Top 10 Podcasts to Listen to Today (2017)

A couple of months back, my wife turned me on to listening to podcasts. With over an hour drive to and from work, this was something much needed that I had the ability to do every day. Prior to podcasts, I had been listening to a lot of book on CD, but was tired of changing the discs and how lengthy they were. Because of this, I have been listening to a lot more podcasts these days. Here are my "Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today" as of April 2017.

UPDATE: Be sure to check out my suggestion for 10 more podcasts to listen to (Fall 2017) after you read this! And 10 more from 2018!
Update #2: Check out the fourth installment from October 2018
Update #3: Check out the newest 20 at Let’s Talk Podcasts #6 and Singular Story #5

10. The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
"All good stories have a twist, and all great storytellers are just a little twisted. Join me for a different take on the people and events that you thought you knew, from pop culture to politics, Hollywood to history… The Way I Heard It is a series of short mysteries for the curious mind with a short attention span."

I really enjoy these short stories by Mike Rowe. Each 9-12 minute episode begins with an ad, but each ad is actually a story in itself, so it is pretty enjoyable to listen thru. After that we get to the actual episode which is usually 5-10 minutes long. Mike is a great story teller and I really appreciate how quick these podcast episode stories are.

 

9. Embedded
"Hosted by Kelly McEvers, Embedded takes a story from the news and goes deep. What does it feel like for a father in El Salvador to lie to his daughter about the bodies he saw in the street that day? What does it feel like for a nurse from rural Indiana to shoot up a powerful prescription opioid? Embedded (EMBD) takes you to where they're happening."

Although this is less than 10 total episodes, Embedded listens like an interactive news story. Each story does what the description says, they go deep, into the specifics and details of each specific topic they cover. The latest season is covering police videos. Listen up for a story from the front lines of the action.

8. All Songs Considered
"Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton spin new music from emerging bands and musical icons."

A great way to discover new music and learn about the origin and details of the newest festivals/bands of today. This is a must listen for anyone who has the slightest interest in the music scene. Episodes range from just a few minutes to over an hour long depending on the topic.

podcast all songs.jpg

7. This American Life
"This American Life (TAL) is an American weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass."

This weekly program tells fantastic stories about specific events happening in the world today. Each episode has it's own theme that these journalists do a lot of research on, then providing us with a quick 60 minute story.

podcast american.png

6. TED Radio Hour
"The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas: astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, new ways to think and create. Based on Talks given by riveting speakers on the world-renowned TED stage, each show is centered on a common theme – such as the source of happiness, crowd-sourcing innovation, power shifts, or inexplicable connections. The TED Radio Hour is hosted by Guy Raz, and is a co-production of NPR & TED."

Interested in new technology and ideas? This is the show for you, as each episode explores new inventions and new ways to think about things in today's world. This show will provide you with an hour of fresh material every week.

5. The Moth
"The Moth Radio Hour features our most beloved tales and the stories behind the stories. The series debuted in 2009 and is now airing on more than 400 stations nationwide. The Moth Radio Hour is co-produced by Jay Allison at Atlantic Public Media and presented by PRX."

Listening to others tell stories can be happy, sad, inspiring, depressing, and even get your skin crawling. The Moth podcast provides the listeners with a variety of stories from stand-up shows happening nation wide. Even some of the stories in episodes are recorded right here in Chicago. Check out and be inspired by other people's stories, and maybe even have the courage to tell your own.

4. Up and Vanished
"Up and Vanished is an investigative podcast that explores the unsolved disappearance of Georgia beauty queen and High School teacher, Tara Grinstead, an 11 year old mystery that is the largest case file in Georgia's history."

