Of course I need a high volume of music in my life, but listening to a conversation, a rant, or an interview allows the hours to go by more seamlessly. I wind up feeling somewhat engaged with the outside world, and for whatever reasons, it also helps me focus on the game I'm playing.
Luckily for me, we are in the midst of a podcasting boom, with dozens of mostly comedic personalities engaging in DIY broadcasting and the end product showing up on your iTunes folder on a regular basis.
Julie Klausner - How Was Your Week?
What I like: Klausner is the best thing going in podcasting right now. Her broadcasting style manages to be both stream-of-consciousness and intensely focused. It's a rundown of everything that interests her culturally and philosophically, whether it's feminism or Judaism, Broadway productions or reality TV. She's also extremely witty.
She often invites a guest on the show to focus on a single tangent, like the time she had Patton Oswalt on to discuss the themes and mores in the movie Splash. Ultimately, you get the sense that you are eavesdropping on a couple of intelligent New Yorkers having a fully enriched conversation about whatever.
What I don't like: The bed music she uses reminds me of "We Didn't Start the Fire," which then gets stuck in my head.
Marc Maron - WTF With Marc Maron
What I like: Maron's twice-weekly podcast might as well be the blueprint for the current day comedian's podcast. It mostly consists of him having conversations with a variety of comic and show-business personalities, and the results are usually very funny, often poignant, and occasionally enlightening.
Embracing a heart-on-his-sleeve neurosis and not shying away from the ever-present existential crisis that seems to occupy his headspace, he has shared the triumphs and failures of his career with the audience along the way. It's actually been pretty great to see Maron (whose comedy I loved back during the "alternative comedy" boom) reemerge in this format as a serious and successful interviewer who manages to hit upon both the sublime and the mundane aspects of his guests' life with equal clarity.
What I don't like: Sometimes, Maron's interviews feel too agenda-driven, and there are times when I'd like him to let the conversation breath a little bit more.
Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer - You Had to Be There
What I like: Unabashedly raunchy, loosely formatted, this podcast is like listening to two women have a conversation in which they're grappling with their insecurities while simultaneously shedding those insecurities, leaving behind raw, hilarious honesty.
Their guests are often lesser known comedians, some of whom are still working day jobs, and I especially relate to Glaser as a sort of long lost sister, as she reports on the low-lights of her journey through life, like getting arrested for smoking pot outside of a NYC club or having to move back in with her parents as she struggles with life as a road comic.
What I don't like: Inconsistency. Lately, the show has not been popping up in my iTunes according to its regular schedule, and that is a fairly important aspect of podcasting.
The Sklar Brothers - Sklarbro Country
What I like: Comedy meets sports meets referential humor, with a send-up to close out each episode. The twins Randy and Jason Sklar have a really enjoyable flow, and you certainly don't need to be a sports fan to enjoy this show. In reality, sports is just a starting point for the brothers to riff endlessly.
What I don't like: Sometimes, it can be hard to focus on the comedic content as they vigorously run down news items on the absurd behavior of professional athletes, and I'll have to rewind to catch the subtleties.
Jesse Thorn - Bullseye with Jesse Thorn (formerly The Sound of Young America)
What I like: Straightforward, well-structured interviews with the gamut of entertainers. Whether he's talking to Weird Al or Carrie Fisher, Dick Cavett or Daryl Hall, Thorn really knows his interview subject, and results are predictably engaging. He generally doesn't plumb the depths of the human condition like Marc Maron, but the subject matter is so rich in and of itself, he doesn't really need to. His breadth of knowledge is nothing short of impressive.
What I don't like: That breadth of knowledge comes off too polished sometimes, and as a result, his level of engagement can feel a bit stuffy.
What I like: A newcomer in the field with only a few episodes on iTunes so far, this biweekly podcast features interviews with a variety of musical personalities by each of the hosts. Tom Scharpling (whose Best Show on WFMU, also a podcast, would make the list if it were not a terrestrial radio show) is something of a renaissance man and a living legend of underground broadcasting.
So far, Scharpling and his co-hosts Maggie Serota and Daniel Ralston have produced some excellent interviews with a variety of musical personalities whose music they clearly know well and love.
What I don't like: I'm not exactly on the cutting edge of new music these days, and I'm often not familiar with the music beforehand, so I am not as immediately interested in the subjects.
***
Honorable mentions: Doug Loves Movies, This American Life (not great for poker but great), Walking the Room, Fitzdog Radio.
What are your favorites?