Finding the Needle in the Haystack
We live in a world where there is too much content to possibly consume. When we search for new media online, we must wade through a sea of paid reviews and disingenuous promoters. So I will use this section to periodically write about things I love, in hopes more people can check them out.
The Timesuck Podcast
For episode #1, I wanted to pick a podcast I’d been listening to for a long time. I started listening to Timesuck around September 2019, when I found the “Mormonism: The Good, The Bad, And The FLDS” episode. I have always loved history podcasts, and Timesuck is what Hardcore History would be like if Dan Carlin took mushrooms before each episode.
Suck Topics
Episode topics fall into the following categories:
- Serial Killers
- Cults
- Historical People/Events
- Conspiracy Theories
- Unusual Religions/Gods
But since topics are often suggested and voted upon by fans, they can be anything you could imagine. The cult and serial killer episodes are my favorite, because the darker topics give the host more bizarre things to talk about.
Dan Cummins
Dan “The Suck Master” Cummins is the perfect river guide to show you around the river Styx. He is a standup comedian (click on link below to see his most recent special). His voices and sense of humor bring the stories to life, without sacrificing the historical details and the learning. He refers to his followers as “The Cult of the Curious” because the podcast appeals to those who are genuinely interested in learning, but want to laugh along the way.
A New Vocabulary
Every good cult has its own lingo. The Cult of the Curious is full of inside jokes, insane song clips, and obscure characters from previous episodes that seem to return every few weeks. In the Timesuck ecosystem, Nimrod, Lucifina and even former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald receive a fair amount of airspace. Fans of the show wanting to join the Timesuck Patreon are referred to as Space Lizards and can access exclusive podcasts not available on any other platform.
Favorite Episodes
- Bonus 4 – Scientology
- Ep. 26 – Sasquatch vs Loch Ness Monster!
- Ep. 19 – Flat Earth Theory F*ckery
- Ep. 11 – Ted Bundy, Real Life Monster
- Ep. 199 – Bruce Lee: Life and Death of the Dragon
- Ep. 214 – The Granny Ripper
- Ep. 229 – Denver International Airport Conspiracies
- Ep. 201 – The Columbine Massacre
- Ep. 57 – The Butcher of Rostov: Serial Killer Andrei Chikatilo
Conclusion
Timesuck is the perfect podcast for anyone wanting to learn about historical events in a way that doesn’t feel like learning. It is never dull, always good for a few laughs and by the end of the episode I always want to learn more about whatever Dan was rambling about for two hours.