If you've heard of Serial, you're going to love this podcast. This podcast is told by a former Youtube rapper (Right Side of the Tree), and video producer Payne Lindsey. This is Lindsey's first podcast and he ends up hitting it big, as his investigative work leads to the eventual solving of this murder case that had gone cold over 10 years ago. Some may say he didn't have anything to do with it, but his work brought the interest of this case to a national level and uncovered many long forgotten details. Although there are some extra episodes with interviews and case evidence that I found repetitive and skipped over, the main episodes are quite the treat. Funny to hear the voice of a kid who was making hilarious rap videos back in 2007, but if you don't know Payne from his YouTube days, you will be able to take this one more seriously right away. One of my favorite podcasts of 2017.

3. Serial
"Serial is a podcast from the creators of This American Life, hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial tells one story—a true story—over the course of a season. Each season, we follow a plot and characters wherever they take us. We won’t know what happens at the end until we get there, not long before you get there with us. Each week we bring you the next chapter in the story, so it's important to listen to the episodes in order."

This podcast has gone through two seasons. While season one was significantly better, discussing the arrest of Adnan Syed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend back in 1999, which he ensures us he is innocent of. Season two focuses on a army soldier Bowe Bergdahl who leaves his outpost in the middle of the night, eventually being captured and needing rescue. This podcast is by far one of my favorites of all time. I highly suggest this one, especially if you enjoyed Up and Vanished.

2. How I Built This
"How I Built This is a podcast about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. Each episode is a narrative journey marked by triumphs, failures, serendipity and insight — told by the founders of some of the world's best known companies and brands. If you've ever built something from nothing, something you really care about — or even just dream about it, you'll love this podcast."

A very inspiring podcast that I enjoy listening to on my morning commute. Each episode is about a particular company, and covers it's evolution through a 20-40 minute epiosde. This gets the creative juices flowing and will surely make you think you should drop everything and start your own business. It is awesome to see how so many famous companies today started from nothing so long ago. If you are an innovator or have your own business, I highly suggest this awesome podcast. One of my favorites of 2017.

1. 99% Invisible
" 99% Invisible is about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world"

My number one podcast to listen to in 2017 is 99% Invisible. Roman Mars and the rest of the staff at 99PI do an incredible job of putting together a new story every week. This is my favorite podcast for a few reasons. One, each week every topic is super interesting and they have a unique way of telling the story that keeps me entertained and listening. Two, episodes are the perfect length and ads are at the end. Podcasts with ads at the very beginning and very end are perfect because you don't have to do any unnecessary listening. 99 PI does just that, which makes it easy to hear nothing more than the 20-30 minute episode. Number three, I genuinely enjoy listening to Roman Mars tell each tale every week. Whether it is Roman or the other guests on the show, I find the amount of content they present perfect and it is told in a way that really catches my ear.. If you are interested in architecture or design at all, I highly highly recommend this podcast. If you aren't like me, but are looking for a great podcast, I suggest this podcast!

I hope that you can take some time out of your busy lives to listen to these wonderful podcasts. Each production crew has done an amazing job to make the stories unique and an enjoyable experience for their listeners. And above all, they are FREE! Just download them on itunes, listen on their website links which I provided above, or listen through a Podcast app on your phone like me.

Know of some great podcasts that I didn't mention? Let me know about them in the comments as I would love to listen to some new material on my way to and from work.

Until next time.

Josh

UPDATE: Be sure to check out my suggestion for 10 more podcasts to listen to (Fall 2017)

There's a Robot in the Office

On Wednesday August 17, 2016 I worked all day, then enjoyed yummy Blue Apron burgers made by Rachel for dinner. If you don't know, Blue Apron is a meal service that sends you fresh ingredients and a recipe to cook those ingredients with. It is nice because everything you need is already portioned out and included in the package. The bad thing is that they claim: "it will take 20 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to cook" but whenever we cook one it always takes 90 minutes to 2 hours for us to finish and eat. Great food and tastes though, so many flavors! We watched Mr. Robot episode 4 of season 2. Getting good.

Song of the Week: It's Different For Girls by a band that I thought was a new Indie band, but after researching has been around since 1996. of Montreal.

