What Podcasts to Listen to

8 PODCASTS TO DISTRACT YOU, TEACH YOU SOMETHING NEW, OR MAKE YOU LAUGH.

BY SANDRA AMSTUTZ

Staying In with Emily & Kumail

Writer/former therapist Emily V. Gordon and comedian/actor Kumail Nanjiani created the Staying In podcast as a response to our physical and emotional needs during this pandemic. With Emily being immunosuppressed, they discuss how they are dealing with the stress of the pandemic and her health as a married couple. They also created this show as a way to provide distraction recommendations and helpful communication and coping strategies to use while we’re all stuck in our houses. All of the proceeds generated from Staying In are being donated to charities helping those struggling as a result of the quarantine.

Good One: A Podcast About Jokes

Vulture.com senior editor Jesse David Fox hosts this weekly podcast dedicated to the analysis of a perfectjoke. Each episode features a comedian explaining the origins anddevelopment process behind some of their most successful material.Comedy Central roasts, stand-up bits, Saturday Night Live sketches andmore are all picked apart and mined for the ideas and methods thatcrafted them. “Anthony Jeselnik’s Three Flights” is a great episode tostart with as it dissects how Jeselnik can make seemingly offensivematerial undeniably funny.

Inside Voices

Kevin Porter creates and listens to lots of podcasts. On his newest show, Inside Voices, he has other podcast hosts on as guests to discuss the quality of their voice, why they started podcasting and how their shows have progressed. If you are hunting for new podcasts to listen to, this is the perfect place to get started. One particularly interesting episode is “Amir Blumenfeld Has A Nasal Voice” because it charts not only guest Amir Blumenfeld’s journey as a content creator and podcast host, but also as a founder of a successful podcast network.

Newcomers

Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus are two comedians who have never seen a single Star Wars movie. This show documents their journey watching every film in the saga and exploring the fandom from a fresh new perspective. Helpfully, they also have Star Wars superfans as guests on each episode to provide context for the times the movies were released and the ever-changing relationship the fans have with George Lucas. Newcomers is filled with laughs and errors (such as Nicole refusing to call Harrison Ford’s character anything other than “Hans”) and, therefore, not recommended for those who are easily angered by people not taking a space opera seriously.

Punch Up The Jam

Host Miel Bredouw (and in earlier episodes, former co-host Demi Adejuyigbe) created Punch Up The Jam as away to comedically dissect some of the most famous modern pop songs. Aline by line lyrical analysis with a fellow comedian guest is followedby a Weird Al-esque “punch up” of the original song, created by eitherMiel or Demi. Music lovers will appreciate the nerdy, but lightheartedapproach to studying chord and lyric choices. Start with an episode thatfeatures your favorite song or listen to “‘Kokomo’ by The Beach Boys(w/ Jon Gabrus)” for one of the show’s best song parodies.

Dead Eyes

Back in 2001, comedian/actor Connor Ratliff auditioned for and booked a small role on HBO’s mini-series Band of Brothers. He was soon fired and told that it was because director Tom Hanks thought he had “dead eyes.” Following in the footsteps of much more serious mystery shows such as Serial and S-Town, Dead Eyes strives to uncover the truth behind Connor’s firing. The show also features a bevy of well-known guests having vulnerable discussions with Connor about rejection and the fickleness of the entertainment industry.

Blank Check

Respected film critic David Sims and actor/comedian Griffin Newman are two close friends who love talking about movies. Together, along with their jolly and vocal producer Ben Hosley, they created Blank Check, a podcast about director’s filmographies. Throughout multiple mini-series, each featuring a different director, they review every film a director has made. With very few new movies being released right now, this podcast is the perfect opportunity for film fans to go back and catch up on all the films from the industry’s best creators.

Urgent Care

Mitra Jouhari and Joel Kim Booster are comedians and close friends who host the advice podcast, Urgent Care. They can’t always guarantee good or healthy advice, but you will have a blast listening to them confidently answer their troubled callers’ questions. Half of the fun is witnessing them struggle to come up with a clever nickname for each anonymous person that writes in or leaves them a voicemail. Like most things in life, the best place to start is with their first episode, “Icelandic Meat,” where two precocious teens call in asking for the best way to get revenge.