The Talmud is way cooler than I realized, where to begin as a non-Jew?

First off, I should be clear that I am not Jewish and apologize in advance for anything I get wrong or that comes off as irreverent/disrespectful.

I had always imagined the Talmud as a massive collection of the most excruciatingly hair-splitting commentary on Jewish law, something so painfully boring that it traumatizes generation after generation of Hebrew school student the way diagramming sentences factoring polynomials are remembered with dread by generation after generation of grade school student. I had the impression that it would be of no more interest to me than Mongolian tax law would, that as a non-Jew it simply had no possible relevance to my life, and that even for the average Jew it isn't of much more interest than the minutia of US commercial regulations are to the average American.

Now I've only listened to a few podcasts, but my interest is most definitely sparked. First I heard an episode of Doug Metzger's "Literature and History" podcast on the Talmud and ten episodes into the "Oral Talmud" podcast. It is far more philosophically provocative than I expected, with the "Oven of Akhnai" story serving as my introduction to how the Talmud uses "hair-splitting" as a jumping-off point to address much bigger and more universal questions.

Obviously, I have barely even scratched the surface, but I am eager to learn more about the Talmud (both the philosophy in it and historical context in which it was created). However I am a little worried that I'm not getting a balanced perspective listening to "The Oral Talmud". Although the progressive/reformist bent of the show resonates with me personally, I am curious where more Orthodox scholars would agree and disagree.

So I would be grateful if anyone can recommend podcasts, blogs, YouTube channels etc about the Talmud that are more traditionally Orthodox in their outlook, but still intended to be comprehensible to beginners/non-Jews.