'casts for your 'pod
March 26, 2015 11:24 AM   Subscribe

 
This is a very good podcast I listen to regularly with much enjoyment except for the scheduled stops for the hosts to pitch the sponsor of the week. Seriously, a actual commercial would be less intrusive.

(The best is the length is just long enough for a morning workout routine)
posted by The Whelk at 11:30 AM on March 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


(I liked the New England Vampire panic cause NEW ENGLAND VAMPIRE PANIC)
posted by The Whelk at 11:32 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


I do love this podcast, but I'd love it better if the sponsorship breaks were consistently the same length, so I could fastforward through them more easily.

Still, I'm learning a bunch from them. Just listened to the one about the Night Witches, and WHY don't we have a frelling MOVIE about them yet? Seriously.
posted by suelac at 11:52 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


So is this appreciably better than the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast? Because as popular as that show is I don't think it's much more valuable than reading a Wikipedia page.
posted by Tevin at 11:53 AM on March 26, 2015 [4 favorites]


I really can't stand this podcast. It feels like annoying TA's being a bit too clever.

This will be my n-teenth recommendation for Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Though it is much less frequent, it is exponentially better.

If you want a lightweight, ridiculous, not terribly accurate podcast, The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth (Gary) Reynolds is usually hilarious. They did a whole month on the LAPD that was actually kind of amazing.
posted by lattiboy at 11:54 AM on March 26, 2015 [11 favorites]


Hardocre History is great -- Carlin has great passion & does his research, but it's mostly military in focus. A good podcast about other aspects of history intrigues me -- I plan to check these out.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:12 PM on March 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


So is this appreciably better than the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast?

I dumped Josh and Chuck in favour of Holly and Tracy after they covered a similar topic (I can't remember what it was now) on both shows and the ladies just did it better.

The episodes are too short to get into a *super* amount of depth on things (and they only seem to go into two-parters on subjects that I don't care about); the sponsor breaks are obnoxious (especially since they don't have that many different sponsors); they spend *way* too much time apologizing for things in order to preempt hate mail (though I'm sure they still get lots of hate mail disagreeing with the apologies. But it's still in my regular podcast rotation.

I also like Hardcore History, but the episodes are just far to long for me to commit to it. If I wanted to listen to audio books, I'd renew my Audible subscription, you know?
posted by sparklemotion at 12:16 PM on March 26, 2015


Foot binding. Foot binding was the topic that Stuff You Missed in History Class did much better than Stuff You Should Know.
posted by sparklemotion at 12:20 PM on March 26, 2015


I love Hardcore History, but the pace at which he releases episodes is GLACIAL. And yeah, his focus is on military history (which is cool, but there are other topics).

I love SYMIHC because the topics change so often, the hosts are female, and they are openly progressive about representing women's history, black history, & non-western history as much as they can.
posted by suelac at 12:22 PM on March 26, 2015 [6 favorites]


This will be my n-teenth recommendation for Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Though it is much less frequent, it is exponentially better.

I wish he would just split up the episodes. I have the three latest episodes on my iPhone. They are 4 hours long. EACH. That's a lot of podcast to listen to.
posted by smackfu at 12:23 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


While we're talking about history podcasts you really, really ought to check out You Must Remember This . It's ultra specific (Hollywood in the 20th century) but it is very, very good.
posted by Tevin at 12:25 PM on March 26, 2015 [6 favorites]


So good, You Must Remember This is a must listen, even if it proves all roads in Classic Hollywood lead the Howard Hughes' dick.

(finding out Longworth is Rian Johnson's girlfriend BLEW MY MIND)
posted by The Whelk at 12:28 PM on March 26, 2015 [6 favorites]


I've heard both this and Carlin's podcasts recommended several times, but lately I'm getting tired of history that primarily gives me a finished narrative, and am interested more in finding accounts where they spend a lot of time discussing sources and only then move into narratives that might be indicated. So, to give an example, I'm less excited about about an autobiography of Benjamin Franklin than I might be about learning about the papers of Ben Franklin.

