When I’m not listening to an audio book, I’m listening to a podcast. My favorites vary from true crime to diseases to presidents. With so many good ones to choose from, here are my top picks. What are your favorites?
1. My Favorite Murder-Lifelong fans of true crime stories Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark tell each other their favorite tales of murder and hear hometown crime stories from friends and fans.
2. This Podcast Will Kill You-This podcast might not actually kill you, but it covers so many things that can. Each episode tackles a different disease, from its history, to its biology, and finally, how scared you need to be. Ecologists and epidemiologists Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke make infectious diseases acceptable fodder for dinner party conversation and provide the perfect cocktail recipe to match.
3. Criminal-Criminal is a podcast about crime. Not so much the “if it bleeds, it leads,” kind of crime. Something a little more complex. Stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, and/or gotten caught somewhere in the middle.
4. This American Life-From WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, This American Life podcast gives listeners touching, humorous and often unexpected vignettes of life in America. Hosted by Ira Glass, these weekly short stories are an on demand version of the popular radio show and available in Stitcher’s Society & Culture station.
5. Ted Radio Hour-Exploring the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world’s greatest thinkers. Host Manoush Zomorodi inspires us to learn more about the world, our communities, and most importantly, ourselves.
6. Revisionist History-Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell’s journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.
7. Sincerely Fortune-Comedians are known for their jokes, but in this podcast comedian/actress, Fortune Feimster, goes behind the curtain to discuss a new topic every week in a more real, sincere way.
8. Cold-Susan Powell vanished on Dec. 7, 2009. Her body has never been found. From the beginning, West Valley City, Utah police suspected Susan’s husband, Josh Powell, had murdered her. They never arrested him. COLD dives deep into the case files, uncovering never-before-heard details. You’ll learn why Susan stayed with an abusive husband, why Josh did what he did and how the justice system failed Susan and her two boys.
9. This is Your Book Club-A podcast devoted to talking about books. Along with a monthly book club, Jayme and Sarah will be talking about what’s on their shelves and which ones need to be on your TBR.
10. Better Than Happy-This podcast provides practical tools and real life application for taking your life from where ever it is to the next level. We cover relationships, health, emotions, mindset, confidence, entrepreneurship, money and all other parts of being a human. Did you know there is something better than happiness? It’s the life you were meant to live.
11. Atlanta Monster-From the producers of Up and Vanished, Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks present, ‘Atlanta Monster.’ This true crime podcast tells the story of one of the city’s darkest secrets, The Atlanta Child Murders. Nearly 40 years after these horrific crimes, many questions still remain. Host Payne Lindsey aims to find truth and provide closure, reexamining the disappearance and murder of over 25 African American children and young adults.
12. Dirty John-Debra Newell is a successful interior designer. She meets John Meehan, a handsome man who seems to check all the boxes: attentive, available, just back from a year in Iraq with Doctors Without Borders. But her family doesn’t like John, and they get entangled in an increasingly complex web of love, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival. Reported and hosted by Christopher Goffard from the L.A. Times.
13. Do You Need A Ride?-Comedians Chris Fairbanks and Karen Kilgariff shuttle their guests to or from the airport, somewhat dangerously, in a mobile sound studio (a car).
14. Monster: DC Sniper-From iHeartRadio and TenderfootTV, ‘Monster: DC Sniper’ reinvestigates the beltway sniper attacks. This true crime podcast places the listener in Montgomery County, Maryland on October 2nd, 2002 when an unidentified sniper began randomly killing people going about their daily lives. Host Tony Harris traces what investigators, journalists and the public learned from the first shot until the last and ultimately asks the question: Does the person convicted of these crimes ever deserve a
15. Presidential-The Washington Post’s Presidential podcast explores how each former American president reached office, made decisions, handled crises and redefined the role of commander-in-chief. It was released leading up to up to Election Day 2016, starting with George Washington in week one and ending on week 44 with the president-elect. Hosted by Lillian Cunningham, the series features Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers like David McCullough and Washington Post journalists like Bob Woodward.
16. The Moth-The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Moth shows are renowned for the great range of human & social experiences they showcase. Each week, The Moth podcast features the best of the stories told live from Moth stages across the country and delivers them in this beautiful radio program, available on demand in Stitcher’s Society & Culture station.
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It is way more common than you think. You are not alone. If you find you have some of these signs, open your mouth and ask for help. It gets better. I promise.
Persistent feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness, or hopelessness
Irritability or frustration, even over small matters
Loss of interest and/or pleasure in normal activities
Feelings of guilt, restlessness, or worthlessness
Decreased energy or fatigue
Slowed thinking, moving, or talking
Decreased appetite and weight loss, or increased cravings and weight gain
Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions, or remembering things
Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause and/or that do not ease even with treatment
For more information go to www.nimh.nih.gov or call their hotline @ 1-866-615-6464
Month two of quarantine and I’m still reading. In between reading, I’m doing puzzles and listening to podcasts (oh, and homeschooling my kids). The outside world may be scary and unsure, but in my house is a library of adventure. I choose adventure.
We can’t make death fun, but we can make learning about it fun. Death is science and history, art and literature. It bridges every culture and unites the whole of humanity!
Where I come from, voicelessness is the condition of my gender, as normal as the bosoms on a woman’s chest, as necessary as the next generation growing inside her belly.
In order to help children make the most of their education, parents must begin to relinquish control and focus on three goals: embracing opportunities to fail, finding ways to learn from that failure, and creating positive home-school relationships.
Choosing a lover is a lot like choosing a therapist. We need to ask ourselves, is this someone who will be honest with me, listen to criticism, admit making mistakes, and not promise the impossible?
I learned about getting saved. I learned how someone could come to you when you were feeling real, real bad and could take all of your problems away and make you feel better. I learned that the person who saved you, your personal saver, was sent by God to protect you and to help you out.
The answers to making it, to me, are a lot more universal than anyone’s race or gender, and center on having a tolerance for delayed gratification, a passion for the craft, and a willingness to fail.
Diseases don’t ruin lives just because they rot off noses. They destroy people if the rest of society isolates them and treats them as undeserving of help and respect.
