I’m a podcast junkie. Here’s a current list of what I’m listening to. I’ve made a short parenthetical description of the show when the content isn’t readily apparent. Click the links for more details.
- Afropop Worldwide (musics of Africa and the African diaspora)
- AirSpace (history of flight and space exploration from National Air and Space Museum)
- NPR: All Songs Considered
- NPR: All Songs Considered Live In Concert
- The Anthropocene Reviewed (author John Green ranks different facets of the human-centered Earth)
- WFMU’s Antique Phonograph Music Program
- BackStory (American history, usually tied in with current events)
- Ben Franklin’s World (Early American history)
- Best of the Left (kind of an audio Reader’s Digest of progressive political news and commentary)
- NPR: Code Switch (discussions of race and identity)
- Decoder Ring (cracking cultural mysteries)
- Disney History Institute
- Five Questions (my friend Betsy Rosenblatt Rosso asks people intriguing questions)
- NPR: Fresh Air (news, interviews)
- Futility Closet (history)
- Slate’s Hang Up and Listen (sports)
- Have You Heard (American education policy discussion)
- NPR Hidden Brain (human behavior)
- Hit Parade (pop music history)
- Household Name (business and brand history)
- HUB History (Boston history)
- WNYC: Invisibilia (“about the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and thoughts”)
- Irish and Celtic Music Podcast
- LeVar Burton Reads (if you liked Reading Rainbow as a kid, you’ll love listening to these stories)
- Maeve in American (interviews with immigrants to America)
- The Memory Palace (history, storytelling)
- More or Less: Behind the Stats (making sense of statistics)
- The Mortified Podcast (adults read embarrassing things they wrote as a child)
- The Moth Podcast (storytelling)
- 99% Invisible (design)
- NPR: Planet Money (economics)
- Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell & Hari Kondabolu (political discussion and interviews)
- WBUR: Radio Boston (local news)
- WNYC’s Radio Lab (science and curiosity)
- RISK! (storytelling)
- Scientific American: 60 Second Science
- Sidedoor (ideas from the Smithsonian)
- NPR: Snap Judgment (storytelling)
- Song Exploder (breaking down songs with their composers)
- The Sounds in My Head (music)
- Sound Opinions (music)
- Start Making Sense (news and politics from The Nation)
- StarTalk Radio with Neil DeGrasse Tyson (science, popular culture)
- The Story Collider (storytelling about science)
- StoryCorps
- Third Coast International Audio Festival – Re:sound (audio stories from radio & internet worldwide)
- 30 for 30 (sports history from ESPN)
- The Thirty20Eight (Disney history, listory, and news)
- This American Life (audio stories, sometimes investigative journalism)
- NPR: Tiny Desk Concerts
- PRI: To the Best of Our Knowledge (ideas, culture, science, interviews)
- Song Exploder (“musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made”)
- Spark London (storytelling)
- Start Making Sense (news and discussion from The Nation)
- The Tomorrow Society Podcast (Disney and Imagineering history)
- Travel with Rick Steves
- The Truth (audio dramas)
- Twenty Thousand Hertz (stories about sounds)
- Ultima Thule (ambient and atmospheric music)
- Up First (NPR News)
- Verity! (intelligent women discussing Doctor Who)
- WEDWay Radio (history of Walt Disney Company theme parks)
Here are some podcast networks for more podcast suggestions:
And here are some posts I’ve made about podcasts:
- My favorite podcasts – my first podcast post. A lot has changed in 10 years.
- Storytelling podcasts – storytelling has particularly found a home in the podcast format.
- Dead podcasts – some of my favorite podcasts that are no longer updated but you may be able to find back episodes online.
- Also check out previous Podcast of the Week posts
How do you keep up with all these? I was up to 15 at one point and had to remove a few from the list. I think I’m at 10 now. It’s still a lot, but I don’t have a TV, so they are background noise a lot of time. Looks like we have Planet Money and This American Life in common. Also, I love that the ISG Museum has its own podcast. Who knew? I love that place.
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Good question! I work in an archives and spend lots of time in otherwise quiet and isolated spaces processing archival collections. Basically, I listen to podcasts and audiobooks all day at work. I also don’t listen to every episode of podcasts that come out daily or multiple time per week, just the ones that look most interesting.
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Am in the early stages of creating a podcast with a friend and thank you for this post. New to this world and looking forward to building an audience. Writing to you on X day of the #Challege. Almost at an end. Glad you and I have kept company during this month. I’m disappointed in the numbers and wonder how many wound up participating. It’s an interesting world, this blogging, and has helped my writing immensely. I had a wonderful time preparing. I’ll be back.
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Thanks for commenting. Let me know when your podcast is ready and I’ll check it out.
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