The Top Three: Nerd Podcasts for your Commute
Commuting into London is an experience like no other. Squashed up tightly between sweaty irate strangers, as everyone avoids direct eye contact like the plague. It’s certainly not what I would call the highlight of my week.
However, you are in luck my friend, as there are steps that you can take to make your journey more bearable! Podcasts are a great way to keep you smiling and entertained, as well as informed about new and niche topics. As it’s an audio, you can listen on the go and even multitask your way through the day.
In keeping with my blog theme, I’ve picked out my current top three favourite nerd podcasts to check out whilst you brave the beast that is the London transport system.
(You can also listen to these at any other time of the day, if you fancy).
Website - http://www.sanspantsradio.com/plumbing-the-death-star/
Podbay - http://podbay.fm/show/907039089
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/plumbing-the-death-star/id907039089?mt=2
Presented by the Sanspants Radio team, Plumbing the Death Star revolves around a question about a fandom every week, leading to in-depth discussions of possible scenarios. This Australian trio think about the "what if" within a franchise, exploring the hilarious possibilities of alternate realities. Each episode is roughly around the one-hour mark, and is a great choice if you love hearing rants and impressions.
My prime recommended episode would be 'What if Hagrid was five years too late?'. This episode spiraled into multiple different times that Hagrid could be late to a vital event in the books, and the knock-on effects this would have. My personal favourite was Hagrid being five years too late to tell Harry what dragon he would be fighting in Goblet of Fire, then rocking up to a 21 year old Harry saying "'Arry! I've finally figured out which dragon you gotta fight!"
Not to mention, hearing these guys attempting Hagrid's accent is bloody hilarious.
Website - http://funhaus.roosterteeth.com/show/dude-soup
Podbay - http://podbay.fm/show/966696129
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/dude-soup/id966696129?mt=2
Next on the list is the show Dude Soup, run over by the team at Funhaus. Known for their sharp editing skills and no-holds-barred sense of humour, this group also produce daily YouTube content centred around gaming and nerd culture (as well as many, many videos of them drunk), and the podcast reflects this. Mostly topical, the show often goes off on a surreal tangent that will leave you laughing out loud.
One of my personal favourite touches to the show is the segment 'Hard nettin'', in which the host - Lawrence - finds the most "internet" clip of the week, and pits it against the video from the week before to determine which is victorious. I would also absolutely advise watching a few of these episodes in video form, if you have the time. They can all be viewed on the Funhaus website or on their Youtube Channel.
Website - https://www.planetbcasting.com/our-shows/the-weekly-planet/
Podbay - http://podbay.fm/show/718158767
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767?mt=2
My final recommendation comes from another Australian team, comicbookmovie.com, who host the podcast The Weekly Planet. The chilled atmosphere of this podcast makes it a great one to listen to at the end of a day. The duo have a great dynamic and compliment each other wonderfully. You rather feel like you are hanging out with two friends, as opposed to listening to a radio show.
As their shows are often longer than the other two (some even close to the two hour mark), the duo hosts split their content into two halves. One on general catch-ups of the latest news, then a feature on the main topic of the show. If in the case that it's a movie review, the second half even includes a short spoiler-free segment to listen to in case you are planning on viewing said film.
Not to mention, their theme tune is genius.
There are hundreds of episodes to listen to between those three podcasts, giving you plenty of audio content to keep you sated on your treacherous journeys of the day. I would also recommend looking at all the creators other content, as they all produce other equally hilarious shows that will satisfy your geeky humour.