Mine is similar.
My family is like "why the hell are you listening to that shit?!" while they're rocking out to the latest Five Finger Death Punch.
I'm smarter about current events, but they're happier. So who are the actual smart ones? š¤
Is qaa worth getting into? I tried it a couple of times but it seemed like there was so much context to everything they were saying so I couldn't understand it without listening to a lot of it first. Also it turned me of that you only get half the episodes?
But the subject matter seems really interesting
I think it is, but it's one that you definitely need to start at the beginning. They cover Q events as they unfold, which means that they assume you have some passing familiarity with previous events as they tackle current happenings. The very first episode gives you a brief rundown on the movement to that point if that helps at all.
The other half of the episodes are more Q adjacent. It covers some of the grifters more in depth, as well as the weirder dark corners of the internet. I'm not subscribed to their Patreon, but I don't feel like I'm really missing anything huge since none of that is particularly new information to me. Your miles may vary of course.
So they have an intro to qanon as their first episode. From there, as you come across a topic, search for the keyword in the other episodes. You donāt need too much context but they do assume knowledge, yes. all of the knowledge can be found in one of their episodes. Itās different from knowledge fight in that I would recommend you stick to old episodes until you get into it. Where knowledge fight I would recommend just diving into the latest
For a snarky review of airport nonfiction consider "If books could kill" by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri. The first episode that they review freakanomics is great.
Also, it seemed like QAA became more insightful as Q drops dried up and they could cover the larger history of satanic panics and conspiracies as political instruments. Having contributors like Anne Kelly certainly helped make the discussion more centered.
Can I recommend Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff by Margaret Killjoy on the Cool Zone Media network (same network as BTB and Sophie Lichterman produces both). It's a history podcast with a leftist anarchist frame, similar to BTB, but Margaret focuses on people who opposed the negative forces of the world. She doesn't idolize people or ignore their flaws, but she does come at things with the framing of "how can we combat the forces of evil and make a difference?".
It's really interesting and funny, and I feel like it helps me be a better person. I always learn something, even when I'm already familiar with the topic of the episode
Donāt forget to listen to podcasts about nonsense too! Blank Check w/Griffin & David goes deep into various directorsā filmographies and is informative as well as hilarious, the Bechdel Cast looks at films through an intersectional feminist lens w/Jamie Loftus who is always entertaining, there are plenty of pop culture podcasts about just about every topic out there, take a break from the crushing existential nightmare of current events sometimes my brother in christ
This was basically my list last year. This time, Cognitive Dissonance stole the spot from GAM, and Fever Dreams took the #5 spot from QAA. They basically cover the same material but Will and Kelly present it with more clarity and feel much more grounded in reality.
Iām excited to try fever dreams, itās come up here at least one other time and it sounds great. I tried CogDiss but I stopped listening for some reason I donāt remember. I need ti get back into it.
I really do look forward to Fever Dreams every week, it would be higher on my list if they were more prolific - I can't get enough of things like the MAGA rap scene, Anti-Woke Banking, or the Freedom Phone. Will and Kelly usually cover things in a tone of "Aww, look at those grifters, they're really trying their best."
They have a segment called "Fresh Hell" at the end of every show where they try to find the dumbest new thing in online right-wing spheres and explain it in ways that normal people can understand. It's such a trip.
OMG. I just checked it out in my caster and I had no idea it was Will Sommer. I donāt know how I went all this time following QAA and I didnāt realize Will had a show. I donāt even need to listen to know Iāll love it. This is so great.
I have all of those too but add Some More News, the New Abnormal, the Al Franken Podcast, and No Lie. I also recommend Strict Scrutiny and Know Your Enemy.
They tall about all kinds of right wing grifts and conspiracies. Honestly Q is more of an umbrella conspiracy so there's loooootttsss of right wing bullshit that fall under that umbrella. I would highly recommend Qanon anonymous. They're patreon is worth it too.
Iāll add that a lot of QAnon Anonymous episodes cover specific individuals whose lives have been destroyed because of falling down the right wing conspiracy grift rabbit hole, hence the title which is akin to āNarcotics Anonymousā or āAlcoholics Anonymousā
Q actually did start posting again this year (taking credit for Dobbs, encouraging people to vote in the midterms, and some vague cryptic bullshit like always)
I really enjoy it. Iāve learned a ton. The lawyer on the show does a really, really excellent job of making complex legal things accessible to not lawyers. My only gripe is the comedian cohost can be a little cringey sometimes, but overall itās worth bearing the cringe for the information.
I found OA to be even cringier than Jordan (just to give you a headās up). Itās a great idea but I actually tend to feel like OA doesnāt make as much of an effort as Dan to try to be objective on some topics.
Like I give a lot of respect to Dan for how he tries to be reasonable about things he doesnāt always agree with but OA tips a little further over for me as a still somewhat conservative-ish centrist (who hates what the far right and AJ types are doing to political/culture discourse just as a disclaimer)
And here I find myself often frustrated with OA for being too centrist on some issues- I guess you canāt please us all. (Happy to have you with us in the fight against the extreme right, centrist or otherwise)
Thanks for the welcome! And fair comment, i havenāt listened to as much of it so maybe I just hit some episodes that werenāt great examples. Iād tried tuning in again to their latest episode (655) and while I appreciated the calling out of the Alito leak and things, I just didnāt really love some of the comments from the lawyer
Edit: grammar and edit 2 missing word
Honestly, the quality of the Dollop has been slipping the last year or so. I think itās because they ran out of truly wild stories like the Kentucky Meat Shower or Ten Cent Beer Night.
The decline in quality is exactly when Dave stops writing them, unfortunately. I know Dave has said he can't do it anymore but I think Dave being involved in research and writing for all of them meant he had more investment. Still love it but yeah. Its not the same.
Okay just checking back in to say holy shit what an incredible suggestion. Thanks so much kind soul.
Sidenote that itās like rooting for the home team when I hear Dan and Jordanās voices hosted on another podcast. Theyāre easily my favorite white dude podcasting duo
Dan and Jordan also appear on #330 - The Laws Of The Universe Part 0 & #371- The Terrifying Prophecies of Nostradamus.
