So this was the least intimidating end-of-year post to write because I already did an update in June! And I actually don’t have that much to write for this because thanks to school, I’m more likely to stop a podcast than to start one – I don’t have as much time for podcasts nowadays!

Allez-y!

Podcasts I’ve Started

It may not come as a surprise that 2/3 of the new podcasts I started have to do with learning French. But let’s start with the non-French podcast:

Bad Women: The Ripper Retold – Hallie Rubenhold, the author of The Five, has started a podcast based on her book! If you’re looking for a Jack the Ripper podcast that focuses on the victims instead of treating them as objects that reveal the true identity of the killer, this is the podcast to listen to. And this new victim-centred approach seems to unveil new things about the killer too, because when we stop trying to fit the victims into our conceptions of them, we realise that the patterns we assume are true may have some errors.

Duolingo French Podcast – I’ve been quite diligently doing the Duolingo podcasts as an addition to Frantastique Lessons, Anki, and actual French lessons, so it was inevitable that I would start listening to the podcast. This is more for French intermediate learners, but I wanted to just get used to listening to the language. I like relistening to the stories – it really helps to pick up some vocabulary! The most recent series was a radio drama and I found that I could understand some really simple phrases during my first listen, which I thought was progress.

Coffee Break French – A classmate recommended this and I’ve been slowly making my way through their backlist! I like that they start from the absolute beginner stage, so it’s great for reinforcing lessons. They have grammar-focused episodes too, which I find very useful.

Podcasts I’ve Stopped

Darknet Diaries – I know I started this earlier this year, but the episodes proved too long for the podcast to be part of my regular listening schedule! Plus, the content seemed somewhat repetitive – it’s all about hackers and the darknet, so a lot of the stories felt the same.

Reply All – I waited for Reply All to come back, but the relaunched show doesn’t feel as funny. It feels a bit like This American Life but with an internet focus, and I realised that what I really liked about the show was the regular Yes/Yes/No series. They’ve had some great story-focused episodes (like the scam call one before they went on hiatus), but I didn’t feel like I wanted to keep listening just to find the next great episode.

Every Little Thing – This podcast didn’t do anything to make me want to stop it, but it moved to Spotify and I’m not about to split up my podcast listening into two separate apps.

Flash Forward – Again, another show that is coming to an end. It’s not moving to Spotify (as far as I know), but the host has announced that she is going to stop the show in its current form once this season is over. I was going to wait and see what the revamped show was like, but the latest series on robots lost my attention (the radio drama on what a future with robots would be like was far too long and I lost interest).

Other Podcast Updates

All About Agatha – This is a sad update: one of the hosts has passed away. I’m not sure what will happen to the podcast, but I hope that everyone involved in it can find peace in all this sadness.

The Opportunist: After a really great first season on Sherry Shriner, the Opportunist has followed it up with a series of shorter podcasts on various people who took advantage of opportunities to do some terrible things. They started with Robert Courtney, a pharmacist who diluted drugs that he sold, and I thought that was fantastic listening for the car (not so much for background listening because you need to pay attention). The next case that caught my attention was Sheryl Ruthven, who managed to build a cult that involved cats (not as cool as it sounds). I also like their shorter, one/two episode cases, but I think the longer ones are more fascinating.

Endless Thread – The last few episodes of Endless Thread have been dedicated to memes. I think some episodes are stronger than others, but overall this is a great series that explores the history of some famous memes. My personal favourite episodes from this series are: Gotta Make You Understand (all about Rick-Rolling), Woman Yelling at Cat (heartbreaking), and Slender-Man.

So this is what I’ve been listening to since June this year. As always, if you’ve got some podcast recommendations, let me know and I’ll be happy to try an episode or two!