Gaze back on the story of podcasting in 2012 and you may notice conspicuously few major new players.
Consider some of the biggest highlights: the purchase of Nerdist by Legendary Entertainment (and news of its full-season pickup by BBC America), the debut of Comedy Bang Bang on IFC, the industry's first stab at a truly all-encompassing awards ceremony in the form of the Stitcher Awards, President Obama's appearance on The BS Report, and the comedy podcast-focused Los Angeles Podfest.
All of these are milestones for the medium, but they're developments
dominated by players who have, at this point, been on the podcast scene
for years. But what of the new shows, the recently emerged podcasts that
have spent the year tightening their games and building their
audiences? With the year drawing to a close, Podspotting flags up the 10
best new podcasts of 2012 -- the shows that emerged strong, got even
better, and are poised to have a big year in 2013.
10. Call Chelsea Peretti
Comedian and writer Chelsea Peretti has an enviable resume, with guest appearances on Louie and The Sarah Silverman Program, credits writing for the Village Voice, and even a gig writing for the fourth season of Parks and Recreation. Her podcast, Call Chelsea Peretti,
lets her bust out the comedy chops that have made her such a commodity,
as Peretti responds to messages from listeners. There’s no real theme;
listeners can call in to ask about everything from relationship mores to
diabetes.
Although Peretti can be a serial abuser of shortened forms of
words—“sitch,” “convo,” etc.—she tackles questions with a sardonic
irreverence that makes for fun listening.
9. WNYC's Here's The Thing
OK, so this choice is a mild cheat: Alec Baldwin's ceaselessly erudite, almost oppressively classy interview show Here’s The Thing
actually released its first episode in the waning months of 2011. But
the podcast was mere weeks old when 2012 began, and this year has found
the show truly finding its groove, with Baldwin speaking to a wide range
of thinkers and cultural players to consistently entertaining and
intriguing results.
Of particular note is the show’s stellar David Letterman interview,
in which Baldwin skillfully pierces through one of show business' most
guarded personalities, leading Letterman to recount a fascinating series
of anecdotes, covering even his very first gigs in television. That
kind of quality is worth bending the rules a little for.
8. PodCRASH
PodCRASH is another podcast that sneaks onto the list somewhat illegally, having
started at the tail end of 2011. But it, too, found its footing in
2012, as "nerdlebrity" Chris Gore, the movie geek and comedian founder
of Film Threat and regular film commentator on G4's late Attack of the Show, embraced and perfected the podcast's odd format.
Every week, Chris Gore quite literally crashes another
podcast; the show features Gore appearing on a different podcast each
week, with added commentary from Gore. And it's not just comedy
podcasts; sure, one episode features Gore appearing on Paul Gilmartin's Mental Illness Happy Hour, but he also pops up in podcasts on subjects as disparate as Doctor Who
and crafting. It's probably the most meta podcast yet conceived, but
it's a great way to get introduced to new shows, and a consistently
interesting listen for fans of the medium.
7. Decode DC
Like most of us, Andrea Seabrook found herself growing increasingly
frustrated during 2011's debacle of a debt-ceiling debate, as the nation
stood on the brink of a default and politicians used the media to take
cheap shots at each other. Unlike the rest of us, Seabrook decided to do
something about it, leaving NPR to start DecodeDC, a podcast that aims to go behind the rhetoric of politics and decipher the truth behind the massaged media messaging.
DecodeDC's
true debut will come in 2013, when the show, which has support from the
Mule Radio Podcast Syndicate, Soundcloud, and a very successful
Kickstarter campaign, will begin releasing episodes on a regular
schedule. But even with only four episodes under its belt, the podcast
is already a refreshingly straightforward look at politics that's
tackled everything from the neuroscience behind party politics to the
carefully managed staging of political events. It's savvy, honest,
entrepreneurial reporting, and it will be a must-listen show in 2013.
6. International Waters
If NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is your favorite audio-delivered comedic trivia show, it's only because you haven't heard International Waters yet. Jesse Thorn of Bullseye/Maximum
Fun fame dials up the goofiness to 11 in this monthly show, which pits
teams of comedians from the United States and the United Kingdom (or, in one case, Canada) against each other for quiz dominance.
The pop culture-centric questions give comedians ranging from Michael
Ian Black to Andy Zaltzman to Janet Varney ample opportunity to riff,
with Thorn awarding two points to correct answers and one point to
answers that amuse him. You may not learn much, but you'll laugh... a
lot.
