Even though I have started my own podcast, I seldom listen to them myself as I find them slow. I read faster. (I don’t listen to enough music either). Still, it’s a form I’ve started using so I should engage and I have begun to discover more about the form. My own structure is the long-form discussion pod where I try to find out the “best version” of my interviewee and their world view. This is a fairly niche form across the whole pod space (from what I can tell).
My go to pods in this regard are Ezra Klein and Tyler Cowen and to some extent Joe Rogan, Adam Buxton with an outside nod to Lex Fridman.
Let me know any pod recommendations. Especially if they have transcripts.
Ezra has a large platform at the NYT and a progressive centre-left world view but with open mindedness.
Tyler has a libertarian leaning world view and includes humanities thinkers maybe with more niche thinkers than Ezra.
That’s where Joe is very good as well. Ezra and Tyler are high art leaning pods. And Joe is low art - in a good way - leaning.
I’d love to find a long form female all round pod, not with a particular angle (cf Guilty Feminist).
There are many good niche pods or thematically specific pods eg autism (1800 Seconds on Autism), Guilty Feminist, How to Fail which for entertainment, or advocacy, are in some ways better than long form discursive.
Ezra and Tyler (and Joe) are the new era intellectuals talk shows for our times taking over from fallen from grace likes of Charlie Rose.
This brings me to Amia Srinivasan. One of the leading living philosophers in the world. If you don’t believe me (or Tyler), you might believe Oxford University.
I have to admit I do not comprehend all of Amia’s writing. Her essays on pronouns, Octopus, termites and whales - have brought me insight and I read much of her work as I attempted to invite her to my podcast (which as a super star celebrity philosopher she graciously declined.)
But she did go on both Ezra Klein’s and Tyler Cowen’s podcast. If you listen to both and her interview in the Paris review you have a scope of her thinking. They are very different even if nominally about the same set of essays.
A learned friend thinks the recent essays are no good but her podcasts have certainly provoked my thinking.
Perhaps even more meta is the response to Tyler’s podcast. Those interested in the tylerverse tend to lean libertarian and what I’d say as anti-woke. Tyler himself had to blog a partial defense of his podcast which I view as very unusual.
His first point seems well made that (defiant?) females seem to evoke more push back then the equivalent men. Perhaps making Amia’s point all the more clearly.
In any event, my podcasting “strategy” is mostly randomness + curiosity but if you think you know women who’d be up for a podcast would be very happy to chat with them.
Upcoming but not yet held (so let me know any questions):
Epidemiologist, Meaghan Kall - ask us about COVID!
Arts impact investor, Fran Sanderson
Poet and investor, Jason Mitchell
Disability studies academic, Dan Goodley
In “post-production” - a very fancy of saying I have not uploaded them yet.
Philosopher, Jonathan Wolff; former COO and SPAD, Clare Montagu.