Up (4) Another 10 Podcasts to Check Out in 2018

By now you should all know I am about that Podcast life. Lots of driving, lots of running, lots of cooking, lots of working. All great times to listen to podcasts. In just over a year and a half I have 10 more of my favorite podcasts. That is a total of 40 in that time. 8 Month ago I came out with 10 PODCASTS (X3) TO LISTEN TO IN 2018. 4 months before that, I released 10 More Podcasts You Should Listen to Today. And 6 months prior to that, in April of 2017, I wrote my first post called, "Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today".

Update: Check out the newest 20 at Let’s Talk Podcasts #6 and Singular Story #5

If you are up for it, let’s jump into the another 10 podcasts you should check out in 2018.

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10. Limetown

"Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. American Public Radio reporter Lia Haddock asks the question once more, "What happened to the people of Limetown?""

Limetown is a fun fictional podcast series that is only 6 episodes. It’s a pretty simple story line narrated by a woman reporter and the series ends with a bang. The narration reminds me of the 1996 Play Station video game Resident Evil. Rumor has it season two will be released on Halloween 2018.

9. Cults

"Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside a cult? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of people who join cults and leaders who start them? Every Tuesday, Greg and Vanessa explore the history and psychology behind the most notorious cults. Cults is part of the Parcast Network and is a Cutler Media production."

Cults is the sister podcast to my #1 podcast from my last pod blog, Serial Killers. Greg and Vanessa (the hosts) do a great job explaining what goes into cults, how they begin, and how they eventually fall apart and end. Definitely check it out if you enjoyed Serial Killers or are interested in cults. With over 50 episodes you may need to browse to find an episode of your cult of choice. I suggest starting with episodes 1-2 on The Manson Family and then 3-4 on Heaven’s Gate. One of my other favs is about The People’s Temple and Jim Jones, episodes 19 & 20.

8. My Dad Wrote a Porno

"Imagine if your dad wrote a dirty book. Most people would try to ignore it - but not Jamie Morton. Instead, he decided to read it to the world in this groundbreaking comedy podcast. With the help of his best mates, James Cooper and Alice Levine, Jamie reads a chapter a week and discovers more about his father than he ever bargained for."

Cringey names and descriptions, awkward situations, sexual encounters, hilarious stuff. I’m not super into comedy podcasts currently, so this is my first comedy podcast I’ve posted about, but it seems like something my Dad could pull off. Definitely listen if you are in for a good laugh about the sexy story behind Belinda Blumenthal, who works sales in the pot and pans industry. The series gets a little repetitive, but I suggest listening to season one, or at least episode one. Funny stuff.

7. Kexp Presents Music That Matters

"Check out some of the KEXP DJ's favorite artists from the Pacific Northwest and around the world on-the-go. KEXP's Music That Matters weekly podcast brings you an exclusive mix of new music from the world's best independent artists."

Another music podcast for you since I love music, & love listening to new artists. This podcast from Seattle radio station KEXP includes hour long sessions, hosted by a DJ, of new and inspiring music of all genres. Some of my favorite episodes in this podcast are the running ones which give you upbeat music to listen to on your run and even some inspirational quotes. Many of the DJ sets include KEXP songs of the day.  KEXP song of the day was featured in the 3rd installment of 10 podcasts I enjoy listening to. You won’t find many chart toppers in the sessions, but if you like independent music, check this out.

6. Endless Thread

"The front page of the Internet--also known as Reddit--is making noise. Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dig into the site's vast and curious ecosystem of online communities, collaborating with Reddit's 330 million users and over 140 thousand communities to find all kinds of jaw-dropping narratives. A collaboration between WBUR and Reddit."

A plethora of stories from redditors! I am a frequent lurker of Reddit, and if you are not, check it out and you just might become one as well. This podcast cover a variety of topics, posts, and stories that all come from reddit. Good story telling with some insightful comments from the people of reddit. Stories can be interesting, funny, informing, scary or just straight up out there.

5. Lore

"Lore is an award-winning, critically-acclaimed podcast about true life scary stories. Lore exposes the darker side of history, exploring the creatures, people, and places of our wildest nightmares. Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction."

