The Best Podcasts Ever
Or, Ben's Podcast Picks
Greetings, readers and friends. With the holidays on people’s minds this week, I wanted to take another break from the usual fare and offer a few recommendations on some of the best things I have listened to over the past year or two. I love it when people make podcast recommendations to me. It is like a gift of creativity, knowledge, and time. I drive a lot for work, so having a long podcast episode or series of episodes to listen to is a wonderful gift. In that same spirit, I offer the following recommendations to you.
Acquired. My best find of a podcast series this year was Acquired. I dropped references to these episodes in articles here and there over the past few months, so maybe readers have caught onto it, but in this podcast, the two hosts, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, do three- or four-hour deep dives on the founding and histories of some of the most interesting and influential companies in the world. My favorite episodes include ones on Walmart, Amazon, and, oddly enough, luxury brand Hermès, which I knew absolutely nothing about. There was also a fascinating episode about Sony, which was founded in Japan almost quite literally in the ashes of World War II. Although this podcast series is pretty tech-heavy and can be wonky, the episode about the history of Nintendo was quite accessible to my ten-year-old and nine-year-old, and listening to it together filled up an entire four-hour family car ride. Side note: for more bite-sized podcast episodes of a similar tilt, check out How I Built This, which has also had some family-favorite episodes including ones on Chipotle, Clif Bar, and JetBlue.
The Rest is History. I discovered this podcast recently too, although much like Acquired it has been around for several years. In it, co-hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook do deep dives of their own on various historical time periods and events. Purportedly they said at one point early on, “Nobody will ever listen to it, so we can just talk as if we were at the pub.” With British humor and dry wit, they banter on everything from Helen of Troy to America in 1968. My favorite series they have done was two sets of five episodes each covering the French Revolution, which was a historical event/time period I knew barely anything about. It was so good! I don’t think I’m spoiling anything here, but this series features an episode about King Louis and Marie Antoinette sneaking out of the palace, attempting to flee to the Eastern frontier, and getting caught in an apartment above a grocery store after the King was recognized due to his face matching what was on the currency. They are then returned to Versailles and things don’t go particularly well from there.
In the Dark (Season 2). This series, produced by American Public Media, tells the story of Curtis Flowers, a black man from Mississippi who was tried six times for the same crime - a quadruple murder in a furniture store in 1996. I won’t spoil it by giving away any details, but it was a gripping and artfully told story.
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. This 20+ episode series tells the story of a Seattle-based megachurch. It’s produced by Christianity Today, but it neither pounds its listeners with a proselyting message nor excuses the failings of this particular church’s practices and leadership. It is a story of a church, but also about human failings and a fall from grace. I think Christians and non-Christians alike will find meaning and good storytelling in this series.
The Big Dig. This nine-episode series tells the multi-decade story of Boston’s most famous infrastructure project. From its roots in 1960s urban renewal to the modern-day extension of the Green Line to Medford, this podcast was a really interesting look at the mix of municipal infrastructure and politics, all set in an area that will be very familiar to listeners in the northeast. It is produced by WGBH in Boston.
Hit Parade: This podcast series has the tagline, “What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more.” It is an interesting look at some of the most famous songs, artists, and genres of the last 60+ years, and features a lot of the music itself. The Christmas is All Around Edition, which tells the story of how and why the #1 song in the UK at Christmastime is such a big deal was particularly entertaining (especially if you are reading this during the holidays). Other episodes in the Hit Parade series that have stood out to me were ones about Lady Gaga, Red Red Wine, and yes even Britney Spears, which traces her success back to ABBA and some of the Swedish pop music factories of the 1970s. Maybe my favorite episode, though, was about the BeeGees, a band I didn’t know much about but whose music is ubiquitous.
The New York Times: Rabbit Hole. Tech columnist Kevin Roose explores what is happening to our lives, brain chemistry, and personal relationships as more of our lives are lived online. Side note: Kevin Roose wrote a book called Futureproof, which was very influential on me and led, in part, to the creation of my Sunday Morning Post Substack series.
The Wall Street Journal podcast: To the Moon. The WSJ podcast called “The Journal” is a great daily listen, usually covering topics of the day in business and finance. In their “To the Moon” five-part series, they covered the GameStop saga of 2021.
The Rich Roll Podcast: I have listened to many episodes of this podcast over the years, which features talk about endurance sports, healthy lifestyles, and mindfulness, among other things. The host, Rich Roll (his actual name) is a former elite-level Stanford swimmer who became an addict and is now in long-term recovery, which he talks openly about. One episode that stands out is a conversation with Travis Barker, the drummer for Blink 182. There are many other good ones, too.
Reply All: The Case of the Missing Hit. Probably pound-for-pound, this is the single best podcast episode I have ever listened to in any genre. It tells the (true) story of a man who clearly remembers the melody and lyrics from a song long ago that no one else does. This is a friendly and folksy investigative piece about whether the song actually existed, and why this one person is the only one who remembers it.
ESPN The Daily: The Steelers Vietnam Vet. Much like the WSJ daily podcast, the ESPN daily podcast, which is actually called “The Daily,” covers topics of the moment in sports. Sometimes they will do an outside-the box episode. In this one, they tell the story of Rocky Bleier, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers and also a Vietnam veteran. Of particular note, in this episode the producers return to Vietnam with Bleier, many years after his war service, to revisit the scene of an impactful event during the war.
If I had to categorize my podcast habits this year, I would say I sought history (of both nations and countries), nostalgia (in pop culture, especially music), and above all else, good storytelling. In times past, I have listened to a lot of podcasts about politics, but not this year; although I followed the election closely, it didn’t dominate my listening habits.
What podcasts would you recommend to me or other readers of The Sunday Morning Post? Drop them in the comments below or send me a message at bsprague1@gmail.com. If I get some suggestions, I’ll share them in a future article.
With that, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and best wishes for a peaceful and relaxing holiday season from my family to yours.
Ben Sprague lives and works in Bangor, Maine as a Senior V.P./Commercial Lending Officer for Damariscotta-based First National Bank. He previously worked as an investment advisor and graduated from Harvard University in 2006. Ben can be reached at ben.sprague@thefirst.com or bsprague1@gmail.com.
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