My Top Podcast Picks: Updated

I’m such a fan of podcasts. I used to reserve them for road trips, but recently have started listening to them virtually any time I’m in my car. My commute to and from work is a short one (thankfully!), but 10 minutes is still enough time to get in some good podcast listening.

Several months ago, I shared a list of my favorite podcasts here on Curiouser & Curiouser. I still stand by those selections, but have since discovered some new podcasts that I wanted to add to the mix.

As a quick recap, here’s the list I shared last year:

• This American Life
• Serial (although I have to say I enjoyed the first season much more than the second)
• Invisibilia
• The Longest Shortest Time
• Strangers
• Nerdette
• Chewing the Fat (which has since ended)

Now for the new stuff! Here are some podcasts I can enthusiastically add to my list:

• Modern Love: The Podcast. For years now I’ve been a devoted reader of New York Times‘ “Modern Love” column, and so I was thrilled when I learned they were planning to launch a podcast version. They have actors select and then read “Modern Love” pieces, so the podcast essays have already been published in written form. At first I was a little bummed about this format, having already read all the essays, but I love this audio version. It’s a little like listening to an episode of NPR’s “StoryCorps” each week (a series which can leave me teary eyed in my car as I drive to work). They follow up the essay with a brief interview of the author, which is often interesting (and can help connect some dots in the story). So far, my favorite episode has been “Not So Simple Math,” a story told from the perspective of a birth mother who gave her son up in an open adoption.

• Gravy. A podcast that comes from the Southern Foodways Alliance, Gravy captures stories about the intersection of the South and food. With topics ranging from a community of immigrants from Laos who have settled in North Carolina (bringing their native foods with them) to why cheese dip has deep roots in Arkansas to the growth of Buford Highway in Atlanta (a mecca for all sorts of authentic, delicious international food), Gravy has quickly become a go-to podcast for both Kevin and me.

• Stuff Mom Never Told You. I mentioned this podcast a few posts ago. I discovered it at a coincidental time, because they’d just released an episode on miscarriage. Since then, I’ve loved checking in with hosts Cristen and Caroline as they dive into all sorts of interesting topics that relate to women. Some of my favorite episodes have been “Iceland’s Women On Strike,” “Babysitting,” and, of course, “I Had A Miscarriage.”

• Dear Sugar. For those of you familiar with “Dear Sugar” as an advice column, this podcast version is an extension of that. Hosted by Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild) and Steve Almond, the show receives questions from listeners and then talks through potential approaches/solutions.

What podcasts are you loving these days, fellow podcast fans?