I like listening to historical podcasts, and my favorites are “The History of Rome” (which has finished) and its followup “The History of Byzantium” and “Hardcore History” . I’ve heard good things about “Revolutions” by the creator of “The History of Rome” but I haven’t checked it out yet.

Also I’ve been enjoying “Fall of Civilizations” a lot, but so far have only listened to a few of the episodes.

Big fan of Darknet Diaries.

Hello Internet - I love the hosts, though the show is over (or, on hiatus if you truly believe)

Cortex- I listen to this mostly because CGP Grey is on it (who also was one of the hosts on Hello Internet). It’s also nice for tech news/ productivity information, though sometimes I get a bit frustrated at the show

Dear Hank and John (or Dear John and Hank) - John and Hank Green answer listener questions. I’m really a sucker for this “two guys talk at the mic” format lmao

Dungeons and Daddies- a DnD podcast with Freddie Wong that I find immensely entertaining

Well There’s Your Problem - an engineering disasters podcast. I really enjoy listening to the hosts, though they do tend to ramble. I like it, but might not be for everyone

Edit: Almost forgot, Wizards of Waverly Place Podcast. David Deloise and Jen Stone (The dad and Harper from the show) watch old Wizards of Waverly Place episodes and talks about them as well as has guests from the show on. This one can get a bit frustrating for me as the podcast feels a bit rushed, and their social media presence is very click baity. But I find it interesting none the less

History:

• History of Rome
• History of Byzantium (spiritual successor to HoR) - ongoing but with an end planned
• British History Podcast (in depth) - ongoing but with an end planned
• Revolutions (various revolutions from HoR
• Blowback
• Hardcore History
• Fall of Civilizations

Horror:

• Magnus Archives
• The Lovecraft Investigations - unsure if finished

True Crime:

• Bear Brook
• Dirty John

Others:

• *Shut up and Sit Down (Boardgames)"
• Beef and Dairy Network (Comedy)
• Outer Reach (Sci-Fi)

Bold = Ongoing with no end planned

Mostly on the humorous side:

• My Brother, My Brother And Me - 3 brothers giving not-so-serious advice to listeners, reacting to questions from Yahoo Answers (when that was a thing), and overall being funny/silly
• My Dad Wrote A Porno - 3 people hilariously reacting to an “erotica” book series that one of the guys’ dad published (I would say the books are maybe only 5%-20% explicit, depending on the chapter)
• No Such Thing As A Fish - the behind-the-scenes staff of the show QI bring up interesting facts and tidbits from history/nature/etc. (each episode is split into 4 parts where each member brings up a fact and the others react to it and bring up related facts)
• If I Were You - Jake & Amir from CollegeHumor giving advice to listeners (mostly in a sarcastic/tongue-in-cheek way but sometimes genuinely), mostly about relationships/dating
• SmartLess - Jason Bateman and Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) interview a famous person each episode where only one of the hosts known who it is beforehand (it gets better after the first few episodes)
• Office Ladies - Jenna and Angela from The Office (US) reacting to each episode of the show and bringing up behind-the-scenes stuff (some of episodes include interviews with other cast members/staff)

Throughline has been my favorite since it launched a few years ago. The hosts take a deep dive into the historical events leading up to topical events of the present weaving a thread through them, hence the name.

Some of the examples are the history of policing in the US and how capitalism became the dominant economic system.

I cannot recommend this podcast enough!

Mental Illness Happy Hour by Paul Gilmartin, if you like a podcast that talks honestly about the struggles of mental health.

Paul interviews a different person each week and discuss their journeys on dealing with their mental health. Paul is also been very open about his struggles. It helps that he is a comedian and has a subtle but dark humor that I enjoy.

I also really like the short surveys that he reads and people have filled out on his website because they make me feel connected that I’m not alone.

I am surprised some of the big ones haven’t been mentioned yet -

• Radiolab - Not really sure how to describe this podcast. It’s superb journalism at its core. They do both short and multi-episode long form about a variety of topics from science to history to current events. For example, how dinosaurs died when the asteroid hit earth, the story of a Guantanamo convict with the same name as the host, and how poorly computer databases are designed for names that are outside the norm.

• Planet Money - An excellent economics podcast where complex topics are distilled in fairly short episodes. They recently released a completely AI generated episode which was incredibly scary with how good it was.

• More Perfect - Everything the US Supreme Court

• Serial - One multi-episode series at a time about complicated criminal cases.

• What Roman Mars can Learn about Con Law - Started off during the Trump Presidency when tough questions about the US constitution are being asked given his penchant for pushing the legal boundaries and norms.

Behind the Bastards, a deep dive into the various shit people of history. Episode one is Saddam Hussein: Erotic Novelist.

There’s nearly 700 episodes, and I’ve yet to run tio a dud. Loads of great guests. My only gripe is that it’s a touch Amerocentric, but other than that I’d recommend it to basically anyone. Not kid friendly, in case that wasn’t obvious.

My top podcasts lately:

• QAnon Anonymous: started out chronicling the QAnon freakshow but moved towards more general deep dives into modern and past conspiracy movements

• Minion Death Cult: laughing at right wing comment sections

• This Is Revolution: great leftist interview/discussion

• Joy Tactics: extremely funny stuff

• Uhh Yeah Dude: one of the longest running podcasts out (13 years) and still funny as hell

I dip into some other podcasts from time to time like Chapo Trap House, Comedy Bang Bang, and Vice’s CYBER.

I also listen to some paranormal/weird shows that I can recommend if anyone is interested.

• History on Fire (Italian Prof talks about interesting events and people)
• The Deprogramm (An iraqi, a slav and a american rant about things)
• Duncan Trussell Family Hour (Classical “guy invites interesting people to talk to”)
• Blowback (Historic events regarding american imperialism)

I’ve been a longtime fan of CheapShow, a comedy podcast loosely based around unusual items found in cheap shops and charity shops (thrift stores). Episodes include deep dives in vintage/retro media, taste tests of weird foodstuffs, various games and challenges, plus a lot of complete chaos and toilet humour.

Maybe not for everyone, but if any of the above catches your interest it’s worth a try.

-Last Podcast on The Left - crime and comedy is a perfect mix for me.

-Bow and Blade and The Medieval Podcast - I love medieval history

-Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History -general history (waiting for another episode is like waiting for Christmas)

-Unsolved Misteries Podcast- I love the TV show and that podcast is great too :)

Hardcore History. The come out a few times a year and are incredibly long (some episodes are five hours), but listening to Dan Carlin talk is really engaging. Plus he has one of those voices you can fall asleep to.
It Could Happen Here. Keeps my righteous anger at ‘the man’ topped up.
Criminal Records. Fun crime podcast focussed on the weird and less heard of crimes in history.

Massively depends on what you’re into.

That said, I follow these podcasts:

News related comedy:

• Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me from NPR
• Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
• The Bugle
• Breaking The News from BBC Scotland

DnD:

• Dicefunk (I recommend seasons 3 & 4 in particular)

Puns:

• Punwatch
• (also The Bugle sometimes)

Science communication:

• The Infinite Monkey Cage
• Daniel And Jorge Explain The Universe
• The Curious Cases Of Rutherford & Fry
• Supermassive
• A Problem Squared
• Creature Feature
• My Favourite Theorem

About Media:

• Failure To Launch, about TV pilots that failed to become full series
• Get Played, originally called “How Did This Get Played?” and focused on the worst games ever made, now about games in general
• Dream Factory, about plots of non-existing movies

Security/Hacking:

• Malicious Life
• Darknet Diaries
• Human Factor Security

History:

• You’re Dead To Me