[exhilaration]

My favorite podcasts:

  Excellent:
  This American Life
  99% Invisible

  Very good:
  Planet Money
  The Memory Palace [historical narratives] 
  The Moth 
  On the Media 
  Snap Judgement

  Good:
  Freakonomics 
  Radio Lab 
  Radio Diaries

  Occasionally good:
  The Truth [fictional radio dramas] 
  Criminal

[dexterdog]

Dan Carlin Hardcore History. It's not in often and when it is it can be a 21-hour series. The guy is brilliant and I could listen to him tell a story about the most boring man on the plant if he decided to.

[exolymph]

I really love Revolutions [1] so now I'm excited to try this one! History podcasts for the win.

[1] http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/

[solipsism]

Really good list! I'd move On The Media to Excellent, it's really cream of the crop. And I'd throw Skeptic's Guide to the Universe in there too, for anyone who likes science. If you like ancient history, add Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.

[vcarl]

Agreed on On The Media. It's basically just meta-news, but stepping back and looking at the narratives being presented is really interesting. Their recent show about this history of political polling was fantastic.

[vijaykiran]

One of my favourites: http://historyofphilosophy.net

[cubano]

Oh then you must try this: http://www.philosophizethis.org

Stephen West does an outstanding job of tracing the complete history of philosophy in the West and relating its ideas to modern thought and idioms, and uses humor effectively as well.

[elcapitan]

If you like Planet Money, you'd probably like "Odd Lots" by Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts/odd_lots