Shoutout to Mary for letting me know about this podcast. Great non-fictional scary stories told every week, which is closing in on its 100th episode. I really enjoy the host of Lore and his story telling style. Episodes are around 35 minutes and will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you are in for some frightening truthful stories from around the world, give it a listen.

4. Criminal

"Criminal Is A Podcast About Crime. Stories of people who've done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle."

Criminal is produced through Radiotopia, the podcast group of many of my favorites including 99% Invisible, Ear Hustle, Song Exploder and more! Criminal is hosted by Phoebe Judge, and features weekly stories of crime. I really enjoy the soothing yet spooky voice of Phoebe as she tells new 25 minute stories each week. They just eclipsed episode 100, so you have a large sampling to choose from.

3. Eat This Not That

"Eat This, Not That! takes a fun and informative look at how Americans eat. Whether it’s what we eat for breakfast on the go, what we pack for lunch, or how we fill our shopping cart and stock our pantry, we make more than 300 food decisions every day. Together, we’ll learn how to make better choices and eat all of our favorite foods, guilt-free!"

The “healthy” side of me got me interested in this one. Short little stories about food and what healthy choices we can make. Give these 15-25 minute episodes a listen for quick tips on how to store food in your fridge, how to cook meat properly, the best snacks to eat, ways to save at the supermarket and more!

2. American History Tellers

"Every part of your life -the words you speak, the ideas you share- can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We’ll take you to the events, the times and the people that shaped our nation. And we’ll show you how our history affected them, their families and affects you today."

This Wondery podcast (also created Sword and Scale & Dirty John from previous top 10 posts) hosted by Lindsay Graham features stories about specific historic events. It’s not your typical boring history lesson though. The host will set the scene, having you imagine you are there at that specific moment in history with great descriptors and detail. The show is up to 7 season so far, including the Cold War, Prohibition, the Age of Jackson, the Space Race, Natural Parks and the American Revolution. If you are interested in any of these topics, take a story telling deep dive into them through 6-8 part series where the narrator will put you in the shoes of a person living during that time.

1. Crimetown

"Welcome to Crimetown. Every season, we’ll investigate the culture of crime in a different American city. First up: Providence, Rhode Island, where organized crime and corruption infected every aspect of public life. This is a story of alliances and betrayals, of heists and stings, of crooked cops and honest mobsters—a story where it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Hosted by Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier."

Easily the best podcast I’ve listened to over the past months has been Crimetown. It is simply so good. The first season is all about the true story of the mob in Providence, Rhode Island, home of Deer Tick, in the 20th century. With real audio recordings and interviews, the show blends multiple story lines of crime and characters throughout the season, drawing similarities to the tv show, The Wire. With characters like politician Buddy Cianci, master thief Tony Fiore, and crime boss Raymond Patriarca, you’ll be locked in from episode one. Oh, be sure to binge listen through all 18 episodes of season one, so you can prepare for season two, which is set to begin October 2018. I know I can’t wait for it.

And there you have it. These newest 10 podcast brings our total up to 40 great podcasts that I listen on the daily. Remember, if you haven't already seen, check out my previous installments: Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today, 10 More Podcasts You Should Start Listening To (Fall 2017), and 10 Podcasts (x3) to Listen to in 2018.

As a reminder, you can get all podcasts for free by downloading on itunes, listening on the websites (links provided above), or be like me, and use the podcast app on your phone.

If you have any podcast suggestions that you think I would enjoy, or that you believe I am missing out on, let me know! Oh, and since I started this blog off by sharing when I listen to my podcasts, I want to hear when you all listen to your podcasts. Leave me a comment below.

Now, get on your best playing device, and start listening.

Josh

The Benefits of Eating Healthy

Every summer during college, John & I would have one goal. Become jacked and tan. It never happened, ever. With the start of the 2018, I come with the same mission, become jacked and tan. Minus the tan part and more of just get back in shape instead of jacked, but you get the point. Now before we start, be sure to check out the Vlog from January!

After our Snowy New Year, Rachel and I headed back to Chicago with some new years goals. Rachel somehow convinced me to do the Whole30 diet again with her this year. This time we are going all in. No alcohol for January, and only healthy, all natural foods.

