I hate to admit it, but in some parts in life I arrive late to the party. I’m the person who refused for ages to switch to a smart phone, which is quite funny as I work in social media now.

I’m also the person who tells her friends about this amazing new song she discovered, to find out it was released months ago. My friends love it. I try to ignore it. But I’m living up to it now! I have another confession:

I was late to the podcast party.

When podcasts became trending a few years ago I just couldn’t understand it. Why would you listen to a podcast, when there is such good music to listen to? I kind of forgot about the whole podcast thing and thought that people who listened to podcasts must hate music.

Until the start of this year… I can’t remember what triggered me, but I gave it a go and I got hooked. I started listening podcasts during road trips (time in the car flies!), on my bike to work, and when going for a run.

PODCASTS ARE AMAZING!

I’ve been catching up on a lot of podcasts and have discovered new and good ones. Today I’m sharing my favourite ones with you. I organised them in categories, because I can understand that not everyone likes weird sci-fi podcasts.

Ready for my 15 addictive podcasts for on the road? 3… 2….1….

STORYTELLING BY REGULAR PEOPLE

1. This American Life

Probably one of the most famous podcasts around, and I understand why. This American Life is very good. It’s a weekly radio show and luckily for us also available as a podcast. Every episode is based around a theme, with a variety of stories. You can expect everything in this podcast, from ‘Ask a grown-up’, to switched at birth and grand gestures.

Check it out: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast

One I really enjoyed was one about coincidences. This episode will get a smile on your face, I promise. Listen on their site.

2. The Moth

The Moth has been around since 1997, a platform for people to tell true stories, live and without notes in front of a crowd.

In 2008 they started making a podcast version of The Moth, and it’s amazing. The Moth lets people share their true stories about their daily lives. Many of them have no experience talking in front of a crowd. Every single time I’m surprised by how good they are at telling stories without any notes. This podcast has made me laugh out loud on my bike (and weep a bit too).

Check it out: https://www.themoth.org/podcast

3. Strangers

I’ve only listened to four episodes, but I’m hooked. Strangers is very powerful stuff and talks about the good, the bad and the ugly. The first episode I listened to was a woman telling her horrible life story. She lived under a different name to hide from her dad who abused her and killed her mum.

This is a very emotional kind of podcast; so if you don’t like all those feelings, don’t listen. If you don’t mind to hear hard, sad and beautiful stories, you will LOVE this podcast.

Check it out: http://www.storycentral.org/strangers/

4. The Dirtbag Diaries

A podcast about adventure! People talk about climbing, biking, hiking, and travel. Outdoors writer Fitz and his team present stories about dreamers, athletes and wanderers.

The last one I listened to was about a mother of four who, after a lot of bad luck, decided to turn things around. She took her four kids hiking, on the Appalachian Trail. Interesting stories linked to nature.

Check it out: http://dirtbagdiaries.com/

INVESTIGATIVE PODCASTS

5. Someone knows something

A journalist researches the cold case of a 5-year-old boy who disappeared in 1972 from a small Canadian town.

Very addictive to listen to the 12 episodes, hard to take your headphones off! It’s interesting to join the journalist on his path to find answers, which he does in a very sincere and honest way.

Check it out: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/sks

6. S-Town

S-Town is a podcast from the same people of This American Life. They obviously know their sh*t.

Brian Reed is the host and he digs into the story of John, who despises his own Alabama town. John is such an interesting character and it can take some time to get used to him (and understand him). He asks Brian for help and together they look into what secrets S-Town has to hide. This podcast takes a turn you won’t expect. It shows a different life of what you’re used to and introduces you to some real roughness in this world.

Check it out: https://stownpodcast.org/

7. Serial

Serial has two seasons, and I LOVED the first one. Sarah Koenig investigates the murder of a popular high school girl in Baltimore. Serial was one of the first podcasts I started listening to, once I converted to the podcast world.

Koenig does the best investigative journalism I’ve listened to so far. She presents different angles, which makes you doubt everything and end up changing your mind on who murdered the girl. Is it her boyfriend, her ex,…?

Check it out: https://serialpodcast.org/

WEIRD (BUT AWESOME) THRILLER & SCI-FI STUFF 

8. We’re Alive

I love this zombie podcast. Perfect to entertain you while running. Maybe it is the feeling of zombies chasing me, but I enjoy listening to it while going for a run.

The story starts in Los Angeles with 27-year old Army Reserve Soldier Michael in college. Suddenly people start eating each other and the world is out of control. Michael plays the hero-role and we follow him while he’s trying to rescue people and to not get eaten.

Very very entertaining (with lots of sound effects)!

Check it out: http://www.werealive.com

9. Limetown

I’m still secretly hoping that the makers will produce a second season (guys, if you read this: make a second season!!).

Limetown tells the fictional story of 300 men and women who disappeared from a small town in Tennessee. A radio reporter digs in the story to look for answers. Very addictive!

Check it out: http://www.limetownstories.com/

10. The Message

You can put ‘The Message’ in the same category as ‘Limetown’. It is a fictional story, where something mysterious happens. Here we follow Nicky, who is covering the decoding of a message from outer space. I really enjoyed it and was sad that there wasn’t a second season.

Check it out on Spotify: here.

11. My favourite murder

Unlike the podcasts above, this is a podcasts about true events, about murders to be more specific. Told by two young, witty and funny women.

They talk about sensational murders they find intriguing. They don’t hold back, tell their opinion straight up and don’t care if you like that or not. I don’t think this podcast is for everyone, but you should definitely give it a try! There is some hilarious (and creepy) stuff in there.

Check it out: https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/

INFORMATIVE PODCASTS

12. Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics is a weekly podcast that covers “the hidden side of everything”. Indeed, that could be just anything. To give you some ideas these were some of their latest episodes: How Big is My Penis? (And Other Things We Ask Google), There’s A War On Sugar. Is It Justified?, Earth 2.0: Is Income Inequality Inevitable?

I like how they dive into topics and look at it in an economical way. It’s very informative and interesting at the same time. Also, they audio is perfectly recorded, which is a must for me!

Check it out: http://freakonomics.com/

13. Radiolab

Radiolab is a beautifully produced and special podcast. I could place it in both Storytelling by normal people and Informative podcasts.

The two hosts weave together science and personal narratives into a theme. The interviews can be with scientists, experts or just people with an interesting story to tell. I’ve heard someone’s story about meeting JFK, but also heard the hosts investigating pain’, and scientists talk about fetal cells. Episodes range from 15 minutes to an hour.

Check it out: http://www.radiolab.org/series/podcasts/

14. Ted Talks

Who doesn’t know Ted Talks? The famous conference shares ‘ideas worth spreading’. You can find hundreds of videos from expert speakers on business, science, and education.

Well, those are also available in podcast form. You’ll find talks that inspire, intrigue and stir the imagination. Besides the general Ted Talks podcast there is also Ted Talks Health, Business, Science and many more.

Check it out: https://www.ted.com/playlists or https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/tedtalks-audio/id160904630?mt=2

15. Stuff you should know

A podcast that researches if you can die of a broken heart? Yes, you’re at the right place! Stuff you should know covers it all. Their topics range from broken hearts to super volcanoes and how swearing and pain works. You’ll learn a lot by listening to this podcast.

The duo (Josh and Chuck) is quite entertaining; but sometimes go a bit too off topic for me. I’m probably just too eager to learn more about the topic they’re discussing.

Check it out: http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts

Do you listen to podcasts? Did I miss some good ones I should listen to? Tell me!

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(banner picture by Nico Babot Photography)