Podcast Playlist

I have a confession to make. 

I’ve logged 17,834 hours on Stitcher Radio. It’s true. I’m also a frequent flyer on TuneIn Radio. You may have a fave podcast app from any of the zillon out there.

Some folks have just discovered the podcast craze and the number of recently launched podcasts has gone bonkers. There’s even a new podcast about . . . podcasts. In the past few weeks, I’ve seen folks asking for recommendations to freshen up their feed.  Here are mine. I’ll keep this list updated. Comment with your faves!

From my beloved National Public Radio:

• Hidden Brain: The Hidden Brain project helps curious people understand the world – and themselves. Using science and storytelling, Hidden Brain reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships.
• Planet Money: Imagine you could call up a friend and say, “Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.” Now imagine that’s actually a fun evening. That’s what we’re going for at Planet Money.
• NPR Politics: The NPR Politics Podcast is where NPR’s political reporters talk to you like they talk to each other. With weekly roundups and quick takes on news of the day, you don’t have to keep up with politics to know what’s happening. You just have to keep up with us.
• Ask Me Another is the rambunctious live show from NPR and WNYC that blends brainteasers, pub trivia, comedy and music into an hour of mind-bending fun. Host Ophira Eisenberg invites guests and listeners alike to stretch their noggins, tickle their funny bones and be serenaded by house musician Jonathan Coulton. What you’ll hear resembles the casual intimacy of game night at a friend’s house: one where scores are forgotten in favor of hilarious gaffes.
• Invisibilia is Latin for “the invisible things.” We explore the invisible forces that shape human behavior — things like ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. The show is co-hosted by a trio of NPR’s award-winning journalists — Alix Spiegel, Lulu Miller and Hanna Rosin — who have roots at This American Life, Radiolab and The Atlantic.
• Note to Self: Host Manoush Zomorodi talks with everyone from big names techies to elementary school teachers about the effects of technology on our lives, in a quest for the smart choices that will help you think and live better.
• And, of course, what is life without  FreshAir, This American Life and Dallas’ own Think?
• All of the news programs have podcasts, of course, but I’m also a big fan of the app NPROne. It’s your own personal, curated NPR station. For example, I use the “Deep Dive” feature to catch up on all the politics stories from the past few days.
• If you only listen to one thing all week, it absolutely has to be On The Media. Seriously. This description doesn’t even come close to explaining how important it is: WNYC’s weekly investigation into how the media shapes our world view. Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield give you the tools to survive the media maelstrom.

All the things at Slate, but my don’t-miss ones are:

• Political Gabfest
• Amicus
• Lexicon Valley
• Trumpcast

There’s even a “Best Of” digest for Slate Plus members. Clever.

Texas Standard: Love, love, love this. It’s a collaboration between public radio newsrooms in the big cities, plus contributions from smaller markets. Especially when the Legislature is in session, it’s a must-listen to make any kinda sense of what those folks are up to down in Austin. They also source the excellent Texas Tribune, who produce their own Tribcast. It’s a little Austin-focused, but very good.

I often attribute my genuine interest in business news to Marketplace. It’s billed as business news “for the rest of us” and you will come to understand what happened on Wall Street today by whether you heard “We’re In The Money” or “Stormy Weather.”

For my fellow political junkies:

• New! Pod Save America from Crooked Media, a gang of former staffers of the Obama administration. It’s a “no bullshit conversation for people not yet ready to give up or go insane.” They have already spawned a few notable spin-offs including Pod Save the World on foreign policy, the weekly Lovett or Leave It, and the redoubtable Ana Marie Cox’ With Friends Like These.
• Are you a fan of the Sunday morning TV chat shows? Pro-tip: Listen to C-SPAN Radio every Sunday at 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. when they re-broadcast every show back to back and commercial free. (Yes, this is when I clean house and do laundry . . . and yell a lot.) ICYMI, each has a podcast, too and they are also commercial free.

NBC News podcasts for Meet the Press, as well as the mandatory Rachel Maddow Show. Here’s This Week with George. Just for balance, power through Fox News Sunday. CNN offers State of the Union with Jake Tapper and the smart media analysis of Reliable Sources. Wrap it up with the excellent John Dickerson on Face the Nation.

• The New Yorker: Politics and More used to discuss foreign policy quite a bit, but now it’s a whole lotta Trump
• The Majority Report with Sam Seder. Been listening to Sam since the Air America days. Casual Fridays with Cliff Schecter are an excellent political rundown. He will be launching his own spinoff soon.
• FiveThirtyEight Politics because Nate Silver. During election season, was appointment listening for understanding polling drill-downs, cross tabs, etc.
• Washington Week from PBS. Just not the same without the late Gwen Ifill.
• Left, Right & Center If you want political chat without anyone yelling over each other, this is a good choice for you. Moderate voices are featured prominently, too.
• POLITICO’S Nerdcast. “Geeking out on Trump and the new politics of Washington”
• Ken Rudin’s Political Junkie if you like a little historical perspective thrown in
• Aimee Allison’s Democracy in Color. Aimee was my roomie at a recent conference and she’s doing important work. Their mission is to “elevate the voices of the New American Majority — multiracial, multicultural, and progressive — to create a just and equitable society by transforming our country’s political consciousness and culture through meaningful public conversations, insights, and analysis.”

Another favorite subject . . . food.

• Good Food – wish we had a version of this in Dallas. Love when she accompanies a chef to the farmer’s market.
• The Dinner Party Download also concerns booze and etiquette and music
• The Splendid Table – when you really want to relax.
• The Sporkful – kinda hard to explain. A food show hosted by sports guys, maybe? Motto: “It’s not for foodies. It’s for eaters.”

For inspiration . . .

• On Being with Krista Tippett. I got to meet her recently and she’s just as lovely and generous as she sounds.  Her program is “taking up the big questions of meaning with scientists and theologians, artists and teachers.”
• Also from Krista’s studio: Creating Our Own Lives We’re called to create a better world, but what about the task of creating our own lives? A new podcast, hosted by Lily Percy, exporing questions about running as spiritual practice, humor as a tool for survival, and movies as church.
• Becoming Wise An inquiry into the mystery and art of living. Krista Tippett engages wise lives of our day — from Brené Brown and Maria Popova to Elie Wiesel and Seth Godin.
• And the delightful Harry Potter and the Sacred Text with my friend, Casper ter Kuile. Listening to his British lilt is a lovely way to end the day.
• And a few of my own contributions on Reports from the Spiritual Frontier, about coworking as spiritual community and guest hosting with my friends from SoCe Life in Wichita, KS.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda . . .

• On entrepreneurship
• On motivation
• On marketing
• On parenting