Before we dive into it, I would like to add to my jacked and tan story from late high school/college. I'll have it known that John and I were working out two, sometimes three times a day. And we were tanning in between those workout sessions.  So despite consistently working out, we never seemed to have a lot of muscle growth. I am going to say that we failed our mission because of one thing, our diet. I now realize the root of the issue was our food intake. I would slam candy (as I was the king of candy) and not eating all that healthy. My diet was made up of burgers, pasta, fried chicken patties, pizza, ramen, pretzels, chips, candy and other foods relatively low in protein, high in sugar, fat, and carbohydrates.

Fast forward 10ish years and here we are, January 2018. I am working out about 500% less, but my diet is 500% better. So what is the Whole30 diet all about you ask? Let me quickly go over what we can and cannot have. The quickest and simplest rule is that we can pretty much eat anything that is real and natural. Read up:

Things we CAN eat

• Meats (unprocessed of course)

• Fruits (in moderation, watch yo natural sugars)

• Veggies (includes potatoes, yum)

• Nuts & Seeds (no peanuts tho)

• Eggs (lots of eggs)

• Seafood (still not a huge fan, but gotta dive in)

• Coffee (black with no additives, luckily I don't personally drink coffee anyway)

Things we CANNOT eat

• Dairy (no milk, butter, or cheese)

• Grains (no rice, quinoa, corn, or wheat)

• Alcohol (ya booze ya lose)

• Legumes (can't eat beans unfortunately)

• Added Sugar (no honey, maple syrup, stevia, etc)

• Processed foods (check the label, don't recognize it? don't have it)

• Junk foods (don't recreate bad foods out of good foods, ex: cauliflour pizza)

On top of this healthy diet which has really turned me around, we have started to workout. Every Friday after work, Rachel and I have been attending Orange Theory Fitness. These hour long classes involve 25 minutes of treadmill (cardio) and 25 minutes of free weights combined with rowing. Plus 10 minutes of warmup/stretching. I usually try to push myself pretty hard in these classes and enjoy the set up of the workout. If you are not motivated or capable of making your own circuit workout plan, these classes are great! And if you care about tracking your heart rate, they do a fantastic job as well. I'm not too concerned about knowing if I am in the "orange zone" by working hard. I either am going hard or I am not. One of my complaints about Orange Theory is their lockers are at the main entrance, so you can't really change unless you go into the bathrooms which are just bathrooms. Kind of a weird setup. My only other complaint is the price, but it is pretty standard for a group type of class I guess. Depending on your plan it is either $25 or $20 per class. Great workouts that really get me working out my legs more than ever before. Good start to the January weekends.

The next morning on Saturdays, we have been getting beat down at Alana's Sculpt class at Corepower Yoga with Torie. (I have been doing these classes since late 2015 in prep for the Wedding). This is by far the hardest workout I have ever done. I think mostly because of the heat. It is so hot in the room, must be 90+, pushing 100 degrees I'll say, that sometimes my lungs feel restricted and it is super hard to breathe. This along with the constant movements and no "breaks" that Alana "gives" is a recipe for a beatdown. I sweat an insane amount, soaked through my shirt & dripping from my arms, often shaking in my boots from the exercises (updogs, downdogs, squats, pushups, curls, shoulder press, kickbacks, lunges, abs & more!). Rachel, Torie & I usually post up at the front of the class, which is nice because I get to look directly at myself in the mirror, but also a pressure since everyone can watch me.  I am one of the few males in the class, which can often be embarrassing when I am laying on the ground in pain as everyone else continues to workout (this only happened a few times I swear). Again my complaint is the price, depending on your plan it is either $25 or $20 per class. After class I often bond with the other males in the locker room since there are only a few of us and we talk about how grueling the class is. I've run into other lax bros too many times. 

The combo of eating healthy (Whole30) and working out on Friday (Orange Theory) and Saturday (Core Power) has resulted in some amazing changes and advantages in my life throughout the month of January. 

Josh's Benefits of Eating Healthy & Working Out

• Better overall health (immune system)

• Woke up feeling good with plenty of energy

• Able to focus and get more stuff done throughout the day

• Better poops. You heard that right. Poop!

