Ologies with Alie Ward, for fun dives into specific topics!
this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
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I have no way of evaluating what is popular or under appreciated but I just started listening to Too Many Tabs (Pearlmania 500) and I'm very much enjoying it.
My two favorites are:
Darknet Diaries - a podcast about hackers, cybercrime and hacktivism.
Well There's Your Problem - ~~a truecrime podcast about social murder~~ A podcast about engineering disasters, with slides!
Underunderstood - Favorite one but on hiatus because they all had kids; side project of some journalists trying to help people
Hyperfixed - New problem solving one from Alex Goldman of Reply All
The Turning - Each season explores an organization that people don't commonly call a cult (but probably should)
Shell Game - Funny and frightening exploration with LLMs
Knowledge Fight. Two great dudes who break down the insanity of Info Wars
This Podcast Will Kill You if you want something brainy. They cover various deadly phenomena along with their biological and medical histories.
BigSoftTitty.png if you want something a bit more loose. Two married comedians find odd things on the internet and make fun of each other, basically. Very knowingly stupid and very intentionally silly. They've had Paul F Tompkins on a few times, just to give an idea of their comedic sympathies. One host actually has a "gameshow" on YouTube (So You Wanna Win A Penis Pump?) in which Paul was a contestant....by way of a tablet strapped to her husbands face because they live in Australia where Paul is not. Just good, stupid fun.
Kill James Bond
I tend to go for story-telling podcasts, and within those I gravitate towards Twilight Zone-style weird anthologies. I don't know how under-appreciated they are, but I rarely see the genre represented in discussions much.
Right now I'm finding a lot of great stuff in:
- The Other Stories (all kinds of stuff, they have a different theme every month or so)
- The Wrong Station (similar, but less likely to stick to a theme for a while)
- Gray Matter (lots of modern adaptations of older horror/sci-fi, like Lovecraft)
- The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings (higher ratio of dumb stuff, but still some gems)
- The Program (Black Mirror-esque)
- The Truth (various radio plays. Many aren't sci-fi, but still weird in some way. Kind of reminds me of the bits of Inside No. 9 I've seen.)--
In the genre, it surrealism is your jam, Welcome to Nightvale.
I used to listen to Nightvale quite a bit actually. Stopped some time shortly after the mayoral election storyline because IRL stuff meant I just wasn't listening to as many podcasts at the time. I did like it, but it's also one that I recall as best listened to in order, so it's always been on the back burner to pick back up. Maybe I'll give it another go during some long game sessions this winter.
How would one go about finding other story-telling podcasts?
Podcasting as a concept sort of slipped me by and I wouldn't even know where to start.
The app I use, Podcast Addict, has given me some pretty decent recommendations from the ones I've subscribed to. I've also had some decent luck search for the keyword "anthology".
I can give you a few more recommendations that are less tipped toward weird, as jumping off points:
- LeVar Burton Reads (Exactly what is says on the tin. Reading Rainbow for adults. Be prepared to hear Geordi say "fuck" once in a while.)
- Myths and Legends (Snarky narrator retelling classic mythology in an accessible modern tone)
- Fictional (Same guy as above, but for classic lit like Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and Frankenstein)
- Short History Of... (Various bits of interesting history told in narrative form)
Articles of Interest. It's nominally a fashion podcast, but they tie it into lots of other topics: history, culture, identity, religion...
I've always liked 99% invisible
Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford
NADDPOD is my jam right now, it's four comedians playing D&D
Two ordinary cops. It's two ex coppers talking about their time as coppers in the Northern Territory of Australia.
I don't know if they are under appreciated, but:
My brother my brother and me
The Adventure Zone
Sawbones
I Don't Speak German
Film Reroll
If you like or care about clean energy, I’m a fan of Volts with David Roberts
If you have any interest in biology/neuroscience, Robert Sapolsky's Father-Offspring Interviews is fantastic
From Rewatch With Love, if you like James Bond rewatch podcasts. Finished now so you could watch/listen to them all.
Not under appreciated at all, but the XFM shows (the Ricky Gervais show) are fantastic. Only mention because I'm not sure how popular/well-known it is globally.
If its new to you, OP, give it a shot.
Dunno, he's an insufferable git. 🤷🏼♂️
He absolutely is. You're not laughing with him