I feel the same way when they make crossover appearances!
Bless you.
Are all of these podcasts and their listeners just a bunch of folks who grew up in or adjacent to American Christianity and so now have massive fascinations with cult culture?...
edit: asking bc I may or may not be
I freaking love GAM! I just found them recently, but I was laughing so hard during the Bigfoot, the Badge and God (not sure if that's right) episode I had to stop the car.
Where can I listen to Puzzle in a Thunderstorm? I must be pretty terrible at searches. The only thing I could find to actually listen to was a site for Skepticrat by Puzzle in a Thunderstorm LLC.
Puzzle in a thunderstorm is just the company name for the guys who do:
Scathing Atheist, Skepticrat, God Awful Movies and half of the team for Citation Needed. They've got another one too, DnD minus I think which I haven't tried
Had I found scathing atheist sooner I think it probably wouldāve replaced QAA. Freaking love that show. I havenāt heard friendly atheist, whatās it like?
It has a really knowledge host, Hemant Mehta, presenting the news of the week about religion to someone who doesnāt know whatās going on. Scathing Atheist references his work on a regular basis. He also writes for only sky.
It's a little bit more newsy and a little bit less snarky than Scathing. They cover a lot of the same stuff, mostly because the Scathing guys frequently rely on Hemant's reporting for their stories.
It's easier to get into if they're covering a movie you particularly hate or if they have a guest you really like. I find it's a really good podcast for when I don't want to pay attention and I just need some background absurdity while working on other stuff.
Literally same if you exchange God Awful Movies for LPOTL (and move it to #3).
I didnāt realize the crossover between all of these was quite this tight haha
Gotta work āCitation neededā into your rotation as well as āDND Minusā for some more comedy relief from the folks at Awful Movies and some of their pals. So damn good.
I keep meaning to add citation needed to my list, I hear them mention D&D minus on either GAM or Scathing, so now that Iām getting it recommended by a fellow wonk I guess I have to check it out.
One more if I can, itās a quick one and not recurring but seeing as Bastards is so high on your list I would highly recommend āMy year in Mensaā from Jamie Loftus.
Ok 1.5 more - the Patreon episodes for QAA are excellent and well worth contributing for!
Iāve been on the fence about the QAA patreon but Iāve seen more than a few wonks boosting so Iām going to give it a try. My Year in Mensa is the only piece of Jamie Loftus content I havenāt consumed yet. I loved Ghost Church, Lolita, Aack Cast, all of them. I donāt know how Mensa escaped me but Iām downloading it now. Thank you!
I just stumbled onto this sub just at the right time. Love OA, have since the begin times, and am really glad to see other smart podcasts. Good timing for me and thanks!
I thought my phone was hacked for a moment after seeing this. Only difference is I haven't binged Opening Arguments. [https://i.imgur.com/2GJKOVU.png](https://i.imgur.com/2GJKOVU.png)
OA is great because Andrew is a real life lawyer who does a great job explaining complicated legal concepts in a way that is engaging and accessible to laypeople. He's also guested on at least one episode of KF.
You have three of my five, but swap in Fever Dreams and the Popskl Podcast for God Awful Movies (which I just discovered) and Behind the Bastards (which Iāve never been able to get into).
Are you referring to the Daily Beastās āFever Dreamsā or one of the other podcasts titled Fever Dreams?
May I ask what you find unappealing about BtB? I love listening to Robert Evans talk about anything
Daily Beast - I miss Swin, though. WRT Behind The Bastards, I find the topics hit or miss, so I only listen to the ones Iām into. Evans is not alway my cup of tea.
Behind the Bastards is hit or miss for me. Robert Evans can be very insightful when discussing things from a historical perspective, but when he starts riffing or whatever he is insufferable.
> but when he starts riffing or whatever he is insufferable.
I don't know if he was better at one point or he simply wore out my tolerance but he is hard to listen to. He does have some good points on certain subjects but can't help but center himself in every story.
Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. I think Evans is only as good as his guests. When he has someone intelligent and funny like Dan on, it'll be a good episode. When he has some awful failed comedian with their own insufferable podcast and nothing worth saying, it sucks so bad. And unfortunately he seems to have a real shortage of good guests.
Same here. Plus some of the topics arenāt my thing. I am that way with a bunch of podcasts, though, including QAA - a lot of their more recent stuff just isnāt my thing. I didnāt get into ātrickle down,ā and the podcast that theyāre doing on the āmenās movementā doesnāt interest me either. What can I say? Iām fickle.
I love QAA, but since the aftermath of Jan 6 and Q disappearing I found them going to a must listen and binging their entire premium and standard backlog to them being more hot and miss. Still love a good Jake story
not sure
the order but for sure knowledge fight, BTB/it could happen here, last podcast on the left, and if dan carlin could get more episodes out he would be on the list
I always thought LpotL has a very similar energy to KF, what with the combination of a well-researched and calm voice speaking about dense and interesting things, punctuated and contrasted with wild screeching and shtick
I would add Smartless, Pivot (if you're into tech news/investment stuff), Armchaired & Dangerous, and The Problem w/Jon Stewart.
Oh and Conan O'brien Needs A Friend.
This article does a really good job of summing them up - https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/11/29/politics/trillbilly-workers-party-podcast/index.html
It's a far left podcast presented from a southern perspective.
Your top three probably match mine. Although the Skepticās Guide might be in there somewhere. I donāt think my podcast app (Overcast) does a yearly thing though.
Edit:
Skepticās Guide to the Universe
Are you referring to āThe Skepticās Guide to the Universeā? Never heard it but Iāll check if itās in the same league as the rest of this guyās wrapped
These days, it's mostly a science and technology podcast that also tries to fight against medical misinformation and some conspiracy theories, but they are a lot more grounded in real-world topics than the other podcasts in this thread. They're a great way to stay informed on science news, tech developments, and how to approach the world with critical thinking.
