What I'm Listening To | Podcasts

Back in February, I binge-listened to Serial and that was pretty much my introduction to podcasts. They had never appealed to me before but I wanted to listen to something new and this worked out better than I expected. This lead me to subscribing to a bunch of podcasts but then I promptly forgot about all of them. Until in April when Joshua Jackson did a guest episode on “Modern Love” and obviously, I had to listen. But again, I forgot about my subscriptions after that.

Fast forward to about a month ago, I decide to try again. And this time, it’s actually stuck! I don’t remember to listen every week so I frequently have to catch up but I am making a point to listen and I’ve found podcasts that really work for me.


This is probably my favorite! It’s a weekly column on the New York Times that features reader-summited essays about love. The podcast brings on a celebrity to read said essays for the first portion and then for the rest of it, the writer comes on to discuss his or her story. They’re just so compelling and cover such a large range of perspectives.



Recommended episodes:
‘Broken, Not Bound’ | Episode 12 feat. America Ferrera
‘Between the Bars’ | Episode 15 feat. Joshua Jackson (I love that man’s voice)
‘Friends Without Benefits’ | Episode 19
‘To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This’ | Episode 30 (I loved this essay already so I was super excited to see them do a podcast on it!)


Their tagline is “a podcast for long-distance besties everywhere” and I mean, they had me at besties. It’s hosted by real life long-distance BFFss Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman and they’re hilarious. Their episodes are pretty much just their commentary on whatever is going on in the world or their lives. But they brings such energy, honesty and humor to everything they say.


Recommended episodes (so far! I haven't listen to that many yet)
Summer Bookstravagaza | Episode 58
Make America Smell Great Again | Episode 57

It’s hosted by Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild) and Steve Almond and it focuses on letters submitted by their listeners, which are usually on the serious side. It’s definitely heavy listening material so you have to be in the right mood for it. But I just find these stories so moving and you want these people to find the peace and happiness they’re searching for.


Recommended episode:
Social Butterfly in Love With A Hermit | Jul 21

This was one of those things where I was like, oh since I’m a UX designer maybe I should listen to podcasts related to my industry. I’m still on the fence with this one and I think it comes down to who the featured guest is. I’ve only listened to one so far, which is the episode with Timothy Goodman, one of the designers from the project 40 Days of Dating. I was in love with that blog and since then have continued to follow him on various social media so I really enjoyed this episode!

Recommended episode:
Timothy Goodman | originally Oct 2015 (they re-posted it last month)

It’s a “celebrity driven podcast” hosted by Keltie Knight, Jac Vanek and Becca Tobin. Estelle had been telling me about this one for forever and when I finally tried listening, I just couldn’t get into it. I’m just not super into their hosting style. That said, I listened to the episode with Jana Kramer recently because I adore her and I ended up really enjoying it! I think this is one of those podcasts where I’d only listen if I’m a fan of the celebrity guest.

Recommended episode:
Jana Kramer | Episode 38

Another podcast Estelle put on my radar! It’s a podcast where the host talks to a different YA or MG author each week. Clearly this is right up my alley! The list of authors she’s spoken to is seriously impressive and I’d eventually love to go through her backlog. In the meantime, I just listened to the one with Leila Howland and I can’t wait to listen to more. (FYI, the episodes are a tad long.)


Recommended episode:
Leila Howland | Episode 83

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Do you listen to podcasts?
And if so, got any recommendations?

2 comments

  1. I discovered First Draft last year and I've since gone back and listened to every single episode! I love hearing about the writing process and just listening to favorite authors talk about their lives and their books!

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  2. I've only ever really listened to the First Draft podcast! But even then, that was only when it featured authors I was interested in. I'm itching to check out Modern Love and Call Your Girlfriend though, because both sound amazing and right up my alley. Thanks for the rec!

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with love,

Rachel