The Best Podcasts of 2017

For my final top 5 list of 2017 I’m going to tackle podcasts. I’m not going to do shows per say. Instead I’m going to talk about specific episodes of podcasts I listen to, the return of some podcasts and new ones I have just recently discovered, or just started. I should mention, the majority of what I listen to is sports podcast, but there isn’t one single sports related show or episode in my top 5. I also excluded the “X Millennial Man” podcast because it’s the greatest podcast ever, and I happen to cohost it as well. In fact, comedy, my other favorite podcast genre, is what fills my list. I love to laugh, and comedy podcasts have been pretty great this year. Let’s get to it.

At number 5 I have the newest podcast on my list, and that is the premiere of “Raised By TV”. I’ve talked at length about this show. It’s hosted by Lauren Lapkus and Jon Gabrus, 2 of my favorite improv podcasters, and they deep dive into different topics that they recall from 90’s TV. This is a perfect show for someone like me because, while I wasn’t raised by TV, I can relate to 99 percent of what they talk about. I remember the commercials, game shows, TGIF and the very special episode readings they do at the end. This is one of the funniest new shows to come out this year. I also enjoy how neither Lapkus or Gabrus play characters, or take notes. It’s just them and the stuff they remember. “Raised By TV” is definitely worth checking out for anyone that grew up watching 90’s television.

At number 4 I have any time Bone and Chief Queaf show up on an episode of “Comedy Bang! Bang!”. These are 2 sisters, played by men, and they are riotous. Chief Queaf has a pretty wild backstory. She travels across the world trying to track down Carmen Sandiego. There’s another 90’s reference for you kids out there. She can never find her, and claims to hate her, although, she may be in love with her. Every time Chief says, “Gumshoes!”, I crack up. The only person I think Chief Queaf despises more than Carmen Sandiego is her sister Bone Queaf. Bone is loud and proud and sassy. Every time she says her name she has to explain it. For example, Bone will say, “my name is Bone Queaf. That’s Bone, like a steak, and Queaf(sorry Mom and Dad), like a pussy fart”. She does this every time, and it works every time. The relationship between the 2 is pretty hilarious, and when I see that they are going to be on “CBB”, I drop whatever podcast I’m listening to, and start that one.

At number 3 I have the glorious return of “ Womp It Up”. We’ve had to wait for a year and a half for Chardog and Wompler, but they’re back and better than ever. First off, Lennon Parham and Jessica St Clair are improv geniuses. And these 2 characters they created a few years back on “CBB” are 2 of their best. “Womp It Up” finds Wompler and Chardog interviewing local students and teachers at the high school they go to in Marina Del Rey. The people they get to be guests are awesome. Actors like Seth Morris, Paul Scheer, Casey Wilson and Jason Mantzoukas are just perfect in this format, especially Mantzoukas. He’s a gem on “ Womp It Up”. It’s bittersweet that this show is back on. Parham and St Clair’s excellent, and extremely underrated TV show, “Playing House” was cancelled, so I think they decided to go back to podcasting until they get another idea for a show. I am happy that “Womp It Up” is back though.

At number 2 I have my personal discovery of “My Dad Wrote A Porno”. I wrote about this podcast a few months ago, and it is still as cringeworthy and funny as ever. The premise is amazing. The fact that the main host is reading his own father’s erotic stories is a riot. The 2 other hosts add the exact amount of confusion and laughter that I would have if I were in their same situation. To hear the host read “Belinda Blinks” is so great. And I love that his 2 friends continually remind him that this is his own father’s writing. This podcast was recommended by a friend, and I am now indebted to him for life. I laugh harder at this show than any on my list. Go listen to “MDWAP”, and then try to imagine this being your father’s writing and reading it to your friends. It only enhances the listening experience.

And at number 1 I have the “ How Did This Get Made” re release of their “The Room” episode with added interviews with the cast of “The Disaster Artist”. This was a dream podcast for me. The main reason I first watched “The Room” was because of what I heard the hosts of “HDTGM” say the first time they covered the movie. That podcast lives in lore for me now. The fact that they had Greg Sestero on, you may know him as Mark from “The Room”, made it that much better. To hear the stories he told about working on that movie was amazing. Listening to it again made me smile. Then, after they replayed their original episode, Paul Scheer took it upon himself to interview people from “The Disaster Artist”. He’s in the movie, he’s great in it by the way, so it was pretty cool of him to get these people on mic. He got James and Dave Franco to sit and talk with him for about 10 minutes. Seth Rogen and the actress that played Lisa in “The Disaster Artist” gave him a good 5 minutes. Tom Bissell and his writing partner, Bissell co wrote “The Disaster Artist” book and movie, talked about their relationship with “The Room” and “The Disaster Artist”. But, the creme de la creme was getting Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero to sit down for 5 or so minutes. It went as crazily as you can imagine. The fact that Scheer and “HDTGM” did this was a pure delight. This is a podcast I will go back to and listen to many, many more times. It is so awesome.

