{"id":24992,"date":"2015-10-20T02:01:32","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T09:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=24992"},"modified":"2017-01-01T18:36:15","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T01:36:15","slug":"the-best-factual-podcasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/the-best-factual-podcasts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Factual Podcasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Podcasts are on a roll. Diversity and quality keep expanding. New ones pop up every day. But there are precious few comprehensive guides to locating the best podcasts out of the tens of thousands available. It is extremely difficult to find impartial, independently verified measures of audience size for podcasts. They either don\u2019t exist or don\u2019t circulate. Different proxies for audience size have no consensus. And, of course, audience size is not everything.<\/p>\n

We made a list of the best factual podcasts by ranking the most popular factual podcasts from the results of an unscientific survey we posted online several months ago. We asked readers of this Cool Tools blog and our social followers to take our survey<\/a> and rate some suggested podcasts — and to add ones we did not know about. More than 1,600 people filled out the survey, and by the end we had a list of 775 suggested titles. We combined the number of times a podcast was checked together with its average rating to come up with a total score. We then sorted the final list of podcast titles by rank. (The full data dump is here<\/a>.) We wrote descriptions for the top 50, shown below. (The rankings in this list are biased to our original suggestion list; we\u2019d do the survey differently if we did it again next year.)<\/p>\n

There are two broad types of factual podcasts; unscripted and scripted. Unscripted shows are usually interviews or discussions that play out as recorded. The producers don\u2019t know, nor have much control, over where the show goes. Scripted shows, on the other hand, will carefully edit interviews after the fact, mixing them with narration, inter-splicing them with other interviews, maybe adding a soundtrack or ambient sounds. They craft the raw factual materials into a highly produced show in the way a reporter might craft a magazine article, rather than just run a Q&A. Scripted shows, on average, take much more energy, time, staff (and money) to make than unscripted shows (with some exceptions). It is no surprise that the highest ranked podcasts are scripted.<\/p>\n

Our list follows this format to give you some clue of what you\u2019ll get if you subscribe via the link provided: Popularity rank and title. Scripted or unscripted. Name of host, typical show length, and average episode frequency. This last one is a little squishy because broadcast frequency is often irregular, or a show runs for an ill-defined \u201cseason\u201d or sometimes it appears \u201cwhenever.\u201d Last in each item is a description written by us about why it might be worth your while.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: The two of us have appeared as a guest on many of the unscripted shows listed here. We also run two of the top 50 podcasts as indicated by our survey. And we are friends with principals of some of the other shows. This fact may have distorted readers’ opinion. Importantly we are regular listeners of about 3\/4 of the top 50 and we speak from personal experience when writing their descriptions. However, we don\u2019t have direct experience with about 1\/4 of the podcasts mentioned here; those descriptions are compiled from comments made by survey takers, from the shows\u2019 producers, and reviews online. Maybe by next year we\u2019ll have listened to these recommended ones and can say something first-hand about them as well.<\/p>\n

If we have overlooked your favorite factual podcast, tell us about it in the comments.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kevin Kelly and Mark Frauenfelder<\/p>\n

1.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This American Life<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Ira Glass,
\n1 hr, Weekly<\/strong>
\nMostly true short stories, presented in an audio documentary style. Each segment is superbly crafted with a satisfying emotional arc. A common subtext of a typical story is transformation. Four stories form a rough theme each week, but subjects range widely and unexpectedly. This podcast is consistently top notch and creative, and after decades on the air it is still the gold standard for scripted shows. Their archive is a national treasure that will fill your days.<\/p>\n

2.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Radiolab<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich,
\n30 min-1 hr, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nTwo hosts investigate big scientific questions in an experimental audio style — the \u201clab\u201d part. Such as: what is time? What is space? Shows are often structured as a debate between the hosts, as they produce sonic evidence (and an original soundtrack for each episode) to keep you changing your mind. Just the way science is suppose to work. There\u2019s a deliberate informality that makes the process of producing the show transparent, all of which keeps it innovative and surprising. Each show also tries to redefine what a podcast can be by mutating the current form. Surprise is certain.<\/p>\n

3.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Serial<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Sarah Koenig,
\n30 min-1 hr, About 10 a year<\/strong>
\nThe first season of this amazing long-from audio saga (about 10 hours) follows an investigative journalist who dives deep into an old high school murder case. No detail is left unexamined. The thrill is the complete immersion into someone else\u2019s world and the mystery of what happens next. Upcoming seasons promise to apply the same full-court investigations to other subjects.<\/p>\n

