I recently became a huge fan of podcasts. They're easy to pick out, easy to listen to, and you generally get to learn stuff you wouldn't have known otherwise. I've found that they're also great for car rides; I'm one of those people that grabs my phone at a red light and looks for new music to put on. With a podcast, you can just keep listening.
I've come across six podcasts that I really love, and I want other people to love them too.
1. Stuff You Should Know
SYSK is a program in which Josh and Chuck tell you stuff that you should know. Episodes include "How Guide Dogs Work," "Polyamory: When Two Just Won't Do," "How Sea Monsters Work," and "How Chocolate Works." There are over 200 episodes on iTunes, but over 600 episodes on their website. If you're a fan of learning random tidbits of information, this podcast is for you.
2. Death, Sex, and Money
DSM is a podcast produced by WNYC. It's about "the things we all think about, but need to talk about more often." Hosted by Anna Sale, some episodes include "I Killed Someone. Now I Have Three Kids," "The NFL Made Me Rich. I Won't Watch It Now," and "Alpha Dad Gets Snipped."
3. This American Life
A podcast that is constantly number one on the charts, This American Life is the most popular podcast on iTunes. It has won all major broadcasting awards, and is co-produced by NPR. Hosted by Ira Glass, This American Life is hard to describe; the best way to put it is that it has a theme every episode and many stories related to the theme. Most, if not all, of the stories are relatable to the average person living in America.
4. Serial
Serial, a spin-off by This American Life, is the true story of 17-year-old Adnan Syed who was convicted of killing his high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee. The host of the podcast, Sarah Koenig, and many of Adnan's friends and family believe that he is innocent. Koenig attempts to unpack the intricacies of the day Hae was killed in an attempt to clear Adnan's name through the podcast's 12 episodes.
Both of the next podcasts are associated with TEDTalks. They differ slightly in length of episodes and content, but I highly recommend both of them.
5. TEDTalks (audio)
TEDTalks audio are the shorter talks that you might hear if you go to a TEDTalk conference. These episodes are centered around "Ideas Worth Spreading." With an average episode length of about 15 minutes, TEDTalks audio gives listeners a wide range of subjects to listen to, such as "What We Learn from Insects Kinky Sex Lives," and "The Art of First Impressions: In Design and Life," with speakers including President Jimmy Carter, author John Green, and Bill Gates.
6. TED Radio Hour
TEDTalks Radio are the longer episodes, with each centered around a common theme such as "the source of happiness, crowd-sourcing innovation, power shifts, or inexplicable connections." You'd also hear these talks if you went to a TEDTalk conference, but these episodes will be almost an hour long (as the title will tell you). These episodes are more broad in subject matter than the TEDTalks audio episodes, which I have found to be more specific.
If you have a podcast that you'd like to recommend to me, comment on this article and I'll definitely give it a listen.
