Podcasts to ride out the pandemic
I was relatively late to the podcast game when I started listening a couple of years ago (My gateway drug? Casefile). But ever since, I’ve binged podcasts while doing just about everything: running on the treadmill, walking my dog, cleaning the kitchen, and taking long drives. As many of us stare down the barrel of several weeks at home and *gasp* no sports to distract us, podcasts might be a welcome diversion from anxiety and boredom. Here are a few I love in case you’re in the market for a new show:
Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch
As a former wannabe sportscaster, this is 100% in my wheelhouse — but the podcast is a fantastic listen for any sports fan. The catalog includes sports personalities you know and love, as well as conversations with insiders like John Ourand of Sports Business Daily who pull back the curtain on how strings get pulled in the sports media game. A recent episode about the record-breaking contract Tony Romo got with CBS is an excellent listen.
I discovered this in a December roundup of the best podcasts of 2019. The two hosts, Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes, take you back in time to the biggest news stories of the late 20th and early 21st centuries but add perspectives that only hindsight can provide. They’re in the middle of an epic, multi-episode dive into the OJ Simpson trial. And an episode arc that features misunderstood women of the ’90s like Amy Fisher, Monica Lewinsky, Anna Nicole Smith, and Tonya Harding will make you realize just how unreasonably mean we were to them back in the day.
If you didn’t OD on Apollo 11 with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing last year, check this one out. Presented by the BBC World Service, the show takes a look at the final descent onto the moon’s surface and all the problems that Neil Armstrong and co. overcame in that short period to make “one giant leap for mankind.” Plus, Hans Zimmer did the soundtrack. Plus plus, the narrator has a wonderful voice. Plus plus plus, the show’s second season just started and it’s all about Apollo 13. (BTW get well soon, Tom Hanks.)
This was another find from a Best-of-2019 list and my first foray into fictional podcasts. The premise: Two adult siblings pick up the pieces after their parents disappear in an assumed plane crash, unraveling a big family secret along the way. After I got used to the actors’ emoting skills (I guess when you can’t see the action, you gotta make the words suuuuuuper dramatic!) I enjoyed the hell out of the story. The downside? The first season goes by in a blink, and the second doesn’t debut until the summer. (But hey, if coronavirus still has us shut down then, we’ll be able to binge that, too!)
I started binging the first five seasons Schitt’s Creek on Netflix when I was home with the flu in January. It’s addictive on a level I’ve never experienced with a TV show. I found this podcast when I was looking for something to listen to on a drive to North Carolina last week, and it didn’t disappoint. Each episode focuses on one season of the show via a 30-40 minute conversation with one of its stars and writers, Dan Levy. He shares insights that range from the heartfelt to the hilarious. If you’re a fan of the show, this is a must-listen!
My career coach suggested this one. The show is half professional advice/motivation and half pop culture history. Its subjects include huge brands you know, like Panera and Crate&Barrel, and successful startups, like M.M. LaFleur and StitchFix. One of my favorite episodes was the one about the origin of Teach For America, which apparently started as an undergraduate thesis paper (!).
Similar to the Deitsch pod, this one prioritizes sports, but host Sarah Spain isn’t afraid to tackle off-the-field topics or feature people from other fields. In a recent episode, former paparazzi photographer James Ambler told stories about his multiple brushes with the rich and famous (including almost getting in a fight with Jude Law). Look back a little further in the catalog for an LOL-inducing episode with baseball reporter Tim Kurkjian and a revealing conversation with Dan LeBatard.