Podcast Suggestions

I had the idea of seeking out some good interview-based podcasts, partly to help me get better at interviewing for the Thinking Poker Podcast and partly because I like that stuff. Then I listened to one episode of WTF With Mark Maron and was blown away so I’m now I’m trying to listen to all the back episodes and haven’t sought out anything else. Oh I listened to one episode of the Joe Rogan Experience too, but I liked Maron more so I now I’ve just immersed myself in him. I think the broadest outline of what he’s doing (bringing in interesting people he knows from his field and have good conversations with them, sometimes about the field and sometimes not) is very similar to what we’re trying to do.

But I’d love to get some more suggestions. Do you listen to other shows with that sort of format? Who do you think conducts really great interviews and could teach me a thing or two?

27 thoughts on “Podcast Suggestions”

  1. NPR Car talk radio…silly and informative (okay maybe not the best role model, I do like the puzzle at the end of most shows)

  4. Kevin Pollak Chat Show. As with everything some are better than others but I find most very good. If nothing else check out the last 10 minutes of the Dana Gould episode when they do the Larry King game.

    • Just listened to the Hank Azaria episode, it was a little slow but the highlights were really good. Cool/funny that they talk about poker so much, at least in that episode.

  5. EconTalk is a favorite of mine for the economics topics. Recentlly the topics have expanded to other science and political guests. Like what you are doing, it is intellectual. The host, Russ Roberts does a good job challenging his guests in a respectful way. He also has flaws, as he tends to talk over his guest sometimes in his effort to add information or humor.
    Econtalk.org or on iTunes.

  6. I started listening to This American Life based on your podcast’s recommendation. Thanks!

    As far as “interview style” podcasts go, here’s what I listen to on the reg:
    -The Mental Illness Happy Hour. It’s no coincidence that someone who uses the nom de plume “EMO MELTDOWN!!!” loves this podcast. I almost never skip an episode. Paul Gilmartin maintains a good balance between interviewing showbiz types and regular people with interesting mental health back stories. Also, his non-interview segments are almost all reading listener surveys, which I also find revelatory and enjoyable.

    -Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank. Rambling, discursive conversations about various topics. Ari isn’t trying to run a tight ship or anything, the random tangents are often what i find most enjoyable (for instance, episode #69 was supposed to concentrate on Nick Thune’s monogamy [yawn] but iirc it focused more on Nick’s childhood of compulsive lying and petty criminality [fascinating!]).

    -The Church of What’s Happening Now. Not for the easily offended, it’s light on interviews and heavy on Joey Diaz’s notoriously filthy humor. Every episode, Joey has a brief conversation with someone he knows (often from his childhood home of North Bergen, NJ) and they swap stories that range from inspirational to “holy shit how do some people actually live this way??!?!”

    -WTF. I often skip the musician interviews and live podcasts, but consistently enjoy the showbiz/comedy interviews. I particularly enjoyed Marc’s recent interview with Daniel Smith.

    -Joe Rogan Experience. I’m listening less and less these days, because it’s getting a bit repetitive (and not in the charming way that i find Jim Rome repetitive); I also tend to avoid the political/nutrition/sasquatch guests.

    -Freakonomics Radio. Short and sweet interviews with various econ folk. A bit superfluous considering they post the transcripts on their blogs.

    -Occupy Poker. Maybe it’s because I know most of the people Jon and JC interview, but I almost always get multiple solid laughs per episode.

    • Thanks, Leo. Occupy Poker sounded promising from the first episode, but the second one (talking conspiracy theories with LuckyChewy) turned me off to the show. Maybe I’ll give them another chance with your episode. If they can’t make podcast gold with you as a guest, they don’t know what they’re doing!

  7. Love the new podcast, Andrew. Your question got me thinking, I listen to twenty or so podcasts in my rotation, including yours and WTF. When I looked through the list, they were either already poker interview shows or comedy shows. The comedy shows wouldn’t be much help, and most of the poker podcasts are straightforward news/interview like the 2+2 pokercast.

    The Ante Up podcast has a good format, it’s fun and the hosts have a good thing going with their basic structure. The content is geared toward amateurs rather than your higher-end stuff, but it might be worth listening to if for no other reason than to hear their basic comfort level after six years.

    I’d love to see a poker themed comedy show like Comedy Bang Bang! or Professor Blastoff, but I doubt that’s what you’re looking for.

    • I used to listen to Ante Up a few years ago (they’re the guys based out of Florida, right?) but their hero-worship of TV pros started to grind on me the more I learned about poker. Glad to hear they’re still going though, it was a good show and they do have a very charming enthusiasm for the game.

  8. Like Sean, my podcast list is poker and comedy – does this tell us something about the poker player? Anyways, just wanted to say I’ve been listening to your new podcast since the beginning and I really like it, especially for the hand analysis. Keep up the good work guys.

  10. The early episodes of the Nerdist podcast were super process-oriented, which made them very interesting. Also a great example of a panel interview format with one person leading the interview if you ever wanted to invite one or two of your students to join and interview a higher-profile guest.

    • Thanks! I listened to her interview with Stephen Colbert and it sounded like she was ready to jump on him right there in the studio. I hope you are not suggesting Nate and I be so flirty with our guests!

    • Haven’t heard Econ Talk, but I like the other two. Not sure they’re quite the style we’re going for, though.

  13. Haven’t seen Philosophy Bites or the Tony Kornheiser show mentioned yet. Two different approaches but entertaining results!

  15. I think it would be a cool idea for an episode if instead of interviewing 1 person who is recognizable in the poker world, you interview between 3-5 listeners from the podcast in much shorter segments. You could have the listeners email in a little about themselves and what they would like to talk about, and then you guys could pick the ones that you think would make for the best episode. I think this would be really cool as long as it is only once or at most once every few months because it really is great to hear from Pros and experts but a little change of pace for an episode might be interesting.

    • Thanks for the suggestion, Joe. Nate’s suggested something similar. Maybe for some sort of landmark episode, 25th perhaps?

  16. This is a bit late, but you if you like Maron, you might want to check out the (sadly departed) Baseball Prospectus’ Up and In podcast; not entirely interview based, but quite excellent.

    Also, is there any way to get more than the last 5 episodes of ThinkingPoker listed in the iTunes store?

    Thanks – love your work!

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