What are your favorite podcasts to listen to?

As a private photo editor, I like to listen to podcasts so that I have some sound in the background. Podcasts are easier to listen to than turning on Netflix or Hulu (though I do that, too!)

Here are my favorite podcasts. I have split them between weekly podcasts and limited series podcasts.

My Favorite Podcasts: Weekly

This American Life

This American Life is one of my favorite podcasts of all time. I think my cousin was the one who turned me on to it. If you love storytelling and random bits of information, you’ll like This American Life.

When I used to work at an office job, I listened to the archives of the show online. The show kept me company, and kept me sane while I was working with unreasonable people (totally different post for a different time).

I look forward to listening to This American Life every week. I’ll either catch it on our local PBS radio station (KERA 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth Metro) or download it after the episode is posted.

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me

I started listening to Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me by accident. I was listening to the local PBS station, waiting for This American Life, and Wait Wait was on. It made me literally laugh out loud. Now it’s one of my very favorite podcasts to listen to weekly.

Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me is a radio news quiz that takes a humorous approach to the week’s news. It’s my favorite way to get current news in a fun way. Honestly, it makes the current political climate a little more palatable.

Young House Love Has a Podcast

I’ve been a Young House Love blog fan for a long time. I remember when John and Sherry (the hosts and bloggers) blogged every single day and answered every single comment. (And they got LOTS of comments).

I also remember when they decided to stop blogging. It’s weird, but I was sad to lose them from my blog feed. There aren’t that many bloggers who can make me laugh about DIY and design, but they did…through their writing.

Now that they have a podcast, Young House Love Has a Podcast, it’s even more fun. I’m so glad that they are back – their podcast is kind like an assortment of topics that they would blog about but in podcast form. It’s more fun to hear their voices, and now, I find myself laughing during each episode. Who knew design and DIY projects could be so fun?!

Goal Digger Podcast

I just started listening to the Goal Digger Podcast recently. It’s one of my new favorite podcasts for business advice and tips and tricks. Jenna Kutcher, the podcast host, started as a wedding photographer, pivoted into an online educator, podcast host, speaker, AirBnB host, and is growing her empire.

I appreciate that she is transparent and shares her successes that she also backs up with numbers. It’s pretty mind blowing and impressive.

My Favorite Podcasts: Limited Series

Serial

The success of Serial seems to have made the general public aware of podcasts. I think it was after Serial that a ton more podcasts started getting published.

If you haven’t listened to Serial, I highly recommend Season 1, about Adnan Syed. If you have HBO, there’s a documentary special, The Case Against Adnan Syed, that takes place post-Serial.

Season 2 was okay, but not as compelling as Season 1. Season 3 was better than Season 2, and talked about the criminal justice system in Cleveland.

Dirty John

True crime podcasts are my favorite. I’m not sure why. Maybe because of the detective work and solving a mystery? I guess it explains why I like shows like Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU.

Dirty John is the compelling story of a woman who fell for a conman. You have to listen to believe it. It’s told by a Los Angeles Times journalist and it’s so good.

I think the story was so “truth is stranger than fiction” that the podcast was turned into a limited series on Bravo and a documentary special on Oxygen.

I discovered this podcast thanks to John and Sherry of Young House Love Has a Podcast.

Dr. Death

It’s weird when you hear a true crime story that happened in your city. Especially when you recognize the hospital names and systems.

Dr. Death tells the story of a neurosurgeon in Dallas who basically killed his patients. That’s oversimplifying it, but the story is fascinating. The doctor was recently sentenced to life in prison.

Bag Man

I’m kind of a history nerd and I enjoy learning about history. This was a piece of history I had no idea about. Well, the seventies are totally a murky period since I wasn’t born yet and when you study it in high school, it’s usually the end of the year and it’s breezed through.

Bag Man tells the story of Spiro Agnew who was the vice president under Richard Nixon. Now, most people know about Watergate, but did you know that Spiro Agnew was taking bribes while he was VP?!

I learned about Bag Man from an episode of Fresh Air. Rachel Maddow hosted Bag Man, and was interviewed on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Slow Burn

After listening to Bag Man, I needed more information about Watergate, because, honestly, I didn’t really understand what happened.

I found Slow Burn as a recommendation from the Bag Man podcast and it goes through the history of what happened with Watergate and what happened to Nixon as a result.

This is just a short list of the podcasts I listen to regularly or have listened to recently. Here’s a past post with some other favorite podcasts.

Do you have any podcast recommendations? Let me know in the comments.