Five Podcasts Worth Your Ears’ Time or Sorry I Made a Listacle

If you know me, you know I have a not-so-secret love for podcasts, and as such there has been a significant lack of podcast-related content on this website. As one of the leading contributors to the blog, I recently took it upon myself to compile a list of (what I believe to be) the best lesser-known (read: not Serial) podcasts out there, in no particular order.

Also, my roommate is probably about to take a seven-hour drive to Memphis sometime in the next couple weeks, and he’s probably going to ask me for podcast recommendations like he always does. This one is for you, Joseph.

1. My Brother, My Brother, And Me

My Brother, My Brother, and Me (also known as MBMBaM) is the flagship show from Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy. It consists of the brothers McElroy dishing out very funny, massively ineffective advice to listener-question-submitters and the ten people that still use Yahoo Answers. As oldest-brother Justin would say: “an advice show for the modern era.” Check out this podcast if you like to be happy, or want to avoid the crushing despair that comes bundled free with your subscription to life.

2. Do By Friday

Most of you have probably heard of Cards Against Humanity. It’s the game you played on your laptop instead of paying attention in AP English sophomore year of high school. Do By Friday pits the game’s foremost creator, Max Temkin, against two other hosts (Merlin Mann and Alex Cox) in a battle to better themselves. The show centers around a weekly challenge which the hosts must complete by (you guessed it) Friday. The hosts are the main draw of the show; Max, Merlin, and Alex is one of the funniest combinations in the podcast world. Listen if you stay up at night because you once read an article about how there exists a genetic disorder that causes you to develop more and more severe insomnia until you eventually die of sleep deprivation, and you can’t sleep because you think you might have it, and the fact that you aren’t sleeping is a pretty good sign you do have it, and no, your parents didn’t have it, but maybe it’s recessive?

3. The Adventure Zone

Another McElroy show, The Adventure Zone is a Dungeons and Dragons live-play podcast starring the three brothers from MBMBaM and their fan-favorite father, Clint. It’s one of the few podcasts that can make me break composure in public, which is in turn the reason why the one guy who would talk to me in my freshman year math class moved seats across the lecture hall. The show has just started its third season, making now a perfect time to jump in, but do yourself a favor and start from the beginning. Listen if you like good story telling and boy detectives, but hate trains and gardens.

4. Fantasy Fiction

Fantasy Fiction is an oldie but a goodie. Josh Henderson and Dominic Moschitti spend each week writing fantasy short stories and then read them to each other on the show. The writing is about on par with a thirteen-year-old who just finished The Fellowship of The Ring and has a notes app on his iPod Touch and too much time on his hands, but boy is it funny. The show is inactive now, but there’s plenty of episodes out there. Be warned: Fantasy Fiction isn’t on Spotify, but if you use Spotify to listen to podcasts you’re already lost.

5. You’re Wrong About

You’re Wrong About hosts Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall research and discuss past events and people the public has miscast. Past topics have been: the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, the Clinton impeachment, and the OJ Simpson trial. This is the show you should listen to in order to expedite the fallout of every one of your friendships due to you constantly correcting people on the most minute details of acid rain. For Joseph: there’s an episode about Enron.

Anyway, enough ranting. Check out a couple of these shows the next time you have to do some mindless task, or the next time you take an Aer Lingus flight, because I can guarantee your entertainment screen will be broken, and oops, they lost your baggage too, and the pilot decided to do some gymnastics in the air and you spilled your drink all over yourself and now you’re all sticky. The last time I flew Aer Lingus was 2016. No I’m not still bitter.