Thursday August 18, we had another Blue Apron dinner. This one was catfish and it was quite enjoyable as well. Thanks to Rach for cooking it up once again. I believe this was only the second time having catfish, the first time being back with Andrew Mewborn and John at Swamp Guinea in Georgia back in summer of 2008. Oh yeah, here is a photo of that.

Rachel and I watched episodes 5 and 6 of Mr. Robot season 2 that evening before calling it a night. The next day on August 19th, a Friday, I had McDonald's for lunch and ended up working pretty late. When I got to my parents house I watched season 1 of The Office with Beth while having a few PBRs and doing laundry. Slept at my parents obviously.

Saturday August 20, I had McDonald's for lunch, again, wow I am unhealthy. I had to work in the morning that day and when I finished I headed back over to my parents and grilled Italian sausages and potato slices for my parents and Beth for dinner. Beth and I ended up watching half of season 2 of the office on this day. After I finished eating I headed over to New Lenox where I hit up The Bulldog restaurant bar with Jordan (Michele's bf) and Cory (Ashley's fiance). They had been there for a couple of hours as all of our ladies were at Mary's bridal shower. After a couple of drinks, the girls arrived and we had a fun night. Rachel and I drove back to her parents around midnight and spent the night there.

On the morning of Sunday August 21st, Rachel and I headed down to Kankakee to visit Rachel's Grandpa. We had lunch and enjoyed a little over 3 hour visit with him. Afterwards we headed to the cemetery to meet up with my family for my Grandpa's 10 year death anniversary (blog about Grandpa here). Rachel and I then stopped at target on our way home. We spent about 2 hours shopping around and I put the Cartwheel app to good use, coming up with $8 of savings. Woo! We had a productive night around the apartment doing some organizing and cleaning. We still can't figure out why we are only productive once the sun goes down though... We were up until at least midnight again, we stay up too late.

Monday August 22nd, the start of another week. After work I cooked up some Trader Joe's kung pow chicken for dinner. My computer is really pissing me off, and it sucks (read about how it is super frustrating here). I am in the process of backing it up again on a new external hard drive and we will see if it works this time. Mr. Robot episode 7 was mind blowing! Whoa! That was just insane! If you aren't watching Mr. Robot you need to start now! Season 1 is on Netflix and season 2 is currently being aired on live TV. That night Rachel and I cleaned and organized around the apartment a little bit.

Another day another cavity, on Tuesday August 23rd, I visited the dentist to get that filling that was previous filled, filled again. These teeth are rough. I listened to the second episode of Up and Vanished. The podcast I talked about last week about a missing girl from Georgia. Decent episode. That night I got home late from work, called it a night.

TV Shows of the Week: The Office and Mr. Robot - both on Netflix. Get on it. This is actually my first time watching the office all the way through, hilarious as always. And oh look at that screen shot from Mr. Robot season 2, it's Darryl from The Office.

Inspiration of the Week: YouTuber Casey Neistat, who vlogs about his daily life and also makes short movies. He is one of the few YouTubers where I will actually watch 10+ minute videos all the way through. The amount of work he puts into each video and the details are something that seem to be unmatched by anyone right now. From using cool gadgets, to drone footage, to time lapses, to pulling off crazy stunts. He does it all! I have only recently started watching his stuff, but have really been enjoying it. His story of sticking to what he loves and working hard for it is very cool. His hard work has given me new ideas and plans for this website, my YouTube channel, and my blogs. Hopefully I can put some of them to use soon. I honestly don't know how he manages to have ideas for a daily video, film everything, edit the video, and post them daily.  Here is one of his most recent videos with a visit to Chicago as he drives his son across the country for the start of college. Be sure to check out his channel and watch his vids.

Video of the Week: This cool mashup of a bunch of movies (230 to be exact) singing The Offspring's Pretty Fly (For a White Guy).

A few more blogs will be coming in the next week or so. Keep your eyes peeled.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

 

Josh