I liked listening to Sad Boyz for a while.
Normally I alternate between the WAN show for some background chatter and The Linux Experiment’s podcast for some fun Linux news.
When I’m looking for something lighter, I make my way through My Dad Wrote a Porno.
Yeah, I think your last point is the key. I’ve really learned to appreciate the value and quality of software that I pay for. And I will pay for it, just as people have been paying for things they want/need to use well before computers were a thing. The kinds of ads served up on 95% of the internet are essentially a waste and detrimental to a person’s attention economy.