Normally, in this space we talk about movies and television program linked by some sort of unifying theme. This month, we’re going to talk about programs that talk about programs: specifically, podcasts dedicated to media & entertainment.
Podcasts[1] are essentially talk radio programs delivered over the Internet rather than the airwaves. What differentiates them from a simple collection of audio files is the ability to subscribe to a podcast series so that new programs are delivered automatically to your selected listening device.[2] The original motivation for podcasts was to deliver pre-recorded radio programs to an iPod for listening on demand.[3] The first test programs were individual songs, delivered as a sort of on-demand Internet music sharing service. The first “talk radio” podcast series was Chris Lydon’s Open Source, launched on July 8, 2003.
Podcasts are an important element in the larger trend of content democratization that has marked the 21st century, defined by A Dictionary of Media & Communication as:
The production, editing, personalization, and distribution of digital media content by ordinary users, rather than by the traditional content providers in the established media industries. This is facilitated by the increasing availability and decreasing costs of new media tools.
Now, pretty much anyone with a computer and a sufficient fixation on a specific topic can launch a podcast.[4] With more people able to produce and distribute their own content has come an explosion in the volume of available material. There are now over 3 million podcasts with more than 70 million episodes available in over 100 languages that generate nearly $4 billion dollars in annual ad revenue.[5] Podcasts can also take a more scholarly bent, and are increasingly used to communicate information of academic interest to a distributed audience, finally realizing radio’s early educational goals.[6] In fact, the first podcast registered in EIDR was Classroom Caffeine, featuring discussions with education researchers and practitioners.
Of course, anytime people get together and start talking, they will eventually start talking about movies – the good, the bad, and the obscure. Podcasts are no exception. The longest-running media podcast[7] is Film Junk, which launched in January 2005 when friends Sean, Jay, and Frank got together to discuss the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
With so many podcasts to choose from, we thought we’d help narrow things down a bit by aggregating recommendations from a variety of sources.[8] We narrowed the choices further by selecting those podcasts that appear on more than one list of the best media-focused podcasts available. This reduced the 3 million possible choices down to a tight list of 11.[9]
Normally, when one of our lists includes a series, we provide the EIDR series ID and leave it at that. This time, with the help of our friends at The Title Registrar, we’ve made sure that we also have EIDR IDs for all of the episodes of each of our recommended series,[10] so you can review the scope and topics covered by each of the recommended podcast series.
[1] A portmanteau of iPod (a personal media player introduced by Apple in 2001) and broadcast, coined in February 2004 by British journalist Ben Hammersley.
[2] Enabled by the RSS (variously “RDF Site Summary” or “Really Simple Syndication”) Web-based media feed operated by the podcast supplier to which the listener subscribes via the RSS aggregator function of a podcast player app.
[3] The concept was developed by Adam Curry (an ex-MTV VJ at the time) and Dave Winer (the developer of RSS) in January 2001. See https://podnews.net/article/the-last-yard-adam-curry.
[4] Content may be king, but production values still matter, so the most successful podcasts do spent time, attention, and a certain amount of money to help ensure the highest possible audio quality.
[5] See https://nealschaffer.com/podcast-statistics/.
[6] In the 1920s, radio broadcasters developed “schools of the air” as the first attempts at distance learning,
[7] According to Guinness World Records.
[8] A.frame (from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), Descript, Discover Pods, Likewise, and Screen Rant (with a list by Ranker).
[9] The Rewatchables and How Did This Get Made? deserve special mention as they are the only podcasts to appear on all five of our surveyed best-of lists.
[10] With the exception of Filmspotting, which only makes current episodes available to the general public. Access to back episodes requires a paid subscription.
The Podcasts
As they describe themselves.
The Rewatchables: 10.5240/C2C7-EFC2-BAF5-E313-3AD0-8
‘The Rewatchables,’ a film podcast from the Ringer Podcast Network, features The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and a roundtable of people from the Ringer universe discussing movies they can’t seem to stop watching.
How Did This Get Made?: 10.5240/FDF1-1E96-A98A-28BE-FE0B-8
Have you ever seen a movie so bad that it’s amazing? Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas want to hear about it! We’ll watch it with our funniest friends, and report back to you with the results.
Filmspotting: 10.5240/E3B3-CAED-48EC-BAA5-DE24-3
“…affable, insightful film analysis since 2005.”–NY Times / New + classic reviews and top 5s. Also on WBEZ Chicago.
Scriptnotes: 10.5240/7D60-72DB-41CD-34B0-A59F-Z
Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and work-for-hire law.
Black on Black Cinema: 10.5240/843B-489D-48DA-750C-5C3F-I
Black on Black Cinema is a weekly podcast where 4 Black people discuss the ins and outs of Black films. With a touch of humor and a drive for relevant discussion, Black on Black Cinema will entertain, as well as, inform. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T’ara.
You Must Remember This: 10.5240/FB4D-055B-48EF-DD8D-3779-T
You Must Remember This is a storytelling podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. It’s the brainchild and passion project of Karina Longworth (founder of Cinematical.com, former film critic for LA Weekly), who writes, narrates, records and edits each episode. It is a heavily-researched work of creative nonfiction: navigating through conflicting reports, mythology, and institutionalized spin, Karina tries to sort out what really happened behind the films, stars and scandals of the 20th century.
The Big Picture: 10.5240/F083-1718-D943-9D51-96DC-I
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins review the movies you need to see. Plus: Top 5s, Movie Drafts, Oscars analysis, and more, featuring a rotating cast of Ringer colleagues like Chris Ryan, Van Lathan, and Bill Simmons.
The Wandering DP: 10.5240/DD80-13CF-3BF0-D914-8332-N
The Wandering DP Podcast is the ultimate source for cinematography knowledge, news, and interviews. From one on one interviews with some of today’s top directors of photography to educational components on how you can capture better images, it is your home for information on the art of digital cinematography. Whether you are new to the camera department or are a professional DP, there is something to be learned and put in to action in each and every episode.
Unspooled: 10.5240/1029-4AC7-A252-9BF7-AB3C-M
Listen up, film fans! Actor & comedian Paul Scheer and film critic Amy Nicholson want your advice as they make the ultimate list of the greatest movies of all time. In Season 1, they watched every one of the AFI’s Top 100 films…and decided they could kick off half. Now, they’re filling in the gaps by investigating wildly diverse areas of film through miniseries on topics like horror movies, documentaries and romantic comedies, with help from listeners’ picks. Along the way, they’ll dissect iconic scenes, spotlight their favorite characters, and talk to some of the actors and directors who worked on these classics. And when Unspooled has built their own list of the best movies on earth, they’ll blast them into space to be immortalized for eternity. Seriously.
Lights, Camera, Barstool: 10.5240/9C51-7841-C6BC-928A-F7D9-H
A movie podcast for the common man by the Big Time Movie Boys @JeffDLowe, @KenJac and @Trillballins. We talk about movies, food and pop culture the same way you talk about movies and pop culture with your friends.
This Had Oscar Buzz: 10.5240/80F9-719B-6C06-C13F-A7A7-Z
Every week on This Had Oscar Buzz, film and entertainment writers Joe Reid and Chris Feil are going to be talking about a different movie that once upon a time had big-time Academy Award aspirations, and for one reason or another, it all went wrong.