5 Podcast Worth The Listen: Juan Epstein, The Champs, The Evening Jones, + more

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Article by Phillip Sumby

It was really early in my life when I realized that when listening to the radio I enjoyed the conversation and banter in between the music more than anything else the radio offered. Not that I don’t enjoy music, because I do. But it was the content and debate that occurred during the talking portions that seemed more intriguing to me. My radio listening soon became almost entirely built of nothing but talk radio. Whether it was sports, politics, or comedy, for me, it had to be talk. You can only imagine my surprise and enthusiasm when discovering podcasts. For those of you not in the know, a podcast is a type of digital media resembling talk radio. They’re shows, typically distributed in monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily episodes. I’m sure there is a podcast devoted to something you love; you just have to find it. Being as though my loves are music, film, and sports, amongst other things, there are plenty of podcasts available for my taste. It’s only fair that I share, right?

1. Juan Epstein

A podcast I’ve been listening to since 2008. Juan Epstein is what you get when Peter Rosenberg (Jewish) and Cipha Sounds (Puerto Rican) sit down in a studio and talk about whatever they want. Typically they’re joined by guests, who are usually rappers, comedians, and actors. Although not very consistent episodically, when they do provide new material it’s well worth the wait. They’re hip hop talk is hard to beat. Both hosts are knowledgeable and hilarious, and they have great chemistry. It’s easily one of my favorite podcasts ever.

http://www.rosenbergradio.com/category/juan-epstein/

2. The Champs with Neal Brennan, Moshe Kasher and DJ Douggpound

Allow me to thank Questlove for the put on. The Champs is a hysterical podcast. One of the hosts, Neal Brennan, is the co-creator and co-writer of The Chappelle Show. That fact alone should provide some perspective for what level of comedy you can expect to hear. The interviews with their guests are typically both hilarious and insightful. Definitely check this out.

http://thechamps.libsyn.com/

3. Get Up On This

This is probably the most informative podcast listed here. This is a podcast that is aired on Kevin Smith’s (filmmaker) podcast network, S.I.R., Smodco Internet Radio. Essentially, the show does exactly what the title suggests, puts you on to new things. Music, applications, websites, movies, and whatever else you can think of. The host of the show, Jensen Karp, describes himself as a person who’s always been ahead of the crowd when it comes to becoming aware of stuff. I must admit, he is. Since I’ve been listening he’s made me a believer. Every episode, he and a guest bring three new things to the table to “get you up on.” I’ve yet to be disappointed. If you want to know about any and everything before your friends, definitely listen to this show.

http://smodcast.com/channels/get-up-on-this/

4. The Jalen Rose Podcast

At this point, Jalen Rose is probably my favorite NBA analyst. I find it hard to believe that people like Skip Bayless are allowed to have their own show and analyst like Jalen don’t. I don’t get that. Thankfully, Jalen does have this podcast. It provides sports talk in an entertaining way that only Jalen can provide. If you love educated and interesting talk about sports, tune in.

http://jalenrose.com/the-rose-report/grantland-network-podcast-jalen-rose

5. The Evening Jones with Bomani Jones

Bomani Jones offers another sports podcast for the people. My prediction, Bomani is going to end up in high places. He’s extremely intelligent and at times I’d describe him as brilliant. His opinions about all things sports are very well thought out and quickly done. Sometimes he blows my mind with how he answers questions, in which it seems as if he’s totally analyzed every angle of the question before anyone else has. He’s absolutely one of my favorite analysts. He’s also a hip hop head. So amongst the sports talk, he’ll occasionally throw in some hip hop talk as well. Please, please, please listen to this guy. Dope show.

http://www.theeveningjones.com/

Honorable Mentions (not so honorable, definitely check these too)

The Nerdist Podcast, Filmspotting, This Week in Blackness, We Nerd Hard, WTF with Marc Maron, The Black Guy who Tips Podcast