4 Entertaining Podcasts You Should Be Listening To

Over the last few weeks, I've started walking--a lot. I don't have a car and I try to ride the bus as infrequently as possible. I get more exercise in (I usually get 10,000 steps in by 3pm!), I get fresh air and I like to think I'm helping the environment out a little bit. A few weeks ago, I was taking a bus to get dinner just two blocks away. But now, I walk to almost all of my classes, even when they're about a thirty minute walk away. 

So what brought about this change?

Podcasts. 

I've always liked podcasts. I'm not a good listener by nature. I'm an unapologetic visual learner. I'd much prefer to read than listen to someone talk, but gradually, I've become a believer. I've made a policy that I don't listen to podcasts unless I'm walking + now that I've found some podcasts I love...well, I'm walking everywhere. 

And of course, I don't want to keep these to myself (though I'm sure you've heard of some). 

My favorite podcasts:

1. Serial / It's new and it's all the rage among podcast-listeners. Serial is pretty much a long, audio-only CSI episode. Over the course of many episodes, a journalist investigates the case of an 18-year old boy who was accused (and convicted) of murdering his girlfriend in the 1990s. I change my mind at least three times an episode as to whether he did it or not! It's so exciting, sometimes I find myself speedwalking out of stress! ;) If you listen, make sure you start on episode one! 

2. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! / I've only just started listening to WWDTM and I already love it. I was trying to describe it to my roommate and it's like a comedy meets a newscast meets an SNL sketch of a weird Hollywood gameshow. It's super fun! Just yesterday, I was walking back home from one of my classes and burst into this huge grin after something funny was said, and this girl walking towards me on the sidewalk thought I was smiling at her and gave me the weirdest look. Point of story: it's funny and it'll make you feel up-to-date on current events.

3. This American Life / Yeah, yeah, I know. If you listen to podcasts, you listen to TAL. Most recently, my favorite was episode #504: How I Got Into College. TAL always has interesting takes on life and curious stories. 

4. All Songs Considered / I've talked about ASC before on the blog, but I thought I'd mention it again. ASC is my favorite podcast for discovering new and interesting music. I particularly like how the two guys on the show tell a little history about the artist or band and comment on what they like about the songs. Plus, they always choose random genres of music that I might not otherwise listen to. Most recently, I discovered (click to listen on Youtube) "I Don't Want to Change You" by Damien Rice and "Slow" by Leonard Cohen on All Songs Considered.

So! I'm challenging you to listen to one (or more!) of these podcasts this week while getting outside and getting some fresh air and being active. It's always worth it!

What are your favorite podcasts? Do you have any other strategies for making long walks fun?

Favorite Podcast / NPR's All Songs Considered

(Death to the Stock Photo)

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I was starting to listen to podcasts more often. I find that I have a lot of long walks in my day--to the beach, to work sometimes and to friend's houses. I used to just listen to music on these walks, but more and more, I find that I prefer a little bit of talk to keep my attention. In the quest for a happy medium between music and talk, I found NPR's All Songs Considered and it has quickly become my new favorite.

Host Bob Boilen (along with Robin Hilton) show you all the songs you should know, from all kinds of genres. In the same episode, I heard a weird metal song, a super catchy indie pop song and an acoustic duo. Literally, all songs are considered. I love this podcast because I always find new songs/bands to listen to--often ones I never would have given a chance. Oftentimes, I won't really like a song the first time around, but the more I listen, the more it grows on me. Plus I love Bob + Robin's commentary on the artists and the songs. 

In case you just want even more, all songs ever played on the radio show are available in a continuous online radio called All Songs 24/7.

Listen to All Songs Considered on iTunes or listen to All Songs 24/7 online.

Weekly Goals #37

Helloooo! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty fun, between the craft fair and shopping with friends, except for this crazy weather! It's been insanely windy + cool (think low 60s!) + we haven't had a good beach day in a week! Oh well. This week is pretty routine. Other than working, my only real plans are hanging out with the gal pals tonight, potentially dying my hair turquoise/purple (whaaaa?! just the tips!). 

What are your plans for the week? 

Last Week's Goals:

+ Exercise 120 minutes. Rocked this. As of Friday, I had only put in 40 minutes and got discouraged. But then I remembered that I still had three days to go! In the end, I finished the week with 135 minutes, mostly of walk/runs and conditioning. Yay!

+ Read for 30 minutes a day. I came fairly close to this one. It would have been a lot easier to get the reading in if I had had good beach days, but I just had to read inside most days. I finished Ender's Game and surprisingly, hated it. It was awful. Speaking of awful, I'm reading a Jon Sharpe western book (I think called Desert Death or something like that) and I just can't take it seriously. Also: too many sex scenes. 

This Week's Goals:

I want to do something a little different this week, maybe for the future as well. I'm going to separate my goals into categories (body, mind and blog) so that I make sure I'm working on different areas of myself. Hopefully this means my goals will be more interesting and varied!

+ Body Love: exercise 120 minutes and run the 5k race. My town hosts a Summerfest every year and I'm pretty sure I saw a sign somewhere that there's a 5k race? I probably won't be able to run it all, but that's okay. But, I'm giving myself permission to wuss out if it's expensive/conflicts with my schedule, since I'm not sure when it is.

+ Mind Love: find a new podcast to keep my mind going during the summer. My favorite podcast to listen to during walks is True Murder because it's like watching SVU while exercising, but it's not exactly the most mentally stimulating. Anyone know of a good science/easy French language podcast? 

+ Blog Love: comment on three blog posts every day. It's really low, I know. But I am so guilty of being that silent lurking blog reader. If you comment on my blog regularly, I probably read your blog. I am just awful about commenting. But, I will say. If you don't have disqus, I don't bother. Get that installed, yo.

What are your goals this week?