Political/History podcasts - Recommendations

like sure, you could listen to 7 hours of lectures about the Crusades, or you could listen to 318 episodes of the History of the Crusades podcast

Lol that’s definitely true. I guess I just prefer audiobooks for that.

then you also have to accept that the advertisers can tell if you skip the ad and they don't get the money.

I don't they can with most pod delivery methods, though? That's why so many still rely on the custom URL method.

yeah, my podcasts are all just mp3s on my (android) phone. I seriously doubt that my podcast app is tracking where I skip forward and if I ever discovered that it did, I would just start using another app.

Same.

same

I use podcast addict, 99% sure it doesn't track this, though it does remember where I've got to and seems to scrobble though I wish it wouldn't. (ahem new episode of my thing which is almost like a history podcast is out today and obviously doesn't contain any fucking ads apart from the very brief patreon plug at the start ahem)

Same. It's amazing how smart some of these devices are that we let into our homes, but our podcast apps can't even remember where we left off.

My biggest frustration at the moment is not being able to subscribe to a podcast version of The Shipping Forecast. It's just not there, while it should be, and there is a TuneIn link to it, and I downloaded TuneIn specifically for it. And and and it still doesn't work. Southwesterly gale force 8 imminent, Clive, increasing severe gale force 9 soon.

(xp)

you like a bit of Doggering then?

You betch'er Calz! Susan Powell reading the Shipping Forecast has been on of my best weapons in combating insomnia...

This isSusan Powell isn't it? She's mostly just announced as 'Susan', I have no idea who she is, but at 0.48am she's been doing wonders.

Alistair Cooke's Letter From America used to have the similar effect on me. Even though his politics sucked absolute shit, his voice had an AMSR effect.

Yeah I suppose you could call it an ASMR effect, even though I refrained using that term. ASMR stuff seems to lull intentionally. Shipping Forecast (esp read by Susan, I do admit) just... is. It doesn't tickle my earbuds or gets me butterflies. It just carries me off into sleep. Which is all I ask for when insomniac.

Also: no product placement in the Shipping Forecast :)

Alistair Cooke's Letter From America used to have the similar effect on me.

Yeah I get that. His politics were rubbish but there was something undeniably soothing about his voice and just zoning out, listening to it.

I've got a 3gb folder of old Letter From America episodes divided into: Regan Years, Clinton Years, Bush Years. Obv not much of it ages well!

Dire, but I've had 3gb hogged up by even more questionable content :)

Would download a torrent of Cooke's 'Complete Works' actually.

Some of it is amusing, like his jubilation over the first dot.com bubble bursting and prediction of shopping bags and ppl ordering goods with a quill pen looking solid!

xp

I've got it shared on Soulseek if you are online rn - folder is titled "letter from america".

Am getting no results! That's ok, maybe tomorrow!

apart from that Scottish duo beloved of N Sturgeon obv! It will be on most days after GMT noon if you can be arsed trying again.

LBI you can subscribe to the shipping forecast in BBC Sounds app

podcast ad rates are measured in “CPM” which is dollars per 1000 listeners. $25 is considered a pretty good CPM. so if an episode of hollywood handbook gets 100K unique listeners, a $25 CPM will get them $2500.

I use PocketCasts which is great at remembering where I left off. It has taken a turn for the worse in the last six months, but I've tried a bunch of other apps too and nothing comes close to it in terms of functionality.

I like This Podcast Will Kill You on various diseases. Comes with a relevant cocktail each week and it's
Non alcoholic equivalent.
2 women giving the history of human contact with the disease.

Your Queen History where 2 guys snark at each other in various subjects relevant to queer history.

Irish History Podcast where somebody I used to know has spent the last 9 years outlining the history of Ireland. He's spent a lot of time on the famine.

Stuff You Missed In History Class.
2 women explore various subjects of somewhat esoteric history.

Dressed
2 women explore fashion history.

And a few others which will come to me later.

Stuff You Missed In History Class is good for the range of stuff it covers, and the presenters are pretty good, but the episodes are something like 40% ads and 10% listener mail.

