This is going to be long and rambling. (Off-Topic)

by Funkmon , Sunday, September 06, 2015, 01:03 (3182 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Yeah, I've been thinking about doing a Destiny Grimoire podcast, but people will just bitch at me, so I won't.

All right. Here's some radio drama podcasts I have listened to and can confirm are all right. Most of them are simply presentations of older shows in podcast form. I will not give websites since I'm just reading off my phone. If you want, I can give you an OPML file. Go for bold first.

Case Closed - Old American Radio mysteries now in public domain presented as a podcast

BBC Radio 4 Comedy of the Week - Occasionally funny plays, but more often sketch shows.

Dragnet - Yes, there's a podcast dedicated entirely to releasing old Dragnet episodes.

BBC Radio 4 Drama of the Week - 30 minute to 2 hour long plays, no genre requirements. They do comedies fairly frequently. Actually, As You Like It on there was probably my favourite version I've seen/heard of that. Not sure why.

Fibber McGee and Molly Show - Similar to the Dragnet podcast, it just plays old episodes of Fibber McGee and Molly. The show, while ostensibly funny, may seem kind of hacky for modern audiences. It relies a lot on running gags and in jokes.

Home Front - A BBC Radio 4 drama program that's basically a soap opera set in a coastal town in England during World War I. There is an "omnibus" version, which allows you to listen to the whole week of programs at once.

The Archers - Another BBC Radio 4 drama. Definitely a soap opera in all but a soap company sponsorship. It's set in a rural community somewhere in the West Midlands. They also have an omnibus version.

Radio Icebox - Some Minnesotans make stories about cold stuff.

Old Time Radio Westerns - Westerns from radio. I like westerns.

Radio Drama Revival - They take radio dramas from elsewhere and broadcast them. Many are multipart, and there is no genre restriction. Generally good stuff.

Pleasuretown - This is the most similar to Welcome to Night Vale. It's a WBEZ production that tells the story of a made up failed utopian society in Oklahoma. It's crowdsourced, just like Night Vale.

Relic Radio and its variants - Similar to the other rebroadcasts from like 60 years ago, Relic Radio plays old American radio plays. They have a few feeds for different genres.

The Sonic Society - Similar to Radio Drama Revival, but I like it better. It's a great place to find out about new production companies and listen to a variety of shows.

These are the only reliable, regularly updated podcasts for audio dramas I know and listen to with any regularity.

In general, if it's a podcast, it's pretty awful in my opinion. Hence, when I want radio drama, I go to the BBC iPlayer thing. There's no IP check for radio.

The only problem with using that is that the vast majority of the stuff isn't a podcast, and it's paid for by license fee payers in the UK, and it's kinda supposed to only be for them. Their world service is for the rest of us.

For example, there's a lovely little 45 minute play written by Johnny Vegas on right now but you can only listen to it on the website. We outside the UK are never supposed to hear it, and we never will, unless it's on iPlayer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0680s8k

Radio 4 also has a series called "15 minute drama" which plays multi part dramas in 15 minute increments, which may be good for your awful attention span.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qy2s

But, you described something that you can zone out to while listening to and come back and it will still be funny. You should try a panel game like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR, or, back to the BBC again, any one of DOZENS they broadcast regularly. My favourite is called The Unbelievable Truth, where comedians write a funny script where every single element has to be a lie except five facts they shove in there. It's very reliably entertaining. If you like panel shows, explore more of Radio 4's stuff on iPlayer. You'll be excited.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mf4f

I've been listening to podcasts since around 2004, before iTunes carried them, and I maintain that the charm of podcasts is that they aren't radio shows. The benefit is that you get hardcore nerds on a particular subject who talk about things they love with people they like. This is suited to things like the podcasts you mentioned, and even larger, higher funded, and better produced ones like The Patch for gaming. Where podcasts are lacking are things like dramas and shows with guests and regular segments. Adam Carolla is a big exception there. Even the biggest comedy shows are usually just a couple guys in a studio they built in a walk in closet who occasionally have guests over.

The podcast is also great for long form interviews, niche subjects, and shows that are actually boring to most people on the radio. You won't find quality drama here. You will find the equivalent of 3 guys in a studio they build in a closet with Blue Snowball microphones. It's not good. If I were you, I'd look elsewhere for that, or just deal with the old time radio rebroadcast podcasts.