We're muddling our way through the dog days of summer, and that means there are summer road trips coming up! Though I'm sure you could survive listening to Ryan Seacrest announce America's Top 40 for nine hours straight during road trips, sometimes those long car rides needs a little spicing up. Enter podcasts, which have come a long way from the dry NPR reports that used to rule the airwaves. Here's a list of radio shows -- easily accessible on your phone, and best of all, free -- that can help a long drive become just a little more bearable.
1. "Stuff You Should Know"
This was the very first podcast I ever listened to, and it's a great starter to help you get used to the feel and flow of podcasts. It's fairly straightforward -- the two hosts, Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark, explore a single topic for about an hour. They've been running this podcast for eight years, and have racked up a ton of episodes on everything from lobbying to street gangs, therapeutic hypothermia to the Oak Island mystery. I've been listening to this series fairly consistently for over a year, and I've still not even scrolled to the end of the podcast episode list because of how many topics I've wanted to tune into.
Recommended episodes: "How The Iditarod Works" and "How BASE Jumping Works"
2. "The Moth Podcast"
"The Moth" is one of those weird radio shows where you might end up laughing hysterically one minute and crying the next. The episodes, which range from a half hour to a full 60 minutes, are made up of personal stories told on live stages across the country. The speakers compete to tell the best stories, and the most impressive tales end up on the podcast. There are some truly crazy narratives on this podcast, and I've yet to be disappointed by an episode.
Recommended episodes: "Paul Bacon & Bokara Legendre" and "Radio Hour: Pagan Fundraisers, Blue Haired Boy, Autism and Oscar"
3. "Lizard People"
This podcast might be a little tough to swallow for some people, because it's so ridiculous. Comedian Katelyn Hempstead tasks fellow comedians with researching and presenting a classic conspiracy theory (Area 51, Bigfoot, the faked moon landing, etc.) with the goal of convincing her that it's real. Everything is played for laughs on the podcast, and I've found myself cracking up more than a few times on just how ludicrous some of the theories are.
Recommended episode: "Beyonce and the Illuminati with Olivia Duncan"
4. "Hello From The Magic Tavern"
It took me a long time to get into this podcast, mostly because the premise is fairly weird. "HFTMT" follows the (very fictional) adventures of podcaster Arnie Niekamp after he falls through a inter-dimensional portal into the magical land of Foon. If you're having a hard time imagining the show, combine the Today show with "The Chronicles of Narnia," but make it much, much funnier.
Recommended episode: In order to make sense of the whole storyline, start from the first episode!
5. "This American Life"
The quintessential podcast, "This American Life" is for pretty much everyone. The usual host, Ira Glass, introduces individual episodes that each focus on a particular topic. Instead of just talking about the issue at hand, however, each episode takes pieces of different media -- short stories, speeches, interviews, etc. -- and creates a hodgepodge of views that creates a very well-rounded and fascinating discussion for each episode.
Recommended episode: "Birds & Bees"
