After doing our official CastMedium group picks a couple weeks ago, we each wanted to give our personal pick for best podcast of the year. So, here they are:
Jonathan Downin – The Totally Rad Show
While The Totally Rad Show is not the funniest, most thought-provoking or informative podcast around, it is the one that I find myself looking forward to most each week. Alex, Jeff and Dan are able to infuse the show with genuine fun, personality and heart. More than any other podcast, I treat TRS like a favorite TV show or movie that I follow; I like to settle in with a drink, maybe a snack and just enjoy it.
Like any show that relies heavily on investment in personalities, TRS can require that you give it time to get its hooks in you, but it is well worth it. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the consistency of TRS. Week-in and week-out, the guys deliver an episode without fail, and other podcasts could take a cue from them about how to make their audience feel appreciated.
Jon Cole – Idle Thumbs
The Idle Thumbs podcast is my personal pick of 2009. Chris Remo, Nick Breckon, and Jake ‘Video Games’ Rodkin used to come together every week and deliver equal parts of hard-hitting commentary and nearly tasteless humor. These guys have championed some of my favorite games of the past couple years, including Far Cry 2, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, and Torchlight. With more hilarious inside jokes than a private secondary school, Idle Thumbs’s backlog is absolutely worth checking out, though I can’t help you if you’re hurting for more after listening to the Jeff Goldgame-laden final episode.
Derek Lavigne – Retronauts/Active Time Babble
Although I now write for a site dedicated to covering as many podcasts as possible, there was once a time where I listened to none. That all changed when I discovered a little show called Retronauts which was dedicated to the games I grew up playing. Knowing there were other people out there who shared the same feeling of nostalgia and enthusiasm for retro games immediately made my a regular listener. Shortly thereafter, I realized just how little I knew about video games.The amount of obscure, retro game knowledge that Jeremy Parish and a rotating assortment of guests had was absolutely baffling to me, and drove me to research my hobby that much more as well as spurring an immediate interest to import games.
Because Retronauts tackles a fairly random topic or set of topics each episode, I often find myself going back through old shows to listen to ones I may have missed or simply want to listen to again. Also, with the addition of Active Time Babble in alternating weeks with Retronauts, there is no longer as much need to worry when the next episode will come out. While naming two podcasts for this award may seems a little questionable, I consider ATB to be a subsidiary podcast of Retronauts as it features many of the same people and shares the mostly evergreen topical nature.
Erik – Smodcast
You don’t have to like Kevin Smith as a director to enjoy the Smodcast, but you have to appreciate him as a storyteller, and as someone that wears his heart on his sleeve. The Smodcast has been around since 2007, and Smith and his long-time producer Scott Mosier have covered incredibly personal ground; but in 2009, the show became a hilarious, and bizarely touching, character study of Smith’s dealing with the failure of his last movie, discovering inspiration through Wayne Gretzky, and learning how to direct someone else’s work for the first time. Oh, and Mosier got a vasectomy.
No matter the subject, every episode was a hilarious hour or so with two incredibly intelligent and creative friends that should make you laugh out loud repeatedly…or offend you horribly. Probably both.
Ross Adams – Player One Podcast
While I certainly agree with the Giant Bombcast being awarded Podcast of ’09 I do also have a personal favourite that I would’ve liked to see in that spot. The Player One Podcast has been a must listen for me ever since an online friend introduced me to it. Sure it may not have the high production values that some podcasts these days have, with their expensive microphones and assorted gadgets, but it makes up for that with a ton of personality.
Like any great podcast, heck like any great entertainment show, the rapor the hosts have is what really makes the show shine. Chris Johnston, Phil Theobald and Greg Sewart have been doing the show for a number of years now and as such they all play off each other brilliantly. I’ll admit while I do find their game discussion interesting I’m often more interested in their tangential discussions and playful skits.
I can’t recall the last time I listened to an episode of Player One and didn’t literally laugh out loud at least once. Personally, this is what marks a good podcast in my eyes, one that goes beyond its subject matter and is just plain entertaining.
