Podcasts I've thought about the most in 2024
Plus end of year thoughts and other recommendations and links to make you think. Also, where the heck is James Bond?
Welcome to Hurt Your Brain #208, the place to get podcasts and links that will make you think, sent every so often.
Today we’ve got for you:
A few excellent podcast recommendations and some great links worth checking out.
An additional section about the podcasts and books I’ve thought about the most in 2024. I have a hard time saying something is “the best,” so as a substitute these are the things that lingered in my mind and made me think the most.
I like to joke around, but seriously happy new year to everyone. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2025 full of good audio and things that will make you think.
PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS
99 Percent Invisible: New Year, New Neighborhood
The Big Idea: A perfect episode to listen to before New Year’s Eve, because it’s all about the history of Times Square in NYC, including the history of how it became ground zero for celebrating the new year. Very interesting.
As a bonus recommendation for 99 Percent Invisible, also check out their mini-stories volume 19, which has four great stories, including the rise of “funny” highway signs.
The Journal: James Bond Is Missing — He’s Trapped in a Fight With Amazon
The Big Idea: Come for the scoop on the drama with the James Bond IP, stay for Barbara Broccoli (who has complete creative control over Bond movies) calling Amazon executives a bunch of idiots.
Thanks for Podcast Review for putting this on my radar.
PODCAST LINKS
Tink Media’s Audio Delicacies of 2024. A wonderful collection of podcast treats and an astonishingly useful guide to padding out your listening queue for 2025. You can find my recommendation in the narrative non-fiction section.
Eurowaves. A new podcast newsletter from Andreea Coscai that’s all about audio from Europe. A big missing piece in the newsletter landscape! Get podcast recommendations and news. It’s great so far. Subscribe here.
Single best episode you listened to this year? Great thread on Reddit.
OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK
What just happened? A very useful post (and great newsletter to subscribe to overall) to understand the latest developments in AI for the regular person trying to keep up. The leaps in generative AI video creation is a little bit brain breaking and worrying.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2024 AND LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025
Podcasts I’ve thought about the most in 2024
Tested. Rose Eveleth expertly examines the current state of who and who is not allowed to compete in women’s sports in world competitions. It’s more complicated than it sounds and I love any story that shows that the real world and its actual workings resists simple categorization.
Terrestrials: The Trio. Two bald eagle dads and one bald eagle mom lived in one happy family in front of a webcam for a decade for all the world to see. Again, nature can’t be easily categorized and doesn’t care how we think it should work.
Don’t Drink the Milk: Homeopathy. See my full thoughts in Tink’s Audio Delicacies under narrative non-fiction.
The Universe. John Green. Dr Katie Mack. A full history of the universe and its immense future and possible endings. Existential thoughts and feelings. A limited series. What more could I ask for?
99 Percent Invisible Breakdown: The Power Broker [episodes also in 99pi main feed]. A hell of a book reading experience (took me over three months) and a hell of a companion podcast. Listening to over 30 hours of summary and interviews while reading a 1100+ page dense book is not something I would have predicted enjoying so much. I guess this is my Joe Rogan.
Favorite new podcast discovery
Comic Sans. Two friends from Singapore, one loves and creates comics, the other knows nothing but is interested in learning. Great chemistry between hosts and very beginner friendly. I know a little about comics and graphic novels but I want to know what else is out there, and this show is perfect for it.
Books I’ve thought about the most in 2024
The Power Broker by Robert Caro. Maybe in 2025 my friends and family will get to hear me mention this less.
Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier by Kevin Kelly. Very quick read full of tweet-length aphorisms. Lots are forgettable, but there some great gems throughout that I think about all the time. One of my favorites: “You can be whatever you want to be, so be the person who ends meetings early.”
The Demon Haunted World. An absolute classic from Carl Sagan that I am almost done re-reading, but I always think about. A book all about skepticism and critical thinking and is a love letter to science.
Books I’m excited for in 2025:
After a year of mostly non-fiction reading I plan on starting next year heavy on the fiction side. Here are the books I’m excited to kick things off with.
I received Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow as a gift and plan to read that shortly.
Two sci-fi books I keep hearing over and over again on how good they are: Project Hail Mary (currently being filmed and starring Ryan Gosling), and Children of Time.
Also, I plan on reading Rendezvous with Rama, a classic Arthur C Clarke novel that is being adapted by Denis Villeneuve after his third Dune movie comes out, which is all I need to know to be interested.
Podcasts I’m excited for in 2025:
All of them? Honestly nothing specific because I never know what kind of audio treasure awaits me. With books I tend to only read things I’m 90% sure I’ll enjoy and finish (I don’t take a lot of blind gambles). But with podcasts, I very much love taking blind gambles.
Favorite stories I published in 2024
8 Reasons Why Public Libraries Are Amazing. An ode to one of our greatest institutions.
The Surprisingly Wholesome Marriage of Reddit and Prestige TV. When it comes to TV community, there is one social media to rule them all
15 More Very Scientific Charts and Graphs About the Podcast Industry. With very scientific drawings of course.
Favorite visual I made in 2024
I thought there would be more time.
FOR FUN
We’ve just been two men hanging out getting to know each other
That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!
Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.
P.S. I’m not all about resolutions, but I’m a big fan of “themes” for a year. A theme I want to pursue next year: for 2025 to be the year of “challenges.” I’m talking 7-day and 30-day challenges, that sort of thing. Not challenges as in life difficulties. The last thing I need is to invite those in. Draw everyday for 7 days. Write everyday for 30 days. They can be fun if you let them be. Things to help grow momentum without being overwhelming or constrain me to a whole year. Maybe even try only new podcasts for 7 days?
Now speaking of podcasts, I do actually have one resolution. It’s to listen to more audio and be as chill as no-face from Spirited Away. Well at least as chill as he was after his whole chasing people and eating them thing.
I spent an entire road trip absolutely glued to Case 63, a so-called “audio series” starring Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac centered around time travel. Episodes were perfectly short and each ended on an incredible cliff-hanger. Recommend!
Love all this and appreciate you. Thank you for including delicacies!