Aliens Like Us With Rhys Darby
What Are They?
Aliens Like Us is a new podcast from Spotify all about extraterrestrials and the close encounters people have with them. Every week, host Rhys Darby (Flight Of The Conchords) is joined by Leon “Buttons” Kirkbeck and Ethan Edenburg to take a look at the latest UFO news. It’s a comedy podcast, but both Darby and Kirkbeck are full-on believers in the paranormal. They have good reason: Kirkbeck’s father had multiple encounters in his life and Darby himself once observed UFO activity in the Scottish skies while searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Edenburg acts as the Scully of the group, but it’s clear that skepticism is not the point; there’s even a segment where alleged UFO “experiencers” recall their abduction stories without commentary or pushback from the hosts. Last Podcast On The Left’s Henry Zebrowski also stops by to share his theories about Area 51 and discuss using alien technology to get revenge on casting agents. Though he’s clearly passionate about the subject, Darby’s laid-back style ensures that the podcast never devolves into manic comic one-upmanship or zealous conspiracy mongering. He is the perfect tour guide through the lighter side of the unknown. [Anthony D Herrera]
Believer
Charity
Lara Campbell is a simple woman. She likes women, her dog, and making money by pretending to be a psychic with the help of her smartphone. But then she gets some disturbing phone calls from her ex-girlfriend Rose and a plea from Rose’s father telling Lara she’s the only one who can find her. Lara picks up her dog and drives down to Charity, Oregon for answers, but what should have been the end of her road trip is the beginning of a journey along an unsettling path with a creepy small town as its backdrop, conveyed and constructed by excellent sound design and voice acting. This first episode of Believer feels like the first 30 minutes of Get Out or Hereditary in pure audio form: There’s an unshakable sense that something is wrong and intends to stay that way. [Alma Roda-Gil]
Eater’s Digest
The Weird Job Of Covering What Candidates Eat
We can learn a lot about a person through the lens of food, and in this election year, Eater has taken on the task of analyzing every Democratic candidate’s diet on the 2020 campaign trail, their respective spending, and even their choice of catering to get a fuller picture of our potential leaders’ lifestyle choices. On the latest Eater’s Digest, hosts Amanda Kludt and Daniel Geneen sit down with the photojournalist who seemingly reported on it all: Gary He. The entire episode is packed with fascinating details; He also gives listeners an intricate picture of what’s involved in photographing each candidate with their food, describing those unflattering snapshots of Pete Buttigieg eating a cinnamon bun like a chicken wing and the women who couldn’t eat a corn dog on camera. [Kevin Cortez]
His Royal Fakin’ Highness
Long Live The King
Hamlet is a college student who loves to hang out at clubs and avoid the responsibilities of being a crown prince, until the day Ophelia shows up to tell him his father’s dead. Long live the king. His Royal Fakin’ Highness takes the tale of Hamlet and rips the tragedy from it. What would happen if Ophelia teamed up with Hamlet to secure his rightful place on the throne—or maybe not so much “teamed up” as “pretended to be engaged” without asking Hamlet first? Audiences love a fake engagement romantic comedy, and this story hits every good romantic trope without forgetting what else it’s here to do: make fun of Shakespeare. Plenty of sarcastic jabs and wordplay make light of the source material, but this podcast is not an endless parade of jokery. It breathes new life into characters we assume we already know and gives them a chance to extend beyond the story arcs fated for them 400 years ago. We see them navigate a complex tangle of royal duties and family tension while insisting the entire time that, no, they’re not in love, thank you. [Elena Fernández Collins]
Hollywood Handbook
David Sedaris, Our Storytelling Friend
The Boys (Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements) usually kick off each episode with a story told over music, but this week they launch right into their conversation with prolific writer David Sedaris. The repartee is so natural between them that the trio manages to talk taxidermy for nearly seven whole minutes before the hosts even get around to introducing their guest; there’s plenty of energy in this episode, with seamless transitions between riffs that absurdly swerve from punchlines to earnest discussions on writing, Ivy League educations, and guilt. This ebb and flow means listeners are treated to a conversation on trained helper monkeys that turns unexpectedly to the breeding age of raccoons, and it’s best to just enjoy the ride. Even the advertisements between segments are entertaining. [Jose Nateras]
Marlon And Jake Read Dead People
Trashy Novels To Die For
Man Booker Prize–winning author Marlon James and his editor Jake Morrissey host a podcast in which they trade unrestrained thoughts on the thousands of books that have passed beneath their eyes over the years. So pure are their takes that the pair must limit themselves to dead authors, lest they spawn a fallout rivaling the current raging romance writer turf war. This week, though, their judgment is mostly suspended as they gush about the literary guilty pleasures they would gladly take into the bathroom. James revels in the taboo antebellum eroticism of the Falconhurst series, which is about a fictional Alabama plantation that houses all manner of fornicators. Morrissey prefers the 1950s WASP-spray that is Peyton Place, written by the note-taking wife of a high school principal in a New Hampshire mill town. Both are quick to count the artistic and moral failings in these and other books; James shudders at the thought of an Auschwitz-themed romance series between prisoners and captors. But they are drawn to these books because the texts are so free with their sensations, which makes them a welcome departure from some staid, watercolor plots in highbrow literature. [Zach Brooke]
Never Not Funny
The 1000th
Back in the mid-2000s, before everyone from late night hosts to financial investment firms had a podcast, there were only a handful of creators willing to take a risk on the untested medium. Among them were standing up comedian Jimmy Pardo and longtime comedy fan turned producer Matt Belknap. A thousand episodes later and they’re still here, serving up “dumb fun” and providing a space in the podcast landscape that is light on premise and heavy on laughs. To celebrate this tremendous milestone, Pardo, Belknap, and perennial punching bags Garon Cockrell and Eliot Hochberg planned to treat listeners to an episode without a guest only to be immediately interrupted by phone calls and recorded messages from past guests congratulating them on their achievement (or indulging in some pre-planned bit, as the case may be). Among the callers are Jon Hamm, Jen Kirkman, Scott Aukerman, Janet Varney, and Paul F. Tompkins, to name a few. The long list of heavy hitters heaping on praise is a testament to what a special comedy environment Pardo and the Never Not Funny team have fostered over the years. Longtime listeners can only hope the fun won’t end anytime soon. [Dan Neilan]
39 Comments
Can someone recommend me some good podcasts that are offbeat (however you interpret that) and NOT produced by some awful podcasting factory (like the ones listed above)? I’m going through a dry-spell. Lately I’ve been really loving Desert Oracle.