4.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

99% Invisible<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Roman Mars,
\n15-30 min, Weekly
\n<\/strong>Take the boring background things that fill 99% of our lives, all the stuff we never think about — airport carpeting, hold music on telephones, railway tunnels — and really look at them closely. Where did they come from, who made them, and what were they trying to do? Each of these \u201cinvisible\u201d objects or systems holds a fabulous story about the people behind them, and their accounts can delivery remarkable insight about how this built world actually works. This is probably the only podcast dedicated to infrastructure, yet it\u2019s the least boring podcast ever.<\/p>\n

5.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WTF with Marc Maron<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Marc Maron,
\n60\u2013120 min, Twice-weekly
\n<\/strong>Standup comedian Marc Maron invites the very famous (President Obama, Mick Jagger) and marginally-famous (cartoonist Drew Friedman, drummer and psychologist Steve Dansiger) into his cat-filled garage where he has a long conversation with them. Maron\u2019s gift of self-deprecation, broad knowledge of popular culture, and appealing nebbishness opens his guests up, allowing them to feel comfortable enough to reveal things they wouldn\u2019t share on late night talk shows.<\/p>\n

6.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Invisibilia<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel,
\n1 hr, 6-episode Pilot Run<\/strong>
\nAll the things we thought we understood about our inner selves are probably wrong. This show explores new notions about our interior landscape. Each show is a tightly-crafted capsule of audio perfection. While they deal in abstract ideas, the stories are about real people, real lives.<\/p>\n

7.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Memory Palace<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Nate DiMeo,
\n5-15 min, Monthly<\/strong>
\nDiMeo tells true stories about forgotten things that happened in history, with musical accompaniment. Like a modern-day Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story.”<\/p>\n

8.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reply All<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nA sort of a This American Life focused on the internet and all its fast moving frontiers. Rather than report on the latest news, it quickly delves into the lives of the people who are out of the news. Not CEOs or digital celebrities, but the people who work at the support desk, or who are the last to sign up for something, or who are hacking the systems, or who are toiling in online obscurity. This podcast airs the humanity of the internet, good and bad.<\/p>\n

9.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mystery Show<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Starlee Kine,
\n30 min-1 hr, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nA trivial mystery that is important to only one person and that could only be solved by a lot of detective work becomes an excuse for host Starlee Kine to uncover the stories of people unlike you. The only point in answering these unimportant questions (one per episode) is to encounter parts of the universe that your own rational and efficient lives would have no hope of intersecting. On this show the journey to the answer is far more entertaining than the answer, and the answer is always far more interesting than you could have imagined.<\/p>\n

10.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Snap Judgment<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Glynn Washington,
\n1 hr, Weekly<\/strong>
\nLike This American Life, Snap Judgment has 3-5 stories exploring a single theme in each highly-produced episode. The Atlantic<\/em> calls it a \u201cfast-paced, music-heavy, ethnically variegated take on the public-radio story hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

11.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

StartUp<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Alex Blumberg and Lisa Chow,
\n30 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nFrontiers are swathed in myths and misperceptions. This podcast illuminates the current fashionable frontier of startups, and it hopes to rid this territory of its riddles. The crew follows a few startups as they start up, tracking the novice founders in cringe-worthy closeness as they take each step forward and two steps backward. The company producing this podcast is itself one of the startups they track, making it very meta, but because they provide access to the innermost dynamics of launching a real company, this mirroring makes the reports riveting in their clarity. Overall they capture a lot of drama, which makes for great listening. It\u2019s also indispensable if you have any romantic ideas of doing a start up.<\/p>\n

12.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You Are Not So Smart<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, David McRaney,
\n30-90 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nDavid McRaney explores a different type cognitive bias or quirk (e.g., procrastination, learned helplessness, confirmation bias) in each episode through a combination of examples in the news, excerpts from movies and books, and interviews with psychology researchers.<\/p>\n

13.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Song Exploder<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Hrishikesh Hirway,
\n15 min, About 3 per month<\/strong>
\nIn each episode, one popular song is dissected. The artist\/composer steps through the song bit by bit explaining what they were thinking as they wrote it. Often they will play alternative sounds they tried that didn\u2019t work. The artist will play and annotate the separate tracks, commenting on the logic and methods to create each track. The anatomy of the song is revealed in its pieces. Then the final song is played in full. It\u2019s a mini audio version of a \u201cmaking of\u201d that works perfectly for one song.<\/p>\n