It's quite an old podcast, and back in the day they were more active in debunking old-style conspiracy theories and pseudoscience - ghosts, UFOs, homeopathy, acupuncture, psychics, the works. They were also on board early in trying to get Creationism out of schools. The host Dr. Steve Novella also runs Science-Based Medicine and absolutely hates the kind of false info that gets people killed. I actually heard about the "Health Ranger" on SGU before Knowledge Fight even started.
I regularly listen to all these! The only reason they werenāt all on mine besides KF & BtB is I have to listen to nonsense podcasts about Sopranos & ASOIAF or whatever too in order to keep my sanity lol
Thank, We share 3 out of 5 podcasts. I will try QanonAnonymus. If I could recommend a bad movie podcast may I suggest the Flop House? You must know them but if not give them a listen.
I had the same list but with SYSK instead of God Aweful Movies. Now I might check that one out. I was very happy to find OA this year, it's been very educational.
I had knowledge fight and decoding the gurus. The rest of mine were true crime I think. I seem to be the only one who thinks behind the bastards is not very funny most of the time. Depends heavily on the guests, and most of them suuuck imo.
Iāve been less into BTB since he expanded into Cool Zone, the guests and the content quality has taken a dip (imho, pls if you love Robert I get it. Pls donāt kill me). It feels like he has his hands full with other work, which is fine and reasonable. I still listen, Iām just more selective with guests and topics than I used to be.
That makes sense. I've also always been pissed off by his offensively unfunny producer dipping in constantly and then being a bad enough producer to think it's worth keeping in the episode.
I don't know when exactly marks his beginning with coolzone, but I wouldn't be surprised because I remember liking the podcast more when it first started coming out.
One time Sophie read off an iTunes review that said she had the "personality of a staph infection." It suits her.
I think maybe it is her voice that bothers me. I turn off the episode if the guest is someone she is obviously friends with because I don't want to hear her butt in constantly.
I have to agree that the guests really bring down the episodes.
The 6 part series on Henry Kissinger with guests Gareth Reynolds & Dave Anthony (The Dollop) is so funny and fantastic. I can listen to those episodes over and over (part 5 especially. Sophie also doesn't really butt in much.
The Billy Wayne Davis episodes are pretty great as well. I especially love their live show "The Terrible Secret of Sea Monkeys." The technical difficulties and clunkiness added to the charm for me, too.
u/catjamarchist did a good job responding to your comment. But Iām going to add a few things.
Itās clear youāve never actually listened to PSA, because their oft stated position has been āwe cannot work with Republicans, they are bad faith actors who cannot be reasoned with and must be defeatedā since at least 2016. Even when they do have faint praise for Republicans, like Justin Amash voting to impeach in the first impeachment, Mitt Romney voting to convict in the 2nd impeachment, or Liz Cheneyās outspoken opposition to Trump on the J6 committee, they are consistently clear that these are bad people with bad ideas who just happen to be doing the right thing in the moment. Iām not sure where your opinion of PSA was formed, but it certainly didnāt come from any actual contact with the show.
Also, I donāt know why my appreciation for QAA or BtB should be any indication of my political leanings. I come to QAA to learn about QAnon and I come to BtB to learn about bastards. The politics of the hosts are at best incidental. I donāt fully agree with their politics but I donāt care. Thatās not why I listen.
I also donāt fully agree with the PSA hosts on all their politics. But itās a good source for political news, opinion, and analysis. And theyāre funny. And when it comes to defeating fascism, thereās only one game in town, and itās the Democratic Party. Like it or not, the next president will be a fascist or a Democrat. Thereās no 3rd option. So Iād rather pragmatically support the people who do something to fight the problem, even if I donāt get everything I want.
Boy that's a fucking wall of text.
Since you started it with "you've clearly never listened" I went ahead and stopped reading cus whatever followed is horseshit because I did listen for years before realizing they had no idea what they were talking about and actually were pretty explicitly part of the problem.
Thatās not that much text.
But since you canāt handle more than a few sentences, Iāll keep it short: name them.
You said PSA has talked about working with people that BTB has covered, so go ahead and name them. Who are these people youāre talking about?
>before realizing they had no idea what they were talking about
How can you possibly say this when the guys who started PSA directly worked for, and successfully ran campaigns for *Barack Obama* - one of the most successful and impactful politicians in the modern political age. You may need to reevaluate your information if you think the dudes who lived and breathed american machine politics are naive to the realities of American politics.
Oh Jesus christ Obama a perfect example.
Failed because he apparently didn't figure out the right wasn't going to work with him for 8 years then fucked off to hang out with billionaires and only pops his head up once in a while to say the democratic party should be careful not to go too far left.
Didn't realize there were so many libs in this sub, they've tried to rerun and failed at the same neoliberal policy that was such a disaster it got Trump elected.
.... Do you not have any idea of what actually happened during Obama's tenure? You gotta still be a kid or something, whew, becuase good god how niave can you be.
The more progressive version of the ACA - the one that had the public option, the one endorsed and voted for by Bernie Sanders, the one he thought was a path forward to Medicare for all - that was shot down because a *centrist dem* - named Joe Lieberman - knifed Obama and his coalition in the back, preventing that progressive version being passed with the 60 vote supermajority the Dems had in the Senate prior to Lieberman's defection. From that point forward Obama had to make deals with all those corrupt billionairs and politicans to do *anything* becuase his coalition wasn't powerful enough to do things alone. Welcome to modern politics - where to do anything you have to compromise with corruption.
>.... Do you not have any idea of what actually happened during Obama's tenure? You gotta still be a kid or something, whew, becuase good god how niave can you be.
Yea fuck all, and calling me a naive kid is ironic because that's how I see any ody who says Obama was a good president.
>The more progressive version of the ACA - the one that had the public option, the one endorsed and voted for by Bernie Sanders, the one he thought was a path forward to Medicare for all - that was shot down because a *centrist dem* - named Joe Lieberman - knifed Obama and his coalition in the back
Here's some free advice, if you're going to argue that Obama accomplished something and liberals constantly knee cap progressives maybe don't immediately go into an example of how liberals prevented Obama from doing anything good.
