7 Podcasts You Should Start Listening To

Commuting is a necessary evil - getting stuck in traffic, waiting for delayed trains, walking 10 blocks - it’s a jungle out there!  Sure, most of us would love to tele-commute 5 days a week, but for those of us that don’t have that luxury, a podcast might be just what you need!

If you haven’t tried listening to a podcast, you’re missing out.  They are FREE!  And there’s a podcast for pretty much any topic you can think of.  

But how do I listen to a Podcast?

You can listen to a podcast through a website (this is called streaming).
You can download a podcast. This means you save it on your phone, tablet, or computer, and can listen to it anytime, even when you are offline without wifi or an internet connection. It’s just like having an MP3 audio file on your device.

Here’s a list of the 7 podcasts you should start listening to on your commute, at the doctor's waiting room, while grocery shopping...you get the idea:

1. This American Life  -  This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.   “When I’m trying to explain our program  to someone who doesn’t know it, I stammer a bunch of words like ‘entertaining,’ ‘funny,’ ‘surprising plot twists,’ ‘true stories but not boring I swear’ .” — Ira Glass
2. Up First  -  NPR’s Up First is the news you need to start your day. The biggest stories and ideas — from politics to pop culture — in 10 minutes.
3. TED Radio Hour  -  a narrative journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.
4. Here’s The Thing with Alec Baldwin -  Alec sidesteps the predictable by going inside the dressing rooms, apartments and offices of people we want to understand better: Ira Glass, Lena Dunham, David Brooks, Chris Rock and others. 
5. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!   -  NPR's weekly current events quiz. Have a laugh and test your news knowledge while figuring out what's real and what they've made up.
6. The Bestseller Experiment  -  Join author and screenwriter Mark Stay with recording artist Mark Delvaux, as they discover the secrets to writing a bestseller and challenge themselves and you to write, market and self-publish in one year.
7. Snap Judgement  -  (Storytelling with a BEAT) mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic, kick-ass radio.