I stopped listening somewhere around episode 190. There was this transition from “super nerdy niche things Roman Mars enjoys” into a much more mainstream set of topics by other reporters who were interchangeable. I’d love to be proven wrong, but generally a show that makes a push for a much wider audience doesn’t ever get back. I will admit I still have a huge soft spot for the earlier Radiolab episodes. They are overproduced to a fault, but it’s in such a way that I get swept away by their stories like almost no other podcast does. Man, I do miss those kinds of podcasts, the ones that plunge you into some small corner of our amazing world. Closest thing I’m a fan of now is John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed, which incidentally was also featured on 99pi recently.
Truth. Imo they hit their peak right before that, though. Episode 114: Ten Thousand Years is probably my favorite. It's the one where they talk about designing warnings for a nuclear waste dump-site that even stone-age tribes of humans would understand as meaning 'Danger!' I used to like Radiolab as well, but I can't say I have any particular set of episodes I love. I checked out during an episode on high school debate, and never checked back in. That sounds interesting, but I've never really been a John Green fan! Is it different than his usual content? If so, I might check it out.
That may have also been the episode I quit Radiolab, funnily enough. AR strikes for me a very good balance of interesting facts and personal stories. The weight is on the latter, for the better. My favorite episode is the one about Indianapolis / Love at first sight, which is pretty representative of the rest. I like John as a person too much to properly judge if it’s also a good listen for someone who isn’t me, I’ll admit.