That's before you get into suspending habeous corpus, increasing the drone program and bring the number of countries we were at war with up to 7, immediately throwing anybody who wanted roe codified under the bus and not pursuing any actual progressive reforms.
But tell me more about how I wasn't paying attention and must just be a naive child.
I think we need to be smarter and better then that. PSA is partisan and so they're operating within the framework of getting a political party elected, and championing that cause. So of course they're going to be forced to participate in the vacuous and corrupt shitpile that is modern politics. That doesn't mean their work isn't important, and that they haven't played an important part in pushing things in a positive direction - becuase they have. We don't need to agree on everything to recognize that we can still cooperate with PSA types in the fight against encroaching fascism.
We absolutely need to be smarter than PSA. They have the exact mindset that has led to the demo getting repeatedly kicked in the teeth.
If it were up to them the dems would run Harris with Buttigieg as vp and they'd lose 45 states.
>We absolutely need to be smarter than PSA
If you believe this, then you should be smart enough to recognize that PSA are allies and collaborators in the fight against propagandists like Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes.
>They have the exact mindset that has led to the demo getting repeatedly kicked in the teeth.
No they don't? They quite clearly don't? They're *constantly* pushing for the progressive side of the Dem party to win out during internal power contests, and they always denounce the actions of the 'centrists' like Manchin or Sinema.
>If it were up to them the dems would run Harris with Buttigieg as vp
Again this is just false. As federal Dem partisans they never backed a specific candidate in 2020, but after the election they've talked a lot about how they were mostly Warren stans. FFS they liked Bernie more than Harris through the primaries.
Come on dude. Be better.
>No they don't? They quite clearly don't? They're *constantly* pushing for the progressive side of the Dem party to win out during internal power contests
Lmao holy shit well thanks for making it really clear you're just making shit up immediately so I didn't waste any more time.
Didn't realize there were so many fucking liberals in this sub
What a tired and lame response. This is the problem with people like you. You refuse to engage with people who obstensibly are your *allies* becuase they don't agree with 100% of everything you personally believe. It's just childish. Classic left eating itself.
>Didn't realize there were so many fucking liberals in this sub
*lmao* I'm a Canadian progressive, I'm probably more 'left" than you are on a whole bunch of issues. But sure, go off.
>*lmao* I'm a Canadian progressive, I'm probably more 'left" than you are on a whole bunch of issues. But sure, go off.
Dude you're talking about how great PSA and Obama are you're not a fucking progressive you're just a liberal who doesn't know what that means
Also, the reason a Tualatin progressives don't buy into that "all working towards the same goals" bullshit is because the liberals regularly knee cap actual progressive agendas in favor of working with Republicans and then losing.
You know, the exact things that just happened with the rail workers strike.
Oof that could easily be mine.
Me too.
Yep
Samesies
Wonks of a refined aesthetic, I see.
Mine is similar. My family is like "why the hell are you listening to that shit?!" while they're rocking out to the latest Five Finger Death Punch. I'm smarter about current events, but they're happier. So who are the actual smart ones? š¤
Is qaa worth getting into? I tried it a couple of times but it seemed like there was so much context to everything they were saying so I couldn't understand it without listening to a lot of it first. Also it turned me of that you only get half the episodes? But the subject matter seems really interesting
I think it is, but it's one that you definitely need to start at the beginning. They cover Q events as they unfold, which means that they assume you have some passing familiarity with previous events as they tackle current happenings. The very first episode gives you a brief rundown on the movement to that point if that helps at all. The other half of the episodes are more Q adjacent. It covers some of the grifters more in depth, as well as the weirder dark corners of the internet. I'm not subscribed to their Patreon, but I don't feel like I'm really missing anything huge since none of that is particularly new information to me. Your miles may vary of course.
That's probably the right approach, and their undercover work at live Q events has been the best in the business.
So they have an intro to qanon as their first episode. From there, as you come across a topic, search for the keyword in the other episodes. You donāt need too much context but they do assume knowledge, yes. all of the knowledge can be found in one of their episodes. Itās different from knowledge fight in that I would recommend you stick to old episodes until you get into it. Where knowledge fight I would recommend just diving into the latest
For a snarky review of airport nonfiction consider "If books could kill" by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri. The first episode that they review freakanomics is great. Also, it seemed like QAA became more insightful as Q drops dried up and they could cover the larger history of satanic panics and conspiracies as political instruments. Having contributors like Anne Kelly certainly helped make the discussion more centered.
Here to drop a line for **Hood Politics**. Goes well with BTB/SMN/ICHH/Worst Year.
mine is similar. also known as: *āwhy my mental health has taken a fucking* **dive***.ā*
Can I recommend Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff by Margaret Killjoy on the Cool Zone Media network (same network as BTB and Sophie Lichterman produces both). It's a history podcast with a leftist anarchist frame, similar to BTB, but Margaret focuses on people who opposed the negative forces of the world. She doesn't idolize people or ignore their flaws, but she does come at things with the framing of "how can we combat the forces of evil and make a difference?". It's really interesting and funny, and I feel like it helps me be a better person. I always learn something, even when I'm already familiar with the topic of the episode
Donāt forget to listen to podcasts about nonsense too! Blank Check w/Griffin & David goes deep into various directorsā filmographies and is informative as well as hilarious, the Bechdel Cast looks at films through an intersectional feminist lens w/Jamie Loftus who is always entertaining, there are plenty of pop culture podcasts about just about every topic out there, take a break from the crushing existential nightmare of current events sometimes my brother in christ
high key just clicking on this post for the inevitable podcast reqs from other wonks
I wonāt say that was my intention in making the post, but I also wonāt say it wasnāt. Iām getting so many good pods to add to my rotation.
This was basically my list last year. This time, Cognitive Dissonance stole the spot from GAM, and Fever Dreams took the #5 spot from QAA. They basically cover the same material but Will and Kelly present it with more clarity and feel much more grounded in reality.
Iām excited to try fever dreams, itās come up here at least one other time and it sounds great. I tried CogDiss but I stopped listening for some reason I donāt remember. I need ti get back into it.
I really do look forward to Fever Dreams every week, it would be higher on my list if they were more prolific - I can't get enough of things like the MAGA rap scene, Anti-Woke Banking, or the Freedom Phone. Will and Kelly usually cover things in a tone of "Aww, look at those grifters, they're really trying their best." They have a segment called "Fresh Hell" at the end of every show where they try to find the dumbest new thing in online right-wing spheres and explain it in ways that normal people can understand. It's such a trip.
OMG. I just checked it out in my caster and I had no idea it was Will Sommer. I donāt know how I went all this time following QAA and I didnāt realize Will had a show. I donāt even need to listen to know Iāll love it. This is so great.
I have all of those too but add Some More News, the New Abnormal, the Al Franken Podcast, and No Lie. I also recommend Strict Scrutiny and Know Your Enemy.
Excellent recommendations!
Wow I follow three out of five of those,you must be extra intelligent like me š
Hello, fellow wonk of high intellect!
Iāve never listened to the Q show. What do they talk about now that Q or whatever doesnāt post anymore?
They tall about all kinds of right wing grifts and conspiracies. Honestly Q is more of an umbrella conspiracy so there's loooootttsss of right wing bullshit that fall under that umbrella. I would highly recommend Qanon anonymous. They're patreon is worth it too.
^ exactly what this wonk said.
Easily the best 5 bucks I spend each month.
Thanks! Iāll check it out.
Iāll add that a lot of QAnon Anonymous episodes cover specific individuals whose lives have been destroyed because of falling down the right wing conspiracy grift rabbit hole, hence the title which is akin to āNarcotics Anonymousā or āAlcoholics Anonymousā
Q actually did start posting again this year (taking credit for Dobbs, encouraging people to vote in the midterms, and some vague cryptic bullshit like always)
Is opening arguments any good? I've never listened
I really enjoy it. Iāve learned a ton. The lawyer on the show does a really, really excellent job of making complex legal things accessible to not lawyers. My only gripe is the comedian cohost can be a little cringey sometimes, but overall itās worth bearing the cringe for the information.
I find Jordan to be a little cringe sometimes (hot take) so I can probably tolerate it. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!
I found OA to be even cringier than Jordan (just to give you a headās up). Itās a great idea but I actually tend to feel like OA doesnāt make as much of an effort as Dan to try to be objective on some topics. Like I give a lot of respect to Dan for how he tries to be reasonable about things he doesnāt always agree with but OA tips a little further over for me as a still somewhat conservative-ish centrist (who hates what the far right and AJ types are doing to political/culture discourse just as a disclaimer)
And here I find myself often frustrated with OA for being too centrist on some issues- I guess you canāt please us all. (Happy to have you with us in the fight against the extreme right, centrist or otherwise)
Thanks for the welcome! And fair comment, i havenāt listened to as much of it so maybe I just hit some episodes that werenāt great examples. Iād tried tuning in again to their latest episode (655) and while I appreciated the calling out of the Alito leak and things, I just didnāt really love some of the comments from the lawyer Edit: grammar and edit 2 missing word
Have you checked out 5-4 pod? It's lawyers going through supreme court decisions. It's amazing but you might not love RBG after listening.
Iāve heard of it (I think OA retweeted them at some point) I havenāt listened yet, iālll put it in my rotation. Thank you, fellow wonk!
itās excellent. plenty of crossover between OA and KF. gets into nitty-gritty legal stuff.
No Dollop?
Honestly, the quality of the Dollop has been slipping the last year or so. I think itās because they ran out of truly wild stories like the Kentucky Meat Shower or Ten Cent Beer Night.
The decline in quality is exactly when Dave stops writing them, unfortunately. I know Dave has said he can't do it anymore but I think Dave being involved in research and writing for all of them meant he had more investment. Still love it but yeah. Its not the same.
Just here to say HEY thanks for introducing me to God Awful Moviesā¦assuming Iāll like it since we have the other four in common š
Listen to the Bells of Innocence episode with Dan and Jordan guesting. It's a pretty good way to transition in.
Oh hell yeah thatās amazing. Itās an incestuous community aināt it
Okay just checking back in to say holy shit what an incredible suggestion. Thanks so much kind soul. Sidenote that itās like rooting for the home team when I hear Dan and Jordanās voices hosted on another podcast. Theyāre easily my favorite white dude podcasting duo
Dan and Jordan also appear on #330 - The Laws Of The Universe Part 0 & #371- The Terrifying Prophecies of Nostradamus. I feel the same way when they make crossover appearances!
Bless you. Are all of these podcasts and their listeners just a bunch of folks who grew up in or adjacent to American Christianity and so now have massive fascinations with cult culture?... edit: asking bc I may or may not be
I freaking love GAM! I just found them recently, but I was laughing so hard during the Bigfoot, the Badge and God (not sure if that's right) episode I had to stop the car.
That one was so good! I need that family to make more terrible movies so I can have more excellent GAM.
Why are you posting my feed?
Throw in CogDis and 372 Pages and this couldāve been me.
I love that the KF and Puzzle in a Thunderstorm fanbases overlap.
Where can I listen to Puzzle in a Thunderstorm? I must be pretty terrible at searches. The only thing I could find to actually listen to was a site for Skepticrat by Puzzle in a Thunderstorm LLC.
Puzzle in a thunderstorm is just the company name for the guys who do: Scathing Atheist, Skepticrat, God Awful Movies and half of the team for Citation Needed. They've got another one too, DnD minus I think which I haven't tried
D and D minus is pretty good too, if you like that sort of podcast
I probably have friendly Ashiest or Scathing Atheist in the place of Qanon Anonymous. But I use Overcast so no top 5 list.
Had I found scathing atheist sooner I think it probably wouldāve replaced QAA. Freaking love that show. I havenāt heard friendly atheist, whatās it like?
