Jump to content
Erkki

Other podcasts

Recommended Posts

I don't think MBMBaM is actually a good advice show. I would be shocked if anyone did think that. It doesn't seem like they're actually interested in giving good advice, which I'm all in favor of. I can't understand why anyone would write into them for any reason other to hear their joke answers.

 

I didn't make it out of the first year listening, I remember early on them taking some questions seriously, because people were actually asking them serious questions.  That's one of the things that got old for me, is they couldn't exactly figure out what they were going to do with the show, and it wasn't working for me.

 

 

Eh, the most recent example for me was a question about helping a guy who doesn't earn very much feel better about not contributing much financially to his relationship with his successful wife. All three McElroys got stuck for an uncomfortably long time up a blind alley about how he shouldn't feel emasculated by female power and how he shouldn't feel obligated to provide for his wife so that she can sit at home and do nothing, neither of which were even close to the question actually being asked. It just felt really awkward for me to listen to them each independently reinterpreting his perfectly normal worry ("I feel bad about not pulling my weight with our bank account, what do I do?") to something misogynistic on which they could pontificate clumsily ("Women earning lots of money is a good thing, you're just an insecure jerk."). And that's not when they accidentally say something transphobic right out, of which I'm much more understanding (although I don't exactly thrill in it).

 

Yeah, that sounds crappy. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I didn't make it out of the first year listening, I remember early on them taking some questions seriously, because people were actually asking them serious questions.  That's one of the things that got old for me, is they couldn't exactly figure out what they were going to do with the show, and it wasn't working for me.

 

That's totally understandable. They can never really commit to whether it's going to be 100% joke advice or if they're actually going to try to help the person that wrote in, and as a result you get responses that are meant to serve either or both, making it unpredictable which kind of answer you're going to get.

I decided I didn't really care about the quality of the advice, and just wanted to hear their jokes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The McElroys are not experts, and their advice should never be followed...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Remember in the first 25 or so episodes where even really basic sex stuff made them uncomfortable? They're three straight dudes from West Virginia. They seem like good dudes, but putting that much content out there all the time about those kinds of topics really just lays bare every single thought and inclination that is inside you, especially when you try to cover it up.

 

The real crime is Griffin's interminable ironic bro speak, but maybe he doesn't do that anymore. I haven't listened in years.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Remember in the first 25 or so episodes where even really basic sex stuff made them uncomfortable? They're three straight dudes from West Virginia. They seem like good dudes, but putting that much content out there all the time about those kinds of topics really just lays bare every single thought and inclination that is inside you, especially when you try to cover it up.

 

The real crime is Griffin's interminable ironic bro speak, but maybe he doesn't do that anymore. I haven't listened in years.

 

I think the power of first impressions, especially with podcasts, is so potent. I think shows (and the people who make them) change so much over the course of a show. Listening to a show like MBMBaM that has 5 years worth of weekly back episodes is going to make that morph so pronounced.

 

Like I started listening to Idle Thumbs because I heard an episode in the car with my boyfriend, specifically the episode with Jeff Green who I feel like is my internet dad and I have a lot of affection for him.  After hearing that episode, I immediately started listening to more, but if you go back to Idle Thumbs 1, it was totally different (and unappealing to me.) If I ever encounter anyone interested in starting Idle Thumbs, I always recommend starting with the most recent episodes, and not going back before the Kickstarter unless they're completionists, and if so, to do that last.

 

I don't think anyone owes any shows a second chance. There's so much good stuff to consume and experience, that I would not ask anyone to go back to check out MBMBaM, or any other show for that matter. It's interesting to me what puts people off of shows, as I think those things are often what shows either double down on or work actively to combat. So the bro speak from Griffin, specifically when he jokes about 420 dank nuggs is something that continued, but were sponsored for a very long time by extreme restraints and talked about sex stuff a lot, and they've gotten a lot more comfortable with that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Remember in the first 25 or so episodes where even really basic sex stuff made them uncomfortable? They're three straight dudes from West Virginia. They seem like good dudes, but putting that much content out there all the time about those kinds of topics really just lays bare every single thought and inclination that is inside you, especially when you try to cover it up.

 

The real crime is Griffin's interminable ironic bro speak, but maybe he doesn't do that anymore. I haven't listened in years.