Thank you Tracer, that's it!

awesome!

once subscribed new eps will appear in ‘My Sounds’

My man! "Fair, good."

speaking of Sounds, there’s a history podcast from Horrible Histories fella now called “You’re Dead To Me” which people seem to like

Hadn't realised that was who that was. Listened to a few of them a couple of weeks back.
Nerdy chatty stuff about aspects of history.
I then wound up with several episodes of Horrible Histories on during the week

Just listened to the Battle of Jutland segment of Hardcore History and I swear he said "HMS Indiefaggotable" at least three times -- first time I though it was just a slip, but he really can't pronounce that word.

Amazingly I'm up to Blueprint for Armageddon VI now (final part). Still enjoying overall -- he's bad on some points (his take on Marx was painfully simplistic) but he's great at conveying what war is like from the ground and at covering a lot of different ground and making the whole war seem like a moving worldwide puzzle, also at conveying a sense of the horrors of battle, and the changes in technology and military organization and strategy.

I would def do another Carlin series when finished, which one should I pick next?

his best imo is the series about the Mongols

i wish people would start recommending some good Political/History podcasts on this thread ! (jokes obv!)

I've really taken to the revolutions podcast, the episode about Bakunin is excellent.

yeah same, I'm totally addicted.

I need to exercise more listening discipline, because I've been quite random in the order of listening to the eps.

I'm gonna second Wrath of the Khans for Hardcore History. It's definitely the best series he's done, though part of that might be me just not knowing a whole lot about that history beforehand.

just started "Know Your Enemy" -- two chill very smart lefties (one a former conservative intellectual-in-training) discuss the history and provide a sort of field guide to movement conservatism. digging it so far.

Listened to the first few Revolutions eps on the Russian Revolution. Good counterpart to the WWI series in a way, and nice to listen to something a little headier than Hardcore History. I didn't find any of it hard to understand except for the fact that he covers so much ground so quickly that I frequently had to hit the 15 secs back button. He'd make a good intro course lecturer but it can be hard to follow while doing something else like driving, which is when I'm usually listening.

Carlin also has a real talent for imagery and story that I don't think Duncan quite has to the same extent. But Duncan's style is much better for something like trying to explain the foundations of Marxist thought, which I don't think Carlin could even do, let alone succinctly.

And I bet you've never had a closer shave since you started using Harry's razors, eh man alive?

Carlin also has a real talent for imagery and story that I don't think Duncan quite has to the same extent. But Duncan's style is much better for something like trying to explain the foundations of Marxist thought, which I don't think Carlin could even do, let alone succinctly.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, December 19, 2019 12:19 PM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i listened to a few episodes of hardcore history before calling it a day but in one of them he touches upon the frankfurt school and it was like the scene in the 40 year old virgin with steve carrell talking about boobs

lool, didn't catch that one but sounds very otm of his style!

I've really taken to the revolutions podcast, the episode about Bakunin is excellent.

Started this last week and just got to the Bakunin one

just started "Know Your Enemy" -- two chill very smart lefties (one a former conservative intellectual-in-training) discuss the history and provide a sort of field guide to movement conservatism. digging it so far.

I'm a little wary of this type of material as its rarely done well but I may give this one a shot too

That one started out well but has gotten a bit scattered now that they mostly focus on whatever guest they have on—Ross Douthat for instance.

^agreed. but I still really enjoy it.

it’s the only ep i’ve listened to but Marshall Steinbaum ep of know yr enemy goes extremely deep into intellectual history of chicago econ

ketchup re-posting from the brainworms thread:

i'm up to the massacre of champ de mars in the mike duncan revolutions pod (since it's mentioned just upthread for some reason)

i think it's p good but i have to make some kind of comment and/or protest re duncan's french pronunciation, which is in my opinion PECULIAR lol

― mark s, Monday, 27 September 2021 19:08 (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the radical parisian district of cor-dell-YEE!

― mark s, Monday, 27 September 2021 19:15 (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink