Pods!

 PODCASTS!

FYI labelling this one pop culture. I will admit a tiny drop of politics may be mentioned but not much in this post....

I have had a lot of time on the road to listen to a few pods over the last month & next month I am sure I will be out spreading Xmas cheer so I will get a whole bunch more in. Let me tell you about them....

Actually let me start with some general Pod thoughts. First PODBEAN! get your shit together! I liked using the app, it seems like an indy app or something that people should support so we aren't all just on Spotify or apple music. However it is constantly dropping episodes. Not "loading files" I try every time to use it but then usually end up on Spotify. Also this is my blog and I would not listen to anyone tell me how to run it, so I do see the hypocrisy in this statement but if your going to run a pod, run it right. If you are a "factual" podcast then been factual and give the whole story! I will admit some pods that I am not a huge fan of I can compliment on the fact they give a full story. Put some fucking effort into it. I get it, not everyone can build a sound studio but if your sound is worse than a truck speaker phone driving in poor reception maybe you should work on that. Its an audio medium and if people can't hear you it seems like a waste. Have a plan! I get it, specially with multiple people talking you will wander off topic but have a general idea what your talking about. Its easy to tell people who know what they want to say and just rambling. Also don't sound like a dumb fuck. There is going to be swearing, there will be slang, but use a vocabulary higher than fifth grade. I was listening to a "Mafia" pod and I was pumped it looked great until I actually turned it on. If you aren't actually a Mafioso don't try and sound like Tony Soprano. I live in Edmonton and grew up in Alberta I would be embarrassed if I tried a pod and talked like I was from Boston and said words like khakis when I mean car keys. I get it that's mixed examples Tony isn't from Boston I am saying don't play shit up. Also no one can see you, this is just me bitching but I hate when people describe what they are doing. I mean this is just me whining but we can't see you!! its an audio medium!! There that's my rant on that. Feel free to ignore me, I have never actually done one so I could be out to lunch. I guess I am just saying what drives me away. 

First lets start with the one that started it all for me. Danger Cats. I will be 100% honest and say it has been months since I listened. I dig some of the program but sometimes it gets stale. Like there is only so many times you can make the same joke and hope people laugh. However I will say Uncle Hack is actually a great speaker. When he decides to make a point it is usually valid and well done. I did really enjoy the battle of bands section. I did support by buying my brother a hoodie from the store. So yes I will likely get back onto this one. Just had to mix it up with some other ones.....

Also Spittin Chiclets! I was into this one awhile back and some of the stories and guests are awesome!! I was told by a friend that I shouldn't just go for big name players that some lesser known guys have the best stories. I cannot believe how popular this pod got, it also blows my mind this is where pink Whitney came from. That was pretty popular last xmas? Two xmases ago? While I enjoy a lot of the takes on hockey it is hard if you aren't caught up because the things that come up are old and people have moved on from. But if you are a hockey fan this one is for sure a good one to check out

I started to listen to a few local ones. Let me start with Speaking Municipally. I promised not to get to into politics right now but that's the basis for these guys so I might have to. I hate whining, so much. Nothing is ever right with these guys.  Which is insane since Edmonton is already a very left leaning overly woke city. I honestly can't really listen to them, if there is an issue I am really interested in I try but overall no thanks. HOWEVER credit where it is due, these guys know Edmonton and the issues. I would never say they are not intelligent and well informed. They are a prime example of someone I may not agree with but I have to respect. So if you are left leaning or just want some insight into Edmonton these guys would be a great place to start

I really enjoy I Have some notes. This is a local Edmonton movie pod. What they do is take movies that could use "some work" and fix them. For the most part they are pretty damn funny! Honestly they did make me look at movies a bit more seriously. Let me preface this with I still don't look to serious. I kinda try and gloss over plots holes. When I go to movies it is for fun, I don't wanna see the flaws I wanna get a break from reality. This isn't what these guys do BUT it is fun to hear. Honestly a lot I don't even notice until its pointed out and them I am "Ya wtf?" That didn't make sense. It is one of my favs if I am honest. The warning is this, if you enjoy a movie and they have notes on it DONT listen. I mean really enjoy, like its a fav. In general they will just make you laugh and relook at movies but don't listen if you don"t wanna hear the errors.....

Prairie Rubbish is another local one I like. This one was kind of random actually. One of Casters? is that the right word? messaged me. I hadn't heard of them but I did then listen to prior pods. It is pretty interesting. Local stuff, some creatives as guests and politics.... I fall between the two caster, Derek and Good Government Gord. Derek is a moderate, fairly close to what I think. Gord is definitely more rightwing BUT I often have a hard time disagreeing with him. IMO he speaks a lot of common sense that seems to be lost today. They haven't put out anything recently though so it may be old news for a few issues. 

The last "local" one isn't local per say they are from Prince George. They are right up the pop culture alley. Get off my lawn. They have done a video game episode(s) and a horror episode. But they touch on a lot from music to collecting to comics to TV all things I am into. So I dig them. This for sure would be for people who know pop culture. I man I think of myself as a pop culture guy when in reality I kinda just skim the surface. Serious collectors and such will like these guys! 

So this will be last mention of Behind the Bastards for awhile. 3 blogs in a row, I am getting stalkerish... Robert Evans is smarmy, arrogant and for some reason doesn't see Antifa as a terror organization. If it is white, middle or upper class and not left leaning there is a good chance he doesn't like it. He has an amazing podcast though. I will never agree with all of his politics BUT I will give him he is smart and gives facts both good and bad. Yes there is a spin on somethings but that's going to happen on any podcast. The episodes that have nothing to do with politics and are just nutbags like L. Ron Hubbard or freaks like Epstein are by far my fav. If you wanna know so interesting shit on some bad people check it out. For example I learned the KKK really started as drunken frat boys and that sure changed over time..... After the Rittenhouse verdict I can't wait for their episode on him...

Bad Women - Ripper retold is another good one. Let me be honest, I don't 100% agree with her theory that these women weren't prostitutes'. The fact is, prostitution was kinda rampant in Whitechapel, so to say no these women weren't I don't think is anymore valid than they were. We as a society will never know. There is a very hard feminist spin here, which may or may not be correct. I repeat EVERYONE can have a theory on crimes that are over 100 years old now, I doubt there will ever be legit proof of anyones ideas. What I do enjoy is the fact these ladies are humanized. She does raise a good point, we actually kinda celebrate Jack. He is in reality an icon in history and crime but no one really seems to care much about his victims and that is kind of sad. The whole show is about them and it really is eye opening. If you are at all interested in Jack the Ripper this is a good pod for the whole of society at the time. HOWEVER it isn't about Jack. If you want new insight into that, this one won't tell you much. Really though if you have listened to 1 or 2 or even read a book there isn't much more you can learn. So maybe that is why this one is so good a fresh new look at something that has been told countless times. 

Canadian True Crime is one of my most favs. First off I have a weird obsession with true crime (Like I think a lot of people do) and second it is Canadian. The thing is of course she covers the BIG stories like Pickton or Bernardo but she also does historical ones like the Donnelly family and the mad trapper. That was actually what caught my eye. The case of the black Donnellys intrigued me years ago & seeing someone do an episode on them dragged me in.  Also she covers a lot of things I vaguely remember hearing about in the news but kind of forgot about. I guess I am getting at being Canadian is cool. Like you turn on any crime podcast and American serial killers are all over. There is no shortage of them and info on them. Hell turn on Netflix and all the big ones will have a documentary but CTC covers crimes that honestly are "local" as local as Canada can be and not super well known or covered.

Conspiracy theories by Parcast is another good one. I mean sadly it is now just Spotify but I got into on Podbean. SO many good episodes on SO many things that people have theories on. What I like it the breakdown, the facts around the theory are presented. Then the most likely scenarios are broken down. I mean like most conspiracies they end up looking pretty flimsy BUT some actually end up looking very probable. The fact is if you are into these kind of things this is a good pod for it. Most of them I thought I knew a lot about but I ended up learning a lot more. Its well done as most Parcast series are.

White Hot Hate. First off it is a CBC podcast, so you have to take it with a grain of salt... Every few months I try and listen to CBC and it just keeps reminding me they have an agenda. Which is sad, as a Canadian corporation they literally should just be dropping news not spinning it. ANYWAYS. The series so far is actually pretty good, about half done. I mean I shudder a bit when they do say some facts were from an Antifa cell. Might as well ask Rebel media for fact if that is what you are doing. Also it is kind of disturbing to me while this podcast is all about how dangerous and deadly white far right groups are the comments that the Toronto 18 might just have been guys "playing around". If you going to comment on radicalization it is wrong to say one side is bad and a real threat while the other side might just be playing around...  I will say it is quite a story right from the get go and looking into the Base. That is a rather brave reporter. I do take issue with a few things said on this one, the biggest being we forgot about the Oklahoma city bombing. That's literally not true. It was 26 years ago. Just because it isn't in the media every day does not mean people don't know about it. For example look at 9/11. It changed the world and how we live and travel to this day. HOWEVER it isn't as fresh as it was in 2005 (For example) People don't mention it daily, that doesn't mean people don't remember it. So to say Oklahoma is given a pass now, that we forgot about it because it was right wing white terrorism is bullshit. It like many things is fading into memory, not because a white guys did it. Off that rant I will say overall it is interesting and even with the spin on it, it is worth a listen. I will say the other thing that kind of let me down, I really thought it was going to be a lot more about Canada. It isn't.

Secret societies is another good one by Parcast. I ASSUME Parcast has a whole studio and that's why they can produce so much with good quality. This falls the same as Conspiracy theories. It has a lot of info and is very well done. There of course is a lot of overlap as you might guess. Conspiracies' usually have a secret society involved in them somewhere. Again well researched and enjoyable. Learned a few things about societies I thought I knew all about. Made me want to start my own society.....

Last is another Parcast series. Serial Killers. For true crime junkies this is a good one. Also it is kind of disturbing how into serial killers we are as a world. First off I am fully behind changing their names. Be honest Night Stalker sounds cool, could be a comic character like Daredevil or Batman. Small dick ripper should be the name, lets not hype up freaks... But that's off topic. This series is very good and honestly disturbing, you will learn shit you probably didn't know. On top of that it isn't just your Dahmer, Bundy killers there are a lot of people you probably haven't even ever heard of. Which again is nice because honestly how many retellings of the same person can you hear? Someone like Bundy you probably know all the facts, in fact you have probably watched the movies on him. Do you know anything about John Norman Collins? The fact is I enjoy new things and even if it makes it harder to sleep at night it is nice to learn about unknown freak shows.

I could go on and on. I will drop a few honorable mentions and move on. Supernatural is a neat concept but really didn't hook me even though it is made by Parcast. The X Wife podcast is a good one for first time X men readers / fans. The hosts have a great vibe. True North Strange and Weird, like it. Crazy Canadian content. Gangland Wire... A decent look into American organized crime, nothing ground breaking. The Dark North, a good look into Canadas most criminal city Montreal. Kingpins, rise and fall of some of the bad people in crime history.