With summer winding down and the school year approaching, it’s time to start pondering what will be the best thing to listen to when slaving away at homework and essays.
Music has always been a trusty stand-by, but for someone looking for something different, talk-show podcasts can be just as relaxing and entertaining. Walking across campus, or to and from the parking garage, can be made much more bearable when you have an hourlong radio show to enjoy.
Here are a few podcasts that are worth listening to, which are all available for free on iTunes.
WTF with Marc Maron
“WTF with Marc Maron” is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by stand-up comedian Marc Maron. Once a struggling comic, Maron has made a name for himself by producing a show out of his garage that has become one of the top downloaded podcasts on iTunes. WTF won last year’s “Best Comedy Podcast” at the Comedy Central Comedy awards.
Each episode follows a similar format of Maron beginning with a conversation with the listener, during which Maron reflects upon his own experiences with the idiosyncrasies of life.
Maron then welcomes on a popular comedian, actor or writer to discuss their lives and how they got to where they are today. The show has had riveting conversations with people such as Robin Williams, Conan O’ Brien, Louis C.K., Donald Glover and more.
More than 300 episodes later, the show has led to an autobiographical television show on IFC set to premiere in early 2013. The show will revolve around Maron as a divorced sober comedian producing a comedy podcast in his garage.
Hollywood Babble-On
Once a week, super-crude director Kevin Smith and impeccable impressionist Ralph Garman meet up at the John Lovitz Comedy Club at the Universal City Walk for a raunchy hour-and-a-half podcast in front of a live audience. In each episode, Smith and Garman discuss the big happenings of Hollywood in the past week, from movie releases to celebrities doing dumb things.
Both Smith and Garman have been in the industry for years and have interesting insider information about the world of Hollywood. Smith is known for directing the films “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy,” and Garman, is a co-host on the radio show “The Kevin and Bean Show” on KROQ.
The show encourages audience interaction, both at home and in the crowd. Listeners can have their emails and Tweets read live and request Garman to do impressions of celebrities in hilarious situations. Fans can go see the show live Saturday nights.
Doug Loves Movies
Comedian Doug Benson, best known for his movie “Super High Me” and “The Benson Interruption” hosts this comedic podcast that is recorded live in front of an audience at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles.
Benson welcomes a handful of comedians onto the show for a group discussion on their careers, Hollywood and the top movies ofthe time. Popular guests have included Amy Poehler, Michael Cera, Joe Rogan and Patton Oswalt.
Each show concludes with a movie quiz game made up by Benson, called the Leonard Maltin game, which is based off the reviews of the popular film critic of the same name. The game is both impossible to explain and easy to mess up, which makes it even funnier when Benson tries to explain what’s going on. The show can also be seen live in Los Angeles frequently.
The /Filmcast
For movie buffs, “The /Filmcast” is the one-stop podcast for all movie news and reviews. Hosts Dave Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley are on top of all the latest news in film and television.
Each episode is full of discussion, sometimes heated, of film news that has taken place throughout the prior week. Each show then concludes with an in-depth review of the biggest movie release of the week.
All of the hosts are very dedicated to the art of film and offer good insight into the world of movies and television. Their recommendations for new films to check out are always spot on, which is perfect for any movie buff who is in need of something new to watch.
The show also encourages listener participation by reading emails and playing voicemails of fans’ views on the different films covered on the show. Some of the famous guests the show has had on the air include Kevin Smith and comedian Paul Scheer.
The Indoor Kids
“The Indoor Kids” is a great podcast for video game news and reviews. Hosted by the very funny comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon, each episode offers insight into video games both new and old.
The podcast has welcomed a handful of celebrity gamers including Dan Harmon, Chris Hardwick and Matt Mira into the conversation. Besides reviewing new games, the show also delves into the host’s and guest’s experiences with older games as well, talking about both their favorite and most frustrating games of their childhood.
“The Indoor Kids” also offers insightful reviews of big video games releases such as “Mass Effect 3” and also covers events like E3 and Comic-Con. It is every video game nerd’s perfect podcast, and a great way to find out which $60 video game is actually worth buying.