Last updated on October 30th, 2023
This pod is dark.
Dark in a way that should render it obscure. Related to the far corners of the internet where their subjects would congregate. If those subjects were so inclined.
So why does the Last Podcast on the Left continue to pick up steam? How did it amass enough presence to warrant exclusivity on Spotify?
Why does this show work? Why is it so damned good despite being ostensibly about the worst of us?
It’s the humor. What makes Last Podcast on the Left‘s (or LPOTL for those in the know) humor work is the host’s clear affinity for the subjects they’re talking about. The subjects aren’t funny. It’s the boys, Ben, Marcus, and Henry who we trust to see something in their subjects and sense something a little unmoored in the audience.
It makes you ask existential questions. Like would I trust an optometrist who never wore glasses? Or why did Bill Cosby’s portrayal of Dr. Cliff Huxtable as a gynecologist never sit right? Ideas we took as sacrosanct demand exploration. You can trust LPOTL to thread the needle.
It’s uncomfortable. It takes you right up to the edge of disaster, flirts with it a bit, and doesn’t call for the second date. These subjects are exciting, reckless, one night stands for comedy. They’re an adaptive outlet for tendencies that might manifest somewhere else. Somewhere with less piercing hilarity.
As the show matured it has added mid week, topical news story related shows that keep the audience engaged and LPOTL top of mind. Last Podcast on the Left works most of their best subjects into multi part, multi hour series. These deep dives draw the audience back again and again.
All the way round, The Last Podcast on the Left is a cipher for our darker thoughts that are bubbling under the surface. It’s funny. It’s relevant. It’s exceptionally well done and has an extensive back catalog worthy of a listen.
To get you started, here are 25 of the best Last Podcast on the Left episodes.
1/18/2020
“Maybe the question isn’t ‘How did one man convince 38 people to commit suicide?’ but rather, what was it about this world that made these people so God damned eager to leave it?” Followed immediately by “My question is, did any one of these people ever consider doing the Dew?
That sums it up right there. But this episode is also one of the best because it is revisiting a subject they covered before with more academic rigor because the hosts felt they didn’t do the celestial travelers justice. Nice work indeed.
November 2019
To quote the late 20th century moral philosophers, Salt N’ Peppa, let’s talk about sex… baby. Specifically, the “out of this world” variety. Is it really just about mating aliens with the best breeding stock humanity’s males can produce? Does that say more about those who have been abducted or those doing the abducting? Does this cross into victim shaming? Is it funny? Yes.
September 5, 2020
Charles Manson is a polarizing figure in Americana. And, to some extent, it’s all Brian Wilson’s fault. But once old Charlie was brought up on charges, a completely bonkers plot to rescue him unfolded, ending in a shootout with the local Hawthorne police department. There’s very little that could be considered “pro social” about Manson and his family, but this is one of the more outlandish, cartoonish, schemes they cooked up.
11/27/2020
Just in time for the best (no family gatherings) Thanksgiving in the weirdest year on record, the guys take a walk down memory lane. You might want to bring your own snacks for this one. Maybe veer away from jerky. Who knows what is in a processed meat stick anyway? Science? I doubt it.
8/8/2020
Only a fifth of the way through this century and already this murder is going to be vying for tippy top of the list. The first in the two part series looks at Jodi’s life before and upto the actual murder. Before she became something of a media darling with her made for TV true crime drama appeal. WIth more humor than should be allowed, the hosts paint a picture of a legitimately unhinged soul careening towards disaster.
8/17/2019
If you’re going to tackle a topic like Mormonism, on a comedy podcast, especially one this dark, you’d better do your G-d damned homework. In the first of a five part series the guys take a hard look at the facts surrounding the birth of the church and some of the more colorful exploits of its founder, Joseph Smith. Hilarity, and learning, ensue.
4/6/2019
Few conspiracies (or new world orders depending on your pill color of choice) are shrouded in as much mystery or are as well known as the illuminati. That’s why it’s good to check in on them every once in a while. If you’ve got things to do, and you should, you can rest easy knowing the guys from LPOTL are on the case.
12/22/2018
A comedic look at the people drawn to being the final, physical, arbiter of state justice. Who are these people? What sort of microwave dinners do they eat with their kids? What makes them tick? Is this the adaptive outlet of some pent up darkness? Is it the result of a good union gig? The questions abound.
9/29/2018
Statistically speaking, you know someone who subscribes to the idea that the Earth is flat. It should be plain crazy, but, as the guys point out, it’s actually growing in popularity. By a lot. For something that should be an open and shut case, Ben, Henry, and Marcus give it more air than it deserves. Which, as it should, is entertaining as all get out.
5/4/2018
In an era before Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter, private security around mega celebrities wasn’t as tight as it might otherwise be today. Pair that with John’s revelation that he might face just such a gruesome end and you’ve got the fodder for a well researched look at the death of New York’s favorite (probably) Beatle. Assassin Mark David Chapman was coming up for parole again, so this story is perennially relevant.
7/21/2018
It would be patently difficult to have a show that covers crazy without talking about Roswell. Aliens tend to factor in, often, in these stories. And the boys indulge the Roswell story, many times, on Last Podcast on the Left for good reason. A best of compilation is a great place to dip your toe into the conspiratorial waters.
4/19/2018
Kicking off the mini midweek episodes, Ben and Henry eulogize the late night AM legend Art Bell. If you’re of a certain age, your grandma would recount wild tales of Chupacabra, the occult, and other inappropriate musings ripped straight from the man himself. Art pulled back the covers on a subset of culture that had, heretofore, been largely marginalized. Now they’re congressmen. Thanks Art.
