In my current profession, I spend a lot of time on the Los Angeles freeway. I had adamantly avoided podcasts for multiple years claiming they held "no interest" for me, but really, I just didn't know where start. That all changed this year when my significant other insisted on putting three podcasts (which all made the list) on my phone given the sheer amount of time I spend in the car on a weekly basis. Since then, I have become an avid listener of podcasts, and subscribe to around 20 shows. However, it obviously isn't just me who listens to podcasts. In fact, 57 million Americans currently listen to podcasts, and consume on average 5 shows per week. Podcast use has exploded in the past few years, and it doesn't look like that trend is going away any day soon. Millennials in particular are one of the majority demographics listening to podcasts.
Podcasts are a great way to learn about situations around the world, absorb detailed information about difficult topics, listen to a variety of perspectives, and sometimes, just laugh hysterically.
Here is my list of the top 10 podcasts for millennials.
10. Serial
Description from Website (linked above): "Serial tells one story—a true story—over the course of a season.Serial has won several awards, including the Peabody, Edward R. Murrow, duPont-Columbia, Scripps Howard, and Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts."
Why You Should Listen: It wouldn't be a top 10 podcast list without Serial. For many people, Serial is the podcast that started it all, and for me it was no exception. Host, Sarah Koenig, does a wonderful job at connecting with both the main character of the narrative, as well as professionals in the field through compelling interviews. At the end of the podcast you are left with making up your own mind regarding the committed crime. A definite listen.
Episode to Listen to: "Season 1, Episode 1: The Alibi"
9. This American Life
Description from Website (linked above): "There's a theme to each episode of This American Life, and a variety of stories on that theme. Most of the stories are journalism, with an occasional comedy routine or essay. There's lots more to the show, but it's sort of hard to describe.""Most weeks This American Life is the most popular podcast in the country, with around 2.5 million people downloading each episode."
Why You Should Listen: This American Life is one of the most well-known podcasts in the country, and has a very loyal fan base. While I haven't listened to This American Life on a regular basis, whenever I tune in the episodes keep me engaged and yearning for more.
Episode to Listen to: "Switched at Birth"
8. TED Radio Hour
Description from Website (linked above): "A journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, and new ways to think and create. Based on riveting TEDTalks from the word's most remarkable minds."
Why You Should Listen: TedTalks, need I say more? Stretch your mind and learn about the fascinating ideas and concepts you may not come across in your day-to-day life. Episode to Listen to: "Seven Deadly Sins"
7. Call Your Girlfriend
Description from Website (linked above): "Call Your Girlfriend is a podcast for long-distance besties everywhere, hosted by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman and produced by Gina Delvac. Every other week, eavesdrop as Aminatou and Ann call each other to discuss the intricacies of pop culture and the latest in politics. We’re highbrow and lowbrow, unapologetically feminist, and not afraid to realtalk each other about everything from menstrual cycles to workplace dramas. On alternating weeks, we bring you Phone-a-Friend episodes that feature in-depth interviews with our fascinating and impressive besties."
Why You Should Listen: In my last post I talked about How to: Stay Close With Your Long Distance Best Friend, and Aminatou and Ann truly do put that into practice. From across the country, these two besties host a fascinating feminist podcast, which will make you think, and make you laugh. Oh, and they only call Donald Trump, Ivanka's Dad.
Episode to Listen to: "Episode 54: I'm Every Woman"
6. Left, Right, Center
Description from Website (linked above): "KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture."
Why You Should Listen: In today's political climate, it is easy to get siloed into an echo chamber and only listen to the voices of people you already agree with. Left, Right, Center offers a balanced perspective from different sides of the political spectrum on what is big in this week's political news.
Episode to Listen to: "Understanding the Horror of Orlando"
5 a/b. Stuff You Should Know and Stuff Mom Never Told You, both from How Stuff Works
a. Stuff You Should Know
Description from Website (linked above): "Join Josh Clark and Charles W. “Chuck” Bryant as they explore everything from science to music, from history to pop-culture, and pretty much any topic in between."
Why You Should Listen: For the mind that never wants to stop learning, this show will be sure to keep you on your toes. Always good for conversations will colleagues.
