I love podcasts.

Not only am I an avid listener, but I’ve made my own shows. My first, “The Delivery” went out every week, without a single week off, for four years. I’m proud of that show for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that I was all over the “politics plus pop culture” format that a bunch of new media folks have taken as their own over the past couple years.

But that, as they say, was then. This is now and there are a bunch of shows I’d love to see regularly in my iTunes feed that I just can’t find. Because I’m only one man who does not own his own podcasting network, with bankroll to match, I’m going to have to rely on others to make these terrific shows for me. So….how about it? Anyone out there want to grab one of these idea and run with it a while?

  1. A “director’s cut” of a weekly television show. Make it simple, much like Ronald Moore did for at least the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica and made to be listened to while you watch the show. I’d love to get a show like this for The Flash or The Last Ship.
  2. The same type of show, but about football. You probably couldn’t make the show to run during the course of the game (mostly because of time but also because, from the creator’s POV, you have no idea when all the commercials will hit). But…a video show that ran a coaching staff’s comments over a highlight package would be really cool.
  3. A weekly role-playing game session among writers or, better yet, voice actors. Just record the game and edit it for time and (a little) content. I mean, Clancy Brown, Rob Paulsen, Tara Strong, and Nancy Cartwright at a D&D table? Come on. That would be AMAZING. We probably couldn’t get many of the big names because they’re awfully busy (and also that they’re probably not into RPGs) but I bet we could get something really good.
  4. A music show that focuses each week on one singer or group. Even better, a show that focuses on one part of an artist’s career. For instance, I’d love to get a show on how Supertramp came to write and record “Breakfast in America” or how Huey Lewis and the News came to be the darlings of MTV. Include some interviews or, if possible, have the musicians on for the whole show.
  5. A show that takes you from the initial concept of a movie all the way to its premiere. A show like this would be “seasonal”, in that it’d have a limited number of weeks, then it’d take a break to make the next season. We can handle that. I’d love to see a show like this from The Asylum or Legendary Pictures.
  6. A weekly show of B-movie love, but not just every B-movie. I’m talking here about sci-fi movies, preferably from the 50s and 60s but also those from the 70s and 80s that didn’t exactly hit cult status. So, The Manitou is in but Buckaroo Banzai probably isn’t. At some point, the show would rock hard enough to interview writers, directors, and actors. I’ve thought about making this show myself. My thoughts drift to talking with William Shatner about Kingdom of the Spiders.
  7. “Budget Backstory”. Okay, stick with me here. This would be another “season” show that looks deep into the year’s Federal budget — the one that makes it through Congress. Each week, the show would tackle a different cabinet department (or different appropriation, so…12 in a season? I think.). We could get bored in a hurry here, so the host(s) would have to be clever and entertaining. Prize humor over green eyeshade work, but don’t skimp on the research. Dole out the numbers in easy-to-swallow dollops. Lampoon the size of the budget. This is definitely a libertarian/conservative joint.
  8. “Welcome to Night Vale” but on a space station.
  9. “Basic Economics” with Thomas Sowell and a host who could intro the economics subject, bring in Sowell to talk on it for a segment, then step out to make the subject “approachable” and NOT BORING. This one has to have weekly topics that are approachable for a middle-class, working class listener. No Wall Street talk.
  10. A classical choral music show featuring Eric Whitacre*. The show could include Eric talking about music he loves (and why he loves it), the history of a particular piece of music he’s written, the Eric Whitacre Singers and what he looks for in a vocalist, how he got to where he is, advice for the young composer, and…well…I could go on with this one for paragraphs. Honestly, this, right here, is my dream project. If I could make this show for a living, I’d be the happiest clam in the bucket.