Podcast Love
I'm an early riser. Despite my best efforts to sleep late whenever I have the chance, I rarely make it past 6am. My natural wake cycle is sometime between 4:30-5:30am, no matter what time I go to bed. It's annoying. My mother's upbringing on a farm must've somehow wiggled its way into my DNA. Maybe. Whatever, I'm not a scientist.
I have learned to take advantage of these pre-dawn hours, however. I get my first cup of coffee and my knitting, and I blow through my DVR like a boss. I'm almost always caught up on The Daily Show by sunrise.
And over the last few years, I've started a pre-dawn walking habit. Yes, I'm motivated by staying active and maintaining my cardiovascular health and yada yada yada, but honestly, the thing that gets me out the door is my podcast feed.
While watching Trevor Noah make jokes about yesterday's news (and missing Jon Stewart. Yeah, I said it), I start scrolling through my podcasts to see what's new. There's always something there that makes me want to grab my sneakers and get going so I can listen.
I know podcasts became Officially Mainstream when Serial became a thing. And since it became mainstream, there has been an explosion of podcasts out there. An explosion, I tell you! There are so many to choose from that it's overwhelming, really. I used to always ask people for book recommendations, but these days, I'm more likely to ask people which podcasts they listen to. I thought since I'm always looking for good podcasts, maybe you all are too?
Before I list them all for you, I thought I'd mention two more things that make listening to podcasts easy. These days, I don't just listen during my morning walk; I listen while making dinner or doing the dishes. I listen when I'm folding laundry. I listen in the car. I listen in the shower. I listen during any mindless task that doesn't require any mental focus on my part. Seriously, it makes getting through everyday chores so much better!
In the kitchen, bathroom, and sewing room, this Soundlink Mini by Bose wireless speaker is awesome. It connects to my iPhone via Bluetooth, and it plays all the music and podcasts I desire. The sound quality is spectacular. I highly recommend it! This one is a few years old; I think there's a newer model out now.
The other item I love is this pouch that holds my phone while I walk. It has a magnetic flap so it easily hooks onto my waistband and stays in place. They make them to fit all kinds of devices, including my giant honking iPhone 6+ (you can find them here).
Okay, let's get down to it! Here are some of my favorite podcasts these days:
THE BIG NAME PODCASTS:
The Diane Rehm Show and Fresh Air. These barely count as podcasts since they are actually radio shows available in podcast form. I always check in with them and download the episodes that look interesting.
Serial I loved the first season and devoured it like most people (Free Adnan! I think!). Season One was about the murder of a high school student and the arrest, trial, and imprisonment of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. It explores the criminal justice system and our notions of guilt and innocence. It's binge-worthy. Season Two is about Beau Bergdahl, the American POW who spent nearly five years in captivity by the Taliban. I started listening to it but I'm not caught up. I didn't make a conscious decision to not listen, it just hasn't grabbed me like Season One did.
This American Life This is probably the first podcast I listened to regularly, starting way back in the day. I have no idea how to describe this show. It runs on NPR, but I rarely catch it when it airs. At the beginning of the show they say something like "Each week we bring you a theme" and they have a few different stories on that theme. It's funny, it's interesting, it's heartbreaking; it's almost always worth a listen.
FUN PODCASTS:
There are times that you just want something light or entertaining. These are my go-to podcasts when I don't want anything too intense first thing in the morning:
-Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me This is another NPR show that airs on the radio, but I only catch it as a podcast. It's described as "NPR's weekly current events quiz. Have a laugh and test your news knowledge while figuring out what's real and what we've made up." They tape in front of a live audience, they have a celebrity guest each week, and there's a rotating panel of comedians. It's totally nerdy but I totally love it. I went to a taping once and it was so fun! I know. Dork.
-Ask Me Another This is yet another NPR show. Okay, there's definitely a theme here. Clearly I'm an NPR nerd. Don't judge me. It's a show "featuring puzzles, word games and trivia played in front of a live audience". Like "Wait, Wait", they also have contestants and a celebrity guest, and it is highly entertaining.
-Starr Struck Radio This one is simply delightful. I am someone who uses phrases like "simply delightful" when being sarcastic, but this time I say it without irony. I used to take Mary Catherine Starr's yoga classes when she lived here in Arlington, which is how I found her blog. She started a podcast last year and I've listened to every episode. Her website says it's a podcast that is "focused on living a creative, inspired, purposeful life", but that's not at all how I would describe it. It's Mary Catherine and her husband Ben discussing all manner of topics, and I just love listening to their banter. Sometimes they have guests, but it's usually just the two of them. I can't really describe why I like this one so much, I just do.
-Call Your Girlfriend I've been listening to this one for a long time, and it has recently become more mainstream. Like "paid advertising" and "celebrity guests" mainstream. The tagline for this show is "a podcast for long-distance besties everywhere". It's a pair of best friends, Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow who live in different cities, and the podcast is their weekly phone call. They are young and single and millennial, so I often feel my age when listening to them, but they are interesting and entertaining and I get a little psyched when I see there's a new episode in my feed.
