As promised at the start of the month, here is my current podcast lineup.
I originally had these in ‘tiers’ but then I thought – why bore everyone? So I went ahead, renamed the tiers after the general structure of a world football team, and organized the shows to fit into the extended analogy of how a team might be constructed. The result demonstrates what shows I rely on, what shows I’m expecting more from, and the compromises I’ve made to get the most out of the shows that don’t quite fit my preferences.
In parentheses, I’ve included the show’s overall rank on my list (top ten only). The ranking is based on just one criteria – what show do I expect the most out of for a given episode?
The First XI
-The Football Ramble (2)
-The Bill Simmons Podcast (3)
-Men In Blazers (4)
-More Or Less (6)
It’s not quite eleven (though if we counted it by episodes per week, it would be close). These four represent the core of my podcast lineup over the past few years and I think any new show seeking to break into the group would need to be extraordinary in some way.
Substitutes Bench
-Common Sense (1)
-'GM Street' via The Ringer NFL Show (5)
-EconTalk (7)
-On The Continent
Common Sense is the best show I listen to but falls to the bench for its inconsistent production schedule. I’m keeping a close eye on the rumors swirling about the possible end of the show, in fact, and at the moment I am not optimistic about its future. The likely end of Common Sense will be a big loss for my podcast lineup.
As mentioned above, 'GM Street' had a great year but it comes on too inconsistently to make it a regular starter. If the show sticks to a weekly format in the helmet football offseason, I’ll probably promote it to the first team.
EconTalk is like a dependable utility player – content to wait patiently for its turn, always reliable on when called upon, and ready to carry the load for a short time if the starter goes down (which always happens during a time of the year known as ‘The Summer’, mostly because my sports podcasts all produce fewer episodes during this time).
On The Continent is a four-month old podcast that covers football in Europe and it is off to a good start for me. Two of the hosts are from The Football Ramble, my #2 ranked podcast. However, I’ve done shows like this before – notably Football Weekly – and I’m starting to remember why I stopped listening to shows that cover just the news from sports. I’m increasingly skeptical of its future in the lineup.
Reserve Team
-Hardcore History (8)
-Revisionist History (9)
-The Tim Ferriss Show
-Against The Odds
Hardcore History is the most highly regarded show on this list. However, it really is not my type of program at all. The shows are too long (sometimes over five hours) and the topic – history – is not really to my interest. Episodes are posted two or three times a year. I find it’s a great podcast to get involved in very specific, unpredictable situations but – solely in terms of this analogy – the show is completely unreliable.
Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell’s show. It’s very good but with only ten or so episodes a year does not come on often enough for a higher position in the team.
The Tim Ferriss Show and Against All Odds are shows I listen to about once or twice a month. I download anytime a guest they bring on is someone I know. If this is not the case, I skip it because I've found over time the shows are not nearly as interesting with an unknown guest.
Youth Team
-Book Fight (10)
-Call Your Girlfriend
-House of Carbs
-The Luke and Pete Show
As highlighted a couple of weeks ago, Book Fight was a major addition to my roster in 2017. I’m not sure of its long-term future, however. Two months ago, I thought it was a cinch for my 2018 substitutes bench; now, I’m wondering if I should limit episodes only to the books or writers I know about.
Part of the reason for this is the performance of Call Your Girlfriend. This show does not really cover anything consistently. Fortunately, the hosts, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, are very well-suited to the challenge of an unstructured show. The potential here is limitless – it could be in the First XI at this time next year. But as the case is with most such things, the downside is also evident – it could just as easily be in the discard pile.
House of Carbs, a podcast ‘for the hungry people, by the hungry people’ is a food-centric show hosted by Bill Simmons’s friend Joe House. It grows on me each week but I must admit the topic is likely going to lose appeal for me eventually. We’ll see if he can keep up the momentum achieved over the show's first six months.
The Luke and Pete Show is, in some ways, exactly like Call Your Girlfriend. I’m familiar with the two hosts – they are half of The Football Ramble quartet. But as also is the case with On The Continent, the challenge of hearing two different shows from the same people each week is significant. It’s been a strong start for Luke and Pete, no doubt about it, but I think I’ll need to see more from the show if it is to remain on this list in a year's time.
Footnotes / retirement party
0. 2017, in memoriam...
While we're here, let’s tip the cap to some departing members from the roster, shall we?
Former Players
-The Memory Palace
-The Moth
-Dear Sugar Radio
-Reply All
The Memory Palace is my surprise cut – the show was, at a time, my favorite podcast. There are no obvious admin reasons (length, host, episode frequency) for its removal from my list. It just simply stopped moving me and, as it turned out, this was important.
I temporarily stopped with The Moth and Dear Sugar Radio when I noticed that repeat episodes were becoming more frequent. During these breaks, I realized something important – I didn’t really miss them. I thank both shows for their years of insight and entertainment and recommend they stop playing so many repeats.
Reply All went through an unexpected decline. This show is the reincarnation of TLDR. Both podcasts are, by mission statement, about the internet. But unlike TLDR, Reply All got distracted by real life. The name difference feels appropriate: TLDR isn't interested enough to care about what anybody thinks while Reply All often gets sucked into trying to please everybody.
