My love affair with podcasts continues! They are having their moment, and more and more awesome ones are beginning all the time. As I continue to listen and try new ones, my tastes have evolved and refined. I have discovered the style of podcast that I love the most, and I’m calling it Friends Chatting With Structure. Let’s analyze.
Friends Chatting: I like it when the hosts of the show know each other and are just talking about a topic, rather than having one host who does interviews with someone new each show. There is also the more professional style podcast, like Serial, or a storytelling style, like This American Life. Those are great too, but I still love Friends Chatting best because it draws me in and makes me feel like I’m friends with them too, which is nice when most of my life involves work or kids and I don’t get to connect with my friends that much. And I like my podcasts to be lighthearted.
With Structure: Okay, so the friends need to be talking ABOUT something. It could be that the whole show is focused around one thing, like books or parenting or whatever, or just that they have different segments of the show that guide their discussion. That way things don’t get overly rambly (although I don’t mind a good ramble sometimes).
With that in mind, here are my current absolute favorite podcasts, the ones I look forward to every time a new episode is published, the ones that I will put my audiobook on hold for!
I am sooo excited to share this one with you! My friend Indiana Adams and her husband Chris just launched it this week. Indiana is incredibly funny, charismatic, and when you’re around her she makes you feel special and like you just want to keep hanging out with her forever. And Chris is the perfect match for her; together they are hilarious. They are the parents of three kids under 4, and they talk about parenthood, pop culture, current events, and other stuff. It’s family friendly, lighthearted, and just all around awesome. And bonus, there is a blog to go along with it, which is why they call it a blogcast (totally a word). The blog will have shownotes and funny conversations about daily life. Seriously…you’re going to want to check it out and subscribe.
Other than MJDJ (above), this is my most recent obsession. Hosted by Megan Tietz, formerly of the blog Sorta Crunchy, with a few rotating co-hosts who are all equally cool and interesting. Each episode they share their “awesome of the week” and do a Q&A session which brings up all sorts of topics. One of the best parts of this is that there is also a Facebook group to go along with it where you can share your “awesome of the week” or chat more about the topics on the show.
A longtime favorite of mine that I’ve mentioned before, but it’s still one of the best. Two hilarious friends chatting about all sorts of things. I only wish they recorded more often!
This is still my favorite podcast about books. The hosts are sales reps for Random House so they have a bit of an insider view. Every episode they have an audiobook of the week, talk about one particular subject relating to books & reading, and then they each share a book recommendation. They have a really active group on Goodreads as well.
5. Happier with Gretchen Rubin
I’m a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin and I’m so interested in her research and theories on happiness and habits. In this podcast she and her sister Elizabeth Craft share a “try this at home” tip, chat about a topic regarding happiness or habits, answer a listener question, and give their own happiness gold stars and demerits. The dynamic between the two sisters is so great; Gretchen is super strict with herself but Elizabeth is a bit more relatable. They both have a good sense of humor and are understanding of the other; they obviously know each other very well. I always come away from listening to this with ideas to try.
This is another new funny parenting show hosted by the ladies behind Cool Mom Picks. They talk about a subject and share a pick of the week. It’s just light and funny and interesting, plus the episodes are pretty short which I like for something like this.
So, do you listen to any podcasts that fall into the genre Friends Chatting With Structure that you think I should check out? Please share!
From Nora:
Mom Jeans and Dad Jokes sounds hilariously awesome. Definitely going to track it down, subscribe and listen. I’ll be working from home a bit in the coming weeks which means I will have time to listen! Thanks for the suggestions.
(And sadly, apart from the Dear Sugar podcast, I have nothing to suggest for you, but I imagine you already know about Dear Sugar!)
From Kathleen:
I know about it but have never listened! Maybe I’ll try it!
From Indiana:
Gah! I am so humbled and blessed by you including MJ&DJ on this list. We have *no idea* what we’re doing and we’re a little unsure if we’re doing things okay, but I really appreciate your glowing review! I hope we can continue keeping it fun. It’s a a lot of fun doing together, truthfully.
You’re the best. Let’s go to Influence Conference together! Is that possible?
From vera:
Love the Happier one with Gretchen! I enjoy that one…off to check out the others, thanks!
From jacqueline:
I have to say: the “friends chatting with structure” is my favorite form of podcast, too :) A couple more I can recommend:
Anything in Meagan Francis’ Life Listened Network (she has several shows about different topics that she does with different friends)
Literary Disco (same vein as BOTN but with three hosts, one of them being Rider Strong of Boy Meets World teen fame).
From Becky:
Ooh thanks for these recommendations! I would recommend the Book Riot podcast – that definitely fits the friends chatting! Plus they have a lot of off shoots (Dear Book Nerd, All the Books, etc) if you’re interested!
From Kathleen:
I listened to Book Riot for a long time & I love the hosts but turns out I’m not super interested in the minutiae of book news! I should really check out the offshoots though.