What to listen to (podcast recs for a short walk or long flight)

I have a literal to-be-read pile of books by my bed. I’ve always enjoyed reading one book for a while, getting into that voice, that story, that writer’s head, and then after 50 or 100 pages, or maybe just after dinner, reading something else. It becomes more of a conversation, the way ideas from one writer reverberate with another.

Lately I’ve been listening to podcasts in a similar manner. Sometimes I’ll try out a new show and one episode is enough; with others I binge several episodes, and then contrast that with a weekly update from a trusted favorite.

Some podcasts are basically popular radio shows that have been put online, such as NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross or BBC Radio 4 Book Club with James Naughtie. It’s great to be able to listen to those on demand. But other podcasts are pushing the medium or are way more niche then what you hear on mainstream radio.

Apparently, most people listen to podcasts when they’re either in the gym or on their commute. I don’t have a gym membership and this morning I commuted to the sofa. I do listen a lot when I’m out walking my dog, while driving, and on long plane trips.

Initially, I downloaded and streamed episodes from the show sites, but now I find it easiest to organize, download, and listen to my shows with a podcast app. My app, Pocket Casts, is set to notify me about new episodes to all the shows I subscribe to, and periodically I download a bunch of episodes.

Here’s what I’m enjoying lately, and a suggested episode to sample:

The Longform Podcast is one of the best ongoing interview series with journalists at the top of their game writing longform articles and books. The interviewers have a wonderful conversational style. Scroll through to find a writer whose work you’ve read, or even pick at random.

Recommended episode: Elif Batuman (episode 297), writer for the New Yorker, and author of a novel called “The Idiot,” which I highly recommend to anyone who’s read Dostoevsky. If you haven’t read Dostoevsky, forget about podcasts for now and instead read “Crime and Punishment.”

Last Seen is an art/history/true crime/thriller put out by WBUR in Boston. It looks at the largest unsolved art heist in history, which took place a few decades ago at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

I wouldn’t have thought that radio would have been so well suited for a story exploring art. I was wrong.

As a freelance writer, it will give you an interesting way to think about the “why now” question as well as how to tell a longform story that doesn’t have a clear resolution. As you start this series, there’s no obvious news hook or answer to who done it. In some ways, it reminds me of Serial, the first podcast to hook me.

Recommended episode: Start with the very first episode, “81 Minutes,” and then go chronologically.

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day is a series of interviews with people about just what you thought, their failures, and how they’ve learned from them. Day recently got a book deal based on the podcast.

Many of the people that she interviews are writers, journalists, and novelists, and non-fiction writers.

Recommended episode: If you watched “Fleabag” on Amazon Prime or the BBC, then you’ll like the episode with Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Mothers of Invention looks at what women are doing to help treat climate change. It’s both feminist and funny, and hosted by former Irish President Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins. There are reported stories and the co-hosts bring such interesting perspectives, you’ll probably want to have a cup of tea and laugh along with them.

Recommended episode: “The White Man Brought the Weather” (episode 2) looks at divestment from climate change. One of the segments features a South African activist who’s shifted from the anti-apartheid struggle to climate change issues, and how they’re impacting water supply and food security.

Ear Hustle is my latest binge. It’s by and about inmates at San Quentin State Prison in California. This one was recommended to me by this week’s upcoming guest on the Writing Coach Podcast, who used it when teaching journalism to prison inmates and university students.

Recommended episode: You thought you had a difficult roommate or neighbor? Listen to “Cellies,” episode 1.

The Writing Coach Podcast is my own project … and yes I do give it a listen after the fact to evaluate. It’s a mix of me sharing what I’ve learned along the way as a freelance writer, coaching techniques to help you manage your mindset, and interviews with writers doing interesting work.

Recommended episode: Episode 1, What’s your problem?