10 Podcast Favourites

I have a new hobby: listening to podcasts. It's a wonderful experience to ride your bike on the way to work or home or while doing your grocery shopping and to have someone riding along and telling you a story in the privacy of your ears. Some stories are so wonderfully and intimately told that it's easy to think they were made just for you.
I bought a pair of JBL earphones just for the experience of getting immersed in a different world. It's one of the best buys I made this year.

Get immersed in an alternate world

Listening to podcasts this way brings me back to my childhood when my parents or grandparents told stories just for me. I can almost hear my grandmother's voice again reading me an exciting new tale from one of my favourite children's books while I cuddle up to her.

Listen to Ocor's Ten Podcast Favourites

That is the kind of experience you can have while listening to a professional podcast. And there are a lost of really great podcasts out there. The ones I like best are more like radio plays. The BBC is very good at those.

Superb storytelling

One that I have particularly enjoyed is Intrigue. It has several thrilling episodes or stories: there's 'The Ratline', about the mysterious disappearance of senior Nazi, Otto Wachter, who was indicted for mass murder. And 'Tunnel 29', a fascinating story of a man who dug a tunnel from the West of Berlin into the East, right under the feet of border guards, to help friends, family and strangers escape.

The Dark Side Of is a wonderfully narrated and also absolutely fascinating series about the dark side of everything you love, from Hollywood stars to music legends and songs.

And if you're finding it impossible to make a choice, then look no further and subscribe to Bag Man by Rachel Maddow. Maddow is a professional journalist for MSNBC and this is her first podcast, telling the story of Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon's Vice President. There are seven episodes that each last an average of 45 minutes, which makes for about 5 hours of non-stop jaw-dropping storytelling.

These are my favourite podcasts, in no particular order:

1 The Dark Side Of

By Parcast and Parcast Network

The Dark Side Of by Parcast and Parcast Network

Most people have no idea what's hiding behind their favorite things. We dig deep into everything from charities to the Founding Fathers to the Bible, and turn up disturbing stories and salacious details.
From the Space Race to the Wizard of Oz, there might just be a dark side to everything.

Series home: parcast.com/darkside

2 Rachel Maddow presents 'Bag Man'

By MSNBC and Rachel Maddow

Bag Man by MSNBC and Rachel Maddow

Is it possible for an American Vice President to carry out a criminal enterprise inside the White House and have nobody remember? To have one of the most brazen political bribery scandals in American history play out before the country while nobody’s paying attention?
In her first original podcast, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow goes back 45 years to dig into a story that got overshadowed in its day. There’s intrigue. Corruption. Envelopes of cash delivered to the White House. It’s a story that’s not well known, but it probably should be. Especially today.

Series home: msnbc.com/bagman

3 Why is this happening?

By Chris Hayes, MSNBC, and NBCNews THINK

Why is this happening? by Chris Hayes, MSNBC, and NBCNews THINK

Every week Chris Hayes asks the big questions that keep him up at night. How do we make sense of this unprecedented moment in world history? Why is this (all) happening?
This podcast starts to answer these questions. Writers, experts, and thinkers who are also trying to get to the bottom of them join Chris to break it all down and help him get a better night’s rest.

Series home: megaphone.fm

4 Intrigue

By BBC and BBC Radio 4

Intrigue by BBC and BBC Radio 4K

Philippe Sands investigates the mysterious disappearance of senior Nazi, Otto Wachter, who was indicted for mass murder. The Ratline is a story of a curious death, political intrigue, spies, Nazi hunters, shadowy forces in the Vatican and a son grappling with the sins of his father. In episode one of this ten part series we travel to a castle outside Vienna to meet an old man who believes his Nazi father was murdered, and a voice from the past offers up clues to how it might have happened.

Other stories in this podcast are 'Tunnel 29', the extraordinary true story of a man who dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall and 'What happened in the Lucky Holiday Hotel?', the story of the mysterious murder which changed the course of Chinese politics.

Series home: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04sj2pt

5 Stuff You Missed in History Class

By iHeartRadio & HowStuffWorks

Stuff You Missed in History Class by iHeartRadio & HowStuffWorks

Join Holly Frey and Tracy Wilson as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class.

There are literally hundreds of episodes to listen to, including 'Samuel Pepys, Beyond the Diary', 'Godzilla: The Start of His Story', 'Victoria and Albert', 'The Tunguska Event' and 'Double Agent James Armistead and the American Revolution'.

Series home: missedinhistory.com

6 Desert Island Discs

By BBC and BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs by BBC and BBC Radio 4

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

This is not only a fun podcast, but also a great way to get to know music that you would not have known otherwise.

Series home: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr

7 Recode Decode

By Vox Media Podcast Network

Recode Decode by Vox Media Podcast Network

Kara Swisher, Silicon Valley’s most revered journalist, hosts candid interviews with tech execs, politicians, celebrities and more about their big ideas and how they’re changing our world.

Series home: vox.com/recode-decode-podcast-kara-swisher

8 Science Weekly

By The Guardian

Science Weekly by The Guardian

The award-winning Science Weekly podcast is the best place to learn about the big discoveries and debates in biology, chemistry, physics – and sometimes even maths. Ian Sample, Hannah Devlin and Nicola Davis meet the great thinkers and doers in science and technology. Science has never sounded so good!

A series of three episodes that I found intriguing, beautiful and scary at the same time is 'Oceans of Noise'. Listen to it and you will never stop listening to this fantastic podcast. I promise!

Series home: theguardian.com/science/series/science

9 Tech Tent

By BBC and BBC World Service

Tech Tent by BBC and BBC World Service

How the technology business is transforming the way we live and work.

All episodes are 23 to 24 minutes in length. Subjects range from 'The rise and rise of TikTok' and 'What Facebook knows about you' to 'Indian call centre scam shut down' and 'Who cares about facial recognition?'.

And while the subjects all touch on 'tech stuff', they are definitely easy to understand by everyone.

Series home: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01plr2p

10 Snap Judgment

By Snap Judgment and WNYC Studios

Snap Judgment by Snap Judgment and WNYC Studios

Snap Judgment mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, and dramatic radio. Hosted by Glynn Washington.

If at first you tend to turn off this podcast, hold on a little longer. I'm glad I did.

The storytelling in this podcast is great and the way the stories are mixed in with music makes this an almost hallucinatory experience.
This is one of those podcasts that can suck you right in and won't let you go. The combination of Glynn Washington's voice, the well-chosen music and captivating sound effects and the real life stories makes for a very compelling show. It didn't take long for this podcast to become one of my favourites.
So, hold on and you will be rewarded. Tip: check out the 'Spooked' episodes, you'll love them! Don't get haunted by Sharp Toothed Boy though. Just sayin'...

Series home: wnycstudios.org/podcasts/snapjudgment

You may already have found a great way to listen to podcasts.

However, I found the ultimate way. For those of you with Android or iOS phones, that is. And for those of you who want to use your web browser. So, for everyone, really... Come back to this blog next week to find out about the best podcast software that you really cannot live without. Seriously!