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Ten cool podcasts you need to listen to

Interesting, fun and creative shows in Podcast world

When I first heard about Podcasts I was intrigued, back in 2004 I read about how Adam Curry, an ex MTV DJ, had reviewed a way of broadcasting talk, radio style, on the Internet.

The first podcast I listened to was by Mark Hoppus [Blink 182], Hi My Name Is Mark, I was not impressed, the sound quality was bad and the content, boring.

Safe to say I did not listen to any Podcasts for some duration, until 2010 I stumbled upon the TWiT show [This Week in Tech], I was impressed with how things had improved: sound quality and content.

It was just a matter of time until I found out about other podcasts and realized that we were in the middle of a new media revolution that was empowering individuals with the ability to globally distribute their ideas and create a following of like minded fans.

Podcasts have been impacting traditional industries such as journalism, education and entertainment allowing anyone to freely create and distribute news and media, socially. Lately Podcasts have experienced a massive wave of interest thanks to the success of the Serial Podcast. But there are much more interesting, fun and creative shows in Podcast world, and that is why I decided to put together a list of my favorite Podcasts.

10. TWiT - This Week In Tech

This Week in Tech is a roundtable of tech talk that will keep enthusiasts up-to-date on the latest technology news hosted by the charismatic Leo Laporte. As I said, TWiT was the gateway to the podcast world for me and it is pretty interesting to listen when they have guests like Nick Bilton, Baratunde Thurston and John C. Dvorak because they not only know what they are talking about but they can also bring an entertainment factor. The problem with the show is when they cannot employ interesting guests speakers, they rely on tech bloggers that have not much to add to conversation but to make crazy speculations about tech companies and industries.

9. The Andy Greenwald Podcast

The Andy Greenwald Podcast is part of Grantland which is a sports and culture blog that was created by the sports journalist Bill Simmons and has a wide coverage of culture and pop-culture. On the podcast Andy Greenwald interviews TV personalities, movie-stars and musicians, they discuss shows, projects, and genres the individuals are involved with. The interviews are very casual in style and make you feel like you are just listening to two friends talking about what they are up to.

8. You Made It Weird

You Made it Weird is a weekly podcast by comedian Pete Holmes on the Nerdist Industries which is a powerhouse for great podcasts. Holmes interviews other comedians, musicians, writers and actors and, as the name implies, he makes it weird. Holmes is known for avoiding the usual interview questions, the show can often get spiritual and deep which makes it interesting and introspective. There are always open, honest and funny answers from the guests and you can expect some amazing jokes from both parties.

7. Get up on this

On this podcast Jensen Karp, Matthew Robinson and a guest [a different one every week] discuss things they think will soon become popular. The guests are often interesting and charming and the content is very spot on, these guys talk about upcoming somethings for example: music, TV shows, apps, movies etc]. You might been thinking, who are these guys and why should I trust them. Well, they have been integrated within the entertainment industry since they were kids, and are up to date with entertainment, right now.

6. The Nerdist Writers Panel

The format of this podcast is pretty straightforward. The host Ben Blacker, a writer with credits on various TV shows and with lots of charisma have informal chats among professional writers about the process and business of writing. How they broke, developed and succeeded in the business, their experiences working on various shows, writers rooms, and how networks operate.

It features some of the best writers and showrunners working in television and film. The show is also on the Nerdist Industries and is great way to know about behind the scene stuff that has happened on your favorite TV shows and Movies.

5. The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast

From all the Podcasts I listen regularly the Bret Easton Ellis is the only one that makes me cringe and get mad at the host sometimes. This is because his attitude towards millenniums and young people in general. He always sounds very bitter and insecure when he goes on these rants, like a typical Xgener [a generation X person] that could not keep up with the changes in the Entreatment and Media Industries brought by the younger generation. But besides that the Podcast is great. Bret, a best-selling author of books like: Less Than Zero and American Psycho, always have an intelligent and fascinating conversation with his guests. The show always kicks off with a long monologue from the host and is followed by conversations topics like: political correctness, porn, gay identity and TV vs movies [sorry, Bret but TV is much better than movies these days] the dude can be a jerk sometimes but he does host a very entertaining Podcast.

4. Hollywood Babble-on

When not working in movies, Smith can be found podcasting every waking moment of his life over at his Podcast empire, SModcast.com, meanwhile Garman can be heard every weekday morning on Los Angeles' a.m radio program, The Kevin And Bean Show, as celebrity impersonator and character voice actor.

This show takes a look at the news of the week in Hollywood, and generally mocks the business that has made them both so successful. What makes this duo special is the harmony between Smith and Garman. Kevin is the lovable mischievous kid-bear, Ralph is more of a puppet master, and they know how to play off one-another.

3. NoAgenda

NoAgenda is a show that preaches about not having an agenda. The whole Idea of the show according to both hosts John C. Dvorak [A columnist in the areas of technology and computing] and the “Podfather” himself Adam Curry is to make a deconstruction of the mainstream news cycle which they call disguised propaganda. I find it highly entertaining, as long as I don't get too ramped up with all of the conspiracy theories that Curry ejects. The show has no advertisers and instead relies on its listeners [known as “Producers”] to voluntarily donate, the jingles that they play on the show are hilarious and are all made by the listeners also. I enjoy the NoAgenda because they seem to strike a good chord between "crackpot ideas" and realistic potential whist being at times, hilarious.

2. The Nerdist

The comedian and professional host Chris Hardwick founded the Nerdist Industries in 2012, The Nerdist is the flagship podcast of the company and started in 2010. The idea behind the Podcast is very simple; like many other shows they focus on pop-culture but with a twist, It is made by geeks, and for geeks, making the interviews very interesting almost as if, it was made by a fan. Even though their celebrity interviews great and fun to listen to. The show gets even more personal during the episodes when Chris and co-hosts Jonah and Matt go guest-less and just chat about what’s going on in their lives. Since a hostful episodes doesn't have a guest to focus on, their topics and rapport are rapid and relentless.

1. WTF with Marc Maron

Comedian Marc Maron fell into podcasting as a last resort attempt to save his career and here fpund his true genre. WTF is one of the Internet's most popular podcasts. Twice a week, Marc interviews comedians, comedy writers, musicians and other folks from the entertainment industry—all from the comfy of his garage, yeah you read it right, he does the podcast from his garage which in my humble opinion is awesome.

Maron is neurotic, vulnerable and fractious, but he is also curious and deeply empathetic. Maron often makes his lack of preparation clear during interviews, he even has a bit about his stand up routine on how he never prepares for anything. Most of his interviews start with him asking about the guest’s parents, childhood, and early career, which he skillfully returns to late in the interview when guests are more comfortable. Maron is without a doubt is one of the best interviewers around and that was probably why president Obama decided to come to the garage last June for an interview. Kudos, to him and his genre when the most powerful leader of the free world shows up on your garage for an interview.

Well, I hope you liked my little list. if you have never listened to a podcast before these may be a good starting point. You don’t necessarily need an iPod or any special device to listen to any of these, as they are all available on the their websites, Soundcloud or YouTube. But if you prefer to listen to the while commuting, or taking a road trip you will definitely need a mobile device, both iOS or Android offer many apps where you can download, manage and listen to Podcasts.