrong.

I listen to music or nothing while lifting...podcasts while running because it distracts me from how much I hate running. I love lifting, though, so I don't need the distraction.

[drarmament]

ohh, talking about cardio, ok. Scared me there for a minute. I would die if talk radio was on and I'm pulling, pushing, or squating. I need my heart rate up and music helps to get it there.

[feloniousmonk]

You don't lift to hard heart pounding music, do you ppl even lift? Talk radio and other crap, your doing it wrong.

Luckily, many of us have the I.Q. to be able to workout our bodies and minds simultaneously.

An example of why that is important to us: that "your" in your post above should be "you're."

[drarmament]

alright genuis, I can't spell, UUUUU, You have such a high IQ. Impress me!