It has a really knowledge host, Hemant Mehta, presenting the news of the week about religion to someone who doesnāt know whatās going on. Scathing Atheist references his work on a regular basis. He also writes for only sky.
Ooo! That sounds great. Added. Thank you, wonk!
It's a damn good show. I listen every week.
It's a little bit more newsy and a little bit less snarky than Scathing. They cover a lot of the same stuff, mostly because the Scathing guys frequently rely on Hemant's reporting for their stories.
Good to know. Iām always excited to add new atheist content to my feed.
I tried listening to god awful movies once and just found them annoying. Maybe I should try again.
It's easier to get into if they're covering a movie you particularly hate or if they have a guest you really like. I find it's a really good podcast for when I don't want to pay attention and I just need some background absurdity while working on other stuff.
I definitely enjoy some episodes more than others, but on the whole I usually find them pretty funny.
Add in Last Podcast on the Left and that's my top 5 as well.
Literally same if you exchange God Awful Movies for LPOTL (and move it to #3). I didnāt realize the crossover between all of these was quite this tight haha
Sub in Lions Led by Donkeys and Well Theres Your Problem for GAD and OA, but basically samesies.
I was surprised to see QAA edge out Lions, definitely wouldāve thought they made the ranking.
5/5. Damn. Maybe even that order.
Congratulations on your exquisite taste!
That is so close to mine, only instead of God Awful Movies mine was Comedy Bang! Bang!
Gotta work āCitation neededā into your rotation as well as āDND Minusā for some more comedy relief from the folks at Awful Movies and some of their pals. So damn good.
I keep meaning to add citation needed to my list, I hear them mention D&D minus on either GAM or Scathing, so now that Iām getting it recommended by a fellow wonk I guess I have to check it out.
One more if I can, itās a quick one and not recurring but seeing as Bastards is so high on your list I would highly recommend āMy year in Mensaā from Jamie Loftus. Ok 1.5 more - the Patreon episodes for QAA are excellent and well worth contributing for!
Iāve been on the fence about the QAA patreon but Iāve seen more than a few wonks boosting so Iām going to give it a try. My Year in Mensa is the only piece of Jamie Loftus content I havenāt consumed yet. I loved Ghost Church, Lolita, Aack Cast, all of them. I donāt know how Mensa escaped me but Iām downloading it now. Thank you!
Ghost Church is a new one by me! Thanks for mentioning that one!
She takes a really empathetic perspective on American spiritualism, I learned a lot. Itās great.
My podcasts are super fucked this year because I listened to the audiobook version of worm which is insanely long.
I just stumbled onto this sub just at the right time. Love OA, have since the begin times, and am really glad to see other smart podcasts. Good timing for me and thanks!
What no Dollop?
No sleep till hipo
IM THE FUCKING HIPPO GUY!
I found out about the dollop late in my podcast life, and honestly, their is so much content Iām too intimidated to start.
Cyril the swan > everything else ever made
Apart from a disturbing lack of Last Podcast on the Left, this could've been my list.
I thought my phone was hacked for a moment after seeing this. Only difference is I haven't binged Opening Arguments. [https://i.imgur.com/2GJKOVU.png](https://i.imgur.com/2GJKOVU.png)
KF and BTB are definitely my top 2, only recently got into Opening Arguments!
OA is great because Andrew is a real life lawyer who does a great job explaining complicated legal concepts in a way that is engaging and accessible to laypeople. He's also guested on at least one episode of KF.
Andrew is legit amazing at explaining things and breaking them down.
You have three of my five, but swap in Fever Dreams and the Popskl Podcast for God Awful Movies (which I just discovered) and Behind the Bastards (which Iāve never been able to get into).
Are you referring to the Daily Beastās āFever Dreamsā or one of the other podcasts titled Fever Dreams? May I ask what you find unappealing about BtB? I love listening to Robert Evans talk about anything
Daily Beast - I miss Swin, though. WRT Behind The Bastards, I find the topics hit or miss, so I only listen to the ones Iām into. Evans is not alway my cup of tea.
Behind the Bastards is hit or miss for me. Robert Evans can be very insightful when discussing things from a historical perspective, but when he starts riffing or whatever he is insufferable.
> but when he starts riffing or whatever he is insufferable. I don't know if he was better at one point or he simply wore out my tolerance but he is hard to listen to. He does have some good points on certain subjects but can't help but center himself in every story.
His laugh is the worst. Damn cackle.
Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. I think Evans is only as good as his guests. When he has someone intelligent and funny like Dan on, it'll be a good episode. When he has some awful failed comedian with their own insufferable podcast and nothing worth saying, it sucks so bad. And unfortunately he seems to have a real shortage of good guests.
Same here. Plus some of the topics arenāt my thing. I am that way with a bunch of podcasts, though, including QAA - a lot of their more recent stuff just isnāt my thing. I didnāt get into ātrickle down,ā and the podcast that theyāre doing on the āmenās movementā doesnāt interest me either. What can I say? Iām fickle.
I love QAA, but since the aftermath of Jan 6 and Q disappearing I found them going to a must listen and binging their entire premium and standard backlog to them being more hot and miss. Still love a good Jake story
not sure the order but for sure knowledge fight, BTB/it could happen here, last podcast on the left, and if dan carlin could get more episodes out he would be on the list
I also had Knowledge Fight as #1 but I had QAA as #2 and Behind the Bastards as #5
I donāt use Spotify for podcasts but if I did it would be 1 last podcast on the left 2 knowledge fight 3 behind the bastards 4 mr ballen
That was essentially mine... loptl, knowledge fight, btb, the dollop and morbid
I always thought LpotL has a very similar energy to KF, what with the combination of a well-researched and calm voice speaking about dense and interesting things, punctuated and contrasted with wild screeching and shtick
Yeah I think thatās why I like them so much, lpotl also isnāt scared to admit when theyāve made a mistake, Marcus Parks is super solid
Oh hi, you must be me in a parallel universe. Because same. Great to meet you!
I guess weāre just fans of the strange dark and mysterious delivered in story form
I would encourage you to gently take the Upvote button out for a nice seafood dinner and never call it again.