14.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Tim Ferriss Show<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Tim Ferriss,
\n30-160 min, Twice-weekly<\/strong>
\nThe distinctive superpower of Tim Ferriss is his ability to learn how to learn. He takes the skills you wish you knew — how to invest, how to grow physically strong, how to learn a language — and shows you how to methodically acquire that skill. To help that goal along, in this podcast he interrogates \u201cworld class experts\u201d in a wide range of skills, to shake out their tricks and methods. These aren\u2019t lazy shoot-the-bull interviews; rather Tim is zeroing in and asking for the very specifics you would if you were present: how exactly do you do this? Tell me step by step. The resulting \u201ctutorial interviews\u201d are unique in the podcast world.<\/p>\n

15.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In Our Times<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Melvyn Bragg,
\n45 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nEach week three British\u00a0professors who are experts in an esoteric field are led by the host to unpack their obscure passion and make it as plain as possible. The more esoteric the subject the better the show. Subjects like: The Siege of Constantinople. Gravity Waves. Occam\u2019s Razor. Icelandic Sagas. Chivalry. The Talmud. Turns out that by narrowing the focus you can get to the bottom of things, and at the bottom almost anything is fascinating. Better than a bland Wikipedia entry, this podcast host defies\u00a0the stereotype of a English don, at least one of the professors each week is is female.<\/p>\n

16.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Infinite Monkey Cage<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Brian Cox and Robin Ince,
\n30-45 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\n\u201cHas the loose format of a lighthearted round table, with topics like parallel universes, neurology and probability and chance. Each episode features practicing scientists and curious outsiders, often comedians with some science background.\u201d \u2013 New York Times<\/em><\/p>\n

17.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Joe Rogan Experience<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Joe Rogan, 2-3 hr,
\n10-14 episodes per month<\/strong>
\nComedian Joe Rogan runs long conversations with other comedians and mini-celebrities that go on for several hours. In many respects the show resembles core talk radio without FCC oversight. Rogan will talk about anything, say anything, no topic is off limits. You get a lot of Joe. The show works if you like his sense of humor and exploratory instincts.<\/p>\n

18.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Adam Savage, Norman Chan and Will Smith,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nExperiential nerdiness. Mythbuster co-host and two buddies discuss making things, blowing things up, hollywood special effects, tools, props, science fiction and other nerdy subjects. Savage is encyclopedic in his experiences, and is continually trying new things. In his podcast he regales tales from his newest exploits (flying in a fighter jet, riding in a submarine, shooting a bazooka, etc.) and also offers practical advice he\u2019s gained, for instance how to drive fast, or use a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

19.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Love + Radio<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Nick van der Kolk,
\n30 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nUnconventional true life stories with an edge. The stories are often more ambiguous and open-ended and racier than say the typical This American Life story, and may earn an \u201cExplicit\u201d tag. At the heart of the show is a fascination with complicated relationships and complex characters.<\/p>\n

20.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cool Tools Show<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted. Mark and Kevin,
\n30 minutes, Weekly<\/strong>
\nWe interview one guest per episode who raves about four tools they love. We let them gush about each tool, while we try to hone in on why listeners might want to use it. Show notes at the end make it easy to track the tools down later.<\/p>\n

21.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Alec Baldwin,
\n30 min-1 hr, Bi-Weekly<\/strong>
\nActor Alec Baldwin is an unexpectedly brilliant interviewer. No neutral host he. Baldwin wields his own large personality as a lever to uncover genuine insights from guests who otherwise are polished and guarded. He gets people to say things they have not said before.<\/p>\n

22.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Benjamen Walker,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nLike Paul Krassner\u2019s Realist<\/em> newsletter, Benjamen Walker reports on stories that are sometimes true, and sometimes fictional as a way to get to the heart of the theme of that week\u2019s episode. Walker\u2019s trembling voice and choice of music have a hypnotic effect.<\/p>\n

23.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Dan Carlin,
\n90 min-4 hr, About 4 per year<\/strong>
\n\u201cDan Carlin takes his \u2018Martian,\u2019 outside-the-box way of thinking and applies it to the past. Was Alexander the Great as bad a person as Adolf Hitler? What would Apaches with modern weapons be like? Will our modern civilization ever fall like civilizations from past eras? This is a difficult-to-classify show that has a rather sharp edge. It’s not for everyone. But the innovative style and approach has made \u2018Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History\u2019 a New Media hit.\u201d \u2013 iTunes<\/p>\n

24.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fresh Air<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Terry Gross,
\n45 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nEasily the best interviewer in America, Terry Gross has an uncanny ability to ask the right questions and to listen at the right moment in order to get people to be genuine and authentic and tell you something you didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

