To celebrate #InternationalPodcastDay- perhaps ‘celebrate’ is the wrong word, I didn’t know it existed until it was almost over- I figured I’d share a list of some of the shows I listen to each week. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and as the new basketball season looms large I’ll be adding to it, but for now, here’s who is in my ear. I’ve tried to flag shows where the hosts work ‘blue’ in case that’s a concern for you- the occasional curse isn’t enough, but for those who frequently swear I’ve tried to note that in the description.

Basketball

The Long And The Short Of It: Townsville Heat coach Rodney Anderson and Townsville Basketball GM (and former Croc) Greg Vanderjagt talk about the Queensland state league. The show is on a bit of a hiatus after the QBL season finished, but they have hinted they will be back to talk all things NBL. (1 hr/weekly in season)

Basket Case: the WNBL Media Award-winning show (Best Radio Coverage 2016/17)! Carol Wical and Helen Theoharakis talk WNBL. (weekly in season)

Other Sports

Game Misconduct: Don La Greca (ESPN Radio New York) talks ice hockey. More of a straight sports-radio show. (3x weekly in season)

Puck Soup: One of those podcasts that is… mostly about their chosen subject (the National Hockey League) when it isn’t about pop culture. Writers Greg Wyshynski (Yahoo Sports) and Dave Lozo (Vice Sports) host. (90 mins/weekly in season. Coarse language.)

News/Current Affairs

BBC World Service News: I generally only subscribe to this one if I’m travelling- if I’m in a country where English-language news is not readily available, for example. (30 mins/daily)

Quite a few international broadcasters do a news podcast- Japan’s NHK does as well (10 mins/daily), although it has a heavy Asian-region focus for obvious reasons.

Freakonomics Radio: based on the well-known book series (and hosted by writer Stephen Dubner), Freakonomics looks at the hidden side of everything. Are lawns efficient uses of our resources? Are there too many languages? Why did an NFL player quit at the peak of his career to study maths? (45 mins/weekly)

Video Games

Podquisition: larger-than-life pundit Jim Sterling isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he sits down once a week with Kotaku UK’s Laura Kate Dale and Gavin Dunne (Miracle of Sound) to chat about games. (1 hr/weekly, coarse language)

Writing/Development

The Portfolio Life: writer Jeff Goins (Real Artists Don’t Starve) hosts a series of interviews with content creators and coaches on how they find their voice and pursue work that matters. (1 hr/weekly)

Comedy

No Such Thing As A Fish: researchers from the BBC programme QI chat once a week about the most interesting facts they’ve uncovered. (45 mins/weekly)

The Smartest Man In The World: stand-up comedian Greg Proops (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) holds court. Frequently (read: always) gets political but then these days, who doesn’t? Some shows are recorded live on Greg’s tours. (90 mins/weekly, coarse language)

The Hour Of Slack: the official outreach programme of the Church of the Subgenius (Praise “Bob”!) Very strange at times, with culture-jammed material (Negativland and Devo are favourites on the show). (1 hr/weekly, episodes with language are flagged as such)