Year in Review 2017.2 HD Final REmix: Podcasts

Best Podcasts of the 2017

• The Allusionist
  Synopsis: Forays into the wild and crazy world of words.
  
  It’s getting hard to write reviews of podcasts that are consistently good and cover a wide range of topics. I might have to consider paring these down to just synopses.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “The Authority”, “Zillions”
  
  Good places to start: “Step Away”, “Fix” (2-part series), “Big Lit”, “Generation What?”
  
  
• Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything
  Synopsis: Benjamen Walker explores the connections between things, sometimes blurring fiction and reality in his quest to develop a theory of everything.
  
  Given the premise of the show, it makes sense that Benjamen Walker would specialize in multi-part series. In the last few years he’s produced some of his best work in these long-form projects, and it all started with the series on surveillance.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Illicit Objects”, “Still More Adventures in Surveillance” (11-part series about targeted advertising and other forms of modern surveillance)
  
  Good places to start: “The Clouds” (3-part series), “Instaserfs” (3-part series), “Something will happen, eventually”
  
  
• Conversations With People Who Hate Me
  Synopsis: Dylan Marron calls up people who have sent hateful messages online to talk about why they did that. CW: pretty much everything.
  
  While it can be frustrating to listen to and is maybe overly-optimistic in its aims, there’s still undeniably value in showing people that conversations are still possible in these contexts.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “The Seeds of Hate”, “Sissies and Flaming Queens”
  
  Good places to start: It’s only 9 episodes [at time of writing], so probably start with either episode above or just start with Episode 1 and go from there.
  
  
• Cracked Gets Personal
  Synopsis: Cracked writer Robert Evans and comedian/actor Brandon Johnson talk to people about their personal experience with everything from emergency medicine to being a fixer for journalists in a war zone.
  
  One of the best things Jack O’Brian ever did before abandoning ship at Cracked was letting Robert Evans do actual journalism. Without Cracked Gets Personal a lot of these stories wouldn’t have gotten told, not to mention all of the great work Evans has gone on to do since.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “3 Wild Stories From Inside the Opiate Epidemic”, “Behind Every War News Story is a 20-Something College Kid”
  
  Good places to start: Again, since it’s only 10 episodes, might as well pick one of the two above or just start with Episode 1.
  
  
• Harmontown
  Synopsis: Dan Harmon (Community, Rick & Morty), joined by Comptroller Jeff Davis and Gamemaster Spencer Crittenden, talks about what’s on his mind, does improv, raps, and plays D&D, usually in front of a live audience but lately in studio because of fire code.
  
  This is definitely the year where Harmontown started its descent. It never really recovered from the change in venue, and the run of studio episodes are, in my opinion, some of the worst. But there are still some great ones in this season.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Harmontownunder: Live at the Sydney Opera House” (2-episode series), “The Only Enemy is Stopping”, “Dan Harmon’s Top 5 Shoe Jokes”, “Grodily Plausible”, “Seventeen Chicken Boots”
  
  Good places to start: “Cleft in Twain”, “Harmoncountry: Austin, TX”, “Simulation”, “Grodily Plausible” (if you don’t like audiences), Harmontown (documentary film)
  
  
• Invisibilia
  Synopsis: Exploring the invisible forces that shape our lives.
  
  Remember when the whole idea of people living in different realities was a quirky, novel concept? In retrospect the relatively low stakes in this two-parter feel like a missed opportunity to seriously delve into what has become a driving force behind the political catastrophe we’re currently living through. The “Future Self” episode holds up though.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Reality” (2-part series), “Future Self”
  
  Good places to start: “How to Become Batman”, “The New Norm”, “The Problem with the Solution”
  
  
• Life of the Law
  Synopsis: Stories about how the legal system affects people every day.
  
  Seriously, this show does (did?) so much good work. Fascinating, important stories.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Heroin Town”, “Unequal Protection” (2-part series)
  
  Good places to start: “The Trauma Room”, “Bit of an Edge”, “Fair Fight for a Fair Court” (2-part series)
  
  
• The Memory Palace
  Synopsis: Stories from history.
  
  I feel like this was a pretty whimsical season. I learned more about Hoover than I ever knew before.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “A Portrait (Met Residency #4)”, “Lost Camels”, “Elmer McCurdy Rides Again and Again”, “Hoover”
  
  Good places to start: “High Above Lake Michigan”, “White Heat, White Lights”, “Butterflies”, or start with host Nate DiMeo’s favorites
  
  
• The Poetry Gods
  Synopsis: On each episode hosts Aziza Barnes, José Olivarez, and Jon Sands have a conversation with a special guest about poetry and life.
  
  It turns out people who do words professionally are also good at doing words together in conversation.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Patricia Smith” (2-part series), “Adam Falkner”, “Lauren Whitehead”
  
  Good places to start: “Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib”, “Jeanann Verlee”
  
  
• Radiolab
  Synopsis: “Radiolab is a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.”
  
  More stuff about what’s real and what’s not. It was in the air.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Stranger in Paradise”, “Shots Fired” (2-part series), “The Gondolier”, Truth (3–part series)
  
  Good places to start: “Cities”, “Desperately Seeking Symmetry”, “The Trust Engineers”, “I Don’t Have to Answer That”
  
  
• Radiolab Presents: More Perfect
  Synopsis: Deep dives into important Supreme Court decisions.
  
