5 Podcasts You Need to Listen to Now

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and, for many of you out there, that means lengthy travel via trains, planes, and automobiles … or some combination thereof. If you don't want to get stuck in a conversation with the weird guy next to you, we suggest putting in your headphones and kicking back with one (or several) of these great podcasts. 

Criminal

For fans of Serial, Criminal is a podcast about crimes of all kinds. Unlike Serial, this one showcases a new crime each week — sometimes from the vantage point of the perpetrator and other times telling the story of the crime's unfortunate victim.

The Memory Palace

The Memory Palace podcasts are perfect for quick stops in between trains, or just for those of you out there with short attention spans. Ranging from a couple of minutes to around 20, the shows tell a wide range of stories about historical subjects, from the Civil War to the history of Acoustic Kitty. Listen to Episode 1 here.

The Message 

For the extraterrestrial junkies out there, The Message is the podcast for you. Join host Nicky Tomalin as she and a team of expert cryptologists spend eight episodes decoding a 70-year-old message from space.

Welcome to Night Vale

If you like Twin Peaks or The Twilight Zone, you'll love Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast featuring dispatches from a fictional town that often tend toward the strange. With 78 episodes available, this one should keep you busy for a while. And, if that isn't enough, you can now purchase a novel.

Something Cool

We'd be remiss if we didn't share something music-related with you, and the new podcast Something Cool looks to be one of the most promising music podcasts around. Highlighting underrated artists, Something Cool combines music, interviews, and expert commentary for an entertaining, educational experience. Listen to Episode 1 here.


Lede photo credit: notfrancois / Foter.com / CC BY

 

Walking the Floor: Chris Shiflett Talks to Patterson Hood

As the Foo Fighters' guitarist, Chris Shiflett rocks … a lot. To add a little country swagger to his repertoire, he also fronts the Dead Peasants. Shiflett's Walking the Floor podcast is where those two worlds collide. Since late 2013, Shiflett has hosted bi-monthly interviews with everyone from John Doe and Mike Ness to Merle Haggard and Sturgill Simpson. 

On this week's episode, Shiflett chats with Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood about the band's evolution over the years, including its rebuilding in the post-Jason Isbell era. Of the stripped down tour the Truckers did earlier this year, Hood says, "It's fun to go out and do it without all the baggage of having to do it for some negative reason. We're at the absolute pinnacle, best time of our band's history. The line-up is killer. Everybody gets along great. We're having a good time."