I’m a sucker for road trips and recently drove up the Oregon coast from the California Redwoods to Lincoln City with friends and family. Sky-high fuel prices notwithstanding, it was a blast piling into the car with old friends taking in sights, yukking it up and listening to music. But, at a certain point on road trips — this one was no exception — you run out of things to talk about and the songs on a road trip playlist become stale after a while.

The hours of being in a car become tiresome, but a good podcast can pass the time and change the mood of a long car ride where you and your traveling partners might want to keep driving a little longer to keep listening.

In some ways, having a list of podcasts downloaded before a long drive is as essential as packing enough socks and underwear or checking your car’s tire pressure before hitting the road.

These days one can find a podcast about literally any topic. The medium has exploded from news-driven political podcasts to hours-long deep dives into history, true crime and other niche topics.

Lately, I’ve been listening to the “Timesuck” podcast hosted by the Idaho-based comedian Dan Cummins. The podcast has something for everyone: one part comedy and one part history, sprinkled with a little bit of true crime.

Each week Cummins, a Gonzaga University graduate, thoroughly explores and explains a listener-suggested topic that he’s researched beforehand in an intelligent and entertaining way.