5. Fatman On Batman
There's probably no show that better exemplifies the virtues of narrowcasting then Fatman on Batman, Kevin Smith's weekly opportunity to gab about the Caped Crusader with guests ranging from Adam West and current Batman writer Scott Snyder to acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series writer Paul Dini.
By definition, it's not a show for everybody; those without a
fanatical love for Batman need not apply. But if you enjoy your
Batman—and the billion-dollar gross for The Dark Knight
would suggest that a lot of you do—you’re likely to be as engaged and
disarmed by Smith’s clear devotion to the character as his charmed
guests are. The discussions are deep, insightful, and every bit as
relentlessly geeky as they need to be, while Smith's skills as a host
and raconteur keep the conversations fun and inviting.
4. The Dana Gould Hour
Of all the comedy podcasts in the land, The Dana Gould Hour
is probably the one that best approximates the joys of a late-night
talk show -- albeit an especially demented, unrestrained one. Every week
Gould (a comedian and comedy writer who's penned episodes of The Simpsons)
and a smattering of guests hold court for well over an hour -- the name
is a loose suggestion, at best -- with monologues, interviews,
conversations, the occasional sketch, musical performances, factoids and
other interludes.
It's a freewheeling format that finds most episodes zeroing on a
specific topic, like manliness, theme parks, or conspiracy theories, and
hitting a number of different beats on that topic. The resulting
podcast is a weird kind of brilliant, full of variety, fast-moving,
well-produced and endlessly entertaining. No less an authority than
Patton Oswalt once called Gould the founder of alt-comedy, and The Dana Gould Hour displays Gould at his smart, funny best.
3. Here Be Monsters
Here Be Monsters
has as quixotic an origin story as any podcast out there: In 2010, host
and creator Jeff Emtman decided he wanted to face his fears and
insecurities head-on, and decided audio was the medium to do it in. Two
years and one Souncloud fellowship later, he created Here Be Monsters,
a podcast loosely about the freaky and the unknown. Every week, Emtman
or one of his contributors talks to somebody who’s had an experience on
the fringes. One episode dives into the world of the Juggalos.
Another features a conversation with an unnamed professor, who shares
his experience of (temporarily, as it turns out) dying. Another,
especially cringeworthy episode talks with someone who was circumcised
at the regrettably late age of 12. Here Be Monsters is one of
the most unpredictable podcasts out there; it’s impossible to know what
subject any given episode may tackle, giving the show a wonderfully
eccentric, free-roaming vibe.
2. Good Job, Brain!
What exactly, is Good Job, Brain!
anyway? It's a little bit quiz show. It's a little bit strange, offbeat
news from all corners of the world. But, at the end of the day, it's
the perfect show for trivia nerds -- folks who live to yell at their TV
during Jeopardy!, who prefer to visit their favorite bars on quiz nights and whose favorite party game is Trivial Pursuit.
Hosts Karen Chu, Colin Felton, Dana Nelson and Chris Kohler quiz the
audience and each other, share trivia, discuss oddball news and true
stories and toss out more dinner party-worthy factoids than any other
podcast out there. It's an impossibly geeky, incredibly exuberant,
just-plain-interesting weekly hour of infotainment that's so winsome
that the show had no trouble finding funding from fans on Kickstarter.
1. The Truth
Audio drama dates back to the earliest days of radio, so The Truth's format
-- "movies for your ears," per the show's tagline -- isn't earthshaking
in and of itself, even if it is a pleasant departure from the interview
and/or commentary format that dominates most podcasts. What makes
Jonathan Mitchell's audio-fiction program so captivating is how incredibly well-executed it is, and how unquestionably modern it feels.
Longtime radio veteran Mitchell debuted his podcast with a 2010 radio
piece, the quiet tragedy of "Moon Graffiti" -- "a what if?" tale
imagining the final moments of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in a
reality where the Apollo 11 mission failed.
The Truth received a blast of attention when another of its episodes was featured on This American Life,
and in the final months of 2012 released a spectacular triptych of
episodes that wove Halloween and the election season together for a
series of politically themed horror stories. "That's Democracy," which
begins with a disgruntled teacher and an unruly classroom and ends with
an act of shocking violence, may have been the tensest, most
uncomfortable, most unforgettable single podcast of the year.
There are other podcasts doing audio drama -- many quite well -- but
none combine interesting writing, strong performances, and excellent
production quite as ably as The Truth. The show is still
finding its footing, releasing episodes sporadically, and some of its
best episodes were older radio productions repurposed for the podcast.
But the wait for each episode is more than worth it, and it will be
interesting what tricks the show pulls out of its hat for year two --
starting with a live episode to be recorded at the New York City Podfest
in January.
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