On every weekly episode of the podcast Ologies, host Alie Ward interviews a researcher in an obscure field of science, that is, another “ology.” Past 200 episodes include Melittology (bees), Graphology (handwriting), Vulcanology (volcanoes), Horology (clocks), Vexillology (flags). Ward is witty, smart, playful and funny, and she asks exactly the right questions so that you too become obsessed with the same corner of the universe that you didn’t even know existed a few minutes earlier. — KK

In a past issue of Recomendo I recommended the Radio Garden website, which plays radio station feeds from all over the world. Reader Chris let me know that Radio Garden now has apps for Android and iOS. The functionality of the apps is the same as the website. Chris says, “Basically it’s an interactive map of the world with indicators for thousands of radio stations. You click on one of the green dots and suddenly you’re listening to radio from that part of the world. The sound quality is remarkably good and there are a number of features to enhance the listening experience. I’ve spent hours listening to music from Africa, the Mideast, and Asia already. I must say it’s one of the coolest apps I’ve come across in quite some time. Check it out if you haven’t already.” — MF

Nemo’s Dreamscapes are 3+ hour-long musical programs that feature music from the 1930s and 1940s mixed with the sound of rain, cars, birds, etc. Nemo mixes the music so it sounds like it’s playing in another room. The effect is very soothing. YouTube commenters say Nemo’s music programs help them fall asleep, cry with joy, make their headaches go away, and invoke feelings of sweet sadness and nostalgia. Give them a listen and see how they affect you. — MF

As I write this, construction workers next door are nailing shingles on the roof. But I don’t hear the nail gun or the air compressor because I’m wearing my AirPods Pro and playing the sounds of coffee shop chatter at the Rainy Cafe website. You can mix in the sound of rain, too. The sound helps me concentrate. It’s better than silence. — MF

Here is another free ambient sound website to add to our ever-growing list of musical streams we enjoy — myNoise.net. There are hundreds of different noise generators available for free listening that you can adjust to your sound comfort level. What I really like about myNoise is that once I calibrate the soundscape to my liking I can create a custom URL that I can save and go back to, like this “Chapel Voices” mix. — CD

One of my favorite things about Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood was listening to clips of 93 KHJ, a radio station that pioneered the “boss radio” sound in the 1960s. The DJs were all vocal virtuosos, and the most talented of the bunch was a guy by the name of “The Real Don Steele.” Almost all of these broadcasts have been lost to time, but fortunately, some people recorded KHJ on their tape recorders in the 1960s, and the recordings found their way to the Internet. The Internet Archive has a couple of recordings from the 1960s of Steele’s show on KHJ. Here’s another, and another (with other KHJ DJs, too). If this kind of thing interests you, you can dig up more by searching “khj airchecks.” — MF 

I binge listened to all 8 episodes of Boom/Bust: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia in one day. I was obsessed with the viral game back in 2017, but eventually lost interest and didn’t follow the demise of the trivia startup. This documentary podcast series gave me an insider glimpse into what really happened and helped me better understand the very fickle attention economy. — CD 

Last week I recommended The Nostalgia Machine, and some readers reported that it was glitchy and did not work on their browser. Reader Micael suggested if you have Spotify, try searching for “year:1992” to get song and artist results from that year, and @JMWander recommended Radiooooo.com which lets you customize a music stream based on decade, country, and slow, fast or weird music. Thanks! — CD

If you pick a year from your past (1951-2015), The Nostalgia Machine will warp you back musically and link you to videos of the top Billboard Hits of that time. 1996 takes me back to sixth grade and TLC and Alanis Morissette and a lot of weekend nights spent at the rollerskating rink. (Note: Some readers replied that this website did not work for them. One reader suggested that that if you type in "year:1992" in Spotify, you'll get hits from that year.) — CD

