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BEST PODCASTS“SO I JUST learnt this thing listening to my podcast this morning... Apparently, monorails were
originally drawn by horses! How crazy is that?” Does your day begin something like this?
Are you that person who enters the office with yet another new fact with which to enrich your
colleagues’ lives? Your humble reviewer unashamedly is this person. While some may quench
this thirst by picking up an encyclopaedia and reading it from cover to cover, loading up an app
and pressing ‘send random fact’ (of course there’s an app for that) or jumping online to get lost in
the Wikipedia maze, you can bet there’s a horde of podcasts waiting for you that can do the job
for you — and most likely with some humour thrown in. It goes without saying we’ll revisit this
topic later on down the line, so here’s the first five to sate your appetite for knowledge.
[ HEY, DID YOU KNOW THAT... ]
Just generally curious?
PODCASTS FOR THE INTELLECTUAL SPONGES.
[ CARMEL SEALEY ]
STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
WWW.STUFFYOUSHOULDKNOW.COM
Josh and Chuck enjoy talking about stuff, stuff
that they think you should know, and they’re
right! The topics they pick range from cats to
motion sickness, maggots to mysteries about
shoes floating up on beaches with feet in them
(yup, that’s a thing and it’s fascinating). The two
occasionally go off on a tangent, and each topic
is covered as though they’re not even recording
— they’re just discussing it, like two buddies
who’ve met up for dinner.SIDEDOOR
WWW.SI.EDU/SIDEDOOR
The Smithsonian podcast. There, I’ve done it.
You’re sold already. If not, you should be! The
Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum and
research centre, so any podcast coming out of
here is bound to be great. With subjects covering
the natural world, technology, science and more,
each episode covers more than a single topic, so
clean out some space in your brain, because you’ll
need the room to listen to this one!THE ESSAY
W W W.BBC.CO.UK
Essays are written monstrosities, and I’m glad
they’re all far behind me in my uni and school
days. However, listening to a well structured
argument or thought piece (cough, it’s actually
an essay — sshh!) about, well, anything really
can be a lot more enjoyable! A lot of these essays
are on people and their lives but it also covers
their context and culture, meaning you end up
listening to something thoroughly interesting.No Such Thing as a Fish
qi.com/podcast
We first mentioned this terrific podcast way
back in issue 47 (page 30) and it’s a testament
to this production’s quality that we’re still
listening to it now, over a year later. Each of
the four cohosts brings a fact to the table that
they’ve discovered during that week and the
others discuss, pick apart, add information
and also contribute adjacent facts. They’re
also really funny.
RadioLab
http://www.radiolab.org
Taking on an investigative angle, this show
takes a topic seemingly at random (there might
be some formula, but we’re blissfully ignorant
of it) and picks it apart, speaking to experts
and laypeople along the way. From looking at
mummies, to stabbing people with fake
knives, and from the laws of the land to trying
to describe colour, you’re sure to walk away
from each episode having learnt something.