The best podcasts for geeks of all stripes.

The two hosts are professional TV writers, and so bring their perspective to the show as industry professionals, while riffing on the bad episodes (which there are quite a few of early on) and extolling the virtues of the good ones. Starting with the first episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," they have worked their way through that entire series, and are now going through "Deep Space Nine." Matt is a long-time Star Trek fan, while Andy was a fan of the original series, but didn't watch past the first couple of episodes of Next Gen when it originally aired, so they come at the show from very different viewpoints.

This is the only "actual play" podcast that I can listen to on a regular basis and not get bored. What makes this one different is that rather than playing a high fantasy campaign, instead they choose a film (mostly well known ones) and stat out the main character(s) using the GURPS role-playing system, then based on the dice rolls and the decisions of the players, watch the story go in completely different directions. Some personal favorites are "Frozen," "The Goonies," and "Jumanji." The amount of prep the GM does is amazing to fully flesh out the world, no matter how off course the players end up.

"Find your joy." This closing sentence for every episode is the mantra that defines the show. It's only had a few episodes so far, but Shag is great at finding the perfect guest to dive deep into a geeky subject, whether that be the 80s TV show "V," or one specific issue of "The Brave and the Bold." It's great to have a show that focuses almost exclusively on the love people have for various pieces of pop culture, as far too many outlets prefer to pick things apart and be cynical even about the things they say they enjoy.

You may have heard that Star Wars was heavily influenced by Joseph Campbell and the idea of the monomyth. But, what if you look at other stories through that same lens? That's what Jeff and Dan do once a month, mostly for films, but occasionally other mediums as well. They may not always agree where one section exactly begins or ends, but that's part of the fun of their discussion.

This one's a little outside the box, but that's how you have to think to figure out the questions in this show, so that's fine. Tom Scott is not pop culture savvy, but with his many years of various YouTube projects, he's become part of pop culture itself. In his latest project, he invites a few people on to try to figure out various riddles and other nonsensical-sounding questions by thinking laterally (hence, the name of the show). This show makes you stretch your brain, and really, isn't that one of the goals of the geek? I would love to be on this one day, although I'm not nearly internet famous enough at this point.