As someone who grew up in a pseudo-cult, I find the study and examination of cults endlessly fascinating. While there are several podcasts on the subject, this one manages to be entertaining while maintaining an appropriate level of sobriety and care for the victims of dangerous cults. Their episode from a couple weeks ago on the “Non-Church Church” brought back so many memories of my childhood and early adulthood that it was uncanny. Like women and girls getting “caught” wearing pants at home and their husband or father being forced make an apology for it in front of the congregation. Or young people getting caught and publicly shamed and humiliated for secretly attending the (ever so slightly)wrong kind of church out of curiosity. Podcasts like this one and other skeptical and atheist aligned shows were a real lifeline for me when I was coming out of the church. Hearing people talk about their experiences in cults is, to me, somehow encouraging and helpful in identifying destructive behaviors and thought patterns that lead people into cults and the like.
Over the last two days I listened to The Trojan Horse Affair, a Serial podcast regarding the Trojan Horse scandal.
If you are unaware, the Trojan Horse scandal is about a letter that showed up in the offices of the City Council of Birmingham UK. The letter includes copies of supposedly another letter from one muslim to another, describing efforts to covertly take over schools in the area and enforce strict islamic teachings in them.
This letter was quickly regarded as a hoax. However, it was also widely cited by UK media and politicians as evidence of a potential covert muslim threat, even though no such plot was ever found. Yet it lead to a lot of careers being destroyed and downtrodden schools that had just found academic success being hit with penalties and sanctions.
The podcast is about two investigators who set out trying to find out who wrote the letter. Their first stop is the person who is cited in the alleged plot as the ringleader, a volunteer worker at the schools. Next is a discussion regarding another school in the area, the head teacher currently embroiled in a legal battle with four teaching assistants, and the letter basically describing this battle as part of the plot, which is just really convenient for that head teacher.
Of course, these kinds of true-crime-adjacent podcasts are always to be considered with a critical lense. However, I found the narrative very compelling and interesting. Then again, it does play into the opinions I already hold regarding UK media and politics. Of course there are members of the UK media who hold different opinions, though of course they also would defend themselves against allegations of unfair judgement, a hoax story they ran with to drum up fears and sell papers through it.
So I listed to a podcast called The Rumor.…third hand. Watch as a Baltimore native covers a podcast about Cal Ripkin without an annoying love affair about baseball.
Finally finished all 5 and a half goddamn hours of the Atlantic slave trade episode of Hardcore History. That was a trip. And I definitely learned some shit. I listen to a handful of history podcasts, but I find Dan Carlin’s to be the most fun. Even this one that, due to the subject matter, was a bit of a chore to listen to at times. He seems to capture the atrocities of humanity in a way that allows you to imagine yourself being there and making the same decisions that ancestors made. A harrowing reminder that human beings are our own worst enemy.
An audio drama I really enjoy, Life With LEO(h), has turned to IndieGogo to fund a final season.
Check out season 1 here: Life With LEO(h)
Reply All published their last episode, “Goodbye All”.
The bright spot of it for me, it features an interview with the Mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.
Did not expect any more Serial episodes!
I’ve been listening to the Legacy of Speed podcast, about the 1968 Olympic protests and their impact on sports, and it’s pretty terrific:
This is a great podcast about translation and localization in gaming and manga/anime. So far, the hosts have interviewed two really interesting guests: Matt Alt and Zack Davisson. I really enjoyed the discussion on how story structure is different between Western Culture and Japanese Culture.
Definitely check it out if you’re interested in a behind the scenes look at translation stuff!
If you like Matt Alt, he can also be found on the Pure Tokyoscope podcast with Patrick Macias.
I also considered, but haven’t read, his book Pure Invention for GeekNights book club.
I’ve heard good things about that book, but I haven’t read it. I’d like to eventually. Thanks for the podcast recommendation, I’m sure they must have mentioned that when they introduced him, but I didn’t catch it.
It only took NINE YEARS but there’s a new episode of A Life Well Wasted. It starts with a trip to a Russian arcade, then tells a fun story about a trio of 11 year old game designers.
Overcast has a timer function. The little clock icon shows the actual time of day. What a nice little detail!
Here’s a new one to check out: Breaker Whiskey. It’s a daily impromptu podcast (less than 5 minutes long) by Lauren Shippen about a woman stuck in a vast wasteland following an apocalyptic event, trying to find someone–ANYONE–on a distant radio broadcast.
You can even send her messages here which could be read on the show.
Old Gods of Appalachia is a fantastic nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up in or near Appalachia. It’s a horror podcast but listening to it is like hearing an old folk tale from a relative around a camp fire. Most of my family were bayou folk but the ones from Appalachia did have eerie stories like these.
Also, there’s apparently a Monte Cook game coming out based on that, if you’re into that!
Lions Led By Donkeys is a great podcast about ostensibly terrible military leaders. However, it also dives often into terrible atrocities caused by those leaders, which is fitting since its creator has a degree in Genocide Studies.
On occasion though, they have a palette cleanser episode about just a cool dude. Their most recent episode is on Eugene Jacques Bullard, aptly titled The Coolest Man to Ever Live.