So I have this thing with podcasts. I’m a binger. I go in waves of listening to books, then I’ll listen to podcasts for a month or so, then back to books, then back to podcasts.
Right now I’m on podcasts.
I’m on my third series that I’m listening to straight through, then I’ll probably listen to a few episodes of old podcasts I’ve listened to in the past before going back to books for a while.
So, what are these podcasts I’ve been binge listening to?
1 // My Favorite Murder
Oh man, this podcast is hilarious and life-changing at the same time. Hilarious because Georgia and Karen are just funny. I mean Karen is a comedian and TV writer so she has great timing and always has something funny to say.
Life-changing because now I always think about getting murdered. Not in a weird way, but I’m more alert and cautious and in their words — fuck politeness — which basically means if you have a weird feeling about a situation, something makes you uncomfortable, a gut reaction, someone looks at you funny, don’t be polite for politeness sake. Walk away, roll up your window, lock your door — not polite is better than murdered. If you listen to the show you’ll know what I mean.
If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard about this podcast yet, you are probably wondering about the name. Basically Karen and Georgia each talk about a murder in every episode. Some episodes have themes, some don’t. Sounds dark, but it’s fascinating for the same reasons shows like CSI, Law & Order, and Dateline are popular.
They call all of their followers murderinos, and their tagline (or sign off) is stay sexy, don’t get murdered.
I recommend listening to it starting from the very first episode. It’s annoying to do this in the iPhone podcast app, but I think it makes the show make more sense along the way.
2 // Art For Your Ear
Well obviously, I’m obsessed with this podcast. Danielle of The Jealous Curator interviews artists in a podcast called Art For Your Ear. Getting inside an artist’s head is like the most interesting thing to me. I just want this podcast to go on forever and ever.
Danielle asks the guests great questions like how they got into their profession, were they creative as kids, did they go to art school or not, what is their artistic process, etc. All the questions I would ask the guests myself.
If you are at all interested in art or artists, you will love this podcast.
3 // S-Town
I had no idea what this podcast was about when I started listening to it but I was hooked pretty quickly. Since it’s brought to you by Serial and This American Life it already had a little clout and immediately made me interested.
It is a strange story and you aren’t really sure where it’s going to go after the first few episodes.
What I love so much about it is that it features an eccentric person that was such an outcast (or felt like one) his whole life, but in fact a lot of people thought his personality was interesting, charming, and genius.
To me I just think it’s so hard to understand what other people have going on in their heads, especially things they obsess over and can’t stop and it literally drives them mad. It definitely opened my eyes to be more sympathetic toward others with problems like this.
Interesting story. In true Serial fashion, the ending is left a little open/unsolved. Frustrating but understandable.
4 // Fat Mascara
Last but certainly not least, Fat Mascara is a beauty podcast. Jen and Jess are both beauty editors — Jennifer Goldstein is the executive beauty and health editor at one of my favorite magazines Marie Claire, and Jessica Matlin is the beauty and health editor at Teen Vogue.
They make a great duo as podcast hosts and are obviously beauty junkies that have the education to give sound beauty advice. I love that they are skeptical and thoughtful about what they talk about and have a tell-it-like-it-is approach when talking about beauty products. Especially when they think things are stupid or exaggerated. That’s how I like to cover things here on my site, a non sugar-coated version of everything, i.e. the truth, so I really like their honesty.
My only complaint (okay there are two so far) is just that there are a lot of commercials and they are randomly put in the episodes, sometimes in the middle of sentences, which just seems really weird. Also I wish their episodes were longer. It always seems like they want to chat with their guests longer (and do in some cases) but they don’t air all of the conversation. I want to hear allllll of it!
If you are a beauty junkie and love to talk about beauty and health (but mostly beauty) this is a great podcast for you. They talk a lot about the science behind products and I’m always having to look things up, so I feel more educated about what is in products and what they actually do after listening. They also mention products they love (from drugstore to luxury) and link to them on their website so they are easy to find.
What are some of your favorite podcasts right now? I’d love a few recommendations about health/wellness podcasts — I’m a bit burned out on business/entrepreneur podcasts.
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Thanks to my friend Lara for recommending S-Town and Fat Mascara to me!
Photo by Alysa Bajenaru via Unsplash
I loved S-Town! Totally unresolved but so fascinating in a heartbreaking way.
I also love Fat Mascara. They do need to work on their ad placement in the episode, that’s gotten a little out of hand, but I love their podcast so much I just try to ignore it. I also would love if they aired their whole conversations. It’s so interesting!
Ya I just skip through the ads, thank god for that 15 second fast forward!
I loved S-Town but I’ve read some reviews that are criticizing it as too invasive, especially given some of the revelations in the last few episodes. It’s interesting to think about since it does delve deep into the personal life of someone who may not have wanted the world to know all of that about him.
I’m listening to Pod Save the World right now.
I see how it could feel invasive, but I feel like they would know better having known John. And I do think people see him in a good way, so maybe he’s feeling the warm vibes in the afterlife 😉 not that he believes in one because he was atheist but you know what I mean!
I’ve just recently gotten into podcast (like really recently) because I too am an avid book reader. I’ve binged listened to Serial & S-Town already and am currently about to finish up Into the Dark which is another really quite interesting podcast! I just subscribed to My Favorite Murder. Thanks for the recs.
Yessss Into the Dark was sooooooo good! But made me feel like, geez you can’t even let 3 boys ride their bikes together without worrying!
I love S-Town and My Favorite Murder too! I also really like Happier with Gretchen Rubin, Dear Sugar, Death, Sex & Money, Radiolab, and Reply All.
I’m excited to try Art for Your Ears–thanks for the recommendation!
Will have to try those out!
I loved listening to S-Town!! It was such a great story! Honestly, I love almost anything NPR puts out! I tried listening to a few My Favorite Murder episodes but couldn’t get into it, I’ll have to give it another try!
xo, Sarah
It gets better after the first few episodes. But if you don’t like the premise you might not like it.
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Good list!
If you like Dateline, you should try Case File. It’s narrated by an Australian man with the eeriest voice (his voice is great – it’s the backdrop that makes it sound eerie!)
Also, I’ve fallen out of love with Fat Mascara. I don’t mean this to be overly critical but I don’t find them to be very good at the interviewing piece. I find they like to talk about themselves a little too much and ask extremely basic (read: boring) questions. I think the up-front banter/random topics are my favorite part of the show – so I definitely like hearing them talk about themselves, just not when they’re interviewing the guest.