The HotSpot has been a staple in the gaming podcast world for going on 4 years now. As the years have passed, so have the regular hosts, but the thing that hasn’t changed is their commitment to delivering the news of the gaming world with some commentary and a lot of personality.
We initially started Podcasters’ Favorite Podcasts to see what other podcasts in their field podcasters enjoyed the most, but if this feature has proven anything, it is that people have all kinds of tastes. We have Brendan Sinclair, host of GameSpot’s The HotSpot sharing his picks this week.
Brendan Sinclair [GameSpot | @brensin]
1. On the Media (http://www.onthemedia.org/)
This weekly NPR podcast is part of my Monday morning routine. It lasts just about as long as my commute to work, and the examination of a wide range of issues related to the news of the world and how it’s produced and consumed helps get me in a good mindset for the week ahead. It’s alternatively depressing, insightful, and humorous, but always well thought out, and perhaps best of all, civil.
2. This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/)
I’m sure a lot of people point to this one, and there’s good reason for it. Ira Glass and his staff do a phenomenal job of producing something absolutely riveting radio about subjects that you might assume are inherently uninteresting. The variety of subjects involved means some shows are brilliant and others less so, but on average this is as good as anything out there.
3. G-Pinions (no longer available)
I actually don’t listen to that many podcasts, so I’ll use this spot to give a shout out to the first one I ever listened to regularly. It was just a two-nerds-talking-about-games show put together by current GameSpot reviewer Tom Mc Shea and Sony’s Nick Suttner (former 1up reviewer and 1upFM co-host) before either of them really had a foot in the door. It’s a shame it’s not around anymore, but at least they’re gainfully employed now.
As always, feel free to share your thoughts or picks in the comments.
