The great appeal of podcasts is the presence of friendly voices to distract you from the ones inside your own head - and now more than ever, we all need a friendly voice to keep us company. Read on to find the funniest podcasts to make lockdown go a little quicker.

By The Book

This podcast will… make you rethink the self-help genre.

Each week, By the Book hosts Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg live by a different self-help book, with hilarious and illuminating results. By listening to the show, you’re not just learning about the advice of different self-help books; you’re also learning how that advice is practically applied to real life events.

Where to start? History buffs might be interested in starting with the most recent season, which has Kristen and Jolenta living by the self-help books of the 20th century. 

Starting with How To Win Friends and Influence People (1936) and ending with The Gifts of Imperfection (2010), this season explores how the self-help genre has progressed throughout the decades. 

After every episode, cultural and literary historian Professor Trysh Travis joins the hosts for a follow up discussion, explaining the significance of the book at the time of publication and how the events of the time shaped the author’s attitude.

Supplementary Reading: So, You Want To Start A Podcast by Kristen Meinzer and How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer.

Oh No, Ross & Carrie!

This podcast will… keep you entertained for endless hours.

Intimidatingly smart and funny hosts Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy don’t just talk about fringe science, spirituality and claims of the paranormal… they take part themselves. 

In each episode of Oh, No, Ross & Carrie! our two daring hosts go on a different adventure into the fringe. Whether eating pizza with Flat Earthers, getting high on ayahuasca in Costa Rica, drinking their own urine or joining Scientology, Ross and Carrie show up so we don’t have to. 

Where to start? For a toe-curling interview which will make your actual blood run cold, listen to Carrie Meets Kimberly Meredith: Double-Blind Edition, wherein Carrie interviews medical intuitive and trance channeler Kimberly Meredith about her claims of scientific confirmation. 

Or, to get right to the heart of what the show is all about, listen to the insightful and often heartbreaking Ross and Carrie Go Mormon. (Don’t worry, it all ends well. Ross still plays circle ball with the Mormons on the weekends.)

Supplementary Reading: Well, yeah - but I mean… Do you want to read about urine therapy?!

My Brother, My Brother and Me

In this podcast, the show’s introduction explains that “The McElroy brothers are not experts, and their advice should never be followed”,  - but there’s actually a lot to be learned from the comically bad advice given by brothers Travis, Griffin and Justin McElroy. 

Listen in for discussions of roommates hogging toilet roll, how to deal with people brushing their teeth in the theatre and how best to buy weed from your neighbour without letting on that he ‘seems like the kind of person who sells weed’. While the surface-level advice the brothers give is intended as comedy, it’s hard not to pick up on the genuine wisdom hiding underneath.

Where to start? You’ve got plenty to choose from! When I started listening, I just worked backwards from the latest episode - but for a ‘best of’, select any of the Bro’s Better, Bro’s Best episodes, which contain a selection of clips. 

Finding Drago

This podcast will… have you hooked immediately, laughing continuously, and - curveball - actually quite inspired to write a book!

Finding Drago is the extraordinary story of the mysterious Todd Noy, author of Rocky IV spinoff Drago: On Mountains We Stand. 

After reading this unauthorised novel, hosts Cameron James and Alexei Toliopoulos go on a weird and wonderful journey to find out who exactly Todd Noy was - or if he ever even existed.

Where to start? Start with the first episode, otherwise you’ll just be confused. 

Supplementary Reading: On Mountains We Stand by Todd Noy, of course!

The Ladies’ Guide to Dude Cinema

Has a dude ever said to you, “Oh my god, I can’t believe you’ve never seen (insert decidedly unappealing film here)?”. Trick question; of course they have.

In this podcast, join Australian comedians Alex Jae and Bec Charlwood as they review all the movies that dudes just can’t believe they haven’t seen. Find out whether American Pie is worth a re-watch (nope), if Whiplash is more weirdly sexually charged than you remember (yep), and why serial killers are so obsessed with milk. 

Hosts Alex and Bec openly admit that they are not film experts - and yet, theirs is the only film advice I take seriously. 

Where to start: My personal favourite is their review of Reservoir Dogs - or just pick a film you’re interested in to get their take!

Throwing Shade

This podcast will… make you laugh about issues that usually make you want to cry. 

Throwing Shade hosts Bryan Safi and Erin Gibson commiserate, commentate and pick apart the LGBTQ+ and feminist issues of the moment, infusing them with a bizarre humour that distracts you from just how awful everything really is. 

Plus, it’s the only podcast where you can hear discussion of politics, wigs and groceries all in one episode.

Where to start? As this is a podcast about current affairs, it’s best to start with the most recent episode.

Supplementary Reading: Erin Gibson’s Feminasty: The Complicated Woman's Guide to Surviving the Patriarchy Without Drinking Herself to Death is unique, funny and smart, just like the podcast itself.

I hope you found a podcast to keep you company and make you laugh! Have any other suggestions for us? Let us know in the comments or tag us in a post on Instagram @citygirlnetwork…

Written by Alex Scarlett

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