 

I mean, they're not forced to pick the questions that they read. They've repeatedly implied that they get more questions, both funny and serious, than they could ever answer in a weekly format, so there's no need for them to pick questions that make them uncomfortable or make them look briefly like sexist dingbats. Having them go on an unfunny jag about gender roles that also fails to answer the actual question is not good, except in a live show where they can't edit it out. Actually, live shows tend to be overall funnier, maybe because they can see from the audience when a bit's not working or when one of them is going off into the weeds.

 

And yeah, Griffin still loves to talk like some goofy parody of an early-2000s rapper. The final question for this week's show was actually about how to get someone's dad to stop trying to use teenager slang, and I was surprised that there wasn't more self-awareness from Griffin as he made fun of a mid-forties dude for calling stuff "fresh" and "dope."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I decided I didn't really care about the quality of the advice, and just wanted to hear their jokes.

Haha, yeah after the first 30 episodes or less, the real advice was covered. Now it's just weirdness after weirdness.

 

Can't believe all the hate here. I think Griffin's shtick brings a nice variety since going by other podcasts where he's on with his brother, he's just kind of like them. Really if you guys are picking on MBMBaM or Sawbones for being fake progressive or sexist or whatever, I wonder how many other podcasts you have attempted. None are perfect, even all of the usual NPR features: TAL, Snap, and The Moth.

 

Also I pretty much think every podcast is grade B or C entertainment, none are consistently funny and most podcasts tend to be boring half if not most of the time, even the good ones. They really just exist to leave on in the background. I can't imagine there is anyone who actually sits there listening intently to a podcast without anything else going on.

 

The only grade A entertainment podcast I can think of is the Ricky Gervais Show, but now that I've watched them all in cartoon form, it's much better that way and you can't really go back.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

MBMBAM is the kind of show that I like to come back to every once in a while, but I find it tough to keep up with weekly or to binge on. Which is fine. I should check out the Adventure Zone, though. I hear that's really good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The bizarre not-actually-sponsored-by-Powerade performance art that was happening at the beginning of episodes was legitimately so funny & Griffin's goofy schtick is one reason why the Hearthstone videos from Polygon (affectionately known as Stonerz) are pretty much my favorite things on the internet.

 

 

MBMBAM is the kind of show that I like to come back to every once in a while, but I find it tough to keep up with weekly or to binge on. Which is fine. I should check out the Adventure Zone, though. I hear that's really good.

 

For real though, The Adventure Zone is probably my favorite podcast.

I think MBMBaM and Judge John Hodgman are shows w/o guests that are really good for dropping in on periodically and just letting slide by other times. For shows with guests like Jordan Jesse, Go! I only listen when there's a guest that's interesting to me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think a fantasy adventure is a better fit for the McElroy's style of comedy than fake advice does, and this is coming from a huge MBMBAM fan. I've also been impressed with the stories Griffin has written for the campaign. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for train mysteries.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Adventure Zone has pretty quickly surpassed MBMBaM for my favorite McElroy related thing on the Internet. Too bad that I can't get my wife to listen, as she likes MBMBaM but is generally anti-fantasy and D&D especially.

 

Has anyone else been listening to Mystery Show? It's another Gimlet podcast by an NPR alumni, in this case Starlee Kine, doing something sort of like they would on NPR, but a little different. In this case, Kine sets out every week to solve a mystery, but they tend to be pretty strange, mundane mysteries. The questions she's after are things like, "where did this belt buckle come from?", "how did Britney Spears get a copy of my book?" or "how tall is Jake Gyllenhall?" It's fascinating, funny, and oddly heartwarming at times, which isn't something I'd be into normally, but I really like it. If you're interested, listen to the belt buckle or Britney Spears episodes first.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Seconded on Mystery Show. I recommend the Britney Spears for the phone conversations if nothing else.

Also yeah Synth, other podcasts bother me. I dropped the Moth, I dropped Planet Money for being blindly capitalist (not that I should have been surprised). I might drop This American Life if it gets worse at grating on me for trying too hard to be middle ground and disregarding things as a result.