Well, there you have it. Those are my top 5 podcasts/podcast moments/podcast characters of 2017. This wraps up my best of 2017. I hope everyone has a good holiday, and I will be back with new content on the 26th.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is thinking about using part of 2018 doing some podcasts about the erotic stories from the  head editor. Who wants to hear all about GI Joe / Star Wars dirty fanfic?

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Cloves and Fedoras: Finally Catching Up to the Great Podcast "My Dad Wrote A Porno"

Cloves and Fedoras is SeedSings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

There is a podcast that I just became aware of about a week ago, and I have been obsessed with it ever since. I cannot stop listening to it, and it has almost become a problem, because I have 2 small children that are like parrots. The podcast I am talking about is, "My Dad Wrote a Porno".

By the title, I think you all can glean why it has become a problem for me trying to listen to this in the car. The podcast is filthy, filled with sex and very bad language, but it is also extremely funny and awesome. So, I have to find odd times to listen. For example, yesterday I was mowing my grass while my 1 year old napped and my 5 year old had his "quiet time". This was the perfect opportunity to knock off 3 or 4 episodes. When I go for a run at night, another great time. Sometimes, after the kids go to bed and it's just my wife and I, she will go read a book, and I will listen to another episode. It's all about finding time when my kids are not present, or sleeping, before I can hear a new episode of "My Dad Wrote a Porno".

Now, this podcast is new to me, only a week or so old, but it has been around for awhile. According to the podcast page, "MDWAP" has been around since October of 2015. I listen to so many other podcasts, so sometimes I am late, or in this case, very late, to something that is suggested to me by a friend or family member. This one was suggested by a friend, and I'm so glad he brought it to my attention.

"MDWAP" is so funny, and the funniest part of it is the host and his 2 friends who comment on each chapter. The host, Jamie Morton, says in the first episode that his father gave this to him for him to keep. Instead of just hiding the book, and the fact that his father wrote an erotic story, he invited 2 of his friends to start a podcast where he would read one chapter a week. His friends are the stars of the show. Both James Cooper and BBC Radio 1's Alice Levine are absolutely hilarious. Their reactions to sentence structure, dialogue and grammar are uproarious. I especially enjoy Alice's reaction to most things in this book. She sounds so put off by all this, but she keeps saying that she cannot wait to hear more. I am the same way. And James Cooper, he is literally just laughing the whole time, which is really the only thing you can do in a situation like this. I love that Morton did not hold on to this book as just some keepsake. It is wonderful that he wanted to share this book with 2 of his friends and the whole podcast listening world.

The book is entitled "Belinda Blinks". There is a sub title, but I still can't get over how ridiculous the main title is. I'm currently on chapter 8, "the Tombola", but up until now, "Belinda Blinks" has been as disgusting and hilarious as I could have imagined. When she has the job interview in chapter one, it was some of the most soft core stuff I could imagine. It was also a riot. As the book goes along, it gets more and more pornographic, and Cooper and Levine's responses are pitch perfect for each horrific moment. When Morton's dad goes into great detail about a sexual experience, the "oh my god's!" and "what the hell's" are a delight. There is one particular chapter where Morton's dad talks about Belinda going to a tennis party, meeting an American man with a very small "member", and complaining about her encounter with him. It is so poorly written, yet I was laughing so hard I had to stop what I was doing for fear that I would drop whatever heavy thing I was currently moving. Morton's father also has some weird thing with thongs, both for men and women. He also explains stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with his erotic tale in great detail. It is so odd.

The best way that I describe this podcast to friends and family is, imagine if your father wrote some erotic fiction and gave it to you. What would you do with it? I would love to think that I would do the same thing as Morton. I would want the world to hear this crazy story. And that is what makes me keep coming back to "MDWAP". I also love how every time Morton's father writes about a sexual encounter, both Cooper and Levine keep telling him, "this is your father!". I crack up every time.

"My Dad Wrote a Porno" is not a new podcast, but if you are a fan of comedy podcast and you haven't listened to it yet, I highly recommend it. It is so funny, and each episode is only about 30 minutes long. I only discovered it a week ago, and I am already on chapter 8. As far as I know they are still releasing new episodes and I cannot wait to catch up. This is a very, very funny and uncomfortable podcast, but in all the right ways. Give it a listen.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is currently working on his own porno called "Moistness At the Crack of Dawn". One day his son will read it to horrify the people of 2030.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.