Podcasts: Community Recommendations
Sourced from the ArtNowThus Community! 
I guess we’ve always been rather fond of our own voices. But it did take us a while to invent technology that could allow us to transmit our voices across vast distances to multiple listeners at the same time.
From town criers to Mr Bell’s invention of the loudspeaker, to Mr Marconi fiddling with wireless telegraphy in his parent’s attic, to the Jazz Singer, to the Golden Age of Radio, to RSS feeds on websites and finally to podcasts - we’ve sure come a long way, baby!
Podcasts as we know them date back less than twenty years. Yup, another one of those revolutions in media and technology that we millennials not only lived through but contributed immensely to the growth of. We get the word ‘podcast’ from a portmanteau of ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast’, because it all started when a former MTV VJ and a software developer wanted a way to listen to online radio broadcasts on their iPods. You can read a nicely succinct yet detailed account of developments on that front and beyond in this Voice.com blog.
In 2022, there are over 2 million podcasts floating in the ether across the globe and the industry is poised to value at over 100 billion dollars in the next few years with nearly 500 million listeners. And no, I do not know how many zeros that sentence contains. Podcasts are becoming a way to understand the world as well as mark your place in it. And while the podcasts in English and produced in English-speaking countries dominate the charts, they have also become uniquely suited to giving voice to traditionally marginalized voices - young, old, disabled, queer and everyone without the resources to tackle other forms of media.
Essentially, podcasts are the way forward and we thought this warranted some recognition. So we reached out to the people we love, admire and have the immense pleasure of calling friends asking them to give us a podcast recommendation from some of their favourites. Our recommenders have really dug deep to give us recommendations that mean something to them or have caused a shift in the way they perceive the world. The reasons to listen are all from their hearts.
So buckle up and let’s dive in!
No Stupid Question
Hosted by Stephen J. Dubner (co-author of the Freakonomics books) and research psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of Grit)
Listen because…
Oh, because the the hosts believe there are no stupid questions in general and they pick randomest questions we all have but don't seem to ask anyone and make a detailed episode which is fun to listen with full of information. You’ll find data-based insight into troublesome questions like Is Emotional Intelligence Really So Important? Are Women Really Less Happy Than Men? or Is Having Children Worth It? Like don’t these questions make you curious and haven’t you always wanted those answers? Here’s your chance!
Recommended by:
Dheeraj Shah, who is a content creator & podcaster talking about web3, crypto & NFTs. He enjoys playing the ukulele, shitposting on Twitter and can be seen sporting his nfts on a kurta of his design. Oh, and he also drinks green tea, though he's not uppity about it.
To know more about Dheeraj, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
Hosted by Alan Alda, award-winning actor (yes, the guy from M*A*S*H), bestselling author, and advocate for science communication
Listen because…
This podcast covers communication as a topic in the most unique manner. It is not preachy in any way and addresses the importance of communication in a wide range of professions. How does a professional negotiator communicate and negotiate with a terrorist? How does a judge understand and communicate with their victims and criminals? How does an actor speak and communicate with their co-actors? How do singers use communication in their performances? The podcast really covers this from all possible angles in a very accessible way. Above all, it all seems like a story through interviews.
Recommended by:
Hetal Varia, who is a world-renowned Mumbai-based Voice, Accent and Dialect coach. She has been working in the theatre industry for more than 15 years. She holds a Masters in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD), London and is extensively involved in global work towards representing South Asian practices in voice work by collaborating with international artists and drama schools; Bristol Old Vic, CSSD and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama being a few. She has also been a voice coach to many industry professionals including Alexander Siddig, Charlie Hunnam, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Pratik Gandhi, Mithila Palkar, Sonali Kulkarni, Abhimanyu Dassani, Manoj Bajpayee, Huma Qureshi, Sharib Hashmi and others.
To know more about Hetal’s work, follow her on LinkedIn and Instagram.
The Seen and the Unseen
Hosted by Amit Varma (writer and podcaster)
Listen because…
This is my favourite podcast. Amit Varma delves deep into a person's life. Podcasting is about depth and Amit truly shows us what that means. His research is impeccable, he lets the conversation breathe, he never interrupts and so we get rich insights and a ringside seat to the intellect that makes India. The guests are diverse. It could be an author or a creator, a philosopher or an economist. So if you have a couple of hours (at least) to spare each week, give this a listen!
Recommended by:
Roshan Abbas, actor; TV & radio host; producer; event manager; creative director; film & theatre director; lyricist; CEO; angel investor; serial entrepreneur; author; and public speaking coach. Roshan founded and led Encompass (now Geometry Encompass) as Managing Director into becoming India’s largest, most awarded experiential marketing agency. He was also an initial investor in and continues to be a mentor-partner at The Glitch. Both ventures have been acquired by WPP.
Roshan has won seven national-level awards for TV and radio. In 2015, he co-founded Kommune – a performing arts collective for storytellers. He also helped conceptualize the Spoken Festival, bringing together performers from across the world for storytelling, poetry, spoken word, and song.
Roshan continues to inspire by sharing his life lessons on communication and storytelling with entrepreneurs, corporates, artists, and anyone looking to discover a unique voice! You can follow him on Twitter.
