5 on Friday: Podcasts
It’s been awhile since I shared some of the podcasts I’m listening to these days. My podcast subscriptions was once up to something like 25 (though all not in active seasons at one time), so I recently pared down quite a bit. Here are 5 new-ish finds to me that I really enjoy.
This podcast from Book Riot is now in its second season and I’m enjoying it as much as the first. The stories are all related to books, language, and reading but is not book recommedations or just talking about authors or titles. Favorite episode of Season 1 was about the oxford comma.
This comes from the same folks who did the Making Oprah podcast, which I HIGHLY recommend if you have ever wondered how Oprah became a household name and bizillionaire. These episodes are about Obama’s rise in the political world starting with his community organizing days in Chicago. While I read Obama’s memoir Dreams of My Father, I didn’t know much about the political climate he was in prior to hitting the national stage as a senator. Not too much political junk, and lots of back story I didn’t know.
Being an NPR geek, I subscribe to a lot of NPR supported/hosted podcasts. I often heard ads promoting this one on some of my other must-listens, and was never super intrigued. What made me change? There was a promo spot on Pop Culture Happy Hour for an episode about China and money that sounded interesting, and since I knew Q and I were going to be in the car a lot for our Utah vacation, I downloaded it since I thought he’d be interested in it too. And I was right! That one episode made me download a bunch of others and subscribe. I like that it explains complex current affairs related to economy and trade in normal, non-jargon ways, as well as puts them in context with real-life people, events, and issues instead of just a bunch of talking heads/experts who make my head hurt.
I know many people who say they can’t get into podcasts because they don’t have a place to fit them into their lives because they don’t commute or have dedicated time to listen. The episodes of Retropod are only about 3-4 minutes long, making them ideal for quick snippets of history and facts that are often related to current events, holidays, or other cultural milestones. I especially like it for the days when a podcast doesn’t entirely fill my commute and I can listen to a few of them in the last 10 minutes or so of my drive.
I can’t remember quite how I happened across this podcast from the Smithsonian ( probably facebook), but it’s quickly become a favorite. It covers a wide variety of topics from the Smithsonian’s collections and interviews with experts, but in a totally fun and dynamic way that hasn’t been boring yet. The episode about the artist and process for the National Portrait Gallery’s commission of First Lady Michelle Obama’s portrait was a favorite.
Life By Kristen 