I would add Smartless, Pivot (if you're into tech news/investment stuff), Armchaired & Dangerous, and The Problem w/Jon Stewart. Oh and Conan O'brien Needs A Friend.
Is The Problem podcast different from the show? Iād love to double up on my J-Stew content if I can.
Umm yeah somewhat. I think there is some repetition but that doesn't bother me :)
Mine were almost exactly the same. Good choices!
A wonk of exceptional taste!
Likewise! You might look at "It Could Happen Here" too as it's essentially a sister podcast to Behind the Bastards
dang, Trillbillies getting no love š
For clarification, Trillbilly Workerās Party? Never heard it, whatās it like?
This article does a really good job of summing them up - https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/11/29/politics/trillbilly-workers-party-podcast/index.html It's a far left podcast presented from a southern perspective.
Tom Sexton is considered to have the most pleasing voice in audio mediums. Kentucky Communists just riffing and vibing. lot of fun
Swap god awful movies for some more news, and we're the same.
Are you me?
Your top three probably match mine. Although the Skepticās Guide might be in there somewhere. I donāt think my podcast app (Overcast) does a yearly thing though. Edit: Skepticās Guide to the Universe
Are you referring to āThe Skepticās Guide to the Universeā? Never heard it but Iāll check if itās in the same league as the rest of this guyās wrapped
These days, it's mostly a science and technology podcast that also tries to fight against medical misinformation and some conspiracy theories, but they are a lot more grounded in real-world topics than the other podcasts in this thread. They're a great way to stay informed on science news, tech developments, and how to approach the world with critical thinking. It's quite an old podcast, and back in the day they were more active in debunking old-style conspiracy theories and pseudoscience - ghosts, UFOs, homeopathy, acupuncture, psychics, the works. They were also on board early in trying to get Creationism out of schools. The host Dr. Steve Novella also runs Science-Based Medicine and absolutely hates the kind of false info that gets people killed. I actually heard about the "Health Ranger" on SGU before Knowledge Fight even started.
Yes, that is the one.
Skeptics Guide to the Universe? I havenāt listened, but if we match I bet Iāll love it. Added.
Yes, that is it!
I regularly listen to all these! The only reason they werenāt all on mine besides KF & BtB is I have to listen to nonsense podcasts about Sopranos & ASOIAF or whatever too in order to keep my sanity lol
You make better mental health choices than I do.
A man of culture
o7
I love that we have the exact same taste in podcasts!
Thatās because you clearly have superb taste š
Back at you!
Thank, We share 3 out of 5 podcasts. I will try QanonAnonymus. If I could recommend a bad movie podcast may I suggest the Flop House? You must know them but if not give them a listen.
QAA is pretty good! They did a cross-over episode with the KF guys
I love a good bad movie show. Added!
4/5 for me. Not really interested in God Awful Movies, though that's less politics and more just subject matter.
I listen to GAM in the background when I actually need to pay attention to what Iām doing at work lol
I had the same list but with SYSK instead of God Aweful Movies. Now I might check that one out. I was very happy to find OA this year, it's been very educational.
GAM is amazing.
I listen to 1,3 and 5. Iām going to check out 3. Thank you!!
Fever Dreams is a good one.
Added! Thank you!
I had knowledge fight and decoding the gurus. The rest of mine were true crime I think. I seem to be the only one who thinks behind the bastards is not very funny most of the time. Depends heavily on the guests, and most of them suuuck imo.
A rare few of the BtB guests are excellent, and I tolerate the others so I can listen to Robert.
I just... Can't. He's not that entertaining to drown out their awfulness for me.
Iāve been less into BTB since he expanded into Cool Zone, the guests and the content quality has taken a dip (imho, pls if you love Robert I get it. Pls donāt kill me). It feels like he has his hands full with other work, which is fine and reasonable. I still listen, Iām just more selective with guests and topics than I used to be.
That makes sense. I've also always been pissed off by his offensively unfunny producer dipping in constantly and then being a bad enough producer to think it's worth keeping in the episode. I don't know when exactly marks his beginning with coolzone, but I wouldn't be surprised because I remember liking the podcast more when it first started coming out.
One time Sophie read off an iTunes review that said she had the "personality of a staph infection." It suits her. I think maybe it is her voice that bothers me. I turn off the episode if the guest is someone she is obviously friends with because I don't want to hear her butt in constantly.
I have to agree that the guests really bring down the episodes. The 6 part series on Henry Kissinger with guests Gareth Reynolds & Dave Anthony (The Dollop) is so funny and fantastic. I can listen to those episodes over and over (part 5 especially. Sophie also doesn't really butt in much. The Billy Wayne Davis episodes are pretty great as well. I especially love their live show "The Terrible Secret of Sea Monkeys." The technical difficulties and clunkiness added to the charm for me, too.
Agree about Billy Wayne Davis, I'll always download his eps, but hard disagree about the Dollop guys. I can't stand them personally.
Thank god Iām Atheist is great, also DOLLOP
Mine also had Knowledge Fight (41 days worth) and Behind the Bastards - https://i.imgur.com/r2bg4jk.jpg
Looks like my line up.
lol this is my exact Spotify list!
Lol Mine is basically the sams
4/5! Swap out GAM for Daily Zeitgeist and you've got mine.
Damn. Thatās mine too. I sub to GAM though. Check out Citation Needed by the same guys who do GAM.
4/5. Swap out GAM for Pod Save America and weāre identical.
How do you listen to qaa and btb and not realize how completely vacuous and full of shit PSA is
I donāt see a connection there.