Is there any history podcast that's focused this way instead of narrative or talk show format?
posted by weston at 12:31 PM on March 26, 2015


weston, I don't have a podcast to recommend, but according to Mike Duncan's recent Q&A episode, what you are interested in is more "Historiography" than "History". Maybe search with that term?
posted by benito.strauss at 12:38 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


And then come back and share your findings?
posted by MartinWisse at 12:49 PM on March 26, 2015


I tried to listen to this a couple weeks ago, because it's right up my alley. Love the topics they cover. I got about 10 minutes into the episode about the circus fire, though, and had to turn it off. The host who was telling the story was sooooo wooden. It sounded like she was reading a term paper out loud -- and not an especially interesting term paper, and not reading it particularly well. I was bummed, because I really want to like the podcast.

Was that just a bad episode? I hated the presentation so much that I swore off the whole podcast, but I'd love to have a reason to give it another shot.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:58 PM on March 26, 2015


This will be my n-teenth recommendation for Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.

Yeah, because just what we need: yet another white male going on and on and on about wars and battles.

Now me, I'd like to hear about the world's first fashion designer, the development of special education, a famous woman author, ice cream, and cats.

I like the quirky emotional and empathic nature of SYMIHC, and the way they cover things that aren't necessarily big famous historical deals. I like that the format men's I can listen to a podcast during lunch.

It's really history that's much more interesting, and slice to me than someone going on for hours in excruciating detail about the Spartan/Mennonite War of blahblahblah...
posted by happyroach at 1:11 PM on March 26, 2015 [5 favorites]


I would also vote that Missed in History is better that Stuff You Should Know. I found the latter pretty superficial.
posted by Wretch729 at 1:16 PM on March 26, 2015


what you are interested in is more "Historiography" than "History". Maybe search with that term?
And then come back and share your findings?


Well, I'm not finding a dedicated ongoing historiography podcast, but here's a few places I'm probably going to start:

* iTunes U/La Trobe "Making History"
* Practicing History Podcast Episode 2: Introducing Historiography
* Heritage Podcast: History and Historiography
posted by weston at 1:26 PM on March 26, 2015 [5 favorites]


The current hosts of Missed in History aren't my favorites (Sarah and Dublina forever!), but they do seem to have more interesting personal knowledge of some topics. I like Missed in History because they talk about things I've never heard of/thought to research and I like Stuff You Should Know because they often cover things I'll wonder about, but not for long enough that I remember to read the wikipedia.

That said, Stuff Mom Never Told You is my favorite HSW podcast. I like the hosts, I like that they share both the research and their own ideas/feelings about stuff, and I am usually interested in the topics.

I wish I could find transcripts of the podcasts, though. I would be more apt to use them in school if they did. The Stuff Mom Never Told You hosts are great at incorporating source info in a natural way that I think could be a good model for students.
posted by MsDaniB at 1:28 PM on March 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


This is one of my favorite podcasts! I love to listen to it as brainfiller while I am doing the dishes or driving. The incidents are interesting and I am fond of the hosts.

mudpuppie, I got the sense they weren't super enthused about the circus fire episode, but it was a frequent listener request. Try the one about carousels. You can tell they are thrilled to be talking about it!
posted by chatongriffes at 1:35 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


weston: Is there any history podcast that's focused this way instead of narrative or talk show format?

You might want to check out New Books in History. I really like it. They often get into "how did you get access to those archives, those papers" etc., because it's historians interviewing historians about their work. But as a non-historian I don't find it so inside baseball that they lose me.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:38 PM on March 26, 2015 [7 favorites]


Was that just a bad episode? I hated the presentation so much that I swore off the whole podcast, but I'd love to have a reason to give it another shot.

I listen to SYMIHC and enjoy it, but the hosts are not terribly compelling as presenters. The episodes do not vary much in that respect, though I would say some episodes are much more interesting than others. The show is good for learning bits and pieces of interesting history, and the hosts make an effort to be historically accurate and to provide context. If you're looking for skilled oratory or slick production, it's not the podcast for you.
posted by dephlogisticated at 1:44 PM on March 26, 2015


Love the topics they cover. I got about 10 minutes into the episode about the circus fire, though, and had to turn it off. The host who was telling the story was sooooo wooden.

