In case you didn’t know, podcasting is The New Black. Snoskred is always very late to the trends, I know Sephyroth was trying to get me to listen to podcasts years ago and I really wasn’t into it. For me when I am doing chores around the house I tend to “listen” to the TV, and I had quite a backlog of TV episodes I wanted to hear. I didn’t need to see them so much because I had already seen them.
My gateway podcast was The West Wing Weekly. I loved that TV show and I listened to one episode of the podcast and loved it, so spent quite a lot of time catching up on that series. I would download the episodes and put them onto a USB stick which went into my DVD player/set to box, and I could listen to the podcast.
Then someone recommended an app called Stitcher to me. I gave it a try but it was glitchy and refused to play episodes in the order I wanted to listen to them. As I was listening to one podcast, Stitcher would end one episode and then play me one random episode from another season of the podcast. That was a big no for me, so I was on the hunt for a new podcast app.
One of the online spaces I hang out in had a thread about podcasts and a group member recommended Podcast Guru. It has everything I could want with a very easy to use interface and the creator of the app is always just a message away. I’ve messaged twice to ask how to do things and got a response back within 24 hours which is impressive to me.
What I love most about Podcast Guru is that I can choose which podcast I want to listen to, set it going, and it will keep playing episodes until I come back to the phone and stop it. This is especially handy for me at the moment as I am on a decluttering the house kick and quite often am several rooms away from the phone.
So now I have told you about the app I am loving – what podcasts am I enjoying?
You’re Wrong About – Michael and Sarah do a great job exploring subjects we think we know about. The episode “A Dingo’s Got My Baby” is a must listen for us Aussies and the Columbine one is excellent but they are all great.
Clear + Vivid – Alan Alda has a podcast about communication and it is excellent. My favourite episode was with Judge Judy but there was also a great episode with the MASH cast and a deeply fascinating one with Michael J Fox which was recorded not long after Alan told the world he has been diagnosed with Parkinsons. He has quite a range of guests and you never quite know who will appear next. Highly recommend this one!
The West Wing Weekly – this horse race is on the home stretch, they are in season 7 now and on the way to the season finale. I’m really going to miss this podcast when they are done. Also related –
10,000 “No”s – Matthew Del Negro who was a cast member on the final two seasons of The West Wing has a podcast which is very interesting with varied guests across a range of subjects – as it says on the About page – “he gets up close and personal with top-shelf folks from all walks of life about the 10,000 “No”s they’ve had to endure and the struggles they’ve had to overcome on their journey to where they are today”. I particularly enjoyed the episodes with Richard Schiff and Eli Attie but I have not heard a bad episode and I adore Matthew Del Negro.
The Worst Idea Of All Time – Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery watch the same movie and review it every week for a year. I listened to the seasons where I had seen the movie (the Sex and the City ones) but I don’t think you have to have seen the movie to enjoy this podcast as these two have a very unique humour which is so funny. This leads us to –
We Couldn’t Help But Wonder – Mike and Elise revisit every episode of Sex and the City. These two are great and actually live in New York which adds a very interesting element in my opinion. If you were a fan of the show you will enjoy this – if you were not a fan of the show you will appreciate this podcast too.
Not to be confused with I Couldn’t Help But Wonder which I listened to for only a couple of minutes before deciding to hit stop.
NYPD Blue Balls – this one is for NYPD Blue addicts like me. The Asher Brothers talk about each episode of NYPD Blue. I love Kirk and Kyle and DEEPLY ADORE Papa Asher. Not for those without a sense of humour, FYI.
The Chernobyl Podcast – Created as a companion podcast to the TV series Chernobyl, this was a fascinating deep dive into behind the scenes of the TV show and the story of Chernobyl itself, including info on things they decided to leave out and why they changed certain things. Look for this podcast on your podcast app. This podcast led me to –
Scriptnotes – Craig Mazin from the Chernobyl series joins with John August to discuss all things screenwriting related.