Friday Favorites: My Go-To Podcasts

I am certain that it doesn’t surprise you that I LOVE podcasts, and have for years.  It wasn’t until I a little over a year ago and heard some more “amateur” podcasts that I suddenly realized this was something lay-people could do.  (Eventually, that meant me!)

I thought today’s (free!) Friday Favorite could be a list of the podcasts I find myself listening to almost religiously.  From the top to the bottom, I’m listing them how long I’ve been a follower–not in order of my preference.

My Go-To Podcasts
1) Fresh Air, with Terry Gross: Terry, Terry, Terry.  I love her silky voice, her thoughtful questions, her laughter, how celebrities even go ga-ga over her, and I even love her stutters.  She is an incredibly bright woman and I feel that each episode teaches me something incredible or is just plain fun to listen to.  There’s a great variety there.
2) This American Life: Ira, Ira, Ira.  (OK, I’ll stop doing that from now on.)  I hang on EVERY WORD each episode.  Sometimes I skip Fresh Air, but never This American Life.  I don’t think there’s a single episode from the last four years that I haven’t heard.  And shhhhh, this might be my very favorite.
3) Happier, with Gretchen Rubin: I listen to most of these; however, it took me a few months of occasional listening to suddenly really love this podcast.  It tends to focus on “white people” problems–meaning, how we are obsessed with happiness despite having so many reasons to be happy–but I still get a lot out of most episodes.  The sister-to-sister (monotone) banter is fun, too.
4) Young House Love Has A Podcast: This was that first podcast where I thought, “Man, I would love to do this.”  John and Sherry were VERY VERY successful interior design bloggers who left it all behind when it was getting too much.  Then they started this podcast.  I love the married banter, the quizzes, and learning about interior design. But that’s because I love that thing!
5) The Chris Loves Julia Podcast with Preston Pugmire: This is similar to YHL, but very different too.  I don’t miss either of these podcasts.
6) The LifeBeats Project: Briana Johnson has become a friend, but even before that I would have considered her one just as a listener.  This is the first “amateur” podcast I discovered and was hooked right away.  She connects SO SO well with her guests, asks amazing questions, and seems to know just how to navigate really difficult, really personal stories.  I don’t miss an episode.  Psst: she was a recent guest on my show here, and I was on hers as well here.
7) The Extraordinary Moms Podcast: I discovered Jessica Dalquist around the same time as Briana.  I love her style–she is very good at coming up with new questions, interviewing an AMAZING variety of guests, and getting to the meat of what matters from the interviews.  She was also on my show here, and I on hers here!!
8) Bold New Mom: I found Jody after we both interviewed the same person–Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife.  I absolutely love how she reframes things and I’ve learned a lot from her.
9) Vibrant Happy Women with Dr. Jen Riday: She has the same format for each interview, but we somehow get something different out of each one.  I love the variety of women she has on her show and how she’s able to distill things down to takeaway tips.  She also has a killer voice for this sort of thing and the whole podcast looks and sounds very professional.

But, wait!  There’s more.

Newish Podcasts to me that I’m digging: Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations (just started last week and I love it, but who doesn’t LOVE Oprah?!); 10% Happier with Dan Harris (LOVED his book); How I Built This with Guy Raz (just getting into this one and it’s fascinating–going to be a favorite, for sure); Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker (really great); More Happy Life (these are shorter in length and very educational/easy to follow–Andy was a guest on my show!); Wow in the World (GREAT for kids!!!!); Pod Save America (don’t listen to this around kids because they use adult language).

Beyond this list, I’ve listened to countless others.  Some I come back to, but these are my tried and true.  I’m always interested in hearing others though–so please share your own go-to’s in the comments!