Plenty of podcasts I still listen to have troubles at least sometimes of course, they just haven't pushed me over the unsubscribe line.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have 14 podcasts of various update frequency in the hopper.  I'm getting close to dropping This American Life since this year has been pretty lean from them.  It feels like 1 new cast and then multiple weeks of repeats.  Between Gimlet taking a lot of talent and some of their staff splintering off to do Serial or other shows I seriously wonder if the talent pool is getting a bit thin.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I switched from iPhone to Android phone, downloaded Pocket Casts, discovered the web player, and now suddenly I have subscribed to a ton of podcasts. I probably can't keep up with all of them, so I'll just listen to the episodes that sound interesting.

 

So far the The Bugle and Mystery Show have been excellent, Futility Closet is interesting, This American Life and Radiolab could be great depending on the episode, and Here Be Monsters is at least intriguing based on an episode with a raving white supremacist. Yet to listen to Lore (Edit: Not my thing).

 

So many Squarespace adverts!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have literally 100+ podcasts in my backlog, Destiny-binge + vacation has been really bad for me.

 

I feel like dropping a ton of podcasts that I'd normally consider staples because my lack of keeping up with them suggests to me that I really don't enjoy them as much as I think I do. This includes the oft mentioned MBMBAM, the oft mentioned in another thread Bombcast, and TAL like Polish just mentioned. It feels super weird.

 

On the bright side, a lot of my recent subscriptions have been very well enjoyed. I love the Bit Socket podcast for a really quick, actually funny gaming podcast. The Beastcast and Patrick Klepek's Three Beers Deep have been filling my gaming podcast needs recently with some intelligent analysis and discussion.

 

I've been listening to A Cast of Kings and A Storm of Spoilers for post Game of Thrones discussion (obviously now on hiatus), which is really excellent for that show since I don't really care about spoilers so much and I'm a book-reader.

 

I've also liked Friendshipping with Jenn & Trin, which is an advice podcast from a couple ladies that work at Cards Against Humanity. I saw Trin on stage with Pat Baer's panel at PAX South and thought she was super funny and charming, which totally carries over to a female-led, practical, short advice show that I love love love. One of their podcasts recently dealt with how to unfollow a friend on Twitter, which is like... seemingly so mundane but actually a crisis if you do unfollow someone for a good reason and they ask you why (or if you're on the reverse end of this, which I remember some people feeling bad about in the Twitter thread).

 

I switched from iPhone to Android phone, downloaded Pocket Casts, discovered the web player, and now suddenly I have subscribed to a ton of podcasts. I probably can't keep up with all of them, so I'll just listen to the episodes that sound interesting.

 

I love this. Despite my huge backlog, using the web player (which syncs progress with the mobile app) has let me really take advantage of the more grindy parts of Destiny where I could use some background noise.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Is the Pocket Casts web player solid now? I had a quick go when it was in beta and found it lacking. It seemed easier then to just use my phone with earphones inside my computer's headphones.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Is the Pocket Casts web player solid now? I had a quick go when it was in beta and found it lacking. It seemed easier then to just use my phone with earphones inside my computer's headphones.

 

I find it very good, personally. Didn't try it in the beta, however, so no way to tell if it's improved. It does have the speed control that I crave, for what that's worth.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like it mainly because a web player is convenient in terms of my listening habits. Not a ton of features or settings. Just Discover, New Releases, and In Progress views and simple playback controls.

 

I'm new to this business, I don't know what other podcast listeners look for in a player.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well I mostly wanted to be sure it was stable enough to run normally and mirrored most of the Android App. It's not that I wanted a bunch of features, but the syncing was odd on the web version. It could grab all my podcasts and if I'd heard the latest episode but went back no further than that so it couldn't track my back catalogue properly and it was a bit heavy and clunky to run, but that was on a crappy laptop admittedly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I will look into PocketCasts - I do not listen to podcasts on my commute (data usage) but I just manually go to a podcast's page to listen to it at work. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Belt Buckle episode of Mystery Show is really, really good.

 

It's incredibly shallow, but the host's lisp drives me nuts to the point I can't listen to the show. Especially as she's constantly saying "mythtery"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Apple Cider: If you can spare the space Pocket Casts does a good job of actually downloading the episodes. Just remember to change the setting so it saves them on your SD card if you have one.

 

@griddelol That's funny cause I particularly like her different voice, meant I instantly recognised her and was on board with the podcast.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×