Coffee Talk: What are your favorite podcasts?

Hello everyone!

First Coffee Talk of August, and while some of us are still on holidays (or might be heading soon), I’d love to know what you think of Podcasts and which ones are your favorite.

Podcasts have become more and more popular in the last few years, and I don’t know about you, but I’m quite obsessed with them! On my way to work, in the gym, or in the car… I basically listen to them anytime I’m on my own, with a bit of time to spare.

I have always been passionated by politics and history, so these are my favorite ones but I’m also very curious and love anything related to science! Weirdly, I tend to listen to a lot of them in my native language (French), but I also have some good ones in English (I’ve listed my favorites ones below).

So what about you? When do you listen to them? Which ones are your favorite?

EN:
BBC Witness (BBC World Service - Witness History - Downloads)
Stuff you missed in history class (Stuff You Missed in History Class | iHeart)
No such thing as a fish (Stream No Such Thing As A Fish music | Listen to songs, albums, playlists for free on SoundCloud)
99% invisible (https://99percentinvisible.org/)

FR:
Affaires sensibles (Affaires sensibles par Fabrice Drouelle sur France Inter)
La marche de l’histoire (Le Vif de l'histoire : podcast et émission en replay | France Inter)
Au coeur de l’histoire (Découvrez l’Histoire de France et du monde avec l’historienne Virginie Girod dans cette nouvelle saison du podcast "Au cœur de l’Histoire". Embarquez pour un voyage dans le temps inédit sur fond de musiques originales, pour une immersion totale à la manière de la fiction audio. Au-delà des rois et reines de France sur lesquels elle pose un regard neuf, Virginie Girod met en lumière des personnages historiques moins connus mais tout aussi influents, qu’ils soient artistes, scientifiques ou politiques. De Napoléon à Christian Dior en passant par Mère Teresa, partez à la rencontre des figures inspirantes de l’Antiquité, du Moyen-Âge, de la Renaissance ainsi que de l’époque contemporaine. Retrouvez du lundi au jeudi deux grands récits en deux parties. Et pour aller plus loin, Virginie Girod reçoit chaque vendredi pour une interview un invité historien, chercheur, journaliste ou encore archéologue, qui vient apporter son éclairage historique sur une question d’actualité ou sur l’un des sujets de la semaine. "Au Cœur de l’Histoire" est une production Europe 1 Studio. Personnages historiques abordés : Auguste, Edgar Hoover, Emile Zola, Marie Bonaparte, Néron, Ramsès II, Christophe Colomb, Leni Riefenstahl, Colette, Frida Kahlo, Charles Darwin, Anne Bonny, François Vatel, Albert Einstein, Sissi l'Impératrice, Robert Capa, Madame de Pompadour, Nellie Bly, Spartacus, Magda Goebbels, Rodin, Jean-Martin Charcot, Andy Warhol, Furcy, Irène Joliot-Curie, Grace Kelly, Napoléon Ier et bien d'autres ! Sujets couverts dans les interviews : histoire de l'avortement, histoire des pandémies, histoire du voile, histoire du bonnet phrygien, histoire du Père Noël, histoire de l'uniforme scolaire, histoire de la BD, histoire des profilers, nourriture et pouvoir, étude du crâne d'Hitler, les actrices du IIIe Reich, la chute de l'Empire romain, les gladiateurs de l'Antiquité, les femmes et le voyage. "Au cœur de l'Histoire" s'adresse aux passionnés d'histoire mais aussi à ceux qui cherchent à apprendre l'Histoire facilement. Que vous souhaitiez renforcer votre culture générale, ou réviser une leçon d'histoire vue en cours sans passer par les manuels scolaires, ce podcast est fait pour vous. Pour aider les élèves en préparation du brevet ou du bac d'Histoire-Géographie, "Au cœur de l'Histoire" aborde à travers les destins de divers personnages les grands chapitres du programme scolaire de Troisième ainsi que du programme scolaire de Terminale : Révolution française ; Première Guerre mondiale ; régimes totalitaires dans l'Europe de l'entre-deux-guerres ; Seconde Guerre mondiale, Régime de Vichy, Collaboration et Résistance ; création de l'Union Européenne… Plus vivants que les fiches de révision, les récits historiques de Virginie Girod vous permettront de mémoriser par l'écoute les enjeux des conflits qui ont marqué la France et l'Europe et d'avoir en tête des exemples de personnages qui y sont reliés.)
Le temps d’un bivouac (Le temps d'un bivouac : podcast et émission en replay | France Inter)
Boomerang (Boomerang par Augustin Trapenard sur France Inter)