25.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Freakonomics Radio<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Stephen J. Dubner,
\n30 min-1 hr, Weekly<\/strong>
\n\u201cInspired by the books of the same name, Freakonomics Radio is hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt. An award-winning podcast exploring “the hidden side of everything”. From the economy, headline news to pop culture.\u201d \u2013 Stitcher<\/p>\n

26.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Planet Money<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Adam Davidson, David Kestenbaum and others,
\n15 min, Twice-weekly<\/strong>
\n\u201cHelping you make sense of our rapidly changing global economy. NPR’s Planet Money highlights high rollers, brainy economists and financial experts to keep you up to date on the fiscal world.\u201d \u2013 Stitcher<\/p>\n

27.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Truth<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Jonathan Mitchell,
\n15-30 min, Every two weeks<\/strong>
\n\u201cMovies for your ears. Short stories that are sometimes dark, sometimes funny, and always intriguing. Every story is different, but they all take you to unexpected places using only sound. If you’re new, some good starting places are: Silvia’s Blood, That’s Democracy, Moon Graffiti, Tape Delay, or whatever’s most recent. Listening with headphones is encouraged.\u201d \u2013 iTunes<\/p>\n

28.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gweek<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Mark Frauenfelder,
\n15-60 min, weekly<\/strong>
\nCurrently on hiatus this year, Gweek is a long-running podcast that featured Mark Frauenfelder, together with a regular guest, interviewing artists and authors who create games, comics, science fiction, toys, apps, tools, and other lighthearted geeky stuff. Mark, the co-founder of Boing Boing, and editor of Cool Tools, sees it as his job to discover new and nifty things.<\/p>\n

29.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

New Yorker: Out Loud<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Amelia Lester,
\n15-30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nEach week one factual article from the magazine is given an in-depth treatment. The article\u2019s writer will be interviewed by the whip-smart editors at the New Yorker<\/em>. In the process the discussion will summarize the best parts of the piece and provide an inside look at its origins. This can be as good as or even better than reading the article.<\/p>\n

30.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Design Matters With Debbie Millman<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Debbie Millman,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\n\u201cA podcast about design and the broader world of creative culture through wide-ranging conversations with designers, writers, artists, curators, musicians, and other luminaries of contemporary thought.\u201d \u2013 Design Matters<\/em><\/p>\n

31.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The James Altucher Show<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, James Altucher,
\n30-90 min, Twice-weekly<\/strong>
\nA really interesting person interviews other really interesting people.<\/p>\n

32.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bulletproof Radio<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Dave Asprey,
\n1 hr, Twice-weekly<\/strong>
\nA far-out, self-styled bio-hacker who claims to have cured his obesity and Asperger\u2019s by eating yak meat, buttered coffee, and a high-calorie, high-fat diet invites other far-out people from the world of health, diet, and psychology to share their ideas for optimal living.<\/p>\n

33.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

a16z<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Chris Dixon and others,
\n15-30 min, 10 per month<\/strong>
\nSome of the smartest reporting in tech today does not come from magazines but from the offices of investors. They view from a high mega-level with a five-year horizon. This podcast comes from a16z, a VC firm that also produces steady blog posts. Here they interview a range of agents, such as CEOs, analysts, founders, journalists, and other investors. The topics are current trends in the high tech world.<\/p>\n

34.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Ihnatko Almanac<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Andy Ihnatko and Dan Benjamin,
\n60-90 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nTech journalist Andy Ihnatko delivers extemporaneous and knowledgeable soliloquies about comic books, movies, technology, photography, and dozens of other topics. Like a very nerdy Roger Ebert. Co-host Dan Benjamin hardly gets a word in, but he\u2019s there just to wind up Ihnatko and let him go.<\/p>\n

35.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Latest in Paleo<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Angelo Coppola,
\n60-120 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nAngelo Coppola takes a look at the latest news in health and diet, and provides perspective from a paleo point of view. In recent years Coppola has veered from a high-fat, high-protein \u201cclassic\u201d paleo diet and is now closer to a being vegan who supplements his diet with a small amount of high-quality protein.<\/p>\n

36.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Little Atoms<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Neil Denny,
\n60-90 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nA UK-based show dwelling on ideas, science and culture. Neil Denny interviews scientists, thinkers, scholars and writers. Casual, but he often interviews interesting people not usually heard from.<\/p>\n

37.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Science… sort of<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Patrick Wheatley, Ryan Haupt and others,
\n60-90 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nSitting around beers, a bunch of working scientists chat about science. They often take a breaking science story in the news and will read and discuss the actual scientific paper behind the headlines. That\u2019s a powerful way to learn science and journalism at once.<\/p>\n

