The Overcast app (my podcast player of choice) got a new feature last week: The ability to show you how many hours you’ve listened to each of your shows over the past year. Here’s my top-9, in a fancy image that Overcast produces:
For the most part, this is pretty on-brand for me. Going through the list:
- ATP – the Accidental Tech Podcast – featuring the creator of Overcast, Marco Arment, plus Casey Liss and my all-time favorite, John Siracusa – as three Apple nerds, discussing mostly Apple, but other tech topics, plus some cars and other parts of their lives. I’m a proud member/supporter of this show, and it is my #1 favorite. I save every regular episode for Saturdays, and listen as I do errands and chores. Member specials though, I listen to those as soon as I can.
- Upgrade – in a similar vein to ATP – but hosted by Jason Snell and Myke Hurley, this is another Apple news and commentary show, to which I am also a member (hence the “+” in the artwork). This is the first of several shows on my list from the Relay podcast network. Upgrade is a highlight of my Monday nights, listening to Jason and Myke.
- Rebel Force Radio – the first non-technology show on my list, but don’t worry, it’s still nerdy. This is the first one based on Star Wars – 1 of my 2 favorite Star ___ franchise. 🙂 I kinda don’t recommend RFR to anyone, even people who I know like Star Wars, because they take calls from listeners, and sometimes they’re a bit too silly, with songs from Puppet Lando… But I do listen every week to their flagship show, and they always do same-day or next-day after-shows when new Star Wars episodes air on Disney+, so I’ve gotta keep up with those (how else would I learn the names of all the side characters like Cad Bane, right Tim?).
- Connected – going back to Apple tech we have Connected (Pro, because yes, I’m a member here too). And here we have my first repeated host – on Relay, Myke Hurley, this time with his Relay co-founder Stephen Hacket, and Federico Viticci. While supposedly similar topics to ATP & Upgrade, Connected holds a special place, as it is by far the most fun, silly, irreverent tech podcast I know, and real joy – so much so, that it is how I start my Saturdays every week.
- Mac Power Users – One more show on my top-9 from Relay is MPU – yet another Apple-focused podcast, and once again, we have a repeat-host: this time, Stephen Hackett, alongside David “Mac Sparky” Sparks.
- The Delta Flyers – Welcoming my other favorite Star ___ franchise onto the list. I was very pleasantly surprised when Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill from Star Trek Voyager wrapped up their episode-by-episode recaps of their series, and then continued on to do the same thing for the Best (but not quite my Favorite) Star Trek series: Deep Space Nine. What’s even better is, they are joined (usually every-other-week) by DS9 actors Terry Farrell and Armin Shimerman. I do have a few other Star Trek podcasts in my playlists, but this one is pretty good, hearing it straight from the actors’ mouths.
- The Talk Show – Yet another Apple/tech focused podcast on my list comes from John Gruber (did you know, he invented Markdown? I mean, I’m glad he did, but gosh, he sure mentions it a lot on his show, lol). John brings on a random guest from the Apple media community, and he puts out episodes, I believe, on a random schedule. But despite the randomness, I really enjoy his points of view and his conversations, so I am always pretty happy when I see that gray star show up in Overcast.
- Who are those guys? Oh, Merlin Mann and John Roderick… it must be Roderick on the Line. Definitely the oddest show in my list, although Merlin is I guess at least adjacent to the Apple media community? To be honest, I really don’t know what Merlin’s deal is, but, he and John are fun to listen to, usually good for some laughs, and sometimes some good insights into “thought technologies” and life overall.
- Would you look at that – here he is again – wrapping up the last two spots on my list, it’s Merlin again, this time with my old favorite, John Siracusa, in Reconcilable Differences. I like how John describes this podcast as the one where he talks about his feelings. Too bad these guys only publish every-other week – as it is almost always a great listen. Random topics, from colonoscopies to Waffle House training videos, but I could listen to them talk about just about anything (which they do!).
That’s my list – like I said – all pretty on brand.
