I can’t remember listening to my first podcast or even when the term itself became mainstream. But what I do know is that I’ve been addicted to podcasts and can’t imagine my mornings and afternoon work breaks without them.
Turns out there’s a holiday that’s all about rejoicing over the podcast medium itself and the wealth of independent creators that millions of people listen to for their perspective on a myriad of topics. As for myself, I tend to hunker down and listen intently as my favorite podcasters shower praise and vehemently lambast the many happenings within the realms of gaming, pro wrestling, current events, music, etc.
With International Podcast Day now in our midst, I wanted to celebrate such an occasion by giving my attention to a host of podcasts I may have never even heard of. With that goal in mind, I presented my favorite podcasts to four chatbots and tasked them with finding me comparable selections that match my listening needs.
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Muse laid out a strong selection of podcasts that surprised me, due to how much they fulfill my tastes as a listener. Here’s how this successful AI recommendation experiment led me to my latest listens.
AI finds my favorites
To get a good idea of the podcasts I regularly listen to, I presented this request to all four chatbots:
“My favorite podcasts are the Weapon Wheel Podcast, The Brilliant Idiots, Joe Budden Podcast, Solomonster Sounds Off, The Midnight Boys, Double Tap - The Fighting Games Community Podcast and We Might Be Drunk Podcast. Based on each of those picks, recommend another podcast I might like.”
ChatGPT did a great job of fulfilling my needs to find a gaming podcast that features a panel of passionate gamers who aren’t afraid to let a few colorful words flow as they get into heated debates. It also found a podcast that features two best friends diving into the most trending topics and adding their hilarious two cents on every one of them.
Here are the two recommendations it gave me that ended up on my list of must-listens:
- Your pick: Weapon Wheel Podcast. Try this next: SpawnCast. Why I think it fits: Both are built around passionate gaming discussion, news, industry happenings and personalities rather than just straightforward game reviews. SpawnCast also shows up among the podcasts listeners of Weapon Wheel tend to subscribe to.
- Your pick: The Brilliant Idiots. Try this next: Bad Friends. Why I think it fits: This is probably the easiest recommendation on the entire list. If you like Charlamagne and Andrew Schulz bouncing between serious conversations, ridiculous tangents and offensive jokes, Bobby Lee and Andrew Santino should work extremely well for you. Podchaser also lists Bad Friends among shows similar to The Brilliant Idiots.
When it came time for Gemini to expand my choices of podcasts to listen to, it listed three picks that piqued my interest based on their AI-generated descriptions. One of them was another gaming-themed podcast that matched my love for uncut discussions, the second one gave me another podcast all about pop-culture deep dives and the final recommendation catered to my love for comedians having hilarious conversations about anything that comes to mind:
- For Weapon Wheel Podcast - Recommended: Castle Super Beast. Why it fits: Weapon Wheel is known for raw, unfiltered, long-form gaming industry talk with a distinct culture and zero corporate spin. Castle Super Beast (hosted by Woolie Versus and Pat Stares Back) brings that same candid, high-energy gaming banter, combining deep technical industry takes with hilarious, off-the-cuff humor.
- For The Midnight Boys - Recommended: The Big Picture. Why it fits: Hosted by Van Lathan and the Ringer squad, The Midnight Boys brings high-energy fandom, banter, and nerd culture debates. Staying within The Ringer network, The Big Picture (hosted by Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins) offers top-tier pop culture, movie drafts, and deep-dive media discussions delivered with sharp chemistry.
- For We Might Be Drunk Podcast - Recommended: Tuesdays with Stories. Why it fits: We Might Be Drunk thrives on relaxed, hangout-style comic talk over drinks. Tuesdays with Stories, hosted by Mark Normand alongside Joe List, delivers that same loose, effortlessly funny stand-up comedian banter filled with touring stories, life observations, and unscripted comedy.
Claude’s suggestions highlighted a bunch of podcasts I already listen to. But there was one pick on its list that stood out as another quality production that resonated with my love for comedy and the comedians who uphold the off-the-cuff hilarity that comes with it in a podcast setting:
- We Might Be Drunk → Two Bears, One Cave. Comedians trading stories and roasting each other, with a similar loose feel.
For my final pick, I gave Meta’s newly released Muse chatbot a shot at pushing me in the right direction toward a potential new favorite podcast. And this time, it ended up dropping another podcast in my lap that centered around my adoration for smart commentary about sci-fi, fantasy, and nerd culture:
- The Midnight Boys → The House of R. Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson go just as deep on Marvel, Star Wars, and fantasy nerd stuff.
I have to shout out ChatGPT’s overall observation of my tastes in podcasts, which described me perfectly:
And there's an interesting pattern here: you seem to prefer podcasts where the hosts' personalities are almost as important as the subject matter. That's why I'd steer you toward shows with a strong chemistry between recurring hosts rather than highly produced, documentary-style podcasts.
The takeaway
Even though ChatGPT has earned a spot on my AI tool list as one of the best chatbots for recommendations, Gemini, Claude and Muse also excelled at gifting me a lineup of podcasts that match the quality selections OpenAI’s AI assistant sent my way.
After listening to a few episodes from each of those chatbots’ podcast proposals, I ended up with a YouTube and Apple Podcasts playlist full of podcast material that will stave off those dreaded moments of boredom in the near future. I implore everyone reading this to present my prompt to their preferred chatbot, fill in the blanks with your top picks and see just how good AI is at selecting podcasts you just may fall in love with.
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