This year's Listmania continues with a countdown of the best podcasts of 2017. It was a year of incredible highs and lows, and the fledgling medium was there to capture and comment on it all. With more shows coming out almost daily, it is impossible to boil it down to only a handful of shows that mattered. So while this is a "Top 20," certain entries were broken down into categories and themes. There's close to 40 between this two day extravaganza, so heat up that subscription button and prepare to have hours and hours of great (and mostly free) entertainment.
10. Top Shelf: Disney Animation Studio Library
In the realm of family entertainment, few studios have defined it quite like Walt Disney Studios. With a filmography that’s just short of a century, the hosts take a look at the 50+ films that have come to define the studio. In each episode, they manage to reflect on the highs and lows of each era of film while discussing the evolution of the medium and their general thoughts on what makes a great Disney movie. It’s an entertaining show, and one that has managed to treat all films equal in discussion whether they be from the Renaissance Period of the 90’s, or the dreaded package films during World War II. Each episode is a delightful look into one of the most recognizable studio’s history, and it’s far more interesting than any frame of celluloid would suggest.
9. The Awards Prognosticators:
Little Gold Men, The Film Experience
Every year, awards season produces a series of narratives that are fun to discuss. In the case of 2017, it has brought about several regarding the film industry. There’s Moonlight winning Best Picture at the Oscars, a new Academy president getting elected, and a new body of voters changing the predictable route of the year ahead. In an average year, this would be enough to warrant high placement of the best Oscar-centric podcasts out there. But this year has been full of rich controversies elsewhere, with this not only being the most unpredictable Oscar season in years, but the outcry over sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood has raised a wider debate on ethics. These shows reflect the best in entertainment coverage, which had to go beyond the typical campaign stories to understand why movies matter and how to keep that from being a problematic issue. There’s also plenty of great interviews and topics to be discussed, so don’t think this is just heady stuff. It can be fun, too.
8. ‘80s All Over
There are few podcasts with as ambitious of a goal as this one. The plan is to chronicle every film released between January 1980 and December 1989. The proposed four year plan has been trucking along for two years now, and it has produced a lot of incredible work. With audio clips and personal anecdotes, every segment is brought to life with a vivid recollection of what it was like to enjoy movies in the 80’s. It is more than a collection of titles. It’s a look at films no matter how popular or obscure and determine how they shaped the decade. Everything wasn’t neon and big hair. Some of it was way tackier. Just be glad that the hosts are passionate enough to sparse through everything to find out why this decade matters so much.
7. International Waters
The year 2017 has been a bit of a dreary one. That’s why it’s often best to remember it in a fun way, such as this game show that pits British and American comedians against each other. The show has a garden variety of topics, made more entertaining by endless riffing and segments that are inventive by design. It may not necessarily distract you from how awful the world can be, but it’s a great way to blow off steam and just enjoy oneself for roughly 45 minutes. It remains the perennial podcast game show, which captures the weird culture differences between the two countries, which serves as its own lesson in understanding one another. After all, isn’t that what the world needs more than anything right now?
6. The Dana Gould Hour
While the show has released a handful of episodes per year, 2017 was one of the first in which host Dana Gould delivered regularly. As a result, his massive output produced some of the most regularly entertaining interviews and segments. With an endless love of niche classic Hollywood entertainment, he found ways to explore his interests with his guests while discussing relevant social themes. 2017 was a great year for Gould, as he released the highly enjoyable “Mr. Funny Man” album and starred in the second season of Stan Against Evil. If this is what his regular output will look like going forward, then odds are that he’ll always be highly anticipated, and hopefully still highly entertaining.
5. TV Avalanche
After a brief hiatus, Alan Sepinwall returned to podcasts with co-host Brian Grubb for a TV podcast. For fans of Firewall & Iceberg, this is a welcomed sign, as his tastes in television is renowned and will keep you from watching a few duds. His premiere year featured lots of praise for shows like The Leftovers and Halt and Catch Fire, as well as Grubb defending silly shows like The Young Pope and Zoo. The show remains as entertaining as Sepinwall’s last endeavor, and it remains essential to those who need a guide in what to watch on TV during any given week. He’s got an iron will of an opinion, and it’s glad to have him back to deliver it in great, elaborate detail.
4. WTF with Marc Maron
Considering how many episodes he has released, it’s a miracle that Marc Maron still manages to find great guests. The man is now a podcasting legend who has interviewed everyone from comedy legends to rock star icons to his G.L.O.W. co-stars. It helps that his interests are ever-expanding, and thus means he is game for any topic. Even as the show closes in on 800 episodes, he proves that there’s still plenty of life to explore, whether with his guests or through his own personal growth. He’s far from the neurotic mess he was years ago, but he still has plenty of insecurities to define him. It’ll be strange to see how far his net goes in 2018 at rounding up guests, but hopefully it will remain just as exciting as it has been for several years now.
3. The Wondery Shows:
Inside Psycho, Inside The Exorcist
In the past year, Wondery came out of nowhere to define the future of podcasts. In the case of both Inside Psycho and Inside The Exorcist, they reinvented the history show by adding narration, reenactments, and unnerving sound effects. The production on any given week puts the listener into the head of its subject, making them envision the significance behind a movie’s history. By the end, the story of the movies in question aren’t just understood, they are felt in ways that will be tough to shake. One can only hope that 2018 sees more horror movies get creepy treatments that thrusts the listener into one of the scariest lessons in movie podcasts.
2. Fighting in the War Room
Good luck finding a better array of voices to discuss modern pop culture. With a team that features writers at Vanity Fair, Indiewire, and Thrillist, each episode manages to dissect current events in movies and TV with entertaining finesse. Despite having a disagreeable title and an often antagonistic approach to their segments, the four hosts have a friendly demeanor that shines through. They begin to feel like a family with great tastes and access to the best new entertainment. They also play dub step remixes of Spongebob Squarepants, but that comes with the territory. If you want them to say hello to you, just give them an iTunes review and listen. They have been known to read anything, and that’s not an insult.
1. You Must Remember This
Karina Longworth may release less episodes annually than she used to, but it only helps to raise interest for the ones she does. Her dissection of Hollywood’s first century has become one of the most engaging and important shows in modern podcast listening, especially for those who pride themselves on loving movies. Her latest series dealt with the fascinating lives of Universal Horror legends Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, both of whom lived similar lives. She has created the perfect podcast lecture series, and it’s tough to find someone who puts as much effort into making the show crackle with immediacy and life. Her show remains vital in part because cinema owes a lot to its past. It’s important to understand where everything came from.
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