  “Citizens United” and “The Hate Debate” actually made me reconsider my position on those issues, which is saying something. Worth taking a listen.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “The Gun Show”, “Citizens United”, “The Hate Debate”
  
  Good places to start: “Cruel and Unusual”, “The Political Thicket”, “Object Anyway”
  
  
• Reasonably Sound
  Synopsis: Mike Rugnetta (PBS Idea Channel) talks about sound.
  
  There is no bad episode of this show.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Put ‘Em Together”, “Boo Who?”
  
  Good places to start: “The Ear”, “The Cadillacs of Quiet”, “Shopworn Sound Effects”, “The Braaam™”
  
  
• Reply All
  Synopsis: Stories about the internet.
  
  I don’t if I’ve ever been as surprised by a podcast as I was when listening to “Long Distance.”
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Long Distance” (2-part series), “Is Facebook Spying on You?”
  
  Good places to start: “Exit & Return” (2-part series), “The Man in the FBI Hat”
  
  
• Rough Translation
  Synopsis: A look at how issues we’re dealing in the U.S. are being dealt with elsewhere in the world.
  
  It’s like This American Life but for the rest of the world.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Brazil in Black and White”, “The Congo We Listen To”
  
  Good places to start: “Brazil in Black and White”, “Anna in Somalia”
  
  
• S-Town
  Synopsis: A documentary mini-series about an antique clock restorer and a small town in Alabama.
  
  The marketing for this show was so melodramatic and mysterious, and I sort of get why they did that, because actual story is not, on paper, nearly as interesting as what the advertising made it sound like it would be. But it ends up being pretty interesting after all, and better than I expected.
  
  Best episodes of the year: It’s one story, and it doesn’t really make sense to pick any one episode.
  
  Good place to start: For this one you have to start with Episode 1.
  
  
• Songonauts
  Synopsis: “Doc, Penny, & Jojo had a band that was going nowhere…Until they found a drum machine that transported them into their songs.”
  
  Yeah, shamelessly including this here even though I’d already listened to Songonauts when it ran on The Truth the previous year. It’s just that good.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “The Girl with All the Songs”, “The Origin of the Songoverse”
  
  Good place to start: “Into the Songoverse”
  
  
• This American Life
  Synopsis: Stories about life, in/having to do with America. This one.
  
  I’ve been saying lie detectors are BS since forever, so I felt righteously vindicated by that episode. “Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville” is possibly the most optimistic story about our current political climate that has ever or will ever air.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Mr. Lie Detector”, “Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville”, “Who You Gonna Call?”
  
  Good places to start: “Harold”, “Testosterone”, “Rest Stop”, “The Radio Drama Episode”, “The Problem We All Live With” (2-part series)
  
  
• Tiny Desk Concerts
  Synopsis: Musicians come to perform behind All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen’s desk.
  
  It’s good music.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Tank and the Bangas”, “Noname”, “Bleachers”, “L.A. Salami”
  
  Good places to start: “The Heligoats”, “T-Pain”, “Hop Along”, “Oh Pep!”
  
  
• The Truth
  Synopsis: Audio drama with modern production values.
  
  Despite this being the wiff season, there were still some highlights, including a scary episode, a funny episode, an episode that seems like it’ll be depressing but ends on a high note, and an episode that really just hits you in the feels.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “The Dark End of the Mall”, “Hey Bumblebee”, “Brain Chemistry”, “Magic Hugs”
  
  Good places to start: “Interruptible”, “Tape Delay”, “That’s Democracy”, “The Extractor”
  
  
• Welcome to Night Vale
  Synopsis: Welcome to Night Vale is a community radio show based in the small, perfectly normal town of Night Vale.
  
  Building off the strength of the previous season, this is when Fink and Cranor really started pulling out all the stops and showing just how big this show could get, ending with a truly epic dive into the mythos of Night Vale.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “What Happened at the Smithwick House”, “A Story About Huntokar”, “Matryoshka”
  
  Good places to start: “Pilot”, “A Story About You”, “One Year Later”, or the episodes listed on this page. I definitely do not recommend starting with “A Story About Huntokar” or “Matryoshka.”
  
  
• WTF with Marc Maron
  Synopsis: Marc Maron talks about his life for a bit and then interviews someone.
  
  Good conversations.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Reza Aslan”, “Edie Falco”, “Lorde”
  
  Good places to start: Just google “WTF <insert name of someone you’re interested in learning more about>” and you’ll probably come up with something. Alternatively here’s Maron talking about some of his favorites. Unfortunately most episodes are behind a paywall….
  
  
• 99% Invisible
  Synopsis: Stories about how design shapes our lives.
  
  As per usual, 99PI makes you care about stuff you never would have even thought about.
  
  Best episodes of the year: “Usonia” (2-part series), “Person in Lotus Position”, “The Age of the Algorithm”, “The Athletic Brassiere”
  
  Good places to start: “Queue Theory and Design” (+“Q2”), “Barcodes”, “Ten Thousand Years”, “Unpleasant Design”, “Half a House”

Honorable Mentions: All Songs Considered, The Bugle, The Canon, The Cracked Podcast, Employee of the Month, Flash Forward, Home of the Brave, The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air), Showcase (from Radiotopia), Song Exploder, Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins, VS, The West Wing Weekly, What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law