-WTF With Marc Maron I think this is officially the most popular podcast ever. It's in the Library of Congress. Really! President Obama was even a guest once! I'm not sure why this one took off, because it's really basic: a cranky middle-aged stand-up comedian interviews celebrities in his garage. That's it. And honestly, I usually fast-forward through the first 15 minutes when it's just him talking. But his interviews? They are really, really good. He somehow gets people to open up in ways that we don't normally hear from celebrities having a regular conversation. I think the title of this article says it all: "How An Angry Comic Who Had A Coke Habit Became The Barbara Walters of Podcasts".
POLITICS:
I have a weird addiction to politics. I get as fed-up with all the crazy nonsense as much as anyone; in fact, I'm at a point where I simply cannot take any more Trump coverage. I have a personal boycott happening over here. But I am fascinated by the process and the players and the drama of it all.
-The NPR Politics Podcast Okay, another NPR podcast. Sue me. This is "where NPR's political reporters talk to you like they talk to each other". They do weekly round-ups, interviews, and reports from the campaign trail. Always interesting.
-Candidate Confessional - Defeated Politicians Tell All This one is fairly new, but it's fascinating. It's Sam Stein and Jason Cherkis interviewing politicians who ran for office and lost. They are candid about what they were thinking at the time, why they lost...I'm telling you, fascinating. Have you ever seen a politician go through a bad campaign or scandal and want to ask him or her, "Why even bother? What the hell were you thinking?" These guys ask. And the politicians actually answer.
INTERESTING:
This category is a list of shows that I just find, well, interesting.
-Embedded This one has only three episodes so far, but I plan to keep listening. The tag line is "Embedded takes a story from the news and goes deep." It's hosted by Kelly McEvers, who spent several years of her career embedded in war zones. Now she takes news stories happening in the United States and tells the story behind the headlines.
-The New Yorker Radio Hour Years ago, I used to subscribe to The New Yorker. I could never keep up; too many articles, not enough time. This podcast is like sitting down with an issue of The New Yorker for an hour (or less). Hosted by David Remnick, you get interviews, long-form journalism, funny pieces; I really like this one.
-The Big Listen This is a podcast show about podcasts. So meta. Their tagline is "with thousands of podcasts out there, what to listen to?" Exactly.
I've also dabbled with On The Media, Freakanomics, The TED Radio Hour, Snap Judgment...all good, but not in my regular rotation.
ALL THE FEELS:
These are the podcasts that make strangers wonder "why is that woman is crying?" as I walk on by.
-StoryCorps This one is probably the weepiest of them all. Seriously, I don't think I've listened to a single episode that didn't make me at least tear up a bit. Their website explains it this way: "StoryCorps is America’s oral history project. Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected more than 60,000 interviews with over 100,000 participants from all backgrounds -- the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. Recordings are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress so that future generations can hear the stories – and the voices – of today."
-Modern Love Once upon a time, I used to get the Sunday New York Times, in paper form, delivered to our door. I would sit with my coffee and read as much as I could in one sitting. It was a simpler time. And one of my favorite regular columns was Modern Love. And now there's a podcast! Each episode is a Modern Love column read aloud by a celebrity, and then the hosts follow up with the author of the piece to find out what happened after the essay was published. It's beautiful and amazing and I love it so.
-The Moth I almost put this in the "Fun" category, but even though I laugh almost every time I listen, I also almost always cry a little. Their tag line is "True Stories Told Live". Give it a listen.
-Dear Sugar Oh, how I love this podcast. This is a podcast that sprang from the "Dear Sugar" column, and it's hosted by the original Sugars, Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond. It's essentially an advice column come to life. But this is not your mother's Dear Abby. I can't describe it any better than they do on their website: "The universe has good news for the lost, lonely and heartsick. Dear Sugar is here, and speaking straight into your ears. Hosted by the original Sugars, Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond, the podcast fields all your questions — no matter how deep or dark — and offers radical empathy in return."
-On Being I'll be honest here. These are not all home runs. There are a lot of episodes that feel like a Christopher Guest movie without the irony. But. The ones that are good are truly great. There are episodes I have listened to more than once, and since I have a lot in my queue, that is high praise. Their website describes their show this way: "On Being opens up the animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?" Sounds good, right? My favorite episodes were with Lutheran pastor and all-around badass Nadia Bolz-Weber, sociologist Brene Brown, TV host Phil Donahue (really!), poet Mary Oliver and physicist Brian Greene. Good, good stuff.
Wow. This is a really long list! I hope you find a show or two here that piques your interest. I'd love to hear your podcast recommendations! Send me an email or share in the comments. Happy Listening!
