I got hooked on audio stories back in the '70s. During summer family road trips down I-90 to visit my grandma in Yakima, my dad would pop old 1940s radio serials into the post-production cassette player of our '76 Ford Granada.
Throughout these three-hour odysseys into the moonscape of eastern Washington, they were the only distraction from the triple-digit heat inside our un-air-conditioned, V-8 Family Truckster. While rolling down the windows may have seemed sensible, each broiling gust of desert fury only leeched the moisture more quickly from my concave, blistering nooks. Before long, hallucinations would ensue—maybe an overturned Mr. Pibb truck would materialize on the horizon, perhaps my brother would suddenly leap from the car and leave his stack of MAD magazines, thereby fulfilling my most scandalous of childhood wishes.
My dad had, and still has, a massive collection of old radio shows, so there was always an episode of The Shadow or Green Hornet or The Inner Sanctum to while away the time on any car trip longer than twelve minutes. They served as my first foray into the theater of the mind, engaging my brain at a deeper level and forcing me to paint the scenery internally.
It was a novel approach since, as a child of the TV generation, I already had a solid visual of what a superhero looked like:
As well as an arch villain:
But it was on these marathon car drives that I came to realize—audio storytelling could manufacture worlds that television and movies never could. Listening to an episode of Suspense, I'd find myself in a pitch-dark room as my pursuer's footsteps grew louder. I could smell his presence, could feel the clammy blasts of his maniacal panting.
Or, I could flip on our 19-inch, black and white Zenith and convince myself that Captain Kirk wasn't actually just fighting some dude wearing nothing but an athletic supporter and sixteen pounds of paper-mâché. Hello, Starship Enterprise? Barney called and said his grandpa wandered off again.
Due to the inherent 2D nature of TV, it's no surprise that audio storytelling has never completely disappeared since television invaded the scene 60 years ago. And now, with the proliferation of the podcasting platform, the demand for audible yarn spinnin' is healthier than ever. Over 700,000 podcast titles exist today, featuring more than 29 million episodes.
By the way, how long are we going to keep calling them "podcasts"? Does anyone actually still own an iPod? I guess we can add it to the growing list of antiquated terms. In other words, I don't want to sound like a broken record, so stay tuned.
A few popular NPR offerings predate podcasting by almost a decade, such as This American Life and StoryCorps. These broadcasts greased the skids for modern podcasting, proving that good storytelling isn't just about entertainment, it's about the human connection that occurs as a result. They helped illustrate that we don't want stories, we actually need them.
Anyway, after having resided nearly full-time in in Podlandia for the past couple of years, I'm excited to share some of my discoveries with you. You'll notice a decisive true-crime bent to this list, so if you're looking for gardening ideas or advice on how to hem your chihuahua's True Religion jorts, you may need to perpetrate your quest elsewhere. Without further blathering, here are my top ten podcasts:
11) The Dropout Elizabeth Holmes was the wiz kid founder of biotech company known as Theranos. She was the youngest self-made female billionaire in history and appeared to be on her way to revolutionizing the healthcare industry with one incredible invention. All of the necessary elements for a bestselling novel are front and center in this six-part series: money, lies, tragedy and a really strange thing that happened to Holmes' voice during her ascent, as told by people who'd known her before.
10) Over My Dead Body, Season 1 This nine-episode offering frustratingly illustrates how power and privilege can completely unhinge a murder investigation. You'll want to dislike the state of Florida more than you already do, which I know is impossible.
9) Slow Burn: Season 2: The Impeachment of Bill Clinton You may think you know the entire arc of the Clinton/Lewinski scandal of the mid-1990s, and I don't want to say you'd be wrong. You just wouldn't be right. In an era when relentless victim-shaming was overlooked in the face of national prosperity, even the most ardent of Clinton supporters may finally notice the big, ropy stain on his presidency.
8) WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 613: Barack Obama Marc Maron is one of the O.G. podcast pioneers. Since 2009, the stand-up comedian has hosted a cavalcade of celebrities in his makeshift Los Angeles garage studio. Episode 613 takes place during the middle of Obama's second term, when POTUS decides to drop by while in town. The interview provides a bittersweet time capsule of a far more serene period when the grown-ups were in charge.
7) Monster: Season 2: The Zodiac Killer One of our country's most notorious sprees of unsolved murders, the Zodiac killings proved supremely aggravating due to the criminal's mysterious cyphers and coded letters with which he taunted newspapers and law enforcement. I mean, not only was he a bad guy, he was also kind of a dick. Plus, the show is narrated by a guy named Payne Lindsey, which sounds like either a law firm or a promising WWE nemesis.
6) Sword and Scale While this show doesn't completely cross the line, it straddles it hard. And unless you're prepared to listen to the details of some of the most horrific crimes ever committed (and as luck would have it, I am), you'll want to give this one a high five and move on. If you dare linger, however, I would recommend Episode 33: Luka Magnotta, the tale of a man whose quest for social media celebrity turned him into one sick puppy. Oh, and a quick tip—make sure you haven't eaten any type of food for an hour or so prior to listening. Also, you probably won't want to eat for a while afterwards or visualize food or food substitutes.
A close second is Episode 79: The Craigslist Killer, where the de facto crime takes a backseat to the profound incompetence of a perpetrator who thought he was smarter than the cops. Most of the episode is filled with actual police interrogations where you bear witness to the step-by-step dismantling of a killer and his alibi. You won't be disappointed.
5) KNKX Sound Effect Okay, sure. I've told stories twice on Sound Effect (How A Dreaded Swimming Class Changed A 10 Year Old Boy's Life and How A Horrific Accident Tested A Young Man’s Resilience), but shameless plugs aside, it's a fascinating forum for showcasing local Seattle stories.
4) I, Survivor, Season 1 Co-hosted by two survivors of sexual assault, Jenna Brister and Wagatwe Wanjuki, each installment tells the story of someone who suffered severe trauma and how they dealt with it, both during and after the event. My favorite episode is Episode 3, entitled, Not today, møtherfucker, where a female jogger faces her worst nightmare at a seemingly innocuous public restroom. Please listen to this one.
If you have a little spare time, listen to Episode 97, Drew Peterson. Sure, he was a total asshole/killer, but more importantly, at the end of the show, Mike and Gibby play a voicemail I left about growing up in Seattle during the Ted Bundy and Green River Killer rampages. Attention whooer am I? perhaps.
2) Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard Many of us recognize Shepard from shows such as Punk'd and Parenthood. Based on the roles he plays, he may seem like sort of a shallow, redneck lunkhead, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice not listening to the podcast he runs out of his garage attic. He touches on his struggles with addiction, self-esteem and dyslexia in such a candid way and with such great humor, it's impossible to not like the guy.
Notable episodes include Episode 1: Kirsten Bell (also his wife), Episode 12: Katie Couric (I didn't think I could love her any more than I already did, but as it turns out, I could), and Episode 57: Conan O'Brien (another dude whose amazing wit and personality came at a cost).
1) Heavyweight This one is my favorite. Jonathan Goldstein, formerly of This American Life, connects with people who have unresolved issues in their lives. Usually it's nothing huge, just a misunderstanding that happened in high school or a friend who suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. Goldstein finds a way to provide closure to these situations by bringing people together, often with hilarious, heart wrenching results. They're all really good, but the cream of the crop is Episode 16: Rob and Episode 21: Rachel.
If you've never listened to a podcast, they're usually the perfect duration a morning/evening commute, a robust dose of yard work or any 47-minute span you'd otherwise spend staring at your cat. Also, keep in mind that there are some pretty bad ones—either they've got poor audio quality or are just downright boring—so it feels great to run across one that really hits home. Hope you enjoy this list, and please send along your recommendations!