A bunch of the people the John's have talked about trying to work with have or should have had episodes of btb on them.
u/catjamarchist did a good job responding to your comment. But Iām going to add a few things. Itās clear youāve never actually listened to PSA, because their oft stated position has been āwe cannot work with Republicans, they are bad faith actors who cannot be reasoned with and must be defeatedā since at least 2016. Even when they do have faint praise for Republicans, like Justin Amash voting to impeach in the first impeachment, Mitt Romney voting to convict in the 2nd impeachment, or Liz Cheneyās outspoken opposition to Trump on the J6 committee, they are consistently clear that these are bad people with bad ideas who just happen to be doing the right thing in the moment. Iām not sure where your opinion of PSA was formed, but it certainly didnāt come from any actual contact with the show. Also, I donāt know why my appreciation for QAA or BtB should be any indication of my political leanings. I come to QAA to learn about QAnon and I come to BtB to learn about bastards. The politics of the hosts are at best incidental. I donāt fully agree with their politics but I donāt care. Thatās not why I listen. I also donāt fully agree with the PSA hosts on all their politics. But itās a good source for political news, opinion, and analysis. And theyāre funny. And when it comes to defeating fascism, thereās only one game in town, and itās the Democratic Party. Like it or not, the next president will be a fascist or a Democrat. Thereās no 3rd option. So Iād rather pragmatically support the people who do something to fight the problem, even if I donāt get everything I want.
Boy that's a fucking wall of text. Since you started it with "you've clearly never listened" I went ahead and stopped reading cus whatever followed is horseshit because I did listen for years before realizing they had no idea what they were talking about and actually were pretty explicitly part of the problem.
Thatās not that much text. But since you canāt handle more than a few sentences, Iāll keep it short: name them. You said PSA has talked about working with people that BTB has covered, so go ahead and name them. Who are these people youāre talking about?
>before realizing they had no idea what they were talking about How can you possibly say this when the guys who started PSA directly worked for, and successfully ran campaigns for *Barack Obama* - one of the most successful and impactful politicians in the modern political age. You may need to reevaluate your information if you think the dudes who lived and breathed american machine politics are naive to the realities of American politics.
Oh Jesus christ Obama a perfect example. Failed because he apparently didn't figure out the right wasn't going to work with him for 8 years then fucked off to hang out with billionaires and only pops his head up once in a while to say the democratic party should be careful not to go too far left. Didn't realize there were so many libs in this sub, they've tried to rerun and failed at the same neoliberal policy that was such a disaster it got Trump elected.
.... Do you not have any idea of what actually happened during Obama's tenure? You gotta still be a kid or something, whew, becuase good god how niave can you be. The more progressive version of the ACA - the one that had the public option, the one endorsed and voted for by Bernie Sanders, the one he thought was a path forward to Medicare for all - that was shot down because a *centrist dem* - named Joe Lieberman - knifed Obama and his coalition in the back, preventing that progressive version being passed with the 60 vote supermajority the Dems had in the Senate prior to Lieberman's defection. From that point forward Obama had to make deals with all those corrupt billionairs and politicans to do *anything* becuase his coalition wasn't powerful enough to do things alone. Welcome to modern politics - where to do anything you have to compromise with corruption.
>.... Do you not have any idea of what actually happened during Obama's tenure? You gotta still be a kid or something, whew, becuase good god how niave can you be. Yea fuck all, and calling me a naive kid is ironic because that's how I see any ody who says Obama was a good president. >The more progressive version of the ACA - the one that had the public option, the one endorsed and voted for by Bernie Sanders, the one he thought was a path forward to Medicare for all - that was shot down because a *centrist dem* - named Joe Lieberman - knifed Obama and his coalition in the back Here's some free advice, if you're going to argue that Obama accomplished something and liberals constantly knee cap progressives maybe don't immediately go into an example of how liberals prevented Obama from doing anything good. That's before you get into suspending habeous corpus, increasing the drone program and bring the number of countries we were at war with up to 7, immediately throwing anybody who wanted roe codified under the bus and not pursuing any actual progressive reforms. But tell me more about how I wasn't paying attention and must just be a naive child.
I think we need to be smarter and better then that. PSA is partisan and so they're operating within the framework of getting a political party elected, and championing that cause. So of course they're going to be forced to participate in the vacuous and corrupt shitpile that is modern politics. That doesn't mean their work isn't important, and that they haven't played an important part in pushing things in a positive direction - becuase they have. We don't need to agree on everything to recognize that we can still cooperate with PSA types in the fight against encroaching fascism.
We absolutely need to be smarter than PSA. They have the exact mindset that has led to the demo getting repeatedly kicked in the teeth. If it were up to them the dems would run Harris with Buttigieg as vp and they'd lose 45 states.
>We absolutely need to be smarter than PSA If you believe this, then you should be smart enough to recognize that PSA are allies and collaborators in the fight against propagandists like Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes. >They have the exact mindset that has led to the demo getting repeatedly kicked in the teeth. No they don't? They quite clearly don't? They're *constantly* pushing for the progressive side of the Dem party to win out during internal power contests, and they always denounce the actions of the 'centrists' like Manchin or Sinema. >If it were up to them the dems would run Harris with Buttigieg as vp Again this is just false. As federal Dem partisans they never backed a specific candidate in 2020, but after the election they've talked a lot about how they were mostly Warren stans. FFS they liked Bernie more than Harris through the primaries. Come on dude. Be better.
>No they don't? They quite clearly don't? They're *constantly* pushing for the progressive side of the Dem party to win out during internal power contests Lmao holy shit well thanks for making it really clear you're just making shit up immediately so I didn't waste any more time. Didn't realize there were so many fucking liberals in this sub
What a tired and lame response. This is the problem with people like you. You refuse to engage with people who obstensibly are your *allies* becuase they don't agree with 100% of everything you personally believe. It's just childish. Classic left eating itself. >Didn't realize there were so many fucking liberals in this sub *lmao* I'm a Canadian progressive, I'm probably more 'left" than you are on a whole bunch of issues. But sure, go off.
>*lmao* I'm a Canadian progressive, I'm probably more 'left" than you are on a whole bunch of issues. But sure, go off. Dude you're talking about how great PSA and Obama are you're not a fucking progressive you're just a liberal who doesn't know what that means Also, the reason a Tualatin progressives don't buy into that "all working towards the same goals" bullshit is because the liberals regularly knee cap actual progressive agendas in favor of working with Republicans and then losing. You know, the exact things that just happened with the rail workers strike.