When I go back to Kansas, I drive home instead of flying. It’s a 9 hour drive versus a 4-5 hour flight. But I figure that after you factor in time checking in at the airport, going through security, waiting at the gate, etc etc, plus the risk of flight delays & cancellations…I’ll drive. Plus it’s easier to drive with Haley than fly with her. Double plus, I can pack a ton of stuff and just throw it in my car. Triple plus, I have lots of time to catch up on my favorite podcasts.

Although, I obviously love listening to music, podcasts help the time go faster on a long car ride. I use the Stitcher app on my phone and here are some of my favorite podcasts.

8 of My Favorite Podcasts to Listen to

1. WTF with Marc Maron

I probably listen to WTF more than any other podcast. I do generally skip the musical guest episodes, but all others I listen to regularly. A few of the more recent episodes I enjoyed: Illeana Douglas, Johnny Knoxville, Jim Breuer, Elijah Wood, and Laura Dern

2. Joy the Baker

It’s no surprise that I listen to Joy the Baker as Joy & Tracy are two of my favorite bloggers. They talk about totally important unimportant things. 🙂 It’s basically like catching up with my two girlfriends, although they can’t hear me shouting my input at them. I only wish that they podcasted more.

3. Freakanomics

Freakanomics is great! Anytime I can learn something, while still being entertained, that’s a good thing. I recommend their recent episode about pet cremation. Okay that’s a bummer, but it was interesting.

They did an episode called The Upside of Quitting too. That episode was one of the factors that led me to quit my blog. Quitting my blog didn’t stick, of course, but the podcast helped me during a time of uncertainty.

4. This American Life

There’s really no explanation needed on this podcast. Everyone knows This American Life and if you don’t, shame on you! You can catch episodes on NPR (as you can with several of the podcasts on my list), but the podcast is great as you can listen whenever is convenient for you. There are SO many excellent episodes. But if you’re new to the podcast, I suggest starting with the Harper High School episodes.

5. Here’s the Thing

Alec Baldwin has a good radio voice, not surprisingly. And he has interesting friends, again not surprisingly. He does at times interject his own story into his interview, but not so much that I’m overly annoyed by it.

Ohhh I see that he interviewed David Simon, creator of The Wire, this summer. I’m sure I skipped the episode back then, but will listen now as I’m currently watching the show!

But my favorite Here’s the Thing episode to date had nothing to do with entertainment. It was his interview with Martin Horn, former NYC Dept of Corrections Commissioner.

6. Uh Yeah Dude

America through the eyes of two Americans! It’s a comedy podcast about things in the news, but nothing serious. It’s like Joy the Baker but with dudes. It’s a fun time. Listen while you’re cleaning & time with fly.

Seatbelts!

7. The Moth Podcast

The Moth is a true story podcast. Taken from live shows across the country, it highlights great storytellers. I went to see a live broadcast of it in Austin last year. Here’s two of the stories that I listened to live:

http://themoth.org/posts/stories/from-the-archives-of-the-heartbroken-and-spiritually-bereft

http://themoth.org/posts/stories/good-guys-good-ol-boys

8. Radiolab

Sometimes Radiolab can be just…weird. But many times, Radiolab is thought provoking and that’s what keeps me coming back. The Blame episode had me thinking for days…especially the Fault Line story within that episode.

What are your favorite podcasts?