Top Five Podcasts
With an extremely long commute, I happen to listen to a wide variety of podcasts. These are my current, consistent, favorites:
(1) The Drabble Cast: This show calls itself a weird podcast of weird stories from weird authors for weird listeners, and they are not wrong. The show host, Norm Sherman, is reliably hilarious and clever, and is frankly the reason I started listening to the show in the first place -- he guest hosts a lot of the short story podcasts I listen to, and his episodes, whether reading or just hosting, are always the most enjoyable. The subject matter of the stories varies greatly, but always have an odd and intriguing twist that make them compelling listening. I recommend this podcast to just about everyone as the stories are really a lot of fun, are often quite humorous, and there is always something for anyone.
(2) Life After the Cover Save: Officially a "40k" podcast, this is really nothing more than excuse for a bunch of former college buddies to sit around and tell fart and dick jokes while poking fun at one another. What guy hasn't sat around like this with his buddies? While stupid and trite on its face, the openness of this group really sucks you in and makes you feel a part of the group. Equal parts witty and offensive, I find this show a good listen and a great way to blow off steam.
(3) Escape Pod: I love science fiction, and this podcast is dedicated to short stories of that genre. The good thing about that particular medium is that it can dabble in fantasy, drama, historical fiction, and horror and still stay true to form. The stories in this cast are great fun and consistently of a very high quality. While its sister casts (Pseudopod and Pod Castle) are also great, this one is by far my favorite.
(4) Doug Loves Movies: Comedians and movies, what a great combination! Centered around Doug Benson and his infamous 'Leonard Maltin Game', this is a weekly show where Doug invites three people to come onto the stage at the UCB theater to play a movie guessing game really similar to the old game show, "Name That Tune." Instead of betting on how many notes from a song it will take to guess a tune, however, in Doug's version you guess the name of the movie based on the number of cast members (from the bottom - last billed - up) he reads to you and from hints out of Leonard Maltin's review of the movie. Only about a third of each show is actually dedicated to the game, with most of the show revolving around the (usually) hilarious conversations between the host and his guests. Good fun -- although I can very rarely guess correctly.
(5) A Prairie Home Companion: Ok, so yeah, Garrison Keillor is probably better geared towards my father's generation... or perhaps my grandfather's generation, but I still really enjoy listening to Keillor's stories. He has a very compelling way of sucking you into every story about his fictional home town in Minnesota, and I enjoy how he weaves in nods to great literature, folk music and life lessons. A modern day Aesop, there is something in his stories for everyone.