I didn't listen to the circus fire one, because I assumed animals died, but I don't find the hosts wooden. Business-like, perhaps. They're succinct. I like it when they do fashion topics because at least Holly gets excited. Josh and Chuck of SYSK have more fun banter going on than Tracy and Holly do. Love both those podcasts, though.

That said, Stuff Mom Never Told You is my favorite HSW podcast.

Dumb question, probably - but did it get better? I started at the beginning with Stuff Mom Never Told you and I found it very naive and under-informed. It was like having a 14-year old with a library book try to school me on sex and gender.

Can you recommend any of the newer episodes? I need more stuff to listen to!
posted by Squeak Attack at 1:49 PM on March 26, 2015


I listen to about 20hrs/podcasts a week and this is one of them. I learn a bit from it but whoo boy the hosts really grate on me a lot of the time. It's hard to put into words.

I still recommend this to people so YMMV.
posted by M Edward at 3:22 PM on March 26, 2015


I listened to this for a while. It was kind of irritating, because it comes off as very scripted (I think it is but I'm not 100% certain), but it talks about interesting topics.

It's not bad at drawing characters, which pretty clearly is what interests the presenters about history, but it isn't as good at telling narratives. The alternating format between the two hosts is not good at creating a progression of events, which are reduced to a "this happened, then this happened" list, but when they stop to look at a person or thing in detail it's intriguing.

If you don't mind the style it's told in and mostly want to look at characters in history, then it's worth a listen. I love Hardcore History, though, and as a history buff it is my favorite podcast at the moment.
posted by graymouser at 3:50 PM on March 26, 2015


Yeah, because just what we need: yet another white male going on and on and on about wars and battles.

If that white man is Dan Carlin, then yes, we need as many of them as possible.

I get HCH isn't your cup of tea, but I find two people with bland, moderately annoying voices and no real personality talking about cats to be the very definition of hell.
posted by lattiboy at 3:53 PM on March 26, 2015 [5 favorites]


Squeak Attack, I an way behind on all three podcasts, but I really liked (maybe the wrong word) the Uterine Prolapse episode. I was pretty sure for the next week or so that my junk was falling out all the time, but it was informative and interesting. I delete them as I listen, so I am having trouble thinking of another specific episode, but I enjoy it when they talk about education and relationships. Oh! The homeschooling episode, too.

I think all three improved quite a bit as they found their rhythms, but when they touch on stuff I know a lot about, they do seem pretty simple.
posted by MsDaniB at 4:44 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've been an avid listener for years now, and I really enjoy it. But I am nth-ing the intrusive ad breaks (which none of the other stuff shows have). I do think they're a lot better when they do specific people and not events.

Also while I generally love the progressiveness of the show, I think Holly especially, but they both tend to do it whenever histories (very long legacy) of being horrible to animals comes up they spend I think way too much time on that fact and less on what's actually going on. Which can be really offputting when they spend more time sympathizing for camel cruelty in Australia, than covering more intense topics, like the Holocaust.
posted by KernalM at 5:22 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


"The current"hosts of Missed in History aren't my favorites (Sarah and Dublina forever!)"

Me too. I stopped after they left.
posted by notned at 5:42 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


I really can't stand this podcast. It feels like annoying TA's being a bit too clever.

Yeah, it's like they're too clever to themselves, but for me I can't make it past five minutes. And I've tried a few times! They don't have the ability to banter, so it's scripted, but that just makes it stilted and weird. Terrible delivery.
posted by zardoz at 7:19 PM on March 26, 2015


"Does Ho Chi Mihn got anything like this?"

