With the holidays coming to an end, college students are beginning to prepare for their journeys home. Whether it’s a thirty-minute drive or a six-hour flight, podcasts are a great way to speed up the time for anyone rushing to start their winter break. Tune into these five podcast episodes and series that are gripping to pass the time.
Death of an Artist
The death of the artist Ana Mendieta has remained a mystery for over thirty-five years, but what we all wonder is, is it a mystery, or is the evidence clear? All leads point to her husband, Carl Andre, who was a famous sculptor. However, he was acquitted of all charges in court and remains alive today. The six-part series explores the power dynamic between the artist’s and Andre’s jealousy of Mendieta’s artistic talent. Death of an Artist is the perfect podcast series for art and crime lovers who want to investigate Mendieta’s death further.
Last Seen (season one)
The 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist is one of the most notorious art heists committed. WBUR’s first season of Last Seen examines the Gardner heist in explicit detail as an attempt to uncover the mystery of who committed the crime and where the art lives today. The season has ten episodes and is around thirty to fifty minutes long, making this the perfect series to binge during the holidays.
Going Mental with Eileen Kelly
Everyone is on their mental health journey, and it is comforting to hear others open up about struggling with similar things. Going Mental with Eileen Kelly is a podcast that invites celebrities, authors, and artists to come and talk about their mental health journeys to spread support for listeners. The episodes are around an hour long and perfect for anyone looking to find comfort in the stories shared.
Modern Love
If you’re looking to listen to short stories about romance, the Modern Love podcast is the perfect option. Modern Love is originally a New York Times column that has developed into a podcast and TV show where people submit their love stories and conversations, whether spectacular or terrible. Anna Martin hosts the show, and the episodes range from ten to thirty minutes, perfect for listeners who do not want to commit to anything too long.
Armchair Expert with Robert Sapolsky (on human behavior and free will). Dax Shepard is infamous for his celebrity interviews with guests like Paris Hilton and Jerry Seinfeld on his podcast Armchair Expert. In one of his most recent interviews from mid-October, Shepard invites anthropologist Robert Sapolsky to speak about his work as a behavioral scientist. Sapolsky spent most of his career studying baboons’ behavioral habits related to humans and how stress affects the brain’s development. Sapolsky’s interview is fascinating and asks listeners to reflect on the structural issue of stress and its influences on various groups of people.