From newspaper columns to call in radio shows to podcast, advice has long been asked for and dispensed in media. I listen to three advice shows, which are very different, and excellent in very different ways. Let me tell you about them.
My Brother, My Brother, And Me
We'll start with the least helpful one, but also probably the funniest one. Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy are three brothers who are entirely unqualified to give advice. They know this. So they take questions - some submitted by listeners, some found by listeners on Yahoo Answers - and... sorta answer them? But what they mostly do is riff. Which could be incredibly annoying if it weren't for the fact that those guys are a DELIGHT. They seem to just be really great humans who are genuinely funny and have great chemistry. They also have live shows, which appear to be delightful. Hamilton creator and all purpose genius Lin-Manuel Miranda is a fan of the show, and has appeared on it.
Judge John Hodgman
You may know John Hodgman as an author, a fairly regular guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (usually playing the part of The Deranged Millionaire), or a comedian. But it is likeliest that you've seen him playing the PC on the long running Mac and PC ad series from Apple. On his podcast, he hears a dispute between two litigants, makes a bunch of jokes, and then delivers a very wise, fair verdict that everyone can live with. There are also some disputes that are dealt with quickly, without the litigants being there. Hodgman is wonderful. I've been a fan since his first book of fake world knowledge, THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE. He also does live shows, which I would highly recommend. I got to see him in NYC, debating on the important question "is a hotdog a sandwich?" and that was great.
Dear Prudence
Dear Prudence is a long running column, well established and very traditional. BUT a couple of years ago, Slate made the excellent decision of hiring Mallory Ortberg to be the new prudence. Ortberg is a co-founder of much missed website The Toast, and is a terrific writer and overall super smart person. She's funny and smart, and she has funny and smart guests to help her answer questions. This podcast is much likelier to get dark than the other two, but that darkness is usually leavened by wit.
Do you listen to advice podcasts? Tell me about them in the comments!