Club Random with Bill Maher - Podcast Rankings and reviews

I’ve been a Maher fan for decades. I’ve seen him live. I like Real Time’s format. I like hearing celebrities/personalities I find interesting or intriguing being interviewed in this “unfiltered” format. But Bill has become more arrogant and rude as the years have rolled on. He interrupts guests or answers his questions to them before giving the guest an opportunity to answer … and he’s never wrong (not to mention the first to laugh at his jokes which are clearly not always funny). So though I listen when I’m interested in the guest, I have to sometimes struggle through because of these reasons.

I like Bill. Wouldn’t consider him an “intellectual”, but he does quite a bit of thinking outside the box/ independent thinking. I like that he is mature enough to criticize both the right and the left, and he often does it with good humor and sarcasm.

That said, Bill’s strengths come through much more clearly on his HBO show. Maybe it’s the benefit of a competent team of writers, maybe he just thrives in a slightly more serious (less stoner) setting. On the other hand, his weaknesses become a bit too much to handle on this Random platform: his constant interrupting and talking more than his guests; how clearly drunk or stoned he gets as some of the interviews progress (Bill is really a much more interesting person sober); and, quite frankly, a bit of immaturity that I never quite saw on his HBO show.

Case in point, I just tried to listen to his convo with the Skinny Confidential hosts. Sure, they are a couple of 30-some year olds, Bill could be their old dad or even young granddad. Maybe Bill was trying to climb down the age ladder to “meet” their guests at a younger level. But boy, was it boring to hear a 68 year old talk about how he still enjoys the “stage 1” of his life, and ask what exactly Michael and Lauryn did in bed to keep sex life spicy, etc. I don’t judge Bill for that, but I certainly don’t want to get to age almost 70 thinking about how young people please each other. I wasn’t disturbed or disgusted, just bored. Turned it off, looked for the most recent episode of Real Time on HBO.

It can be hard to rate interview podcasts as the guests can dictate how good the show is. When Maher has a guest with interesting viewpoints, it’s a great podcast. When he doesn’t — which is rare, luckily — it’s easy to skip that particular episode. The lack of structure is also a boon, yet it can be frustrating as a listener when Maher and his guests forget to come back to a topic.

Bill Maher can have an interesting conversation with anyone! It’s like listening to him catch up with an old friend. Both he and his guests don’t shy away from asking and answering personal questions. There’s not a lot of political discourse if that’s what you’re expecting. As usual, he doesn’t pull any punches and he has guests who are cool enough to go with it! Great podcast.

I have been a Maher fan for many years, but his astounding arrogance and ‘look at me’ insecurities have made this podcast almost unlistenable. He talks and talks and talks but barely gives his guests an opportunity to speak. His pontificating is boring and exhausting. This podcast is merely a vehicle for his own ego, so I’m out. What a disappointment.

On Real Time, Maher is engaged in much more of a conversation with his guests. On Random it’s the Bill Maher show. Guests can’t get a word in edgewise, much less complete a nuanced thought or point. Jordan Peterson was never able to finish anything he started as Maher would interrupt and take the conversation on a tangent. It’s the polar opposite of a Sam Harris podcast. This show has the potential to be great, but with the incessant interruptions, it’s mediocre.