this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025

30 points (96.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27938 readers

819 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world

candyman337@lemmy.world

TheSaneWriter@lemm.ee

TheSaneWriter@lemmy.thesanewriter.com

candyman337@sh.itjust.works

Asudox@lemmy.world

lemmy_bot@lemmy.world

beefbaby182@lemmy.world

asudox@discuss.tchncs.de

ModeratorCan@lemmy.world

shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee

neidu3@sh.itjust.works

KaneLivesInDeath@lemmy.world

What are some good ad-free podcasts? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) by bluelander@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/25642646

So I've run my own show for just about ten years now. We've never had ads or sponsorships of any kind other than a Patreon plug at the very end.

When I go out into the world and listen to other podcasts I'm perpetually annoyed at the lengthy, frequent ad-breaks. I don't mind being reminded to engage or click on their link or go to a show's Ko-Fi page, but a two minute dollar shave club or AG1 ad is just too much. And, honestly, the amount of advertising dollars some shows take makes me question their integrity just a bit. I know it might be a bit old-fashioned to think that, but I can't help it.

What are you favorite sponsorship-free, ad-free podcasts?

CLARIFICATION EDIT: So, to clarify because it keeps coming up: I'm looking for shows with no ads and that are not on platforms that serve ads during the show in question. To me, in my mind, a podcast is an MP3, which is how I listen to them. They get downloaded and put onto an MP3 player.

I don't watch podcasts on YouTube, and generally try to limit my time on platforms like that in general (although I find it nearly impossible to do so fully). I'm aware that some shows have ad-free versions if you access them via paid fees or behind other subscriptions models, but I'm looking for truly ad-free MP3 audio experiences. Thanks for all the recs so far! I've already compiled quite a list, so keep 'em coming!

top 33 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Boonta Vista. Comedy podcast out of Australia. No agenda.

Chapo Traphouse. Comedy political show out of USA. Leftist.

TrueAnon. Political show out of USA. Leftist.

QAA Podcast. Studies conspiratorial thinking and is genuinely pretty funny. Anti-capitalist.

Friendly Atheist Podcast (I think this has no ads, but I subscribed to the Patreon when I was only reading the blog and may be wrong). Focus on religious bullshittery in politics and such in USA. Pretty liberal for my taste, but when Jess shuts up about politics it's otherwise fine. Hemet is great at sticking to the topic at hand: freedom from religion.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

Some of this is right in my wheelhouse. Thanks for the recs!

[–] theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Film Reroll

[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

5-4 Podcast.

It's a podcast about how much the supreme court sucks. They discuss the ideological battles behind the landmark cases that shape the law in a fun and engaging way.

[–] reattach@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

A good podcast. They do have ads though.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Well dang, that's unfortunate.

[–] reattach@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I'm on the RSS feed (not Spotify, Apple, etc.) and was able to listen to most of the back catalog without ads. When I was catching up, ads weren't playing in episodes older than about 1 year.

I had a similar ad experience with The Dollop, another good podcast.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Interesting, guess they started running ads recently. I wonder if they'll begin injecting them into older shows eventually, I know some hosts offer that as a service.

[–] reattach@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

It's odd; in the old episodes, 5-4 includes ad bumps (e.g., "It feels like a good time to take a break") but then immediately resumes the episode("And we're back") without playing an ad. Maybe they switched advertising partners and didn't bother to update old content?

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago

Very possible! The podcast host I use offers a few kinds of ad services so there's no telling. I don't use them so I'm not totally sure how they work, but I've seen the options when I log in.

[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

I listen to it on the Amazon Music subscription I get included with Prime and it's ad free.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

Sounds engaging! Also going onto the ever growing list.

[–] leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I'm part of a podcast and we also do not have any adverts or sponsorship. We sell merch and we have a ko-fi account which we mention once per episode (if we remember to lol).

Subject matter is um..kind of niche though I suspect.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago

Popping back in to say that this is a really good show! Going right into the regular rotation, thanks for doing what you do.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 8 points 5 hours ago

Yeah that's a little niche, but you're going on the MP3 player anyway! I'd rather learn about something new from people who want to talk about it than hears ads played over something I already like :)

[–] party_planet@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I cannot more highly recommend a pod called NeverPost. It's kind of like an audio magazine about the internet and it is great. They mention their bonus tier every episode but there's no normal ads

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago

Oooh that does sound nice. Thanks for the rec, on the list of goes!

[–] party_planet@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I should probably add this

https://www.neverpo.st/about/

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Walking Through The Stargate doesn't have ads. It's about watching all of the Stargate TV shows.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I've been looking for a good excuse to dig into Stargate anyway, so that's perfect.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Awesome! They're almost through the last season of SG-1 and working on Atlantis concurrently in air date order, jumping back and forth.

They watch the bad cartoon show when their supporters donate to a specific tip jar, and presumably they'll get to Universe, Origins, and the movies.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

A friend of mine has been slowly working through Farscape with me and Stargate is on our short list for what to watch next. I'll definitely be pushing for it even harder now, got the first three episodes of the podcast loaded up and ready to go lol

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Cool! How do you like Farscape? I liked it, but the puppetry won't be for everyone.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not sure it's a very good story but the fx and stuff all has so much heart that's it's hard to dislike it. Overall we're having a lot of fun with it, even when we're kind of laughing at it rather than with it.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

That's sort of where I was too. It's often really fun, but I'm not sure it was GOOD.

[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I really enjoy Making It and am a patreon subscriber. It's Jimmy Diresta, Bob "I Like to Make Stuff" Clagett, and David Picutto (FKA The Drunken Woodworker). They talk about being makers, being on youtube, being middle aged, etc. Ep 469 just came out, so it's got some staying power.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 hours ago

Sounds fun, adding it to the list! My own show just hit 500, so I know how tough it is to stick to it week after week, kudos to them for making it so far.

[–] Tope@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 hours ago

I don't personally listen to podcasts often, but a Spotify client called Spotube can play the same Spotify podcasts ad-free.

On Android you can get Spotube from its official Git site, or just from the F-Droid app store. iOS/macOS guides are also in the website.

[–] Deadlytosty@feddit.nl 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Strong songs is fully listener supported with a plug to his patreon once per episode. It is a podcast about what makes some songs better than others. Best if you have some musical understandig as he can get a bit detailed.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago

I have what doctors call "dumb ears" and have zero musical ability. But I'm going to listen anyway, no one can stop me!

[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

If u watch on YouTube and use a client like pipepipe then everything is as free.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I already use sponsorblock and other add-ons for youtube, but I try to spend as little time as possible there. I sync my podcasts to an MP3 player. Thanks for the tip though!

[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 1 points 5 hours ago

Ahh kk. I'm sure their is some tool that let's u download the sponsor block data and cut that part out of relevant files. If not it wouldn't be too hard to write especially with the help of Dr gpt