I love podcasts, but last autumn-ish, I got a little tired of my usual shows. Around that same time, I discovered the magnificence that is #IMomSoHard and since they have a book, I decided to try the audio version. I am a huge bookworm, and have tried to get into audiobooks on numerous occasions, but never could. I assumed that audiobooks were just not for me but thought that if I was ever going to like an audiobook, it would be IMomSoHard. I was right – I loved the audiobook – and the IMomSoHard audiobook was kind of like my gateway drug to audiobooks.
So long story short, I became obsessed with audiobooks right around the time I was tired of my usual podcasts, so I stopped listening to podcasts altogether the last few months of 2019.
But at the beginning of 2020, I set a few (or twenty-ish) goals for myself, and one of those goals was to listen to twenty new podcasts in 2020. I am so glad I set that goal because after discovering a few fun new shows, I fell back in love with podcasts. AND JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME because now that we are in pandemic mode, I just don’t feel as interested in audiobooks. Or books in general. My brain just doesn’t have the focus.
But podcasts? Yes, please!
I am currently loving The Dream. Season One was about multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) and honestly, that sounded a bit boring to me. But once I listened to the first episode, I was hooked. Totally fascinating. I just started Season Two, which is about the wellness industry. Also totally fascinating.
The shows I inhaled in January and February were:
- Dr. Death
- The Shrink Next Door
- The Baron of Botox
- Bad Batch
- Food, We Need to Talk
I also started listening to the just launched Unlocking Us with Brene Brown. The first episode was very inspiring and Brene (we’re on a first name basis) talks about the pandemic. The second episode was an interview with the founder of the Me Too movement, which was also very inspiring, but a tougher listen. It was just very weighty and my brain was struggling to grab on to all the ideas. But I am going to listen to the third episode just as soon as I finish binging The Dream.
I also love the show Awesome with Alison. Alison and her husband Eric are currently hosting a read-a-long of The Four Agreements, a book which I have been meaning to reread. If I can get my brain to JUST READ SOME WORDS ALREADY, I am going to do that soon. Awesome with Alison is one of my favorite shows for helping me become a better person, and The Four Agreements changed my life, so really, just check either one out.
I listen to three writing podcasts, because hello, I’m a writer: The Story Grid, The Creative Penn, and How Do You Write? During normal times, I like to listen to those shows weekly. During pandemic times, I’ve been less interested in my writing shows. They will still be there when my brain is ready to think about the process and business of writing again.
And finally, in other podcast news, I did it! I recorded a special pandemic episode for my old podcast Adventures with Postpartum Depression. And it’s already available! Look at that, it’s been a year and a half but my rusty old brain remembered how to ride that bicycle.
I am now toying with the idea of actually starting my new podcast Adventures with My Forties. I have been kicking around the idea for this new show for a year now, and last fall, I actually recorded two or three episodes and started looking for show music. But then I got overwhelmed with mom life and worried that I was taking away time from my writing; and since writing time has been a very precious limited resource for me, I did not want to cut into that time with a podcast. So I tabled the new podcast.
But now the new podcast idea is pinging around in my head and I think I am going to launch it soon. It feels like I don’t have the time for a new podcast, and yet, I don’t not have the time for it either. I meant for the show to deal with adventures like aging, hormones, menopause, spirituality, and parenting, and it will still hit on those issues. Eventually. But right now, it looks like the show will first tackle the adventure of living through a pandemic.
My brain is too tired to think of a clever way to end this post, so instead, I’ll just say bye, adios, and can anyone please tell me why Julian spent the past five minutes licking the window?