My favorite podcasts for laughs and personal growth

Photo by Daniel McCullough on Unsplash

I’ve only become a podcast listener in the last year or so, but since discovering them, I marvel at how I managed to keep my sanity during my commutes and the inevitable waiting around for my kids to be ready to leave after their activities.

While I’ve already shared my favorite podcasts for learning about leadership and work.  I thought it might be fun to share my go to picks when I need something light hearted or a pick me up.

Sorta Awesome During my Christmas shopping where I had plenty of alone time to wander the aisles of stores, I got hooked by their Awesome of the Week (inspired my wonders of the week feature, which does need a better name) and by their Awesome of the Season lists.  I’ve gotten great gift recommendations (hello slack line!  From Ep 196 Awesome Summer List: 2019) and encouragement through listening to them.  Meg Tietz and her co-hosts, Rebekah Hoffer and Kelly Gordon, are wonderfully transparent; sharing their triumphs, strengths and foibles in equal measure.  Having just celebrated their 200^th weekly episode, there’s plenty of awesome to hear.  They also have a great website and facebook groups to build a community of “awesomes”.

Holderness Family podcast The Holderness family of Christmas PJ viral video fame have expanded from silly music videos intended to make you laugh, to craft videos, to a longer form discussion in the podcast.  I feel like I’ve gotten to know the family through some of their videos and listening to the podcast is like getting to hang out with friends.  Penn and Kim share their parenting, adulting and marriaging triumphs and challenges.  Since their children are similarly aged to my own, much of their parenting discussions have been timely and none more so than the How to Parent in a Digital World episode where they interviewed Mindy McKnight of Cute Girl Hairstyles Youtube channel fame.   They’ve also created a Facebook group of loyal listeners.

History Chicks This one is a bit of a cheat – it is focused on learning, but it’s a show focused on the impact of women throughout history; some famous, some infamous, some fictional and some you’ve never heard of but all with an amazing story that deserves telling.  Hosts Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider do a thorough job of researching their topics but also sharing their research and resources through show notes.  That way, if something strikes your fancy and you want to investigate further, you have a great starting point.  They sum up the show this way: “Two women.  Half the population. Several thousand years of history. About an hour. Go.”

Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me This NPR produced current events quiz game leaves me in stitches.  With a rotating cast of comedians, storytellers and guests, the only constants are hosts Peter Segal and announcer Bill Curtis.  Pick any episode.  They are all good.  You can also listen on your smart speakers. 

Similar to WWDTM is Ask Me Another.  This one is a puzzle and quiz show hosted by Ophira Eisenberg and Jonathan Couton.  This one is more about puzzles and brain teasers.  Most shows include some kind of musical puzzle too.

Wonders of the week:

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