• Lost 10 lbs somehow

• Tighter muscles and body with less fat

• Strongest leg muscles since college

• Saved dat $$ by not drinking or going out to eat (Hundreds of $)

Rach's Key Benefits from Eating Healthy

• Handled stress better

• Less tired, more consistent energy levels

• Never feeling bloated

Now I am not going to lie and say this diet (lifestyle change) wasn't hard at times. Whether it was wanting to eat some pizza, having to spend a ton more time on grocery shopping and cooking, or feeling tired and weak by being deprived of sugar throughout the first two weeks. We battled through the challenges and made it the entire 30 days without cheating once. Winners! My final tip is that you need to eat A LOT more than you think you do when doing this diet. You'll eat more than you normally do, and more often during the day because all this healthy food does not fill you up as quickly as the junk food we normally eat. If you don't eat enough (which I didn't plenty of times) you will lack energy and feel tired. You need to eat fat and a good amount of it for energy. Bacon was key for me on this diet. Mmm bacon. We hope to continue this lifestyle for a majority of our weeks ahead. Let's say maybe 5/7 days to start? 

Meanwhile, here are some other notable events that took place in January.

Wednesday January 3rd, 2018 I went to Mariano's for the first time ever with Beth. It was an alright grocery.

Saturday January 6 - Yoga and Ashley's bday in Lockport (we managed to not drink at a bar!)

Sunday January 7th - Lunch with Grandpa Bob, Mom, Dad, & Beth at Lou Malnatis in Chicago (we managed to not eat pizza at a pizza place!)

Wednesday January 10th - Company Holiday lunch at Capri Sogno in Plainfield (I managed not to get pasta at an Italian pasta place!)

Saturday January 13th - Play settlers of catan at Torie and Tim’s with Rachel, Torie, Tim, Brian, & Megan (Torie was sweet enough to get us berries & grapes for dessert!)

Friday January 19th - I attended a concert at Lincoln Hall and saw Ron Gallo, Yoko and Oh Noes, & Dianne Coffee (managed not to drink)

Monday January 22nd - Orange Theory on my own, I walked to and from, checking out Rach's old apartment in Old Town on the walk home

Wednesday January 24th - The iconic Rock and Roll McDoanld's on Ontario is being torn down! A symbolism of McDonalds in my life? I haven't had McDonald's in all of January and February in 2018. Go ahead and see the Last time I was at this McDonalds it was a stop on a Trolley

Friday January 26th - My last Orange theory fitness class - Beth comes over and we watch Lonely island videos all night.

Saturday January 27th - Core power Sculpt with Rach & Torie again. Did a face mask thing. That night Rachel and I go out to eat at Prime Bar. Then see Beautiful: Carole King the Musical at the Cadillac Palace. Fantastic show about an amazing woman who wrote so many famous songs like The Loco-Motion and Some Kind of Wonderful.

On Wednesday January 31st I wokeup at 530a to photograph the Super Blue Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse. This was the first time this has happened since 1866. Unfortunately we didn't get the blood part since it’s too bright out in Chicago. I was able to see the blood moon part via NASA satellite. See the mornings events in photos below.

Thursday February 1st was the last day of the diet. The Whole 30 diet is over and Rachel was sweet enough to get me some whisky and we celebrated with tacos. Basically Whole30 compliant still!

TV Show of the Month: Black Mirror Season 4 (available on Netflix). Quality show that requires no previous episodes to be seen.

Song of the Month: Vince Staples, Big Fish - Great beat with some poppin' lyrics - It's rap

Before I head out I want to let everyone know I watched 16 of Emma Stone's movies in January and wrote a blog about it. I think everyone should go read that blog and attempt to eat healthy at some point this year. Even if it just for the week days, anything will help with your overall health.  I am excited for the upcoming months and lacrosse season. See ya there!

