Why not make a post with most of the to-me interesting podcasts, right? Go for it. Also, please comment and leave me tips for ones I've not listed.

Apologies for mixing up Swedish-spoken and English-spoken podcasts, but this entire list was scripted via Pocket Casts; you can find my list in another list format here.

Alex & Sigges podcast

When I first started listening to this podcast, it was interesting to hear Alex Schulman—Swedish tabloid diva and vilifier extraordinaire—break down and cry because of basic, human problems. He opened up, which was truly interesting and introspective in a great way. However, as he has progressed, he now—together with Sigge Eklund—this has somewhat sadly become a wealthy duo that is both strangely protected from how common people live and utterly obsessed with all things patriarchally americana, i.e. staying away from their wives while smoking cigars and spending exorbitant amounts of money for hotels, concert tickets to see Paul Simon up close, and to see the musical "Hamilton" as the apex of entertainment.

I can't say why I still listen to this podcast. It's ongoing, but somehow, I'm hoping for better days. I'm also still hoping that they discover Montaigne, which would undoubtedly make them wish for better days, and try and make them reality.

Alternative Radio This podcast blows my freaking mind.

From their own site: "Alternative Radio, established in 1986, is an award-winning weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all public radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and beyond. AR provides information, analyses and views that are frequently ignored or distorted in corporate media. Our program airs on over 260 radio stations. With headquarters based in Boulder, Colorado and with only two full-time and two part-time paid staff, AR airs on nearly 300 radio stations. Our project is sustained by donations and by your purchases of season subscriptions, recordings and transcripts."

It's true. There are so many great speakers, whose episodes they broadcast, that it's dumbfounding. For example, they've been on a Chris Hedges trip recently, which was really lovely. Also, show-host David Barsamian has been an ally to Noam Chomsky for decades, and has even co-written some of his books.

I found Crimetown thanks to my man Martin C. who told me to listen in. I can say I only dig season one, and it's worth to listen to.

"In the first episode of Crimetown, a young prosecutor named Buddy Cianci takes on a gruesome murder case."

It's a quite funny and insane ride along crime mobs, ultra-corrupt politicians, and how the law works in insane and sane ways. The interviews provide a lot of insight into how human nature sadly trumps (no pun intended) laws more often than one may think occurs.

Criminal

This is a very finely told series of independent episodes that have to do with criminality or even lack of criminality (in rare cases). The episodes are quite short, and due to being edited and written quite well, they hold up. There have been quite a few moments when I've had to hold tears in and laughed out loudly at people and their stories.

Det svenska hatet

This is a Swedish book in audio format, told in Swedish. So, it's not really a podcast, but it's so noteworthy that I want to include it here. The book is written by Gellert Tamas, who is mainly known for publishing a supremely well-written and well-researched book named "Lasermannen" about John Ausonius, one of the most well-known Swedish serial killers, and what accentuates the peculiarity of Tamas's writing, is how he intertwined those years in Sweden with how the extreme-right wing came to power.

That book is sort of the opener to this one, which takes off where "Lasermannen" ended. This is also completely non-fictional, set in the present, and concentrates on the brothers Ekeroth, who are two of the most scandalous and well-known members of the Swedish political party named Sverigedemokraterna, which is an extreme right-wing party with deep roots in Nazism.

There is nuance, sharpely-tuned critique and it's one of the finest pieces of current-day research that one can hope to find. Even though this is a book, it's very recommandable, and is easy to find from any podcast provider.

Disgraceland

You want rock 'n' roll tales, all debauchery, cannibalism, murder, and more debauchery? Look no further. Even though this is quite entertaining to listen to, it is a gossipy bitch of a podcast. Its maker, who is hell-bent on always telling listeners that he never can afford to license music, is so tripped-out on debauchery that he even has spoken with at least one murderer during a follow-up show, in all the glamour that entails.

Yup, it's a David Foster Wallace world we live in. And I listen to this show.