1/12/2018
Jonestown. You don’t even have to know exactly what transpired to know the word. It’s in the zeitgeist. The same way little kids know how to make car noises before they know what a car is. That’s the level to which Jonestown is seared into our societal DNA. It took the guys 300 episodes to get to Jonestown, but by the time they did, this five piece series was devastating. Take a whole Saturday to binge this one.
3/9/2017
This is a big one. L. Ron Hubbard. It would be nigh impossible to find a larger organization founded on more outlandish lies than what L. Ron Hubbard built. In the first of a four part series Last Podcast on the Left looks at the early life of Scientology’s founder and finds that there are some deep seeded sympathies for what made him tick. His methods, effective. His motivations, questionable. Another example of the uncomfortable nature of the show making us look in the mirror and laughing at what we see. Make sure you have your Talk Space account paid up. There are going to be some questions.
10/5/2018
One of the strangest murder cases of the 20th century would have to find a home on The Last Podcast on the Left. It has all the trappings of bizzare death that is the bread and butter of this show. How the guys were able to tread new ground, make it funny, and stretch it out over a three part series is some masterful broadcasting. It makes for some compelling listening. Eddie Spaghetti would be proud.
11/3/2017
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theory enthusiast to enjoy LOPTL. It’s not remotely necessary. But if you want to pull extra layers and threads of empathy out of these episodes… to feel better about laughing about these subjects, it helps to understand something about what makes these mental aberrations take hold. The story of Bill Cooper is just such an illuminating story.
4/7/2017
As the guys are avid professional wrestling fans and this story surrounded some real life horrendous murders from an otherwise pretty fake industry, it makes for compelling listening. Conspiracies were rampant following Chris murdering his family. An audience is meant to suspend, perhaps, unhealthy levels of disbelief to make the business of wrestling function. LPOTL follows that to its logical conclusion in episode 265.
11/21/2016
Cultist David Berg was a magnificent manipulator of the hippies. It’s unclear if that had to do with their taking too many drugs and being susceptible already, or if he was really just that good. Well, since it begged an investigation, LPOTL took up the mantle and examined the profits of the prophet of the Children of God. This episode is gross. And raucous. And creepy. So creepy.
6/13/2020
I trust “the science.” I really do. It’s a good policy to “trust the science.” But you have to remember science is a process of testing hypotheses, and for a time, science thought physically separating the hemispheres of one’s brain was an adaptive treatment for certain antisocial proclivities. How did such a procedure gain popularity and acceptance? It’s worth exploring. And if you’re going to look at something so depressing, maybe mix in a bit of levity? Well, the guys brought their patent pending spin to this monstrous procedure.
3/30/2019
Getting the chair. It’s an iconic piece of American jurisprudence. And a ghastly one. An inventive and progressive method of capital punishment that is as quintisentially American as the guillotine is French. That’s really American. Just ask Marie Antoinette… oh wait… you can’t. The electric chair was steampunk dystopia come to life and really says a lot about a society that thought this was progress. Quintessential fodder for a LPOTL episode.
9/11/2017
From the outsider’s perspective, when you look at Black Metal, as a genre, the natural first reaction is to ask what the actual F is going on. That’s okay. That’s a natural reaction. It’s the reaction a lot of artists are going for. But for some… it goes much deeper. Last Podcast on the Left takes a gander at the origins of Black Metal, the roots in Norse myths, and how closely linked it is to a spate of murders.
6/29/2018
Did you know the Men in Black is kind of a real thing outside of Tommy Lee Jones and the comedic relief of Will Smith? I had no idea until I heard Ben, Marcus, and Henry get into the origins of this largely imagined organization. But… it’s those nuggets of truth that will evoke an uncomfortable chuckle. Are we really alone? We are. Right? I mean… right?
11/17/2018
For my money, the best guardian of the Holy Grail was one Dr. Henry Jones Jr. One of the strangest might have been the Order of the Solar Temple who were a sect of mysterious followers of the Knights Templar. The Knights feature heavily in fringe Christian sects, which is why they make for a satisfying conclusion to one of the most beloved trilogies in cinematic history.
There’s no need for a fourth installment. A fourth installment would be an abomination. And so the guys kick off this three part look at the Order of the Solar Temple.
12/15/2018
It’s hard to see how you get the cults and conspiracies we’ve been inundated with if you don’t have the Book of Revelation. You don’t get Jonestown. You don’t have Waco and the Branch Dividians. The entirety of end times prophecy that gives rise to temporal nihilism is because of the Book of Revelation. Where would we be without this fever dream? One hilarious podcast short. That’s for damned sure.
6/9/2018
Two of the biggest hip hop innovators and mega stars murdered back to back. There’s a connection. But how big a connection? It’s never been solved. Well, LPOTL dives deep into the evidence, and, more importantly, the non-evidence to kick off another of their stellar comedic series.
Comedy only works when the observations made are relatable. That’s why the fact that the comedy works as well as it does is downright troubling. As the listener, you want the LPOTL material to be so farcical, so absurd, that any attempt to find reason fails. But that isn’t the case.
The guys have demonstrated, over the course of well over 400 episodes, how close we all might be to the edge. That’s scary. It’s dangerous. It’s relatable on a level deep enough to elicit chuckles we know full well shouldn’t have escaped our lips.
Yet here we are. There’s a reason Spotify picked up Last Podcast on the Left’s exclusivity. There’s a reason the show has spawned a network of shows under the LPOTL banner.
It’s just that damned good.
It might be free to listen to, but chances are you’re going to need to up your therapy budget after a while.
There are too many excellent episodes of LPOTL to cover everything, but let me know what I left out on twitter (@discover_pods/@jamesjgriffin).
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