It’s official: Austin traffic stinks to high heaven. This year I’m going to be spending a LOT of time rotting in claustrophobia-inducing, jerk-central, bumper-to-bumper hell. What saved me during these trying times? Podcasts my friends…PODCASTS.
Do you hate doing laundry? Cleaning the house? Wasting time in traffic? Going for walks? Exercising? I know I do! But thanks to podcasts, I can stimulate my brain while doing the mundane (I should be a rapper poet).
You can learn AND be entertained while feeling like you’re being productive and not wasting time! There’s no excuse to not listen to podcasts. Unless you don’t know how or what to listen to. Luckily for you, I’m here to help!
Table of Contents
How to get started
This article will help you out: The Beginner’s Guide to Podcasts.
My Favorite Podcasts
Need some listening suggestions to get started? I’ll share mine with you.
Be forewarned: I listen to random podcasts because my interests are varied and frankly, some accuse of being odd. So take these with a grain of salt.
For the curious…
Science Vs
“Science Vs takes on fads, trends, and the opinionated mob to find out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between.”
I loooooove this podcast. They heavily research (hundreds of sources used per episode) commonly held beliefs, myths, and dogma, then report on their findings. This is done in a highly entertaining, humorous, and pretty unbiased way. Even if you find science boring or don’t enjoy having your beliefs challenged, you will enjoy this podcast.
Topics range from the benefits of essential oils, organic vs. non-organic produce, and even sharks to more political issues such as abortion, vaccines, and illegal immigration.
The host, Wendy Zuckerman, is simply the most charming individual ever! Her Australian accent is an absolute joy to listen to. Love ya Wendy (call me gurl)!
Stuff You Should Know
The hosts Charles “Chuck” Bryant and Josh Clark make you feel like you’re in a silly drunken/stoned chat with two friends. You know the chats I’m talking about.
Chats involving questions such as, what is the deal with crop circles? What does prison food taste like and how is is made? How do TV ratings work? What really happened with the Donner party (spoiler: they ate people)???
They have covered billions of topics and make every single one interesting. If you want to be the cool weirdo at parties constantly starting sentences with, “Did you know that…” and ending with some obscure and crazy fact, listen to this show!
Ologies
Host Alie Ward dives into the details of every -ology out there. Examples are psychology, mycology (study of mushrooms), victimology (didn’t know this was a thing until her podcast), and even ludology (video games)!
Alie is the perfect mixture of intelligent, curious, and hilariously entertaining, making even the most dull-sounding topics fascinating. For instance, I thought there was NO WAY IN HELL that I’d find an episode on hagfish interesting.
However, I listened with glee to the episode from start to finish! I forced my newly found knowledge on unsuspecting friends and strangers, gabbing about hagfish slime and how they defend themselves. You too can be this awesome.
For the health nut
This Podcast Will Kill You
If you’re a hypochondriac, this might not be for you. But if you’re someone like me who LOVES learning about the history of disease, viruses, and bacteria (don’t judge me), it definitely is for you. They’ve covered measles, H.pylori (people with acid reflux should check out this episode), and the Zika virus, to name a few.
They discuss prevalence, the history of discovery and treatment (best part in my opinion), and how the disease/virus/bacteria does what it does so well. Super entertaining, well produced, and highly recommended.
Dr. Ruscio Radio
Dr. Ruscio is a functional and integrative doc who LOVES digging into the science, which is why I enjoy this podcast. You’ll have access to the findings of numerous health studies you’d normally have to pay mucho buckos for. All the while listening to a trained professional sharing his interpretations of the results.
He frequently chats with super-educated and experienced guests, ranging from medical doctors to psychologists to endocrinologists who come from all areas of the health professional spectrum. He also talks about case studies from his private practice. I love how he combines science with lesser-known, alternative treatments in order to consider treating the body as a whole unit.
For the crime freak
My Favorite Murder
You can’t mention a murder podcast without talking about these lovely ladies. It’s probably the most popular murder podcast of the moment!
I’ll admit, when I first started listening I didn’t like it. I was expecting a serious and detailed podcast about murder cases. Instead I got two chick-a-dees giggling, talking about their lives, and throwing out random numbers they didn’t understand such as, “He stole $700 back in 1825. That’s equal to $10 billion U.S. dollars today!”
This is literally a comedy murder podcast. I know, that sounds uh…insensitive? Weird?
As the ladies explain, they use humor to deal with extremely dark and serious topics that morbidly fascinate them. And trust me, it works. This is one of the most entertaining podcasts around for anyone interested in true crime.
Warning: If you are someone who can’t handle women who curse like pirates and are insanely funny, this is not for you!
Serial: Season 1
If you’re a podcast junkie, there’s a 99.9% chance you’ve listened to this already. This podcast became a phenomenon equal to the Netflix version of “Making a Murderer.” It follows the murder of Hae Min Lee and the conviction of her boyfriend Adnan Syed.
There are soooo many twists and turns your head might fall off. Starting one episode is like opening a can of Pringles; once you pop, you just can’t stop!
For the comedy junkie
Conan O’ Brien Needs a Friend
I just love this man so much. He is one of the funniest and most lovely people on the planet. For you youngins’ who don’t know, he used to be a writer for shows such as The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live before settling on being a talk show host.
Now he’s hosting this ridiculous podcast where he invites famous people to chat in hopes of them becoming his friend. Guests thus far have included Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Obama, Howard Stern, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Colbert, Kristen Bell, Will Ferrell and much more! I WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND CONAN.
If you hate laughing so hard you snort in your car or spit out your drink, avoid this podcast!
For the history buff
Slow Burn
Two of the U.S.’s (arguably) largest political scandals of the past century are covered in Season 1 and 2 of this podcast: Watergate and the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky/Whitewater scandal. They uncover facts you didn’t know existed and can’t believe occurred. They do this in a way that makes you feel like you’re listening to the most insane soap opera ever written.
Except it’s not. It’s our freaking history!
Soooo…you’re welcome
Hopefully you’ll enjoy the podcasts I’ve recommended. They have saved my life from boredom and reduced the amount of speeding tickets on my record! Podcasts are the new TV people, so hop on the cool kids train of learning!