Josh

The Highest Paid Actress in the World

So remember when I said I would watch 5-10 movies by the next actor/actress? I lied. I ended up watching 16 of Emma Stones' flicks over the month of January. She was my second actor of the year, if you haven't seen my first, check out my post all about my favorite childhood comedy actor, Jim Carrey. I took Rachel's suggestion for the month and we took a deep dive into Emma Stone. She hasn't been in many more movies than the 16 I watched, so let's take a look at those movies right now:

Emma Stone launched her career in the 2007 classic Superbad. Although Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and McLovin' star in the movie, Emma Stone adds some flair with her character Jules. I cannot remember when I first saw this movie, whether it was in high school or college, but it makes me laugh pretty damn hard. There are so many good lines and hilarious scenes, you must watch it if you haven't seen it. Fun fact: For some reason, Rachel's older brother Rob took her to see this movie when she was a junior in high school. It led to a few awkward moments as it isn't exactly a brother/sister movie (especially for a high schooler)! Emma stone continued her role as a secondary character in films The Rocker and Zombieland.  Although she has a more prominent role in the zombie comedy as Wichita, I would say her breakout movie as the lead role was Easy-A. Quite a funny film about a high school girl, Olive played by Stone, who proves that rumors can be used for good and bad. It's one of my favorite movies of her's, so definitely watch it if you are looking for a laugh.

Of the movies listed above, I think my favorite movie of Stone's where she played a lead role would have to The Help. The movie (2011) has Emma Stone cast as "Skeeter" who is a white woman in 1963 Mississippi. She ends up interviewing African American house maids and with her progressive views, helps get their story out to the public. This drama is based on the 2009 novel by Kathryn Stockett. The movie was a roller coaster of emotions, angering me, witnessing white families being so mean to their black maids, making them use their own black only bathroom at times so the whites wouldn't catch "disease" and happy at other times when Minny's special chocolate pie with poop is given to the rich white women, and people would help each other to make progress in equality. It's crazy to think that this was how some people treated each other 50 years ago, and still goes on in some places in the USA today. 

My least favorite movie would have to be Magic in the Moonlight. I just couldn't get into this Woody Allen directed film. It was too slow and boring. 

The movie that surprised me the most and I really enjoyed was The Irrational Man. This film was also directed by Woody Allen, however had a much more interesting story line. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, who plays a washed-up college professor Abe, and Stone who plays Jill, is one of his students who ends up falling in love with her professor. Watch the relationship and story build, only to be hit with a big twist at the end!

One thing I noticed about Emma Stone, is she is frequently casted with Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell. I don't know how casting works in the movie business, but I guess they work well together? Crazy Stupid Love which has all three of them in it is a hilarious comedy about love, divorce, dating, family, and more!  Emma and Ryan are casted together in the next two films. Fun fact, in La La Land, which Stone won an Oscar for Best Actress in a lead role, she is actually singing. What a talented woman! Gangster Squad was a pretty sweet movie as well which Emma plays a girlfriend of Mickey Cohen and Gosling plays a cop named Wooters who Faraday (Stone) ends up falling for. I didn't have a good spot to talk about Birdman which Stone also stars in, so I'll just say it's a great movie and you should watch it.  Her newest movie, again with Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes is about the true story of the 1973 tennis match between the number one women's player Billie Jean King, played by Emma Stone, and ex-champ and hustler Bobby Riggs, played by Carrell. Another movie that focuses on women's empowerment and is based on a true story. 

Emma Stone, who is 8 months older than me, continues to grow as an actress and develop in her roles. From comedies to dramas, she does a fantastic job no matter which type of film she is in. I mean, in 2017, she was the highest paid actress in the world, raking in $26 million. Now, despite being the highest paid actress, I think it is noteworthy to mention that she still only ranks 15th overall, as 14 male actors are ahead of her. The unequal pay between males and females has no limits. By the way, the number one male actor, Mark Wahlberg, made $65 million last year, over double of Stone's pay. Don't sleep on this talented actress!

I only own about half of the movies I watched above, but was curious if there are any Emma Stone movies that I didn't watch that you think would be worthwhile. Let me know!

With Jim Carrey & Emma Stone checked off the list and we continue in this journey of watching specific actor's movies, we look forward to more suggestions. In the future, we are considering the likes of the following: Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Daniel Day Lewis, or Will Ferrell. 

Next up though: Russell Crowe

Happy movie watching

Josh