Why even bother reading this list if you’re going to dismiss everything on it? Nobody give this shithead any recommendations.
“Even the advertisements between segments are entertaining.”I mean, duh, it’s Hollywood Handbook.
Sedaris always comes off as someone who I have found could read a technical manual on changing out a oil pan on a mid 80’s Volvo and make it worth the listen. He has that quality of Capote plus the self depreciation that cracks the fuck outta me. I really relate to him and his siblings in the realm of using the blackest humor to drive each other nuts. His story about his sister getting off on the subway train literally hit home as my sister did the exact same thing to me in LA when she got off an crowded elevator while leaving me on it, turned, and loudly wished me well in ‘beating that scorching case of herpes’ as the door closed. Ever felt the stares of 20 pairs of eyes bore into your neck and 20 pairs of feet giving me enough space to park a Range Rover in mere seconds? And no, I don’t have them. The followup is regularly used for mirth each year at Thankgiving once enough booze is in everyone.Ladies and Gentlemen…..my sister, the card.
This is the show where the ad reads are so good, so consistently, that the premium service that removes advertisements from Earwolf shows had to add a separate feed for “The Ads Version” due to listener demand.Never forget this Funky Factable: The human penus is almost two inches.
This is the one they had to go back and scrub, right?
Yeah that is their second deleted ad, after the Away luggage one where they brought up the limited edition NBA colorway and how Sean got in a snippy back and forth with the company when they said they couldn’t give him that one as a freebie (“Can’t, or won’t?”) Hayes later said on an episode of Best Show that the ad copy said in angry all-caps at the top of the page “DO NOT MENTION LIMITED EDITION ITEMS”
I am genuinely excited to hear there is a “with ads” version given what I’ve heard about their ads over the years, and that might be the most HH-fanboi thing anyone has ever typed.Can anyone point me to the (those?) fable(d?) ad-reads that lost them sponsors? Been reeaaaal curious about that.
Thank you, new best friend.
This is good to know!
Thanks, this helped.
Omg, thank you for that information!!!! I had been using the stupid service to listen to the pro-version too, and I really missed the ads. Can’t BELIEVE I missed the Funky Factable. I never knew that about the human penis . . . .
Well, you clearly heard the Hims ad where Hayes found out that there’s an I in the word and it’s not spelled “Penus.”
Huhweee-weee-weee!
‘Marlon and Jake’ is good stuff.
I’m intrigued! There aren’t enough podcasts about books, and many of the ones I’ve found are chapter-by-chapter breakdowns of specific books.
Check out the podcast Backlisted. It’s quickly become a favorite of mine.
I’ve said it before (before) and I’ll say it again (again)Hollywood Handbook is the best podcast around, and no there’s no way to “sell” it or make it make sense why.
I’ve listened to a few HH episodes and I’m having a hard time getting it. I know that sounds like I’m just an idiot who doesn’t get irony, but I enjoy CBB and U Talking U2 To Me and other aggressively weird, “not-for-everyone” comedy. Is there a good episode for new listeners?
I might recommend trying a few earlier episodes, especially with comics you know/like/recognize (Sinbad and Pauly Shore are two highlights). I find the show to be a lot less accessible now that they’ve thrown the “premise” out the window. It’s still good (sometimes even better than ever), but harder to crack with the episodes being loose riff-fests.
I’m in awe of how evil you are.
Ha! I found you, Moriarty!!
Amy’s big brother! Hard to believe ‘Crumpet the elf’ is 63 years old already.
The Doughboys and Munch Madness deserve a s/o here. The field of 64 with Jon Gabrus was an insane undertaking.
Love love love Hollywood Handbook, so glad they’re getting a well-deserved shout out
Nerds is cool now
Have you seen comics? X-Man is my favorite.
And it’s Try Month again, so they might be landing corkers for the next 4 weeks.
Pinch the sky.
Very respect.
They just got Jon Fucking Hamm for today’s episode.
I truly didn’t expect the rapport to be so natural, but I shouldn’t be surprised – David is a damn pro and they all just rolled right on through. Great episode.
i’d totally listen to that Rhys Darby one but fuuuuuuuuuck this Spotify exclusive shit
If anyone wants to listen to a charming roller coaster ride of a story, Reply All’s latest ep, “The Case of The Missing Hit” is pretty great.
This is weird. This Podmass presumes that Hollywood Handbook is an actual conversation about these things when it’s not that at all.
Cum Town was good this week. You guys should check it out.
I’m watching these comments for Moriarty. I know you’re here somewhere.
I listened to Believer today.It was…not great. Have guys even heard The Whisperer in Darkness?