I hope by this point at least some of you are listening to podcasts. They've been around for roughly a decade and yet only recently have started to become popular in the mainstream. If you don't know what a podcast is, it's like a radio show that you download from iTunes (iTunes>iPod>Podcast) or other various hosting and streaming services. If you don't know what a radio show is, turn on your TV or Netflix and then close your eyes. It's like that. Some of you might even listen to actual radio programs like what NPR offers. But even NPR has their own podcasts now, a bunch actually. So what's the big deal with these fancy internet radio shows? Well, most of them are free and that's pretty sweet by itself, plus you can listen to them anytime you want. And there's something out there for pretty much everyone. If you have any interests at all, there's probably a podcast about it. So here's five podcasts from my own iTunes library that I think are pretty neat. The first two are family-friendly but the last three might use a bit too much of grown up language for some people.

5. StarTalk Radio with Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Are you a big dummy and want to learn more about space, time, space-time, or just physics in general? Or do you already know what you think is a suitable amount of information about those things and just want to hear Neil DeGrasse Tyson's soothing baritone say things like "general relativity", "quantum entanglement", and "Uranus"? Then StarTalk Radio is for you! The Facebook-savvy among you might know him as this guy:

That's right, he's the "Lookout, we got a badass over here" guy. Or sometimes he's the "Black Science Man", or one of the other many memes created in his image. But it turns out he is a totally-for-reals astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, and was the host/narrator/captain of the spaceship imagination on the second season of Cosmos (which you should totally watch if you haven't; it's on Netflix).

Each week Neil and a comedian co-host discuss topics ranging from black holes to particle physics. Some episodes feature interviews with people like Richard Dawkins, Morgan Freeman, or experts in the fields of science Neil might not know as much about such as pathology or epidemiology. He's had former astronauts, current authors, and goddamn Jimmy Carter. And if that's not enough, he's best friends with Bill Nye who sometimes hosts the show when Neil can't. Check it out and educate yourself.

4. Welcome to Night Vale

If you like spooky things, then Welcome to Night Vale is for you. It might not be hosted by a renowned astrophysicist, but it does have mysterious apparitions, witch covens, and tons of Lovecraftian business going on. If the word "Lovecraftian" means anything to you, then you're probably already downloading episodes right now. The episodes are all around thirty minutes, making them easily consumable and just as easy to binge on for several hours. But because it has a more narrative format as opposed to many of the more interview or fact based podcasts, if you lack an imagination then you might want to seek entertainment elsewhere.

The podcast is presented as an actual radio show in the fictional town of Night Vale where it seems like spooky things are constantly happening, just like how themed villains are constantly attacking the cities of Metropolis and Gotham. At a certain point you would think people would just move out, but why don't you learn to suspend your disbelief a little bit, dear fictional cynic that I'm addressing?

3. How Did This Get Made?

Do you like movies? What about terrible movies? Specifically, movies you know are terrible but watch anyway because you get a certain enjoyment from watching a movie you recognize as being clearly awful. Well even if you don't, keep reading this entry about How Did This Get Made? Hosted by Paul Scheer (Andre from "The League") Jason Mantzoukas (Rafi from "The League" ) and June Diane Raphael (from a ton of things), this is a show where terrible movies like "Zardoz", "Howard the Duck," and Maximum Overdrive are discussed at great length and in great detail with special guests like Adam Scott, Amy Schumer, Randall Park, and so many others that instead of reading names that I list, you should just go check out their archive of episodes and find some on your own!

Maybe you'll see a special guest you really want to hear, maybe you'll hear about a movie you agree is terrible and want funny people to tear apart, or maybe you'll find they chose a movie you really enjoy and you just want to be angry with four strangers for an hour and a half. Whatever the case, check it out. And be forewarned, this one (as well as the next two entries) can get real full of curse words, so if that's a thing that offends you, I guess don't listen to this one. Or just suck it up because it's worth it!

2. The Nerdist

This is the longest-running podcast in this article and perhaps one of the longest running podcasts in general. It's hosted by Chris Hardwick who you might recognize as the host of @Midnight on Comedy Central, "Talking Dead" on AMC, and formerly "Talking Bad" also on AMC. And if you watched MTV in the 90s then you might even recognize him as the host of the dating show "Shipwrecked." "The Nerdist" is also co-hosted by Jonah Ray from "The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail" on Comedy Central, and Matt Mira who writes for @Midnight and is the host of several other podcasts (you have to start looking some of these things up, I can't hold your hand forever). All three guys are stand-up comedians who are frequently performing in cities that are probably near you and that you should check out if you get the opportunity.

"The Nerdist" is best described as a free-form interview show featuring actors, comedians, writers, authors, journalists, scientists, directors, and musicians. Here, look at some more names: Tom Hiddleston, Guillermo Del Toro, Mel Brooks, Jeff Bridges, Colin Hanks, Kirsten Dunst, Jack Black, Paul Bettany, Sasha Grey, Aziz Ansari, and how about Tom Hanks for good measure. What do these people have in common? If you guessed anything other than, "they've all been on The Nerdist at least once", then maybe you know something that I don't about all of those people collectively. In any case, I think I just gave you several reasons to look into "The Nerdist" industry (that's right, it's more than just a podcast).

1. Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins

This here is the newest podcast on the list, and it is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites. If you watch things, then you have probably seen Paul F. Tompkins at least once in your life. He is a comedian, an actor, and an improviser, and this podcast focuses mostly on that last thing, which you might have guessed if you know what words mean and can identify when two real words have been merged to form one fake word.

Spontaneanation begins with Paul interviewing a special guest starting with a specific question from the previous week's guest. After about a twenty minute interview, Paul and a team of three other improvisers act out a scene using a location provided to them by the current guest, and they can call back to any information that was brought up in the interview or even the opening monologue (since I forgot to mention there's one of those as well). The results are consistently hilarious. Few other comedy-centered podcasts have provided me with more literal out-loud laughter than this one right here. I think I look forward to new episodes of Spontaneanation more than any other podcast (sorry previous entries). If you like improv comedy, or if you don't know what that is but just enjoy humorous things in general, then let Spontaneanation be the one podcast you listen to in your life. But also don't, because you would be missing out on other great podcasts.

0. Other things.

Doesn't having an entry "zero" make for six things? Technically, yes. But also, shut up. This is just where I'm going to name off a bunch of other podcasts that are great, but I didn't take the time to into great detail of them because what am I, your iTunes account?

Doug Loves Movies with Doug Benson
WTF!? with Marc Maron
Comedy Bang! Bang! with Scott Aukerman
Sklarboro Country with Randy and Jason Sklar
You Made It Weird! with Pete Holmes
The Todd Glass Show with (you guessed it) Todd Glass
The Indoor Kids with Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon
The X-Files Files with also Kumail Nanjiani
The Cracked Podcast with usually Jack O'Brien
Talkin' Toons with Rob Paulsen

How do I listen to so many great podcasts all the time you might ask? My life is a constant struggle, that's how.