1. Sandra: I normally don't go for podcast dramas, but this one was incredibly unique and entertaining. Voiced by a variety of celebrities such as Alia Shawkat, Ethan Hawke, and Kristen Wiig, Sandra follows the story of Helen, a young woman who takes a mysterious job at a tech company. As it turns out, she is one of thousands of people answering questions posed by customers of Sandra, a device similar to the Amazon Echo (or Siri) that answers all kinds of questions posed by its customers. The show imagines that there is a real person behind that robotic computer voice that has become so familiar in the modern world. Helen works in the "bird division", answering random questions about pigeons and parakeets and chickens, which is funny just by itself, but then she begins going off-script and starts to build a connection with a customer. It's a fairly short 7 episodes, but it provides some rather interesting commentary on how technology has now entered every aspect of our lives.
2. Presidential and Slow Burn: I've always been extremely interested in the American presidency. I can name all of the presidents and recite their years in office (true story!). One podcast from several years ago produced by the Washington Post, Presidential, spent 30-60 minutes going through the lives and careers of all 45 presidents. I'm sure this sounds incredibly boring to most of you, but I listened intently during every episode, even for the lesser-known presidents like Millard Fillmore and Chester Arthur. More recently, I've been loving Slow Burn, an in-depth investigation into the scandals of presidents. Season 1 featured an analysis of Nixon's Watergate scandal and included audio recordings from that tumultuous time, as well as interviews with some of the major players. Season 2 follows the more recent Clinton scandals, in particular his impeachment. The series is incredibly fascinating and provides new details about both scandals that I never knew before.
3. Pop Culture Happy Hour: Produced by NPR, PCHH (as the cool kids call it) is a discussion of pop culture with an intellectual bent. Regular hosts Linda Holmes, Steven Thompson, and Glen Weldon, along with a variety of rotating guest hosts, do a deep dive of new tv shows, movies, books, music, and even video games in just 20-30 minute episodes twice a week. The hosts are all warm and have a nice repoir, and although sometimes the discussions can be a little too highbrow for my taste, they also acknowledge the merits of "lesser" forms of media like reality tv. In the final segment of each Friday episode, the panel goes around and discusses "what's making us happy this week." This could be anything from a new tv show to a Twitter thread to an old video game that they just discovered. The hosts express such joy in this segment, reminding listeners that pop culture really does have the ability to change your mood and change your thinking.
4. Sword and Scale and Sword and Scale Plus: Okay, I've saved the best for last. One of the first podcasts I discovered was this absolute gem of a show, that is if you love true crime like me. With new episodes every other week, host Mike Boudet takes listeners through a horrifying array of true crime stories, enhancing them with narration and real recordings from 911 calls, trials, and interrogations. The older episodes are generally much better than the more recent ones, but still this podcast is must-listen. Some of the best episodes are #20 (a creepy computer voice reads transcripts of pedophiles describing how they plan to kill and eat children), #44 (a 911 call recording recounts the stabbing of a pregnant woman when she responds to a Craigslist ad for baby clothes), and #50 (recording of the Jim Jones cult just before the suicide by poison of most of its members). I even signed up for Sword and Scale Plus for $5/month, which drops bonus episodes on the weeks off from the original show. I am a very cheap person, but for me this was a steal.
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