I asked this already in the megathread but maybe I will get some more answers here.

Anyone got recommendations for good podcasts? Gaming/History/Politics/Nerdshit, etc. I’m waiting for my new glasses, and my current ones are slowly killing me. So I would like to do stuff that I can do without using my eyes.

I dont really do podcasts usually so this is new territory for me.

EDIT: AGAIN Thanks for all the recommendations so far. Lots of cool stuff to sink my teeth into.

  • TallFroGuy [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    For outsiders - the name is a reference to the length of Ready Player One ("372 pages we'll never get back") and while you can enjoy it second-hand, it's best enjoyed as a read-along book club solely for ragging on the book.

    I personally only tune in for books that I've actually experienced but it reading the first run after being the only one in my friend group to dislike Ready Player One was the sweetest catharsis I never knew I needed.

    • Comp4 [she/her]
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      Now, I can't judge "Ready Player One" since I haven't read it or seen the movie, but the premise itself sounds rather trashy.

      • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        1 year ago

        The book was fun pablum for some silly nerd nostalgia and if you don’t expect anything more it’s enjoyable.

        The movie is a hot fucking mess.

      • TallFroGuy [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Fair, and that's probably the main reason I couldn't get into it for books that I hadn't personally read since I can't tell if they're punching down at some hyper specific genre author who I otherwise have no reason to interact with

        That said, when they're punching up at a super popular and successful book that has made millions of dollars it feels (imho) very light hearted and fun rather than as hateful as I made it sound. If you've ever vented to someone about a book even though they're just giving the equivalent of "that's nice, dear" responses then you may enjoy this podcast.

        Their latest series is on Artemis - a book I put off despite adoring the author's other two books because I'd heard it just isn't as good. Now I'm probably going to read it so I can enjoy the good parts now and the bad parts when I listen to the podcast :)

          • TallFroGuy [he/him]
            ·
            1 year ago

            I really should have given it a chance by now but The Martian clicked with me so well (only book I've ever finished and then immediately started again) that I was scared of sullying it if his next book was as bad as random people on the internet said lol

        • Comp4 [she/her]
          hexagon
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, I guess I would have to read the books they are talking about to enjoy it. I just got into reading books again last year. I had around 10 years during which I didn't read much, so there are tons of popular things I never bothered with.

          • TallFroGuy [he/him]
            ·
            1 year ago

            Nice. My advice is that if a book hasn't grabbed you in the first couple chapters then don't feel obliged to stick it out just because it's popular. I've spent a lot of time powering through books I didn't like (usually audiobooks on 2x speed) just to see if they got better by the end and they very rarely do lol.