I don’t know if anyone missed my yearly/biannually podcast post, but I missed writing this because I really do like to keep track of how my podcast listening habits have changed over the years. 2022 was a mixed year for podcasts. I had quite a bit of time to listen to podcasts in the first half of the year, because I can always play something while studying/travelling, but ever since I started work, I’ve had much less podcast time. So, I had to cull a lot of things. But before we talk about the culling, here are some podcasts that I started (and for a few, finished) this year:

Podcasts I’m Listening To (Ongoing)

Bad Women: I raved about season 1 of Bad Women in my 2021 year end podcast update and it was definitely something to listen to. I really loved the focus on the women victims of Jack the Ripper. So I was pretty excited for season 2, which was supposed to be focused on the Blackout Ripper. Well, I guess I wasn’t listening properly because it’s not just about the Blackout Ripper, it’s also about the women who were killed due to domestic violence during WWII. They do mention that this season looks at both, but I feel like adding in the domestic violence angle makes the podcast a bit unfocused; don’t get me wrong, both are worthy podcast subjects, I just felt like the season needed a bit more structure to it. I’m not familiar with the case of the BVlackout Ripper at all, so trying to do a season on him without any knowledge or focus on the case made me lost. It’s probably why I still have a few episodes to listen to even though I think the second season is already finished, I’ve just placed it at the bottom of my to-listen list when there are too many podcasts to listen to!

The Teacher’s Pet: I started this because of a BBC article that fingered this podcast as the reason the case of Lynette Dawson received a renewed investigation. I’ve only finished two episodes, but I plan to return to this once I get my downloaded episodes to a manageable level because the two episodes I listened to were fascinating and yet showed respect for the victim.

Grimmcast: I have just started listening to this and it’s my first podcast based on a TV show! But what can I say – I loved Grimm and I am so excited to hear the women stars talk about it. So far, it’s more about the acting industry and how great Portland is, but the episodes are fun and the guest hosts are great so I’m enjoying it. I do think it’s a bit too much of a coincidence that the official Grimm channel on Youtube has also been active lately – I wonder what’s going to happen?

French Podcasts

In 2023, I would like to listen to some Japanese podcasts as well, but so far, the only non-English podcasts I listen regularly to are French language podcasts, because my French teacher strongly advised me to.

Inner French: I found this podcast through the recommendation of a friend! It’s a podcast for intermediate listeners, so the hosts don’t speak too slowly, and the topics are pretty interesting! I like that they explain some more complex phrases in French, it really reminds me of how I’m taught and helps me to think in the language. Currently, I understand enough to be able to summarise the podcast if asked on the same day I listened to an episode, but I still miss a lot of details.

Un Thé, Un Voyage: This podcast by Palais des Thés spills the tea about tea… in French. Because this is not for French learners, the speed of the hosts is a bit faster than Inner French and I understand slightly less. Still, I find myself being able to understand bits and pieces, perhaps not enough to summarise, but enough to feel encouraged to continue listening.

Podcast I finished (No more new episodes)

The Left Right Game: I realised I like horror/horror-ish fiction podcasts so listening to this was a no-brainer. The Left Right Game is a podcast based on a nosleep story, and if you’ve read the original posts, is pretty faithful adaptation. The biggest difference is that they expand on a part of the story about the “finder”. Basically, this podcast pretends that if you go down a road and always take the left, then right, the left, then right turns ad infinitum, you can end up somewhere you don’t expect to. I really enjoyed this and thought the ending was pretty decent, given that it’s hard to make a horror ending that lives up to your imagination (or maybe, the current ending of The Black Tapes just has me down, even though I really do like that podcast!)

The Kleio Files: Another fiction podcast, this sci-fi story follows an archaeological team as they investigate ruins found at the bottom of the ocean. The story is told through a series of audio “logs” made by a crew member. I was really enjoying the buildup of the story, but sadly, the last two episodes were disappointing. I felt like two of the characters started acting in ways that made no sense, and as a result, the actions of the protagonist didn’t make much sense to me either!

Dead Hand: I found this podcast from BBC sounds and it’s part of a longer series. The Dead Hand story, however, is only 5 episodes and so bingeable. It’s a podcast based on a podcast about a serial killer and it sucked me in. This is also where I learnt about number stations – well, I may have read about them earlier but this is the podcast that made them stick.

Lady Killers by Lucy Worsley: Lucy Worsley takes a feminist look at various murderesses who lived in Victorian London. Many of them are clearly guilty but the interesting part of the podcast is how they look at the societal influences on these women and how that may have motivated them to kill. It’s not a defence of these murderesses, but it is a sympathetic look at what they did and why they did it.

Podcasts I Stopped Listening To

Like I mentioned before, I have less time to listen to podcasts now, so I had to be a bit more ruthless than normal and cut some from my life.

All About Agatha: While I had enjoyed this podcast, the episodes are too long for me! Plus, (and I feel kind of bad saying this but) it doesn’t feel the same after Catherine passed away and is replaced by various guests host. I guess I was listening partly for the friendship between Catherine and Kemper and now that the podcast doesn’t have that, I don’t really feel like listening to it.

Golficity: I kept this podcast for the longest time because it reminded me of when I was living in Sasebo (that’s when I started listening) but I had to face reality: I’ve not been to the range or a course for the longest time. So, this had to go when I was looking for things to cut.

Well Read Podcast: I didn’t want to stop a second books-related podcast, but my TBR is a bit too much so I put this on pause. I hope to go back to it someday though!

99% Invisible: This podcast had some episodes I really loved… and some where I forgot it as soon as I heard it. There was a month with more misses and hits and since I was already looking to cut down on my subscriptions, I put this on pause.

Duolingo French Podcast: This was the first French podcast I listened to, but I had to stop because it wasn’t helping anymore. This podcast uses both English and French – the speaker talks in intermediate French, and the host chimes in with context in English. I found that having the English stopped me from listening to the French, because it was so much easier to just get the details from the English segment, so it wasn’t helping me at all.

Coffee Break French: I started this on the recommendation of a friend, but I am not a fan of how all the latest episodes are so short because they are just teasers for the paid (longer) version.

I have this nagging feeling that I may have missed out one or two podcasts, but given the length of this post, I’ll end it here! Let this be a reminder to myself that I should be doing this podcast update twice a year, instead of once a year.