DJ Shadow Presents: Find, Share, Rewind

DJ Shadow is a hip-hop-loving character swathed in lo-fi vinyl 1990s. He's made scratchy, dark, hip-hop-y, lo-fi albums for a long time, and in this podcast he shares his love of music.

The very first album dips deep into Jefferson Airplane and a bit into their kindreds; the main thing about this podcast is listening to Shadow's intense feeling for music. He seems able to produce and mix just about anything. Listening to this stuff while cooking food makes for an otherworldly experience. It's nice.

Faculty of Horror

This podcast is fairly interesting at times, when the subjects are; their dissection of one of my favourite films ever, Charles Laughton's "The Night Of The Hunter", is a fine example. I listen to about every tenth episode - simply because I there are a lot of films that I have not seen.

Forum/Debatt

Kulturhuset Stadsteatern

Forum/Debatt

This podcast, entirely in Swedish, can provide insightful words on a slew of human subjects; I went to a debate with Mattias Gardell, Gellert Tamas, and Helene Lööw, which was fiercely interesting.

Fördomspodden

Another podcast in Swedish. When I think of the person behind this podcast, a song lyric by The Libertines springs to mind: "Walking like a moron/Talking like a spiv". The person I'm referring to hides behind his concept, which consists of making prejudiced statements about his subjects, who are Swedish celebs, and have the celebs themselves comment. It's aggrevating in the sense that his trains of thought seem often enough to be derailed from matters that truly mean something, veering into glibness of a tired, posh, and deeply self-indulged sort.

I don't mean to be a fucking preppy spiv myself, when saying this, but it's needed: why not read some fucking Montaigne or have a life crisis, so that you can center on what's really and truly important in your life, and then ask your interviewees some decent questions?

So, I hear you ask, why are you listening to that podcast if you dislike it? Truth is, I don't dislike it; I dislike it's maker's current state, and I'm sure he can get out from under the rock where he is, although the most interesting thing about this podcast is probably not his subjects, but what his questions say about himself: why are they all so exceedingly glib? Why so similar? Why only based on tabloid facts? Who is the host? How will he ever evolve from this? It's anthropology but kind of backwards. It's like watching "Vanderpump Rules" on TV; it's pap, but it's truly interesting and insightful to wade through.

I Like Films with Jonathan Ross

Despite only one single episode has been broadcast so far ((Is the show cancelled?)), it's nice to hear seasoned English veteran talkshow host Jonathan Ross talk about film with Spike Lee, who's the main subject of the first episode. Sure, it's a tangential trip down a self-promotional tool for Lee's newish film, but the episode is interesting. I hope it stays that way.

Inte rasist, men...

Another Swedish podcast. This is probably one of the most meaningful, insightful, and at the same time - so direly needed in these times, and in Sweden - utterly self-deprecating to the point where one should actually listen to this podcast to get news of the current and on-going political climate in Sweden.

The gist of the show is two persons with a significant amount of insight into politics, sociology, and philosophy who talk of current political events that mainly concern the extreme far-right movements in Sweden. An utter hit. These people can laugh at others and themselves while being quite funny; how many political persons manage that?

Kaliber

Swedish podcast. It's not often that you hear a public service-made podcast that mainly goes to expose companies and individuals for misdeeds against others, but this Swedish one goes a long way. They often strike out against Swedish entities, for example the police.

Some of their exposés are among the best I've ever heard, notably where the police is concerned.

Longform is an American podcast where a writer of sorts talks about their trade, mainly by delving into what they've done, their ideas about how life as a writer would be before going in, what it's been like, and where they are currently, now that they've "made it".

Even though most of these episodes suffer somewhat from the presenters carrying a hagiographical view of the guests, it can be both enlightening and refreshingly simple.

