We are in the golden age of podcasts as more people devote their time to listening to this enveloping and engaging medium. Podcasters are modern storytellers with a wide variety of shows including comedy, philosophy, science, math, economics, art, love and relationships, to name a few. Each podcast is conducive to generating reflection and conversation. If you’re trying to figure out which podcasts to listen to, here are four recommendations to get you started.
You may have heard of “Serial,” which is the most successful podcast of all time with 5.7 million listeners per episode. Serial is about the investigation into the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. Adnan Syed, Hae’s ex-boyfriend, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, a crime for which he may or may not have been wrongly convicted. From shifting statements to sketchy alibies, reporter Sarah Koenig finds herself asking the questions: How can you know a person’s character and how can you tell what they’re capable of? After the first episode of Serial, you will be as invested as other listeners to answering the question Koenig wants to answer: Is Syed innocent? With the popularity and publicity of this podcast, Adnan Syed has been granted the request for review from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. A second season is expected to begin this fall.
“On Being” is a public radio conversation and podcast that focuses on questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human and how do we want to live? Each show offers a conversation between host Krista Tippett and guests, who explore these rich, complex questions with their individual perspectives and life endeavors. A few of my favorites include: “Listening to the World” with Mary Oliver, “The Courage to Be Vulnerable” with Brené Brown and “The Art of Noticing and then Creating” with Seth Godin. This podcast crosses the generational, socioeconomic, political and religious boundaries of our cultures while celebrating the pursuit of wisdom, moral imagination and knowledge.
“Radiolab” is a traditional radio show that is downloadable as a podcast. It focuses on approaching broad, difficult topics of scientific and philosophical nature such as time and morality in a comprehensible, endearing manner. I most recently listened to “Cities,” which investigates how a city’s personality is measured. It was interesting to learn that as a city grows, the people become faster and how other human-scale details give personality to a city. A few other great episodes on Radiolab include “Memory and Forgetting,” “Emergence,” “Space” and “Falling.”
NPR has an array of different podcasts worth checking out like “Wait Wait.. Don’t Tell Me!,” “NPR: Fresh Air,” “TED Radio Hour,” “All Things Considered” and “Invisibilia.” Invisibilia is NPR’s most recent podcast and explores the elusive forces that shape human behavior such as ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. The pilot season digs deep into our innermost minds, examining the dark and disturbing thoughts we have and whether those thoughts say anything about who we are, our fears and how they shape our actions. Invisibilia is a glimpse into an unseen world.