You need only open up a podcast app to see that there seems to be a different feed for every possible topic. Whether you want to improve your understanding of personal finance, learn about history, keep up on current events, or simply have a laugh, there’s a podcast to listen to – and in many cases, a dozen. This is a medium for information and creative content that has simply exploded in the last few years, and it can feel saturated already.
But like many dedicated podcast enthusiasts, I for one still run out of stuff to listen to every now and then. So I spent some time brainstorming and looking around at other people’s ideas to come up with a list of podcasts the world could still use.
1. A Fictional Audio Biopic Series
Look up the best biographical podcasts and you’ll find some really great options – including one just called “Biography.” But there are two things that are true of podcasting that could relate to this category in an exciting way. One is that fiction has slowly but surely crept into podcasting. Another is that we love interesting characters in our podcasts (“S-Town,” anybody?) So why not combine all of these factors and do a series of bio-pods about completely fictional characters? It may sound bizarre, but done properly this could be incredibly engaging.
2. The World Wonders Podcast
Naturally there are a ton of travel-related podcast options. There are also about a million articles around the internet that tell us which world wonders are best to visit and why. But to my knowledge there is no travel pod focused exclusively on the world wonders. These landmarks and destinations – and I realize there isn’t a set list of them, but at this point about 100 things, give or take, could be called “wonders” – would make for a pretty interesting listen. We could actually hear someone talk about what it’s like to see them in person, provide any tip for visiting them, etc., in a way that would be more believable and engaging than your average travel article.
3. A Casino Gaming Podcast
There are countless gaming podcast options, as you’d probably expect even if you don’t engage with them personally. For that matter there are even some that delve specifically into mobile gaming. But there isn’t, to my knowledge, a very good podcast devoted to mobile and online casino gaming, which is odd when you consider how many millions of people play these games. There actually tends to be up-to-date news about games and offerings from casino platforms, which means there’s typically a lot to talk about. A podcast on this topic would have appeal to a very certain audience – but one that happens to be huge.
4. Today’s News Instant Reax
Here again I’m trying to find a bit of buried gold in an extremely crowded category. News podcasts are enormous, because not only to people want the news, they want hand-picked pundits and analysts giving it to them – which is exactly what a podcast can deliver. But in a way, pod-based news takes away some of the old-school authenticity of simply pulling up a website or opening a paper to see what’s going on. Instead, we get a curated, edited take on the news. So one interesting idea would be a podcast whose narrator records material at night reacting to the day’s news for the first time. Raw, honest reactions could be amusing, informative, and genuine in a way most news podcasts can’t quite manage all together.
5. Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity is one of the most randomly creative companies around today, and true to form it already has a podcast – one devoted to showing us that not all news is bad. But it would also be fun to hear a podcast about the actual game that made this company a household name. Analysis of Cards Against Humanity in real time is hilarious, and at the very core of the game. The podcast could either be a recording of people playing, or a run through of some amazing rounds, and why a winning phrase was chosen over others. It seems the humor of the game would translate fairly well to simply being recounted in audio form.