Now I don’t know about anyone else, but podcasts have been a recent and extreme obsession of mine. I love having something on in the background when I’m cleaning, doing laundry, making dinner, or any of the other responsibilities I recently discovered I actually have to do. I would always have a TV show playing in the background, but I would regularly get distracted watching the show and not do whatever task I was meant to be doing… in comes podcasts! The perfect background noise, with entertainment and even education! (It also has the added bonus of being able to say you listen to podcasts and sound much more sophisticated than you really are.)
So here are a few of my fave podcasts for every type of person! (Or my fellow Geminis in the world, since we are all many, many types of people).
Intellectual AND fun: The Armchair Expert
This podcast is run by Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell’s Husband. He and his co-star Monica Padman interview guests on the podcast. They’ve interviewed his wife and other famous actors like Josh Gad or Ashton Kutcher, but also have on a variety of experts in a variety of fields! I love the banter in this podcast, and I always find I learn a lot. The conversations are so emotionally intelligent and dive deep, while still having frequent bouts of laughter.
10/10 would recommend!
Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
Now it might sound weird, but this podcast is great. It analyzes a chapter of the Harry Potter books in each episode, as if it was a Sacred Text, like the Bible or Quran. They find the themes in the chapter, the values, and lessons that can be learned. As someone who loves Harry Potter, listening to a deep dive into each chapter has been a lovely experience.
American Politics: Pod Save America
This podcast has been keeping me up to date with the democratic primaries in the USA. Although I can find news about politics incredibly depressing, this podcast keeps me engaged and laughing a little bit. From summaries of debates to interviews with the democratic candidates, this podcast covers your American Politics bases!
Poetic and Deep: The Anthropocene Reviewed
This one has genuinely made me cry a little, and it’s definitely a deep one, though sometimes it certainly is funny. Each episode, John Green reviews 2 “facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale”. He has reviewed cholera, air-conditioning, and the act of Googling people, and somehow every time he manages to make you think deeply about your life and the world around you. I just love it!
Music: Songexploder
This is for those of you who love music. Each podcast episode, Songexploder talks with an artist and deep dives into the creation of one of their songs! It’s such a cool window into songwriting, and a new way of hearing your fave songs.
Happy podcasting!