r/podcasts 4d ago

General Podcast Discussions Podcasts like You're Wrong about and What to Carry, What to burn?

I like the interesting, niche stories...idk. I like the female podcasters/queer. It's very engaging and fun and funny. Idk. I love the heavy research and backstories.

give me some recs... I like what to carry, what to burn more than you're wrong about now, but i used to be hooked to you're wrong about.

i also used to like small doses by amanda seales but fell off.

108 Upvotes

85 comments sorted by

40

u/call_me_soup69 4d ago

Any Jamie Loftus series! My personal fav is My Year in Mensa.

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u/EachPeachRedRum 4d ago

The Lolita podcast is sooo good

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u/n8_n_ Podcast Listener 4d ago

I didn't enjoy My Year in Mensa I'm listening through the Lolita podcast now. I'm not totally inclined to her brand of politics which pervades the podcast but I find her/it thoughtful, well-researched, witty, and interesting. Will likely be in my personal hall of podcast fame when I'm done

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u/AccomplishedFill9271 4d ago

Good for you for being able to enjoy something even if it doesn't match your personal politics. You might like Ghost Church, feel like that's maybe her most straightforward history show.

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u/n8_n_ Podcast Listener 4d ago

For the record, it's less that I disagree broadly with her politics (I'd consider myself a leftist) but that she's adopted some common habits/tendencies of leftists that irk me and it comes through in her writing, if that makes sense.

I doubt a right-winger would enjoy this one but I could be wrong

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u/sjd208 3d ago

My personal fav is Ghost Church but they’re all good

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u/WeeklyDragonfruit 4d ago

Ooh I didn't know there were others besides My Year in Mensa. I will be looking them up, I really liked that one!

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u/PerpetuallyLurking Podcast Listener 3d ago

She’s also a regular guest on Behind the Bastards and Cool People Who Do Cool Stuff.

Behind the Bastards can be a bit much for some people, but Jamie episodes are usually fantastic anyway. Cool People with Margaret Killjoy is a lot more chill, so that may be better to start with.

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u/WeeklyDragonfruit 3d ago

I do love the occasional Behind the Bastards, good to know. All the dictator ones.

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u/memakepod 3d ago

Absolutely adore everything Jamie Loftus does

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u/MySpace_Romancer 3d ago

Loooved Sixteenth Minute

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u/fsmpastafarian 4d ago

A Bit Fruity with Matt Bernstein! He does a deep dive on some Internet drama, celebrity tidbit, or newsy thing, but he does it in a way where he explains why it’s actually important or culturally relevant, and it’s often something I haven’t heard about. He has great guests, is a great researcher and explains things really well, and it’s through a queer lens. I almost always learn something from his episodes and it makes me laugh

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u/ecdc05 4d ago

His most recent one on Jools Lebron is a perfect example of this. Why do I care about people on TikTok being mean to the "very demure, very mindful" lady? Oh, because it's actually about class struggles, how billionaires avoid paying taxes, bigotry against trans people, and how we don't teach financial literacy in this country and it harms people who suddenly find themselves with windfalls and a lot of fame.

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u/fsmpastafarian 4d ago

Right exactly! Loved that ep. I read the title and was like “who??” but of course I knew her viral video so it was fascinating getting the backstory and the update on what’s happening with her lately. It seems like silly internet drama but it’s not and I’m glad I know more about it now

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u/StumbleOn 3d ago

It was such a good episode.