For the past decade David Byrne, the legendary rock musician, has operated his own “radio station,” which is really the curated playlist of his own musical explorations. Every month on his website David Byrne Radio, Byrne streams another 100-minute loop of new, old, classic, weird, wonderful, surprising, themed music he’s discovered and loves. He writes a short introduction, and supplies the full playlist. I’ve discovered (and bought) a lot of great music I first heard here. (In Nov 2018 he streamed a notable playlist of eternal protest songs.) — KK

At 3PM on a Thursday afternoon I’m one of 41,875 other people listening to the livestream of the ChilledCow lofi hiphop radio station on YouTube. Over 5 million people subscribe to ChilledCow, and I imagine the vast majority of them are students. I learned about it from my 16-year-old daughter who plays it on her headphones while she does her homework. I find that I can listen to the relaxing music for hours and hours while I work (that is, when I’m not in a Zoom meeting.) — MF

Every week Mark and I interview a maker on our Cool Tools podcast. We ask them to rave about four of their favorite tools for 25 minutes. The range of tools they recommend is surprising and refreshing; we are always expanding our possibilities. You can subscribe to the Cool Tools Podcast from the usual platforms. (We have 220 episodes!)  If you know of a remarkable person who is into tools, send us an introduction, and we’ll try to have them as a guest. — KK

Radio Garden is a website that presents you with a spinnable globe of the Earth. The green dots represent radio stations. Rotate the globe, click a dot and you are suddenly listening to live radio in that part of the world. Right now I’m listening to Radio Seaside Wave in Nakhodka, Russia. — MF

Now that we are stuck at home, we have a lot more time to relax at home. My family of four is using the living room together in the evenings. My wife does a crossword puzzle and my two daughters and I sketch. At the same time, we listen to a terrific old radio drama series called Suspense. Archive.org has 911 episodes, which may or may not last until the stay-at-home order is lifted, depending on how many episodes we listen to each night. — MF

I’ve long been a fan of Ken Burns’ epic documentary series about American history, such as The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, National Parks, The Vietnam War, and his most recent, Country Music. Each are essential watching. But listening to a deep interview of Ken Burns on Tim Ferriss’s podcast, my admiration for Burns increased two notches. In a short hour he managed to be informative, helpful, entertaining, romantic, creative, moving, wise, and spiritually enlightened — a Remarkable Being. It was one of the best hours I’ve spent. — KK

The Listener is a meta-podcast. Each episode of the Listener presents great individual podcast episodes selected from all the other podcasts out there. I listen to it to hear the best podcast episodes on the internet as curated by the same folks who do the Browser; the best articles on the internet. No need to subscribe to hundreds of podcast channels. You’ll get the best full shows with original intros and ads, but you only subscribe to one uber podcast, The Listener. The variety and quality are awesome. — KK

My favorite podcast is “Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel.” I always find myself choked up with emotion while listening to these anonymous couples therapy sessions. Esther Perel is so professional and progressive and such a master at guiding couples toward the light. It’s both voyeuristic and enlightening. Season 1 and 2 are free to listen to in your podcast app, but Season 3 “The Arc of Love” was just released as an Audible exclusive. — CD

I started listening to Sleepwalkers a couple of weeks ago. The hosts talk to software developers, ethicists, artists, doctors, military professionals, and other people who are creating, using, regulating, and thinking about AI and how it’s affecting every aspect of life on Earth. Instead of inviting guests into the studio, the hosts go into the field and talk to their guests where they live and work, which makes all the difference. — MF

Most of my audible credits tend to be spent on audio from the Sounds True library. I’ve listened to all the Brené Brown training talks they offer (like condensed versions of her books) and working my way through the Clarissa Pinkola Estés collection of healing stories and myths. But right now what I’m really enjoying is the very trippy 14-hour-long Out of Your Mind: Essential Listening from the Alan Watts Audio Archives. It makes my commute mind-expanding. — CD

Everambient is a $2 iPhone app that plays algorithmically generated ambient music. I’ve been listening to it all day while I work. Check out samples here. — MF