Top 5 Podcasts To Make You Laugh Alone In Public All 2019
As I settle into the Golden Age of podcasts and embark on a time called 2019 where every true crime reporter and influencer-slash-founder is vying to be the voice in my AirPods, I’ve noticed a steady uptrend creeping into my podcast library: I’m strictly listening to comedians and entrepreneurs. If I’m to glean anything from this infiltration, it’s that there’s only so much airtime in a day, and if I’m not listening to music, I have to be laughing or learning. Or preferably both, at the same time. Top Charters like Joe Rogan and This American Life are valid and all, but the true test of a time-worthy podcast these days is if it makes me laugh out loud to myself in front of strangers.
In honor of this admission, here’s Beyond The Interview’s top five podcasts that masterfully blend humor with intellect, interviews with monologues, and guidance with honesty.
Guys We F@#ked
After Serial ended and effectively timestamped the birth of podcast binging, I went on the top comedy charts searching for something to listen to on a walk. And there I saw it: Guys We F@#cked, the anti-slut shaming podcast. This was back when comedians Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson were still interviewing guys they had, well, f@#cked, but once they evolved into interviews with sex-positive vanguards like Amber Rose and Stoya (Krystyna’s boyfriend’s porn star ex-girlfriend), the GWF duo aurally supplanted themselves at the forefront of feminist storytelling. The best part of these episodes is when they interview famous comedians and exercise free rein to ask them about anything, from their their first sexual experiences to their current sex lives.
Episodes To Start With: YOU LIKE MAKING WOMEN CUM? w/ JUDY GOLD, YOU'D RATHER HAVE NO ERECTION THAN A NEVER-ENDING ERECTION?, CAN I SMOKE BLUNTS WITH MY PUSSY? w/CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD
Short Story Long
Chris “Drama” Pfaff has come a long way since his Fantasy Factory days with his cousin Rob Dyrdek. Successfully pivoting his supporting role on Rob & Big into the clothing line Young & Reckless, Drama invites his 1.3 million followers to journey with him through the growing pains of starting your own business. Through Short Story Long, he conducts a masterclass in entrepreneurship, bringing in his founder friends and the occasional OG to talk shop on launching a business, raising money, and exit strategies. Along the way we hear origin stories and hustle-heavy anecdotes from your favorite entrepreneurs, rappers, and athletes. It’s a casual-type of interview, brought to life with Drama’s wide-eyed curiosity and signature Ohio-brand of humility.
Episodes To Start With: Matty Matheson: It’s Suppertime!, Pia Arrobio: LPA The Label, The Art of Autheticity: Eddie Huang
Seek Treatment
Released little over six months ago, Seek Treatment has already won the attention of podcast superlatives across the internet. “Criminally under-famous” comedians Catherine Cohen and Pat Regan—self-diagnosed “shy slutty psychos”—swap stories with fellow comics about sex, dating, and New York. The up-and-comers play up the ribaldry and theatrics past the point of irony, and every episode feels like sitting in the dorm room of two of the funniest people in your college (ostensibly a gay guy and thespian girl duo). It’s irreverent; it’s sardonic; it’s alt comedy at it’s campiest. And if it’s not your brand of comedy, then as the two would say: “seek treatment.”
Episodes To Start With: “Psychosexual Games” (w/Naomi Ekperigin), SEEK CULTURE PT. 1 (w/ Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang), “Gym For Your Personality” (w/ Patti Harrison)
Glowing Up
Caroline Goldfarb (@officialseanpenn and Late Late Show writer) and Esther Povitsky (Freeform’s Alone Together writer-creator) take us on their journey up and down the 10 freeway in search of the ultimate health and wellness panaceas currently flooding your feeds. Their legions of fans and “glowmies”—found congregating in secret Facebook groups and on national Sephora tours—are proof of the podcast’s finger on the pulse on the every-expanding self-care industry. Operating under the premise of uncovering their "inner glowy goddess," Caroline and Esther dissect Sephora VIB sales, taste-test ashwagandha oat milk lattes, and unearth the coveted beauty regimes of your Instagram girl crushes for your listening pleasure. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and—dare I say it—you’ll love.
Episodes To Start With: JOHN F*CKING EARLY (with John Early), What Jennifer Garner Eats (with Kelly Leveque), Unapologetically hot! (with Mitra Jouhari)
Raising The Bar
The brother-and-sister team behind Drybar and the soon-to-be-opened massage concept Squeeze have bottled their secret sauce in the form of a digestible podcast featuring some of the biggest names in start ups today. Alli Webb and Michael Landau field user-submitted questions about raising money and scaling a business and apply it to their guests du jour, talking to rising entrepreneurs like an all-female mechanic shop and a popular Nashville hot chicken joint in Chinatown. Plus, their sibling repartee keeps things from getting too “How I Built This” and way more amusing. Listening to RTB is like if you asked Alli and Michael out to coffee to pick their brain, every single week.
Episodes To Start With: Sarah Michelle Geller: From Vampires to Empires, Do One Thing Well, Apron Queen