My Favorite Podcasts

Beverley asked in the last post what my favorite podcasts are, so I thought the answer was worthy of a blog post. I'm somewhat outgoing and extraverted, and I like companionship during my days! I find that I'm much more likely to get housecleaning or projects done if I have company of some sort. I always enjoyed what I call "Team Cleaning" with the kids---where we all worked on the same room together and then just moved from room to room that way. It was fun with music and tasks! The same goes for exercise like walking or running---if I can't have an actual person with me, I like listening to podcasts.

Now that the kids are moving out or going to school a couple of days per week, and just plain more independent, I have a lot more time to myself. And planning to walk 1000 miles this year also means I have plenty of time to listen! I don't know why I don't listen to music very often, but I never have.  I'm also not opposed to simple silence; I'm very comfortable with myself, but I prefer "company" for those activities that require a little extra motivation.

So...onto the podcasts! First of all, I use the Downcast app to organize my podcasts. I tried a couple of others, but I've been very happy with this one. Sometimes, I don't know why, but new episodes may not show up and I have to search for them manually, but it hasn't been too much of a nuisance.

I have quite a few shows on my app that I don't get around to listening to unless I've caught up on absolutely all the favorites.

Catholic Podcasts:

Among Women by Pat Gohn. Pat is a sweetheart and I love her book Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious. Her shows are split between an interview and a saint profile, and she focuses on topics that are of special interest to women---though I've heard that men can listen, too! Highly recommended!

Catholic Stuff You Should Know by a priest and a seminarian, I think. :-) These are usually on the shorter side but entertaining and informative. Most of the time.

SQPN Catholic Weekend by a panel of nutjobs, a couple of whom are personal friends. I try to tune in live when they're recording on Saturday mornings, but I'm usually too busy for that. It's usually a wacky, fun conversation with a little Catholicism thrown in so they can earn the name "Catholic" in the title. One of my favorites. :-)

Catholic in a Smalltown by Mac and Katherine Barron who live in south GA. Parents of boys, they talk a lot about family life, movies & books, and the faith. Funny and irreverent.

Just a Catholic Dad by Sean McCarney who lives in England. He talks about faith and fatherhood as he raises his daughter in the Catholic faith without the help of his non-Christian wife.

The Catholics Next Door with long-time podcasters Greg and Jennifer Willits. More faith and family. Very well-produced show and educational.

Read-Aloud Revival by Sarah MacKenzie. She's Catholic, though it's more of a family podcast. Amazing guests that talk about incorporating reading into family life. I wish I had heard this when my kids were younger, even though we are already booklovers. I could have used many of these ideas!

Taylor Marshall Catholic Show. Very educational, Catholic-wise.

Health & Well-being:

Katy Says with Katy Bowman, biomechanist. She's all about alignment and movement in our daily lives. Katy is a lot of fun to listen to and the only expert out there that I've heard focusing on alignment---a topic I'm interested in because of my back and neck problems.

Underground Wellness with Sean Croxton. I love his show, but I pick and choose based on the guest and the topic.

The Primal Blueprint Podcast. From the blog Mark's Daily Apple. Occasionally they have guests, sometimes blog-founder Mark Sisson is the host or the guest. More often lately, they've been narrating blog posts which I really like. I've gotten to where I skim past the blog because I don't want to sit and read something intense at the computer; I'm thrilled that they're reading those posts to me now!

I have 5-6 other fitness/paleo podcasts on my list, but I don't usually get to them. If you really want to know, I can try to update another time.

Finally, the only General Knowledge show on my list is a new one, highly recommended by my good friend Kathleen:  Radiolab from WNYC. I've listened to only a few shows, but they're very interesting, educational, and well-produced.

If you have any additional recommendations, let us know! Despite the number of hours of podcasts I have available at any given time, sometimes I just want something different!

xo
Sara