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Being a lifetime learner is always an admirable goal. Time can be tight to squeeze in some new learning, and that’s why podcasts are perfect. Whether during the drive to and from work or when you go for a walk at lunch, try out a few of these podcast to give your brain some food for thought.
Radio Lab – Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich
These two hosts explore the obscure, the scientific and the poignant to craft meaningfully themed shows. One of the more heart-tugging episodes follows the experience of an autistic boy who becomes obsessed with Disney movies and his family who learns that his favorite phrase “juicervose” is actually a quote from The Little Mermaid when Ursula says “just your voice.” My favorite episode has been on the sentimentality of things. It follows different people who kept something mundane their whole lives because of the meaning they attached to it. It’s always something different with Radio Lab, and that’s why I love it.
This American Life – Ira Glass
Hosted by the inimitable Ira Glass, these human-interest stories draw you in to make you reevaluate what you think about the world. This American Life even covered the same story as the smash-hit Making a Murderer series from Netflix. It also spurred the spinoff show, Serial, following the story of a murder conviction and the defendant’s proposed innocence. This award-winning podcast will make you think and always provides interesting stories.
The Moth – Regular and famous people
The Moth provides moving personal stories told in the first person. The selection runs the gamut from a Vogue fashion editor living in Paris dealing with an apartment ghost, to a survivor of a Jewish concentration camp, to man who rowed the English Channel in a bathtub. The Moth captures the same human relatability even when the stories are vastly different.
Beautiful Stories by Anonymous People – Chris Gethard
Random people call into this podcast and talk to the host for an hour with total anonymity. This podcast gets down into the nitty gritty of these people’s lives. For example, a man is stuck in rut in his life, and the podcast helps him find change. Another woman talks about growing up poor and how she handles family relationships now. This unencumbered, honest podcast is definitely worth an hour of listening.
Ted NPR – Guy Raz
Always educational, Ted NPR covers a myriad of topics and makes you learn something new about technology, biology, emotions or just thinking in general. World-renowned speakers imbue their wisdom in different segments of the show, building up to a worthwhile lesson. My favorite episode features Sir Ken Robinson who talks about teaching methods and redistributing a student’s “failure” into success.
Mystery Show – Starlee Kine
This is a fun show that goes to great lengths to discover how tall Jake Gyllenhaal is or why Britney Spears reads an obscure book. With a catchy opening song by Emmy the Great, it sets the tone for this feel-good podcast that illustrates some great journalistic and detective work in a fun way.
You can’t beat a good story, and it’s always great to learn something new. Try one of these six podcasts, and see if one of them works for you. If not, there are many apps like Stitcher that provide hundreds and hundreds of different podcasts, so you’re bound to find the one for you.