Episode to Listen to: "How Witness Protection Works"
b. Stuff Mom Never Told You
Description from Website (linked above): "Hosted by Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin, Stuff Mom Never Told You is the audio podcast from HowStuffWorks that gets down to the business of being women from every imaginable angle. Fueled by boundless curiosity and rigorous research, Cristen and Caroline are girls-next-door gender experts who skillfully decode the biology, psychology and sociology of ladies and gents, from their evolutionary past to millennial present, to better understand all the Stuff Mom Never Told You."
Why You Should Listen: I truly love that Stuff Mom Never Told You is always willing to tackle the hard issues and ask the deep questions, especially as it relates to gender. I currently have a backlog of 23 Stuff Mom Never Told You episodes on my phone because every time I go back in the archive I find a new episode that I "need" to listen to right now. From modern dating codes, to evolutionary biology, these women talk about it all.
Episode to Listen to: "Feminism for Sale"
4. WTF With Marc Maron
Description from Website (linked above): "For over twenty years, Marc Maron has been writing and performing raw, honest and thought-provoking comedy. In September 2009, Marc changed the podcast landscape when he started WTF with Marc Maron, featuring Marc's revelatory conversations with iconic personalities such as Conan O’Brien, Terry Gross, Robin Williams, Keith Richards, Ben Stiller, Lorne Michaels and President Barack Obama. It became a worldwide phenomenon, with more than six-million downloads each month and 250 million lifetime downloads within its first 6 years."
Why You Should Listen: WTF with Marc Maron was the first podcast that was ever placed on my phone, and I don't regret it. Maron's ability to draw out new and provocative content from some of the most well-known personalities in the world definitely makes him a voice worth listening to. Where else will you find a podcast where you can hear from President Barack Obama, Chelsea Handler, and Sacha Baron Cohen?
Episode to Listen to: "Episode 613: President Barack Obama"
3. Mystery Show
Description from Website (linked above): "A podcast where Starlee Kine solves mysteries."
Why You Should Listen: When I first heard about Mystery Show, a friend described it to me as "Serial for really mundane things." While Serial goes over heavy topics, like a murder case, Mystery Show goes into details of more light-hearted mysteries that can't be solved on the internet. One episode is entirely dedicated to "How to is Jake Gyllenhaal?" since there were such varying accounts. The show will be sure to keep you riveted and deeply invested as you follow Starlee as she solves some very interesting mysteries.
Episode to Listen to: "Case #3 Belt Buckle"
2. Freakanomics Radio
Description from Website (linked above): "Freakonomics Radio is an award-winning weekly podcast with 7 million downloads a month; it also airs on public-radio stations across the country. Host Stephen Dubner has surprising conversations that explore the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. Dubner talks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs — and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt. Freakonomics Radio is produced by Dubner Productions and WNYC Studios."
Why You Should Listen: Billed as "exploring the hidden side of everything," Freakanomics offers a fascinating new look at the things you encounter every day, from "How to win games and beat people," to "ten ideas to make politics less rotten," to everything you wanted to know about airplanes from an airplane pilot.
Episode to Listen to: "Ten Ideas to Make Politics less Rotten"
And rounding out the top 10.....
1. 2 Dope Queens
Description from Website (linked above): "Join the 2 Dope Queens, Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams, along with their favorite comedians, for stories about sex, romance, race, hair journeys, living in New York, and Billy Joel."
Why You Should Listen: From hot-button issues like encountering racism, to stories about their love for Billy Joel, 2 Dope Queens will be sure to get you laughing, and introduce you to a new set of comedians every week. This podcast is definitely NSFW, so be warned.
Episode to Listen to: "#1 Dad Bods"
Honorable Mention: Science vs.
Description from Website (linked above):"Science Vs takes on fads, trends, and the opinionated mob to find out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. This season, we’ll be tackling organic food, attachment parenting, gun control, fracking, and more."
Why You Should Listen: This podcast received honorable mention because I have high hopes for it. Produced by Gimlet Media (same as Mystery Show), Science VS is a brand new podcast, which aired it's first episode on July 28, 2016.
Episode to Listen to: "Guns"
Did your favorite podcast make the cut? What podcasts would you recommend to your fellow listeners?