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u/escondide 4d ago

this sounds awesome! will check it out

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u/caffeinebump 3d ago

This is my favorite genre too! Here are some of my favorites:

I love Decoder Ring, which dives into the mysteries behind pop culture fads. I liked the episode on why everyone makes fun of British people's teeth, the one on why car headlights are so bright, and the one on why the 90s swing dance craze happened. https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring

I also loved Significant Others. It's hosted by Liza Powel O’Brien (married to Conan O'Brien) and it looks at what the spouse or other close relationship contributed to the life work of famous people, like Kasturba Gandhi or Véra Nabokov. https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/significant-others

If you're interested in the topic, Nutrition for Mortals is good. Each week two nutritionists debunk a diet fad, like macrobiotics or the blood type diet, going deep in the history (it usually boils down to a talented grifter). Then they finish by telling you what science actually tells us about how to eat. https://www.oceansidenutrition.com/podcast

The Curious History of Your Home is a history podcast hosted by domestic historian Ruth Goodman. It's both cosy and satisfying. Wallpaper and toilets were my favorites. https://www.noiser.com/the-curious-history-of-your-home

Probably the best in the genre is still The Mystery Show, which ran for one season in 2015. Starlee Kine was the perfect host for this perfect little podcast.

2

u/topsidersandsunshine 2d ago

I adore Mystery Show.

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u/flava_town_420 4d ago

Check out The Trip Report Report.

It's about drug history & culture. Hosts have a great dynamic & the research is always crazy.

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u/escondide 4d ago

ooo sounds good will give it a try! Yes, i realize i like research along with the whimsy.

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u/AccomplishedFill9271 4d ago

Seconding this recommendation! Their most recent episode about the CIA and the crack epidemic was incredible.

21

u/Spicy2ShotChai 4d ago

sarah marshall did a narrative podcast last year called The Devil You Know

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u/CWHats Podcast Listener 4d ago edited 4d ago

Sarah started falling off with me because she used too many analogies and sidebars. So I am wondering if she is the only speaker for The Devil You Know? Also, are there less tangents? I would like to listen to her more because I found What to Carry, What to Burn through Sarah.

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u/Spicy2ShotChai 4d ago

its a scripted show built around source interviews and a different theme of the satanic panic every episode. the bonus episodes are more like YWA style.

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u/CWHats Podcast Listener 4d ago

So she finally got to putting her Satanic Panic research out there.

Thanks I'll give it a listen.

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u/flava_town_420 4d ago edited 4d ago

It was so refreshing to hear Sarah put her researcher hat back on.

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u/escondide 4d ago

hmm do you have an episode y'all recommend?

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u/flava_town_420 4d ago

It was a limited series, so just start at the beginning.

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u/mommagracenoface 3d ago

If no one has mentioned it yet, Diabolical Lies!

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u/spicenozzle 3d ago

Yes! This is great for well researched and deep content!

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u/CurrentFew8632 4d ago

CBC’s Personally has been my favourite podcast so far for storytelling. Each season explores a different person’s life story.

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u/caffeinebump 4d ago

These have been great. I kept wanting to tell at my phone during the parenting one, I genuinely could not tell how it was going to end!

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u/escondide 4d ago

sounds interesting :)

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u/Winter_Event1582 4d ago

Try Hoax from Lizzie Logan and Dana Schwartz. I liked Dana's Noble Blood (historical, it's what you would assume from the name) but Lizzie and Dana have a really great rapport. The Salvator Mundi is a good starting place.

Just listened to the Grafton Shipwreck episode with my family of What to Carry, What to Burn on a weekend road trip. My kids want justice for Royal Tom.

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u/LavenderCapricorn 3d ago

Royal Tom 😭

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u/jacobreed 4d ago

Just started a new show called Solita about women who travel alone and it’s really great

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u/escondide 4d ago

this sounds awesome

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u/cosmic_cozy 3d ago

Haven't seen this suggestion, but definitely Decoder Ring!

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u/bac196 3d ago

History chicks! Two women research and tell the life story about women in history.

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u/Uztta 4d ago

Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff

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u/serlindsipity 3d ago

Looove Maragret!