P1 Dokumentär

Swedish documentary series produced by the Swedish government, that has its highs and lows; one of the absolute highlights, possibly in the history of Swedish radio, is Måns Mosesson's three-part series on Sweden where extreme-right wing people talk about their often-anonymous work behind keyboards, tapping away at hate-filled forums on subjects like "what if a Swedish Lucia-character has something other than pitch-white skin?". The part about Swedes who have left Sweden because they hate immigrants, while being fantastically oblivious about their own becoming immigrants, is respectful while allowing the subjects to talk about their own fears, dreams, and future. I cannot recommend it enough.

Swedish one. P3 Dokumentär - another podcast which is produced by the Swedish government - is probably still the best documentary series in podcast form that we have, providing insight and finely told stories about current, past, and present events.

Their story on the discotheque fire in Gothenburg in 2008 remains one of their best stories.

P3 Musikdokumentär

A Swedish documentary series by the state, this one about music. Each episode is about one artist, focusing on big artists who have made it large in the last decade or so. "Large" can be discussed.

Sadly, this series suffers from not travelling deeply into the artists, even where the artists themselves have seemingly given a lot to be part of the process.

Still, it's entertaining at times.

P4 Dokumentär

Another Swedish-state-made documentary series. While this one caters to tastes that I believe better adhere to old people than young, it has some bright moments, even some sterling ones. It's calming to listen to, like answering the question "what will my future be in 40 years?"

Sveriges Radio

Pira & Bråding i P3

Swedish one by the state again, with Sanna Bråding and Linda Pira, two fairly well-known persons in Swedish media. What makes this series special is how Bråding and Pira dig into the minds of a lot of different people, often focusing on their personal difficulties, while asking questions and finding things out, not only about the subjects but also about themselves. This is not hagiography, nor egoism. I wish almost all persons who make documentaries in some sense could enter their work with the mindset that these two makers have.

Psyket

Swedish state-made podcast all about the mental state of people, who tell their stories and every episode basically circles one person and unravels, uncomplicates, and complicates what ruffled, in-depth individuals and flock beings we all are. It's often nice to listen to, in this Facebook/Instagram shit fantasy that we're involved with, to some degree.

Rättegångspodden

Even though I have very mixed feelings about amateur-made crime-related podcasts, this one often is quite interesting. Bar the fact that there are sentiments involved where its maker, a person named Nils Bergman, allows his personal feelings to enter in a too judging way, it's highly interesting to hear recordings made in Swedish courts of law while the series is fairly well edited.

Bergman's sense of creating a soundtrack, it must be said, is something of the worst that I've ever heard. Diva-sceeches and ill-fitting tunes put there to provide a jokey atmosphere while the listener hears persons who have been kidnapped tell their story? It's disgraceful, it really is.

Having said that, Bergman's recent stint with Swedish state-owned TV—which I hope does not repeat—may have carried insight into how he should be soundtracking his episodes and carrying himself, as the two latest episodes are actually better than any prior.

S-Town is a very well-made American podcast about a person who is lives in the middle of nowhere, talks about a crime that he tips the makers of, and suddenly is the focus of the documentary, for various reasons.

This series sells itself. The main character is both intelligent, charming, and somehow disturbed me so much at the beginning, that I just had to continue listening to this story. It just drew me in, and I think I finished the whole thing in a couple of days.

Song Exploder, an American podcast, examines one musical piece by one artist per episode. The artist itself talks about their piece and deconstructs it, often by segmenting the song so that the listener understands how it's made from scratch. Episodes like The Magnetic Fields's "Andrew In Drag", Jon Hopkins's "Luminous Being", and Mitski's "Your Best American Girl" are brilliant.

Spår

This Swedish detective-ish series is partly made by Anton Berg, who was formerly involved with making P3 Dokumentär; this series covers one crime case per season.

The first season helped in making Kaj Linna, sentenced to life in prison for murder, a free man as he was exonerated for a crime that he did not commit.

There's one season about Jonas Falk, a man who was perhaps not entirely guilty for what the vilified Swedish prosecutor accused him of, where the entire court case unravels in wondrous ways.

Some seasons are more interesting than others, but as a whole, this series is both recommendable and its makers commendable (as least as long as the guy who's not Berg talks; I cannot stand his voice).

