Digital Branch: Podcasts! Entertainment for Your Ears!: Entertainment, Laughs, &amp; Games

Overview

Podcasts featuring comedy, trivia games, and entertaining interviews are a fun listen and can make your day! Research Librarian Karol Bartlett has pulled together a few fun podcasts to start with. For suggestions on other podcasts that might be of interest, be sure to check out Weekly Charts and Finding New Podcast Resources.

Explore Where You Can Find Some Laughs!

These Are The 21 Best Comedy Podcasts Around Right Now
"You could probably do with a laugh."
16 Funniest Podcasts of 2020
Here are our 16 favorite comedy podcasts that we think are some of the funniest series online.
Podcast Picks: NPR's Game Shows Delight and Excite the Brain
For several years now, NPR has produced two of the best trivia game shows for radio, and you can download them in podcast form for listening to on your own schedule.
The Best Podcasts For Relieving Stress, Distracting Yourself, Or Taking A Break
Give yourself the gift of tuning out the world for an hour or so. You can do that with everything from deep dives into our favorite imaginary worlds, improv comedy from an alternate dimension, immersive fictional audio narratives, binge-worthy investigations, or just simply vibing with fun people. Here are our picks for some of the best podcasts that are perfect for taking a life-affirming break from this hell zone of a world.
10 Podcasts to Listen to If You Need to Laugh (to Keep From Crying)
Podcasts are the very thing that might bring us some relief and much-needed levity right now.
Podcasts to Listen To: Trivial Warfare and 3 of the best trivia podcasts to listen to
Trivia nights have become a favorite pastime for people of all ages. Although the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders around the country have turned traditional trivia nights into social media gatherings, trivia night "hangouts" can be a fun way to stay connected to your loved ones and put to good use all that useless knowledge you've accumulated over the years. Here are a few trivia podcasts to play along with or give you an edge for your next trivia night.
13 Best Sports Podcasts of 2020
Podcasts are a popular way for sports enthusiasts to stay up-to-date with their favorite teams.

Listen to this!

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me
This NPR 20 year classic show is hosted by Peter Sagal and features a clever format that combines a game show about current events with a panel of comedians and guest celebrities who know how to make their audience laugh. Each week the show is entertainingly different than the week before.
Free to a Good Home
Free to a Good Home is a comedy podcast with a basic premise; reading funny classified ads. Professional Australian comedians, Michael Hing and Ben Jenkins, take the idea to the next level though by creating fictitious backgrounds for the people that wrote the ads and making amusing predictions for who would respond to them.
Only a Game
An award-winning weekly sports magazine for the serious sports fan and the steadfast sports avoider.
Everything is Alive
Everything is Alive is an unscripted interview show in which all the subjects are inanimate objects. But aside from the fact that things can talk, it's nonfiction: everything the objects tell us is true. Thoughtful and funny, and often missed because it is under the radar of popular podcasts.
Ask Me Another
Ophira Eisenberg and musician Jonathan Coulton host this weekly NPR comedy show that involves guests, trivia, and games. Lots of laughs to be had and tidbits to be learned.
No Such Thing as a Fish
No Such Thing as a Fish is a weekly British podcast series produced and presented by the researchers behind the BBC Two panel game QI. In it each of the researchers, collectively known as "The QI Elves", present their favourite fact that they have come across that week.
Comedy Bang, Bang: The Podcast
Join host Scott Aukerman (“Comedy Bang! Bang!” on IFC, “Mr. Show”) for a weekly podcast that blends conversation and character work from today’s funniest comedians. While Scott begins by traditionally interviewing the celebrities, the open-door policy means an assortment of eccentric oddballs can pop by at any moment to chat, compete in games, and engage in comic revelry. With all that, and regular bonus episodes, we bet your favorite part will still be the plugs!