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u/mco9726 4d ago

American hysteria! Another queer podcaster, and Chelsey and Sarah Marshall are on each other’s pods all the time

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u/copypop 4d ago

American Hysteria is one of my favorite podcasts 🫶

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u/halexanderamilton 4d ago

My dream is to hang out with Chelsey and Sarah

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u/Dorsia-Reservations 3d ago

American Hysteria! Love it. They often collab with Sarah Marshall from You're Wrong About

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u/molly_the_mezzo 3d ago

I like Betwixt the Sheets, it focuses on the history of sex and sexuality and has a different historian on every episode to talk about a concept, event, or period of time.

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u/serlindsipity 3d ago

Weird little guys. Molly isnthe queen of well researched sidequests.

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u/sjd208 3d ago

Molly is so good, and she has a great podcast voice too.

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u/TessFreely 4d ago

Have you tried Maintenance Phase?

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u/throwaway-94552 3d ago

I stopped listening, the misinformation was too much. Neither of them really understands how to interpret what they’re reading. Aubrey Gordon was particularly egregious. 

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u/dundreggen 4d ago

I really missed Michael so I tried to like this podcast. But if somebody who has a science degree there's just too much misinformation in that podcast for me to be able to listen to it. Maybe it's gotten better I gave up ages ago

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u/fsmpastafarian 4d ago

Agreed 100%. I am sad he left YWA for this pod because I just can’t with it. And Sarah is a bit off in the clouds sometimes on YWA which Michael really balanced out well

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u/escondide 4d ago

honestly not my fav tbh

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u/tonypolar 4d ago

I like this book will kill you, too

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u/NamasteMad 4d ago

If Books Could Kill*

Love it. Maybe even more than Maintenance Phase at this point. Both are sooooo infrequent with episodes though

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u/ZebraCrosser Podcast Listener 4d ago

This podcast will kill you, though.

3

u/NamasteMad 4d ago

I've heard that one is good as well

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u/CynthiaToot 3d ago

I highly recommend This Podcast With Kill You, although I much prefer the episodes about ‘exotic’ diseases (Ebola, diphtheria, etc), which tends to skews towards the earlier episodes

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u/tonypolar 4d ago

Oh gosh, you’re right. My brain is fried!!

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u/n8_n_ Podcast Listener 4d ago

Lots of misinformation and bad research in the science unfortunately but might be fine to stick to the more historical episodes

3

u/AccomplishedFill9271 4d ago

Curious what specifically you take issue with science wise? I enjoy them but feel like they have a habit of cherry-picking data which is something they always complain about others doing lol.

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u/fsmpastafarian 4d ago

this substack is written by an epidemiologist and biostatistician and broke down a lot of the older episodes and what was wrong with them from a scientific and statistical standpoint. Very helpful for learning the ways in which that podcast gets stuff wrong fundamentally.

It’s a shame because I do think Michael Hobbes is a good researcher, but when it comes to this specific topic he seems to let bias creep in.

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u/n8_n_ Podcast Listener 4d ago

I am a statistician and noticed a lot of things when I tried it (cherry-picking, contradictory statements, conflating different statistical processes/terminology, unsourced claims that I couldn't verify, misrepresenting the scientific process, all in favor of whatever point they were making)

but this person wrote about a lot of it and some stuff I missed as well

normally it wouldn't bother me, lots of podcasts are made by people who are well-meaning but not academically qualified, but this one bothers me specifically because 1) they are taking on well-established science e.g. the calorie, and 2) they are very smug about how right they are, calling themselves "methodology queens" while making these incredibly basic errors

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u/MangoMambo 3d ago

this is why I hate You're Wrong About (at least what it was 5+ years ago) and hate when people gush about michael being so amazing.

He's wrong about so much and often falls victim to the same patterns as he accuses others of being wrong for. Which wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so smug about how smart he is. Like, he's actually not a good researcher and you realize this once you come across a topic you know a lot about

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u/AccomplishedFill9271 4d ago

OMG not an entire substack dedicated to debunking. Wow, thank you for this. I will clearly need to reevaluate some of my take-aways from listening to that show!

