I listen to a lot of podcasts, and of course I listen at 2x speed because I’m not a psychopath who just sits around listening to podcasts all day. If the Apple Podcasts app allowed me to listen at 3x speed, I would.
Of the podcasts I’ve listened to this work week, here are five of my favorite non-sports episodes (in no particular order).
The Throwback Podcast: 3. WEEZER – Pinkerton w/ Jake & Amir
Longtime friends Dan Hanzus and Bob Castrone are joined by Headgum bosses Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld to listen to and discuss Weezer’s second album, Pinkerton, a commercial failure that turned into a fan favorite and street-cred shibboleth for plastic glasses-wearing nerds.
Maybe the best concert I’ve ever seen was Weezer at Deep Ellum Live in Dallas, TX, on September 12, 2000, years after Pinkerton but months before the band went into the studio to record the green album: The return tour for diehard fans only.
In a club not much bigger than a house, there were maybe 1,000 of us crammed together, singing as loud as we could to every song — and they played almost every song from the first two albums.
That was almost 20 years ago. Fuck.
Apple Podcasts Link: The Throwback Podcast
Planet Money: Big Rigged
Keith Romer and Sarah Gonzalez talk with Kimberley Sikorski (a long-haul truck driver) and Steve Viscelli (a University of Pennsylvania sociologist) to learn how the trucking industry has changed over the past 50 years and how strapped professional truckers are.
Sikorski’s story is incredibly moving.
Apple Podcasts Link: Planet Money
The Journal: Why Steve Bannon Got Arrested
Kate Linebaugh is joined by Ashby Jones and Elizabeth Findell of the Wall Street Journal to break down the details of the arrest of Steve Bannon, a former aide to President Donald Trump.
Bannon, along with others, has been charged with embezzling money from a nonprofit organization that raised money in order to fund the building of a wall along the southern border of the United States.
I don’t even know what to say.
Apple Podcasts Link: The Journal
The Joe Rogan Experience: #1528 – Nikki Glaser
Joe Rogan talks with Nikki Glaser, one of my favorite comedians. Whatever people wanted Amy Schumer to be five years ago — that’s what Glaser actually is.
Aside from Anthony Jeselnik, the exquisitely foul Glaser is probably the best roaster on the planet.
I’m normally not one to listen to a 2.5-hour podcast episode, but this one with Glaser might be worth it.
Apple Podcasts Link: The Joe Rogan Experience
Literally! With Rob Lowe: The Ted Experience (w/ Nick Offerman)
Rob Lowe and Nick Offerman: Just two good old-fashioned Midwest boys talking about life, Hollywood, and Parks and Recreation, undoubtedly one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.
Lowe has had some great guests on his new podcast, and Offerman is one of my favorite humans. His first two books — Paddle Your Own Canoe and Gumption — are both thoroughly enjoyable reads.
Apple Podcasts Link: Literally! With Rob Lowe