Start The Week is probably the longest-listened-to podcast that I'm still on. Its concept is simple: gather a moderator, four guests who are current in some way, make sure that all have consumed each other's current work, and talk.

Sometimes, this is extremely pretentious and boring, but mostly, I'll say it's illuminating and wonderful, e.g. whenever Sarah Bakewell turns up, or for example the one with Yuval Noah Harari.

Svenska Mordhistorier

This Swedish true-crime podcast is absolute twaddle. The speaker has a most annoying voice, and the stories are written by somebody who should not write.

I'm not listening to this to big myself up; I listen to this to laugh out loud, and, much as with listening to "Alex & Sigges Podcast", wonder when the hell the maker's'll turn for better lands.

Så funkar det

Aah. Swedish humor at its prime. These two persons, Anders and Måns, have since long made comedy for TV. This, however, is where readers write them questions about anything and they find out the actual answers. One of my favourites is when they really tried to get hold of somebody working for Boeing who could tell them why one's always told to turn off the mobile phone when on an airplane. Surely that's not because of the plane, is it? Or what gives?

Funny as very, very few.

The Adam Buxton podcast

I've got mixed feelings about this podcast; Buxton is very far up his own jaxy, but his interviewees are interesting. I liked a TV series he did, which I saw 14 years ago, named "Adam & Joe Go Tokyo". Good humor, I thought then.

What makes this podcast series good are undoubtedly its subjects. Persons like Louis Theroux and Johnny Greenwell—who have both returned several times—make for interesting conversations.

The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson

This is one of the best podcast series that I've ever heard.

Ronson, pop literary wonder who's written books in the way Louis Theroux makes documentaries, here tracing what pornography has become and how it makes its way from being filmed and photographed, to being consumed. Also very interestingly, it asks how it affects the extremely few individuals who own almost all of the porn sites on the Internet, and what the persons who make porn have to say to them.

In August of 2019, there will be a follow-up series. The trailer is very interesting to say the least:

The Documentary Podcast

This is a good BBC series; short, individual episodes about interesting subjects - made all over the world. Want to know how tango affects people in Argentina? How people in Nigeria who cannot afford to pay their hospital bills are some times kept as slaves? Check this series out. It's eye opening to me.

The Leisure Society with Gemma Cairney

This is a simple little series that I like. A person interviews her "heroes" ((Her own word.)) on subjects that they are not known for, e.g. Cosi Fanni Tutti from Throbbing Gristle about her love for gardening, and Kim Deal from The Breeders/Pixies about switching her heroin habit for knitting.

Library Talks

Talks in the New York City library. It's enthralling shit! Great interviewees and masses of people being interviewed at times.

Two of my faves: Masha Gessen talks about her wondrously well-written book about Russia (which all should read):

...and there's Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis talking about their wondrous book on Timothy Leary:

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This American Life remains a big podcast in the USA and all over the world, and it's quite easy to see why. It's not threatening, nor does it truly question people, other than from the inside. People talk about their stories, as every episode has a theme. It does keep you on your toes as listeners are introduced to a slew of subjects that I've yet to come across anywhere else.

The episode "129 Cars" is one of my favourites.

"This Is Love" is made by the same persons who make "Criminal". It's about love, in may a different way.

One of my favourite episodes is called "How To Live Forever", and I recenly wrote about it here.

You, Me and the Big C: Putting the can in cancer

This is a favourite podcast, if not up until recently. It's one where three women who have or have had cancer all speak about it. Recently, one of them died. In the tragedy, and in dealing with cancer, this series opens up to a world that had hitherto been hidden away from me; with all of the revelating and dealings these women had to go through, it's truly enlightening, mind-warping, and yet very mundane experience, in that we all have obstacles that we have to overcome, and that nothing should be hidden away just because it's not Facebook-glitzy shit.

There's a list of the podcasts here together with links to where they can be found—if not via any kind of modern podcast-listening app—so go forth if you want to.