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Great topic, @Marie

I’m also obsessed with podcasts. I associate certain ones with washing the dishes, others with commuting and some with long car journeys.

Here are my current favs:

Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review (aka Wittertainment) (BBC Radio 5 Live - Kermode and Mayo's Film Review)
More or Less: Behind the stats (BBC Radio 4 - More or Less: Behind the Stats - Downloads)
The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (@Marie, that one’s all about science, so I think you’d love it) (BBC Radio 4 - The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry - Downloads)
Ear Hustle (https://www.earhustlesq.com/)
My Dad Wrote a Porno (quite rude but hilarious) (www.mydadwroteaporno.com/)

I also love:

This American Life (https://www.thisamericanlife.org/)
Freakonomics (http://freakonomics.com/)
Here’s the Thing (Here's the Thing: About | WNYC Studios | Podcasts)
The Infinite Monkey Cage (another brilliant science one) (BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage - Downloads)

I just wish I had more time to listen to them all!

Glad to see I’m not the only one obsessed @Mark_Hudson :see_no_evil:I’ll definitely give a shot to “The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry” and “The Infinite Monkey Cage”, thanks for sharing them!

Out of curiosity, do you also listen to the radio a lot? I’ve no TV at home, so I do listen to the radio a lot… and whenever I miss my favorite show, I know I can catch it on Podcasts :slight_smile:

I never really listen to the radio at home, mostly because my children make so much noise I’d never hear it! So I rely on catching up later either by downloading or using the BBC iPlayer app. My wife and I did listen to a radio play a few weeks ago, though, when the kids were in bed. It was such a nice change switching off the TV and just listening to something together, so I would like to do more of that.

I’m hoping that the Serial podcast returns soon (https://serialpodcast.org/), because that has was really compelling.

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oh yeah @Marie - you’re really opening Pandora’s Box with this question. There’s so much good content out there these days that it’s overwhelming. But some that I enjoy (sorry, not including links)
My favorite Business/Leadership podcasts:
HBR Ideacast
Scaling Up Business Podcast
Building a StoryBrand
How I Built That
History/Politics
Ben Franklin’s World
Revisionist History
Human Interest
This American Life
Stuff You Should Know
RadioLab
More Perfect
Reply All
Invisibilia
Purely Entertainment
Good One
Lore
The Turnaround
And of course, from the early 2000s, old recordings of The Ricky Gervais Show, with him, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington. They never get old.

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Thanks for sharing @Joel_Charles, so many new things to listen to! :hugs:I have listened to RadioLab before, excellent podcasts!

I listen to several professional/personal development podcasts. I generally only listen while taking my walks so I get to kill two birds with one stone. Here are my top two:

Productivity Straight Talk
Speaking Your Brand

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Excellent. Thanks for the recommendations, Shannon. :slight_smile:

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I’m a HUGE podcast consumer. My commute would be unbearable without them.
From my stored subscriptions on PocketCast:

  • This American Life

  • Serial

  • Reply All

  • Heavyweight

  • Uncivil

  • Science vs

  • Reveal

  • Stuff You Should Know

  • Geeks & Beats

  • Malcolm Gladwell- Revisionist History

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