38.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Open Source with Christopher Lydon<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Christopher Lydon,
\n30-60 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nLydon often roams the world talking to notable people in other cultures who are totally off the radar in America. It\u2019s really one guy with passport and a microphone. He\u2019s incredibly smart, well-read, interested, and eager to disrupt old tired notions. His nimble mind seeks out other nimble minds around the world and he broadcasts what he learns.<\/p>\n

39.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Transom Podcast<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Jay Allison,
\n5 min-1 hr, 3-5 per year<\/strong>
\nEach episode is one highly crafted story, often in a slightly experimental format. There is no theme, other than a story well-told.<\/p>\n

40.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is Actually Happening<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, First-hand accounts,
\n30 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nPeople who have undergone distressing experiences describe them. We do not hear the interviewer, only the person telling their story. The background music is a low-toned drone that adds to the sense of dread. In one episode a woman recounts the time that both of her husbands drowned on the same day (she is polyamorous). In another episode, a man describes seeing a ghost in a friend\u2019s living room and the negative effect it has had on his life ever since. if you feel unlucky, this podcast will make you feel lucky, or at least not alone.<\/p>\n

41.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Smart Drug Smarts<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Jesse Lawler,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nSo-called smart drugs are chemicals believed by some people to improve mental performance. In this podcast, Jesse Lawler interviews doctors, pharmacists, and self-experimenters about the effects (or lack of effects) of different smart drugs, recreational drugs, electrical brain stimulation, research chemicals, psychedelics, and prescription drugs.<\/p>\n

42.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Moth<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, First-hand accounts,
\n30-60 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nShort stories narrated by ordinary people in their own voice in front of a live audience. The stories are true, first-person, and completely unexpected. They are selected from local storytelling events in about 30 cities around the world. Each story is a high quality, small journey.<\/p>\n

43.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Revolutions<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Mike Duncan,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nRoman history geek Mike Duncan explores a dozen other historical revolutions which he explores in deep nerdy detail. He\u2019ll devote 50 episodes to one revolution.<\/p>\n

44.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Common Sense with Dan Carlin<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Dan Carlin,
\n45-120 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nThe popular maverick historian, Dan Carlin, takes his unorthodox questions and applies them to current events. He\u2019ll take a contemporary issue and pick it apart by questioning everything. It will make you think.<\/p>\n

45.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Futility Closet<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Greg Ross,
\n30 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nThis is like \u201cNews of the Weird\u201d for things that happened decades or centuries ago. Ross is a former science magazine editor and spends his days poring over old books in university libraries to find forgotten stories about things like a failed atheist commune in the 19th century, a slave who was mailed to a free state in the north, a WWII Japanese soldier who crash landed on an Hawaiian island, and a \u201crainmaker\u201d who was hired by San Diego to end a four-year drought in 1915 (probably by coincidence, after he used 23 secret chemicals, \u201cthe skies opened and torrential rains caused some of the most extreme flooding in the city\u2019s history\u201d).<\/p>\n

46.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Life of Caesar<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Cameron Reilly and Ray Harris Jr.,
\n1hr-3hr, Weekly<\/strong>
\nYes, a podcast dedicated to telling the biography of Augustus Caesar. The two bro’ hosts chit-chat their way through Caesar\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

47.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Stuff You Should Know<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Josh Clark and Charles W. \u201cChuck” Bryant,
\n20-60 min, Twice-weekly<\/strong>
\nThe folks from How Things Work do an audio version. Two hosts discuss esoteric topics like \u201cHow wine fraud works\u201d or \u201cHow lobbying works\u201d \u201cHow female puberty works,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n

48.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe<\/a><\/h1>\n

Unscripted, Dr. Steven Novella,
\n80 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nFour or so skeptics sit around and discuss the week\u2019s news from a skeptic (rational and scientific) perspective.<\/p>\n

49.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the Media<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield,
\n60 min, Weekly<\/strong>
\nVery polished newscast (recycled from public radio) about media matters. It\u2019s meta-media.<\/p>\n

50.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Criminal<\/a><\/h1>\n

Scripted, Phoebe Judge,
\n20 min, About 2 per month<\/strong>
\nAs their website says \u201cStories of people who\u2019ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle.\u201d Broad, not just true crime, but also about the justice system, the prison system, or legal gray areas.<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0Tim Wilson<\/a> from Blaine, MN, USA,\u00a0licensed under the Creative Commons<\/a> Attribution 2.0 Generic<\/a> license.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top 50 most popular non-fiction podcasts in 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24992"}],"version-history":[{"count":66,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27997,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24992\/revisions\/27997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}