And if you are looking to flex your story-telling muscles, Kommune is currently accepting entries to Kathakar: A Hindi and English Story Slam. You can learn more about the event
Apply Now! | Deadline: 5th July
Maintenance Phase: Wellness and weight loss, debunked and decoded
Hosted by Michael Hobbes (investigative reporter with Huffpost) and Aubrey Gordon (author of What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat)
Listen because…
The hosts are brilliant, articulate and funny, and together they take down body shaming and fat shaming phenomena, trends, and celebrity products. It is not just a "oh, this is so disgusting" kind of podcast, but provides fantastic research points and personal experiences to establish why a trend is harmful, or slyly body shamey.
Recommended by:
Shruti Sharada, who is a Communications Specialist based in Bengaluru. She is also a Gender and Queer Rights Trainer, and is part of multiple advocacy groups working to support SGBV survivors, and queer persons globally. Irregularly, she writes on feminism and mental health, and has in the past won a few awards for her articles.
To know more about Shruti, her work and her opinions on true crime podcasts follow her on LinkedIn
No Such Thing as a Fish
Hosted by Dan Schreiber (@schreiberland) with James Harkin (@jamesharkin), Andrew Hunter Murray (@andrewhunterm), and Anna Ptaszynski
Listen because…
This is one of my favourite podcasts of all time, one that actually got me hooked onto the culture. Started all the way back in 2014, I happened to stumble upon it in 2017. It may seem like a regular fact show, but it's far from it. The incredibly knowledgeable hosts dish up an endless stream of hilariously random facts & interesting tidbits from a multitude of subjects, which I find perfect for building up my repertoire of useless trivia I've always been a fan of collecting. But the show isn’t limited to purely wacky facts, with each topic brimming with some genuinely fascinating science or history behind it. Almost a decade old, I think there must now be over 400 episodes, but you'll be just fine and up to speed, irrespective of which episode you start at. It's pretty timeless. A perfect podcast to listen to on a rainy afternoon, whilst out on a drive or while doing chores.
Recommended by:
Parth Taco, who is a bit of a relatively recent podcast and audiobook enthusiast, most of my listening activity in life has been around music, on account of being an artist manager over the past decade. I founded this lil independent label, music management & event agency called @nrtyaculture in 2018. Currently partaking in the NFT game with @whitenoise.nft, an NFT art house I founded about 6 months ago. Also culture manager at @eDAOhq & on the board committee at Soho House Mumbai.
You can find out more about Parth by following him on his Instagram.
Secret Feminist Agenda
Hosted by academic and podcaster Hannah McGregor
Listen because…
This podcast is very close to my heart because it was my entry into the world of podcasts. Canadian academic Hannah McGregor talks to a wide variety of feminists about how they incorporate and practice feminism in their careers and daily lives. The guests she picks work across platforms – justice, disability art, self-defence, and feminist science studies – and lead extremely interesting lives. Having met Hannah in person, I also have some insight into her motivation behind starting the podcast. It’s part of her research at Simon Fraser University and an attempt to make feminist theory more accessible. The links and resources she shares in her episode descriptions shows the care that goes into creating every episode. And I appreciate how she asks for feedback after every season to see how she can improve the podcast and make it better.
A must-listen for anyone who wants to discover interesting (feminist) people and organisations and wants to understand how to live more feminist lives!
Recommended by:
Aishwarya Javalgekar, a feminist writer, podcaster and book editor. She is the Head of Content and Podcasts at Bound and hosts The Book People, a video podcast that demystifies the Indian publishing industry. When she's not working, she colours her hair, drinks alarming amounts of coffee, and runs her feminist zine, ang(st).
And if this podcast is up your alley, we thoroughly recommend checking out Aishwarya’s newsletter: Angst Alert (Ruining pop culture with feminist angst) that gives you an honest and often humorous take on what it means to live the young, feminist life!
The AMO Podcast
Hosted by A Media Operator, a media company for those building digital media companies
Listen because…
There are plenty of podcasts about the nuances of creating media, but very little around the business of media. This podcast addresses the one major challenge that I and other media entrepreneurs have faced - how can you be sustainable? Listening to the approach and experiences of guests who have actually built sustainable enterprises has offered me a sense of expansion in thinking. This expansion I have found is critical for those of us who start as independent creators and are passionate about using their position for more impactful media to be built.
Recommended by:
Mathivanan ‘Mathi’ Rajendran, a producer and programme director based in Goa. Mathi spent his early years working as an industrial engineer from Virginia Tech while also traveling as a performance artist to various international fringe festivals. In 2010, he founded Stray Factory, a collective of Chennai’s most compelling talents, which tours internationally. This transitioned online with the web series Black Sheep (2016) on Stray Factory’s YouTube channel. An alumnus of the prestigious European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs’ Producers Workshop, Mathi is the creator and programme director of root.ax. This transmedia accelerator is dedicated to maximising the potential of original stories from the region by helping creatives to expand their impact and revenue across multiple media. At the moment, Mathi is researching the intersection of media and blockchains to support the creator economy and build greater transparency.
The next lab at root.ax is IMMERSE, a space for building Impactful Immersive Experiences. IMMERSE is a lab for creators working at the intersection of Social Impact & Immersive Experiences. As someone who has been part of a cohort run by Mathi, I personally and wholeheartedly recommend that you drop whatever you are doing and apply to this one!
Apply Now! | Deadline: 5th July
That’s it from the ArtNowThus community! Do let us know what you thought of our recommendations when you give them a listen. And we’d love it if you shared some of your favourite podcasts with us and tell us why we should listen to them as well!