We’re coming to the end of the year, and as usual it feels weird to do the usual reviews/blog content, so I’ll be spending the next few days reflecting on the year and what I liked from the different things I consumed. First up is the podcast category and can I just say that it’s a good thing that I wrote a mid-year podcast update because 2020 has felt like several years compressed into one, so I do have quite a bit to talk about.

Stopped Listening

The Magnus Archives [Mild spoilers involved] – They’ve started their long-awaited new season (I thought it was a final season but it seems like it’s not?) and to be honest I’m really not feeling it. The previous season ended with the end of the world, so this season is kind of Jon and Martin just wandering around? I’m not really sensing an overarching plot and the talking before Jon starts the tape of the week isn’t very interesting to me – I end up missing a lot of what happened because it didn’t hold my attention. So now that it’s on a break, I’m probably just going to delete the podcast off my feed.

Solve: Season 2 – I was super excited for this season because I really enjoyed Season 1 and thought the concept of weekly mysteries where you get a chance to find the murderer was interesting. Sadly, Season 2 started with a three-part murder mystery series which wasn’t that interesting – I hung around to the end, but then I realised that we weren’t even given the chance to guess who the murderer was so I deleted the podcast. I really liked the original concept so it’s a pity they changed things so drastically in season 2.

New Podcasts

Flash Forward – This was recommended to me by Abi from Autumn of Pellinor and it is so good! It’s a science and technology podcast where they explore one possible future each week. It starts with a very short drama exploring what that future might be like (celebrity cities, anyone?), and then host Rose Eveleth talks to experts in the field about it. Very fascinating and highly recommended for people who like speculating about the future.

Morally Indefensible – This is a podcast about Fatal Vision, which is a true crime book about the MacDonald murders. It’s technically a companion podcast to a documentary series, but I found that it stands alone pretty well. If you’ve read Fatal Vision and you want to find out more about the making of the book and the relationship between MacDonald and McGinniss, you definitely have to listen to this.

Faerie – By PNW, the same people that brought you Tanis, The Black Tapes, Rabbits, etc, is a podcast involving fairies (not the Enid Blyton kind). I actually listened to a podcast on Spotify, which is a first, and I found it pretty interesting and with a slightly less confusing ending than Rabbits. If you’re a fan of their previous podcasts (or like spooky fiction podcasts), this might be for you.

Guru – This is a six part series by Wondery on James Arthur Ray, and I find that I really like these short podcasts! It’s easy to binge without making you feel like you have to stop listening to another podcast so you can finish everything you’re subscribed to. Anyway, this is for people who like true crime but be warned that it can get disturbing (especially since it’s about how this “self help” master led to the deaths of people in a sweat lodge).

Unfinished: Short Creek – This was a pretty fascinating 10-part series on the FDLS community in Short Creek, about the impact of Warren Jeffs and the divide that grew between those who stayed in the faith and those who left. I thought the hosts did their best to give both sides the benefit of the doubt, but I finished the podcast on the side of the ex-FLDS community, which seems to want to make Short Creek a better place

Sticky Notes – One of the few continually running podcasts that I started, this podcast looks at different pieces of classical music. As someone who failed Grade 8 piano three times, I don’t get a lot of it but I am enjoying listening to this!

Caught Up/New Season

I mentioned that I wanted to re-listen to The Black Tapes in my mid year update and I did! It’s been a treat and I really, really want them to come up with the rest of the episodes soon! The current ending is far too frustrating.

Thankfully, we’ve got two new seasons from PNWS in the second half of this year! Tanis came out with Season 5 and The Last Movie came out with season 2! Quite predictably, I enjoyed Tanis so I won’t say too much on it, but The Last Movie was a pleasant surprise! I was actually a bit confused with what happened in season 1 (perhaps I need to relisten to it) but since season 2 changed the protagonists to two new interns, I found it a lot easier to follow and ended up really getting into it!

I’ve also got a friend who’s been recommending me episodes of Conspiracy Theories by Parcast but I’m not really tempted to subscribe. It’s good background noise but I’m not at a place where I need more podcasts as white noise.

Finally, I’ve also caught up on History of English podcast, so now I don’t have any podcasts to catch up on. So if you have any more podcast recommendations, please let me know and I will give it a listen!