Articles of Interest, The Optimist & more: The eight podcasts for summer that will help your travel boredom

With holiday travel window now officially open — true — you’re going to need some help filling some time.

Here are eight podcasts to consider that work across biography, true-crime, journalism, fashion and more.

Articles of Interest

Born out of a recurring feature on the excellent podcast 99% Invisible, Articles of Interest is full of superlatives: best episodic podcast about fashion history, best mastery of how to tell a visual story in an audio format, best pack-a-day-sounding raspy voice from host Avery Trufelman. It’s a rare show about clothes that can be equally enjoyed by fashion nerds and “just grab what’s at the top of the drawer” types.

Standout episode: This season is about gear and the surprising links between the outdoor industry and the US military. The episode on camouflage is particularly wild.

Darknet Diaries

This is about cybercrime ... and while that may sound intimidating, it’s really a true-crime podcast about the internet, told in a way that is suspenseful and understandable to beginners.

Standout episode: XBox Underground (Part 1).

Read the latest edition of ROAM by The Nightly now.

Fela Kuti: Fear No Man

The bio-pod from Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad asks big questions about a larger-than-life character and delivers on an equal scale. Interviews with famous fans, musical collaborators, children and wives of the titular Afrobeat pioneer add emotional insights and astounding anecdotes to fill out the life of a superstar who invented his own genre and used it to stand up to an oppressive government. The reporting is first-rate, and the music is undeniably funky.

Standout episodes: The pieces devoted to Sandra Izsadore, who introduced Fela to the American civil rights movement, and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, his mother and an activist in her own right, are inspiring and illuminating. The story behind the song named for “expensive” s--t will leave your jaw on the floor.

Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out

The comedian, actor and director brings fellow performers on to talk jokes, creative process and career arcs. Saturday Night Live stars, musical-theatre genius Lin-Manuel Miranda and comedy-guy-turned-superhero Kumail Nanjiani all drop in. Listening to funny people crack each other up is great fun, but Birbiglia dives into the fundamentals of comedy and storytelling in a way that is also thoughtful and revealing.

Standout episode: Bob Odenkirk unexpectedly makes parents everywhere tear up when he answers a simple question: Who are you jealous of?

The Optimist

While most journalists hunt for what is wrong in the world, The Washington Post’s Maggie Penman seeks out what is going right in a series of weekend episodes on Post Reports.

Standout episodes: Maggie introduces us to all kinds of people — super-agers, mega party hosts, dog whisperers, old ladies diving for garbage — who share their wisdom. Each episode is distinct, but once you start, you won’t want to stop hearing these stories.

Scamanda

This podcast investigates a woman named Amanda who led her friends and following to believe that she was dying of cancer. It’s fascinating hearing the story unfold and seeing how far people will dig a hole rather than just admit they were caught. There is also a [US] ABC News docuseries if you’d rather consume that way.

Swindled

This is a bingeworthy true-crime podcast about scams, cons and, well, swindles.

Standout episode: The Horse Queen (Rita Crundwell).

What Went Wrong

Each episode is packed with all the lore and trivia and gossip that you want to know about how your favourite movies were made (and how every movie is almost not made).

Standout episodes: Back to the Future and Dirty Dancing are must-listens.