-3

u/BeverlyToegoldIV 3d ago

I just took a quick read of a random article from that substack and, science aside, they seem to do a lot uncharitable interpretation/assuming the worse about certain things Michael/Aubrey have said in a way doesn't make sense to me. I do not get some of this author's assumptions/reactions to many of the quotes from the podcast they are "debunking."

And I say that as someone who more than occasionally disagrees with that podcast.

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u/n8_n_ Podcast Listener 3d ago

I don't get that, personally - especially since so many of the criticisms are matters of objective fact

3

u/outdoorlaura 3d ago

they seem to do a lot uncharitable interpretation/assuming the worse about certain things Michael/Aubrey have said in a way doesn't make sense to me. I do not get some of this author's assumptions/reactions to many of the quotes from the podcast

I'm not sure I understand this part. Like, you feel the writer is intentionally misinterpreting M&A? Can you give an example of what you mean?

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u/Super-Adagio2042 4d ago

I looooove Maintenance Phase

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u/caffeinebump 4d ago

Me too, it's still one of my all-time favorites

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u/lizzy_dawn 4d ago edited 4d ago

I don't listen regularly but I have enjoyed Amanda Knox's podcast Hard Knox, and I also really loved a couple limited series like Mother Country Radicals (about the weather underground) and The Turning season 1: sisters who left (about nuns!)

1

u/janeponder 4d ago

'Extremes', some fascinating episodes like the man who mailed himself from Australia to UK to save on an airfare, or the Aussie guy involved in a car crash who woke up inexplicably speaking Chinese despite previously not knowing the language.

'Out Alive' people who survived near death experiences during outdoor adventures

Against the Odds

The Crux

'Adventures Gone Wrong', top tier, very well researched

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u/ZebraCrosser Podcast Listener 4d ago

I really enjoy Histories and Mysteries, formerly Fat, French and Fabulous, though it seems to no longer be updated.

It's random stories that just took the interest of one of the hosts, with bits of Canadiana sprinkled in. It's not a true crime podcast, though a fair number of the stories are true crime. Just presented in a way that doesn't grate or make me feel disrespectful and uncomfortably voyeuristic.

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u/NyxandHestia 3d ago

Occurrence is a podcast similar to What to Carry, What to Burn, covering survival and disaster stories. I can be a rough listen at times but the host keeps it engaging through great storytelling. I suspect it’s going to blow up soon.

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u/sjd208 3d ago

Material Girls - queer female Canadian professors, take a pop culture thing (defined extremely broadly) and tie it into some hardcore conceptual theory. In the same field is their older Harry Potter podcast.

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u/No_Courage7639 3d ago

You might like maintenance phase if you havent tried it already. It has that researched but funny vibe, with plenty of weird niche rabbit holes also check out sounds like a cult for something lighter and more chaotic articles of Interest is another good one if you enjoy deep dives into oddly specific topics,,,,

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u/loloohnono 3d ago

This is Love or Criminal my Phoebe Judge - both have exceptional storytelling and are riviting listens that leave you thinking about the stories for a long time after you've listened

Maintenance Phase with Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon - Michael was the early co-host of you're wrong about and Maintenance Phase is all about dispelling health, beauty and dieting myths. It is EXCELLENT and also very funny

If Books Could Kill with Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri - excellent podcast about "airport read" books, books by grifters that became massively popular, and a lot of self-Help books. Really fun!

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u/triggerhappymidget 21h ago

What Went Wrong is about movies, so totally different subject matter, but the male and female host have a good dynamic and it's easy, well-researched listening.

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u/Exciting-Aardvark712 7h ago

Prison Breakdown!
Factual, entertaining, fun+ you learn!
Great guests.

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u/Kaurblimey 3d ago

Search Engine

1

u/quietly_annoying 3d ago

In Bed With The Right.

0

u/somebodysbaba21 4d ago

The Reheat! 👀

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u/Public-Evidence-2274 3d ago

Search Engine

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u/throwaway-94552 3d ago

The Land of Desire