-Lyndon Baines Johnson.
posted by clavdivs at 7:21 PM on March 26, 2015


I feel a lot better about ditching Stuff You Missed in History Class after a couple of episodes hearing all my annoyances with them echoed. I eventually ditched Josh and Chuck for basically also the reason cited above. Sort of. I mean, the podcast grew out of howstuffworks.com, I think, which has always struck me as sort of link farmy. I listened to a whole bunch of episodes of SYSK before Josh one-too-many times recited the more-humans-more-geniuses great man fallacy

I also hear a lot of people complaining about Carlin's mega-eps. Also agree. For me, Mike Duncan's 25-30 minute episodes are the gold standard of a good length podcast. Out of curiosity, to everyone complaining about length - what is you preferred length for a lite-historical podcast?
posted by absalom at 7:33 PM on March 26, 2015


Also: I'm giddy to see people talking about "historiography."

In my mind, it's the primary difference between being a "history buff" and a historian proper.
posted by absalom at 7:37 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


Sarah and Dublina forever!

<3

I actually dumped SYMIHC from regular rotation when the current line-up solidified. I just didn't feel like they were really into or interested in some of the subjects. Sarah and Dublina sold the historilove.

But as long as we are complaining (Official Sport of Metafilter!), my big big big gripe with the podcast is that they very rarely venture outside the realm of Western (European/American) subjects. When they do go outside that bubble, the show tends towards either relatively well known archaeological sites (e.g. Pyramid of Djoser) or colonial history (Great Hedge of India). I understand that they have compressed time in which to research, write, and record episodes, which means well-documented sources available in English are going to bully to the fore. The dearth of episodes outside that sphere, however, contributes to the idea that certain parts of world, and thus certain peoples, are without history.

I know some MeFites hate podcasts longer than 30min almost as much as they hate self-linking, but I both host and recommend the AskHistorians Podcast, which draws on the userbase from /r/askhistorians for interviews. The mission statement of the AHPcast is to try and cover topics that simply don't show up in other pop-history sources. So, for instance, the last episode was on women's health in late medieval/early modern Europe, and an episode before that was a two-part exegesis on the Book of Daniel, and we put together what I am willing to bet is the only podcast episode in existence focused on the Tarascans. If any MeFites do decide to take a listen, start in reverse order, as it took us a while to figure out what the hell we were doing.
posted by Panjandrum at 9:18 PM on March 26, 2015 [12 favorites]


There are not that many episodes and it's exclusively on presidential campaign history, but I am excited about Slate's new podcast Whistlestop by John Dickerson. (Admittedly, he is my favorite part of the Political Gabfest podcast.) I can't critique its content at all, but I am definitely enjoying it.
posted by jetlagaddict at 10:01 PM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


"what is you preferred length for a lite-historical podcast?"

Three minutes.
posted by clavdivs at 10:06 PM on March 26, 2015


I'm going to also recommend You Must Remember This. It's become one of my absolute favorites every week.
posted by hippybear at 12:56 AM on March 27, 2015


I love Hardcore History, but the pace at which he releases episodes is GLACIAL.

It is glacial but then, OMFG, he drops a giant iceberg that takes forever to melt. I wish he'd release 30 minutes every other week instead of 4 hours three times a year.

I just started listening to SYMIHC, Night Witches was my first episode among a few otherst I listened to last night. I agree that it is better than Stuff You Should Know. It does feel a little like a "new" podcast. I'm hoping the hosts find their voices a little more.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:20 AM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


For a humorous take on horrific medical history by a comedian-doctor husband-and-wife team, check out Sawbones.
posted by gottabefunky at 8:25 AM on March 27, 2015


BTW I thought STMIHC killed it on the Great Locomotive Chase.
posted by gottabefunky at 8:28 AM on March 27, 2015


I can't believe no one's mentioned Backstory for American history and In Our Time for world/cultural history.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:45 PM on March 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


Looks like there's some topic crossover in the green: Long Form History Podcasts.
posted by weston at 4:53 PM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


I was just going to recommend Backstory! I like it a lot; it's a nice balance of chat and reported stories. And they do make an effort to bring on guests who are not white males.
posted by suelac at 6:36 PM on March 27, 2015


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