I used to listen to long form essays on Youtube. My favourite ones either break down the history of a conspiracy, teach me something new and cool about the world, or explore a hobby I’ve never been interested in.
I don’t like the ones about killers or heavy drama. I also don’t like podcasts that spend half the time reading the latest news from [topic] in verbatim .
What are some podcasts you can recommend me while I chip away at other things?
Go Fact Yourself is my favorite podcast. It’s a quiz style podcast where two (usually minor) celebrities come on the show and answer questions about 3 topic they choose for themselves that they are an expert in, but outside their field of work.
It’s very interesting to hear these successful people talk about things they’re not really known for, like the music they love, or a movie or sometimes niche topics like marathon running.
Now the really interesting part is they bring on special guests who are experts in the chosen topic to award the points. The guests that they get for this are the real treat of the show. First, you have someone showing off about how much they love a topic, then they get someone really involved to give great in depth details! For instance, someones topic was the Evil Dead movies, and the special guest was Bruce Campbell! He was so awesome to hear talking about the movies. The experts are almost always awesome, from movie directors to the songwriters for Frozen, to book writers on the topic, they’re almost always amazing to listen to.
There are a couple of other segments of the show that are also well done. There’s a “what’s the difference” round that always makes me think. Like, what’s the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery? Or what’s the difference between roasting and baking?
The hosts are great fun too. J. Keith is the master of punny segues, and Helen Hong is a pretty good co-host. All in all, highly recommended!