The Nerdist podcast gets on my nerves. I subscribe but only listen if the guest is fantastic. Patton Oswalt's appearance and the story about his tenure on MadTV was great. The Zucker brothers interview was also great. But it's really only great when Hardwick, Mira and Ray get out of the way and just let the guest tell stories - but that's also the show's weakness, because a distinctive personality/viewpoint is what makes Maron great as an interviewer/conversationalist, while Hardwick seems to think hysterical enthusiasm and Simpsons references adequately comprise a personality. As an interviewer he pitches nothing but softballs.
The other thing that really tests me with the Nerdist is that Hardwick and Mira, particularly, do this thing where they laugh nervously through their teeth immediately after saying something "funny," which makes me super-tense, because it just reeks of insecurity. And they can't ever make a joke without making a joke about the joke they just made. The fetishization of "nerds" is intensely grating too - we get it, you guys like comic books and gaming and sci-fi; stop acting like you earned something important.
Having said that, Hardwick's standup can be funny sometimes and I kind of like his song parodies once in a while.
Oh, and the audio collage pieces are just getting better and better.