For the Love of All Things Public

Radio, that is.

Here's a nerdy secret for you. I love NPR. Maybe you guessed that from my last post.

And now possible the most nerdy thing that I could say... I listen to public radio while I work out.

Seriously! See, I have some obsessive compulsive tendencies. I've talked about some of them before. If you've spent any significant amount of time with me, you have probably picked up on some of them. One of my "obsessions" is with numbers. It leads to compulsive counting. I count my paces when I run. I know how many steps I take in a minute and how many steps is a mile. Which circles back to my original nerdiness. a) I'm not a big music person. I know it's weird but I'm just not so I don't really care about listening to music when I run. b) Songs are timed. They are short segments. They are just asking to be counted! When I listen to a podcast, there is no way to split it up into smaller chunks. It's just like someone's talking to me. I can almost get distracted enough not to count. Almost. I judge a run by how much I counted. If it's a good run and I get lost in the zone, I don't count as much. Or if it's a really good podcast, I can get lost in it. I focus on what's the hosts are saying and not on counting. That being said, I cannot think of a single run where I haven't counted at all. Oh well. I'm a work in progress!

But let's take a look at some of the podcasts that distract me better than others...

Stuff Mom Never Told You... SMNTY was one of the first podcasts that I started listening to. It is hosted by 2 women in the Atlanta area. It is under the How Stuff Works umbrella. They talk about super girly stuff like makeup and panties, but in a research-based way. If you've ever wanted to know the history of underwear and when women first started wearing bifurcated under flannels, this is your podcast! However, I will say that if I had to get rid of a podcast, this one would probably be the first to go. Maybe my podcast preferences have changed, but I think SMNTY is a little too liberal for me. Liberal probably is the right word- especially since the next handful of podcasts are all from NPR, but I feel like the hosts try so hard to remain politically correct and include everyone that they lose their voice and point of view.

This American Life... If you don't know and love Ira Glass, you're missing out. Ira Glass is essentially the face of public radio and This American Life is an NPR classic. It is also my go-to road trip podcast. (Yes, I listen to podcasts on road trips. Yes, I am a nerd. I accept it.) This American Life has a different theme each week and the hour-long episode features 3 or 4 acts with that theme. These stories are sometimes heartfelt and sometimes humorous, but always poignant.

NPR: Ask Me Another... This is my first choice podcasts for runs. It is a trivia show and it is hil.arious! It's the easiest podcast to distract me. It's really hard to listen to directions and try to answer brain teasers and figure out anagrams while counting. (Don't worry. I still try!) If you ever want to make people do a double-take, talk through the puzzles (preferably out loud) and laugh about the answers while running. I get lots of fun looks!

NPR: Invisibilia... Invisibilia is a new NPR podcast and, so far, I am hooked! It is a psychology based podcast and you know I love that! It looks at the invisible forces in a person's life and how they may effect various aspects of their personality. So intriguing! They just finished the first season and I can't wait to see what new stories they introduce in season 2.

NPR: Planet Money... Planet Money is NPR's economy podcast. It makes me feel as if I'm educating myself on something that I wouldn't otherwise learn much about. I already talked in length about The Town That Love Death. They also did a podcast on the economy of dating, how to fix global warming, the difference in American and European cars, and why we get gym memberships. Those are just some of my favorites. I think I would be a very good trivia teammate thanks to podcasts and I often start conversations with, "I heard on Planet Money..." #nerdalert

NPR: Pop Culture Happy Hour... This podcast is kind of hit-or-miss with me. I really like it and it makes me feel cultured but I am not really up on all the pop culture so I don't always understand the topics. They focus on TV shows, movies, and music mainly. It is a round table type set up with different people from NPR. It typically covers 2 topics and then ends with a segment called "What is making us happy" which as always the most NPR things ever and I love it! They recently covered SXSW which was way over my head since I don't really do music, much less Indie music, but it still made me feel as is I were broadening my horizons. And they recently did segments on Parks and Rec and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which I can totally get down with! with which I can totally get down!

Freakonomics... This is another economy podcast, and proof that I listen to more than just NPR. :) It also talks about the economy in new and interesting ways. Last week's podcast (which I have yet to listen) is called How Do We Really Know What Works in Healthcare. I'm already intrigued. Maybe on my run today!

StartUp... StartUp is a podcast about a Start Up podcast company. Ha! One of the producers at NPR, Alex Blumberg, left to start his own podcasting network. The first Season of StartUp documents the process of that. It deals with naming the company and finding investors and the financial strains of leaving an established job with a steady incoming and starting a company. I do not plan on starting a company, but the idea is very interesting. By the end of season 1, Gimlet Media is a success and they are trying to decide what direction to go in next...

Reply All... Reply All is the first podcast from Gimlet Media. It's a podcast about the internet. There have only been a few episodes so far, but it seems interesting and I already feel invested in StartUp so I thought this one was worth a try too.

Serial... I talked all about Serial on Monday. You can read about it here. I also read last night on BuzzFeed that there is a new podcast coming out about Adnan Syed if you listened to season 1 of Serial and want to know more...

TEDTalks Health... TEDTalks is my only video podcast. I like all TEDTalks, but the Health ones are by far my favorite! These also mostly focus on psych, which makes them even better! I have written a whole post on this before and shared some of my favorite episodes, if you want to check it out.

New England Journal of Medicine Interviews... These are fairly short interviews with physicians, or pharmacists, or researchers discussed the latest developments or hot topics in healthcare. It is a quick way to get small chunks of information and stay up to date on issues in medicine.

And since I took that screenshot, I have added one more podcast: 

Death, Sex & Money... It is a podcast about, well, death, sex, and money. Technically it is about death, sex, or money. They don't usually talk about all 3 in one episode. I recommend starting with I Killed Someone. Now I have 3 Kids. You'll be totally hooked. The latest episode is about marriage vows being tested by mental illness and I can't wait to hear which direction that take that topic!

Listen. You'll love them. Am I the only person that listens to podcasts? Am I missing out on any great audio gems? What are some of your favorites?