Hellobee

Our internet at home isn’t fast enough to surf Instagram or stream Netflix, and we don’t have many cable channels, so my main form of entertainment in El Nido is podcasts. I’ve been listening to a bunch of different ones and thought I would share some of my favorites, besides Serial and This American Life. When I find a podcast I love, I go back and download all the archives onto my phone, so one podcast can keep me occupied for a very long time. I didn’t jump on the podcast bandwagon until Serial came out, but now I’m hooked!

Sleep With Me – I’ve always had trouble falling asleep at night because my mind races if I just lay in bed. So I used to fall asleep watching tv on my phone, but when I started listening to podcasts, I fell asleep much faster. Sleep With Me features silly, nonsensical, boring stories told in a monotone voice that really put you to sleep! They update very frequently with hour long podcasts, but I could go back and listen to the same episodes because I’ve never reached the end of one. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I often have trouble going back to sleep, so I turn on this podcast and it never fails to put me back to sleep!

Slate’s Mom and Dad Are Fighting – Hosted by Slate editors Allison, mother of 3 boys, and Dan, father of 2 girls, Mom & Dad are Fighting covers parenting topics in a funny, honest, and relatable way. I like the format which typically includes the hosts discussing a parenting topic, an interview with a guest, a listener call asking for advice, and their parenting triumphs, failures, and recommendations for the week.

Respectful Parenting: Janet Lansbury Unruffled – Respectful parenting expert Janet Lansbury has a podcast! This is best for parents with younger kids as most of the topics tend to be focused on the toddler years.

Reply All – This was one of the first podcasts I started listening to. It features a wide variety of human stories related to the internet, such as buying and selling breastmilk online.

Radiolab – Radiolab investigates one story per episode, and they are always so so good. I really enjoyed their recent podcasts on micropreemies and K-poparazzi, but every episode is so well narrated and compelling.

99% Invisible – From food expiration dates, to made-up neighborhood names, to where mail goes when it gets lost, this smart podcast talks about the invisible effects of design in our everyday lives. If you’re a fan of This American Life, you will probably like Reply All, Radiolab and 99% Invisible.

Stuff You Should Know – The two amiable hosts explain how everything from freak shows to El Nino to cats work.

Beautiful Stories – This is a new podcast with host Chris Gethard who talks to one caller for one hour on the phone anonymously, and really delves into the personal details of their lives and stories.

Death, Sex and Money – This podcast features fascinating stories about life’s difficult and sometimes taboo topics (such as in the episode Autism Isn’t What I Signed Up For). Mrs. Milk included it in her favorite podcasts roundup here.

The Sporkful – The Sporkful’s tagline is, “It’s not for foodies. It’s for eaters.” I can relate to that! With topics like the best way to eat a particular food like pho, celebrity interviews, and what we can learn about race and culture through food, this is a smart discussion of all things food.

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And an honorable mention for Mystery Show. Unfortunately this podcast stopped updating after just 6 episodes, but they are all so great. Host Starlee Kline solves one mystery per episode… like exactly how tall is Jake Gyllenhaal?!

Other podcasts in my feed include Criminal, Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin, The Moth Podcast, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Planet Money and TED Radio Hour.

What are some of the podcasts you’ve been loving lately?