When I am working on a project I love to listen to music or watch a movie…but sometimes I want something more engaging than music but less distracting than a movie. So my new (to me) favorite thing is to listen to podcasts. This discovery came when I started working at my new day job where I spend 8 hours a day entering data into a computer. It’s very tedious and nearly brainless. I got tired of just listening to music so I started listening to tons of podcasts. Here are five podcasts that I have been listening religiously to:
Risk! True Tales Boldly Told As you can probably guess from the title this podcast contains true stories about people taking risks. I have listened to other story telling podcasts but the thing that sets this one apart is that the storytellers do not use notes or just read from a pre-written text. I find that if I’m working on something the casualness of the storytelling makes it very easy for me to follow and I don’t get distracted by the language. However, most of the stories are told by comedians and are VERY funny, so be prepared to laugh a lot!
WTF with Marc Maron I don’t follow comedy at all, have never been to a stand-up comedy show, rarely watch comedians on TV or listen to their cd’s and I had never heard of Marc Maron. I just randomly picked this one from itunes and have listened to most of the episodes. Each episode starts off with Marc ranting or just talking about a specific subject which is then followed by an interview or two with other comedians. Some episodes are live, on the road, or contain fake interviews. And again this is hilarious and casual but it contains a lot of honesty and intelligence. I don’t know what this says about me but my favorite reoccurring guest is Eddie Pepitone. I love the way he just yells every absurd thing that comes out of his brain.
Stuff You Should Know This show is hosted by two guys, in Atlanta I think, who take on a different subject each week (or maybe every couple days). Some of my favorite topics were The Hells Angels, How Fascism Works, How Twins Work, How Tourettes Syndrome Works, and How Scabies Work. Go through the list and pick a couple that interest you and you will probably listen to more episodes after that.
Stuff Mom Never Told You This show is hosted by two ladies, also from Atlanta, who take on a different subject each podcast. The difference is that most of these podcasts relate to women in general. One of the first episodes I listened to was the Poop episode which was just awesome. Other topics have included: bikinis, feminist childrens books, political quotas, and freemasons. Again, just go through the selection on itunes and pick a couple that you want to learn more about and you will be hooked.
Art Heroes There were only a few episodes of this podcast up on itunes but I found it to be interesting and informative. Most of the podcasts deal with topics that have to do with becoming a successful artist. I really enjoyed the episode that focused on licensing art and the episode about what artists should and shouldn’t do at art openings. John T. Unger, the host, is very honest about what goes into making a living as an artist and I enjoy listening to him because it’s like listening to a friend talk about art.
Do you have a favorite podcast that I must check out? Tell me about it. I have 40 hours a week to listen to them!
Ornaglyphology 