I didn’t find an existing thread like this, but if I missed it please let me know.
Anyway, I find these three podcasts pretty great. They have different emphases to be sure.
The first two are somewhat similar in that they’re principally about US politics, but the first one is more statistics and game-theory oriented, being a product of Nate Silver’s organization.
The third is about US and UK politics, but also delves into more philosophical stuff, like “The Nightmare of Surveillance Capitalism” and “The Problem with Political Leaders”:
Never listened to Talking Politics, but I’m a regular with 538 and NPR. Also the Political Gabfest and Vox’s The Weeds (more policy than exclusively politics, though politics necessarily comes into their discussions regularly).
I used to love Left Right and Center, but at some point Rich Lowry’s persistent do-nothingism on climate change and gun control broke my brain. Also, despite his National Review running an “against Trump” cover story back in '16, he now carries water for the guy in a backwards kind of way, rhetorically normalizing his actions while claiming to deplore his character.
I have 3 podcasts I listen to regularly. The first podcast is by a genius blogger and his beautiful wife, where they analyze news and politics, but place their primary focus on how the media eco-system works or does not. The podcasters are both smart, cute, and agreeably angry.
Podcast 2 is Hell of Way to Die. It’s a leftist veteran podcast that again, is about politics, but also tries to bridge the military-civilian divide. As a non-war-fighter I’ve really enjoyed getting their perspective.
One of their best episodes was a Patreon reward show, and I’ve excerpted a bit of it here. Hopefully they will forgive me. (trigger warning: Academic PTSD)
I’ll recommend three podcasts that deal with politics from a legal perspective, because in the last couple of years politics and the law have intersected in… interesting and important ways. In increasing levels of detail:
What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law (occasional, ~20mins) - The always-soothing Roman Mars interviews his neighbour, constitutional law professor Elizabeth Joh, about a particular aspect of law being put under new stresses by Trump’s behaviour - Can he pardon himself? Can he be prosecuted while sitting as president? Brief and always interesting.
All The President’s Lawyers (weekly, ~30mins) - Ken White (aka Popehat - a former federal prosecutor, now defence attorney) is interviewed by Left Right & Centre’s Josh Barro about the week’s legal developments regarding Trump. Brisk and amusing - a recent episode briefly discussed what would legally constitute fair use of Jeff Bezos’s penis - it’s always good to hear what a lawyer makes of the news, as it’s often markedly different to what the mainstream media is reporting. Speaking of which:
Opening Arguments (twice weekly, 60-90mins / episode) - Lawyer Andrew Torrez is interviewed by non-lawyer Thomas Smith. This was recommended on Qt3 (by @Quaro iirc? Apologies if I misremembered) around the time the details of the Stormy Daniels case were first revealed, and they were one of the first outlets to start shouting about how this was actually a much bigger deal than the prurient sideshow it might have seemed. And less than a year on, with Michael Cohen flipped, Trump org under investigation, campaign finance law violations aplenty, they were dead right.
There’s obviously a lot of research that goes into each episode, and it’s very detail-oriented - they won’t think twice about quoting paragraphs of law, and breaking down exactly what it means point by point - but it’s all presented with an infectious, nerdy enthusiasm for that detail that keeps it entertaining.
They cover all of Trump’s issues, as well as Supreme Court decisions and will do deep-dives into other legal stories in the news. The latest episode takes a look at the case (much discussed in this forum) of Domineque Ray being executed in Alabama without the Imam he requested - on the face of it, shocking enough, but it’s even more outrageous when you hear how the Supreme Court treated the case and the 11th circuit.
I’m enjoying Pod Save America, along with 538 and NPR Politics.
BBC has the FridayNight Comedy. It’s pretty British, but it’s fun, and I get most of my references from when I lived in Europe.
You could try the Bugle. It used to have Johnny Showbiz Oliver, but now it’s just Andrew Zaltzman (his old partner) and a pretty interest group of revolving co hosts from around the global. If you like hearing about how shitty things are, not just in the US, but also India, Australia, England, and sometimes China.
Make me Smart from Marketplace, and pretty much everything Marketplace really. Make Me Smart is probably the best because Rai Ryssdale gets a bit snarky!
And if you like Statistics - Freakanomics and Science Friday usually have something.
Finally, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and Ask Me Another are good, but they are just radio shows.
Oh, and if you want to check a glimpse of what the better timelines would look like, The West Wing Weekly usually gets really political, and usually has former white house staffers on as guests to talk about episodes of The West Wing. It’s hosted by Joshua Malina and Hrishikesh Hirway (one of which was on the West Wing).
Their epsiode covering the Commerce Clause is terrific. I would also recommend this as required listening in schools. This and The Gun Show episode really lay out how seemingly inconsequential cases can blow up and change the core of our nation.
Occasionally, the Freakonomics Radio Podcast discusses ideas and policies that deserve serious attention in our politics (BTW what’s the best way to share a podcast episode on Discourse?). Discussed here are a UBI + a “social credits” scheme which would use the block chain to keep track of it. Neat stuff (which of course the Masters of Global Capitalism will oppose because they only think a year or two out tops, and because they love lording it over lesser mortals):
Blockquote
In the American Dream sweepstakes, Andrew Yang was a pretty big winner. But for every winner, he came to realize, there are thousands upon thousands of losers — a “war on normal people,” he calls it. Here’s what he plans to do about it.
