Best Podcast Reviews

Listen to These Podcasts After Watching “Inside” by Bo Burnham

June 21, 2021 5:00 pm

Bo Burnham has been creating art that fucks me up since 2006, but Inside is a completely new level. The 2021 Netflix comedy special breaks form, moving between sketches, songs, and half-joke crisis monologues about the state of the world. It talks about parasocial relationships, the climate crisis, social media, and late stage capitalism–things I am incapable of shutting up about and research feverishly to the point of my own detriment. It’s no doubt that Inside immediately became the piece of art most recommended to me, with most people telling me, “I think this was made for you.” I am choosing to perceive this as a compliment.

Bo Burnham lying on the ground wrapped in a blanket with his head on a pillow. A mic lies on the pillow, pointed at his face. He is surrounded by recording equipment clutter. — it’s a COMPLIMENT, OKAY

Inside made me galaxy brain hard, and now you all have to deal with the ramifications of that. Here is a list of podcast episodes related to the content of Inside that have made me insufferable before viewing Inside, and now even more insufferable after.

Decoder Ring, “The Johnlock Conspiracy”

The way most people consume art is . . . weird, right? Fandom has a way of making an audience idolize creators and corporations alike–see the idolization of Marvel or Lucasfilms tied to the fans’ love of their attached intellectual property. Decoder Ring‘s second episode, “The Johnlock Conspiracy,” dissects how fandoms devote themselves to headcanons and ships to the point of conspiracy theories. The episode touches on parasocial relationships, but also how willing we can be to trust companies like the BBC with our hearts to almost exclusively tragic ends. Bo Burnham jokes that Wheat Thins want you to believe they care about lyme disease; meanwhile, Steven Moffat wants you to believe he cares about the gays.

You’re Wrong About‘s Princess Diana series

You’re Wrong About is precisely what it says on the tin, breaking down the assumed narratives of cultural phenomena and contrasting those narratives against what actually happened. In their much-beloved series on Princess Diana, a theme emerges early and infuses itself into almost every episode: fame is a form of abuse. From the royal family having no experience other than constant surveillance to the way people across the globe have sensationalized a woman’s life and death, You’re Wrong About is here to explain why the costs of fame often outweigh the benefits.

Childish

Childish is a musical fiction podcast about a college student who is trying his best to emulate Donald Glover’s life in hopes of becoming one. The protagonist, Dante, enrolls at the university Glover attended, and then gets the same RA job Glover had while also writing for NBC sitcom 30 Rock. That framing alone makes it a great companion piece to the Bo Burnham special, but the connections deepen as the plot of Childish unfolds. What starts as a goofy heightened comedy about being yourself eventually analyzes the carceral state, white supremacy, and underlying currents of privilege.

Throughline, “Policing in America”

Did you think I was done saying ACAB? Absolutely not. Bo Burnham routinely brings up the carceral state in Inside, whether directly in his routine with his sock puppet Socko or in the simple lines, “Now come out with your hands up, we’ve got you surrounded.” This episode of Throughline traces the history of police in America–and it’s a shorter history than you might think, with darker beginnings than you might think. Inside and Bo Burnham do not necessarily say, “Abolition in this lifetime,” but I certainly do.

Null/Void

Null/Void is a limited series fiction podcast that follows Piper, an employee at a nightmarish mega-corporation who stumbles into a strange conspiracy, finding herself pulled between the mega-corp and a group of activists who want to take it down. Null/Void is incredible, engaging, and suspenseful–but it’s also one of the single best depictions of how impossible it can be to truly free yourself from the business that own everything. (Disclosure: Creator Cle Burkhardt is a Discover Pods contributor.)

Real Life Audio Edition, “Future Myopia by Mehitabel Glenhaber”

This one may be a little bit of a cheat; Real Life Audio Edition is simply the narrated version of Real Life, a digital magazine about how humans interact with technology. It is a podcast made for expanded accessibility for written essays more than it is its own podcast; however also, it rules and you should listen to it. This essay by Mehitabel Glenhaber interrogates how current generations are supposed to deal with the mistakes of the former generations that did not consider them, specifically in regards to the global climate crisis. It’s a brilliant essay, and it will undoubtedly give you what Bo Burnham simply calls “that funny feeling.”

Conversations with People Who Hate Me, “Digital Self Harm”

Conversations with People Who Hate Me, like You’re Wrong About, is what it says on the tin. In its first season, host Dylan Marron has conversations with people who have left him hateful comments online. In its second season, Marron moderates conversations between people who have received online hate and the people who sent it–expect for this episode, “Digital Self-Harm.” In this episode, Marron hosts a conversation with someone who has received online hate . . . from herself. The episode discusses suicidal ideation and, of course, digital self-harm–both concepts that come up consistently in the works of Bo Burnham.