If you’re ending 2016 with a road trip, podcasts are the perfect way to look back at the year… while making time on the road fly by. Never listened to podcasts before? It’s time to start. Longtime listener? We’ve tried to find some you may not have heard yet. Here we go.
You Must Remember This
Karina Longworth’s sordid history of old Hollywood is the gold standard of podcasting: Meticulously researched, slightly campy and just sleazy enough to feel like the guilty pleasure you richly deserve while waiting in traffic. Start with the Hedy Lamarr episode, which explains how she created a technology you use every day. The podcast has taken a few weeks off, but is due back in 2017.
Reply All
If “This American Life” took more risks and focused exclusively on Internet mysteries, it might resemble “Reply All.” One great recent episode, “Boy in Photo,” examined the possibly tragic fate of a Hooters-shirted teen who became a meme.
Crimetown
This new series from the creators of HBO’s Robert Durst documentary series “The Jinx” looks at Providence, Rhode Island, a town where “organized crime corrupted every aspect of public life.” It comes from Gimlet Media, the people who brought you “Reply All.” You have a few weeks to catch up before new episodes resume in late January.
Snap Judgment
This podcast from public radio station WNYC combines music, personal stories from host Glyn Washington, and jaw-dropping reported stories like this one about rock climbers who salvaged marijuana bales that fall from the sky. A new special looking back at 2016 just arrived.
The Hound Tall Discussion Series
Comedian Moshe Kasher is getting a Comedy Central series in 2017, so catch up on his podcast now to seem ahead of the curve. In his Hound Tall (it’s supposed to sound like “Town Hall”) discussion series, he invites one expert to discuss a serious, fascinating subject — and two or three comedians to interrupt. You’ll delve into subjects ranging from racism to Scientology to black holes without learning anything. But you’ll laugh.
Still Processing
When you want to hear some sanity, tell your passengers to quiet down and listen to the New York Times’ Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham talk about everything from politics to TV’s representation of penises.
Whistlestop
“Face the Nation” host John Dickerson’s side project about the history of presidential races proves again and again that no matter how crazy politics seem now, they were pretty crazy before, too. For example: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton had issues with fake news long before Twitter and Facebook.
When you get to your destination, you may enjoy our list of 11 Netflix Shows to Binge-Watch Alone This Holiday Season.