Best Podcasts! (And a bit about my exercise routine.)

Every weekday morning, I walk 3-4 miles. It’s something I’ve done since the start of summer and I, by the grace of something or other, have completely stuck with it. #praisebe

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I’m pretty much an all-or-nothing girl. When I decide to launch into a subject or exercise or diet or lifestyle, I am ALL IN. This is probably why my blog has lasted so long…all the insane research I naturally do on a subject benefits others by living here for the rest of time. Well, up until my walking revelation, I was the same way about exercise. Yoga? ALL IN. What leggings should I buy? Let’s nail that headstand in the first week! Pilates? 5 DAYS A WEEK, YO. Who needs to take a rest day? Couch to 5K? On it! I’ll determine the best app and do it every. single. day. Speaking of apps, maybe I should do that Bikini Workout App…

Are you catching my drift?

Um, yeah. So, usually, two things happen when engaging in this all-or-nothing exercise extravaganza. I burn out very quickly OR I injure myself. It’s like clockwork – I go crazy for a month or two and then, totally drop the ball and move onto the next thing. Well, I move onto the next thing after sitting around doing nothing for months. (I will say that hasn’t been the case with yoga, but my very chill practice is more for my emotional health than physical health.)

Already knowing how important consistent exercise is for my overall health, especially heading into my mid-40s, I had a little come to Jesus meeting with myself and decided enough with the ups and downs and general nonsense. A consistent walking routine would be so much better than my previous antics, end of story! Brisk walking tones the body, raises the heart rate, and, most importantly, shouldn’t injure me. (Well, my first month was spent hobbling due to some ridiculous ((but so ridiculously cute, people!)) featherweight Adidas trainers that gave me a fun case of plantar fasciitis, but once I found proper footwear with, you know, CUSHION AND STABILITY, everything healed quickly.)

All to say that I love my morning walks! Clears my head, tones my body, and I can’t imagine not doing it at this point.

(What was this post about, again?)

Ah! Podcasts! Yes.

This week, I asked my Instagram community to dish up their very favorite podcasts, and ohmygah, I was not expecting such an enormous response. Hundreds of direct messages later, I’ve realized YOU PEOPLE LIKE YOUR PODCASTS. And being The Expert Listmaker I am, I compiled most of them here for you.

After doing a bit of research on some, the first 10 are the ones I’ve added to my personal library. Why these? Well, from past unsuccessful podcast-listening attempts, I’ve diagnosed myself with Podcast Attention Deficit Disorder. That is, it is exceptionally hard for me to get through an entire podcast episode. Anything over an hour is going to be next to impossible, please trust me on this one. Perfect example, I was listening to Armchair Expert last week featuring Jason Bateman, who is one of my FAVORITES, and I was clawing my eyes out around 45 minutes. Couldn’t make it through. (It’s not you, Dax and Jason. It’s me. Peace be with you.)

(p.s. – a great tip I received on Instagram was to listen to episodes at 1.5 speed!)

Anyway, half of my picks are under an hour, and the rest have subject matter near and dear to my heart OR also publish mini-episodes.

Without further ado!

The Daily (25 minutes, already loving this news round-up)
Reply All (35-50 minutes)
My Favorite Murder (the #1 recommendation by far – the episodes are a whopping 1.5 to 2-hours, but they have mini-episodes under 30 minutes, so I will give those a chance I guessssssss)
S Town (1 hour, don’t know if I can do it, but people swear it’s riveting)
Pod Save America (another 1-hour plus but it’s right up my alley, subject-wise)
Forever 35 (1.5 hours, but I plan on perusing their mini-episodes)
Typology (1 hour, but it’s about the Enneagram, enough said)
Revisionist History (30-45 minutes)
The Way I Heard It (under 10 minutes HOLLA)
Unstyled (30 minutes)

Here are tons more recommendations from my very thoughtful and knowledgeable Instagram peeps:

Armchair Expert
Serial
This American Life
Levar Burton Reads
Modern Mann
Jen Gotch is OK…Sometimes
Where Should We Begin?
Conscious Chatter
A Few Things
How I Built This
How To Fail
My Dad Wrote a Porno
Pop Culture Happy Hour
Ladies, We Need To Talk
Juicy Scoop
By the Book
Death, Sex, and Money
True Crime Obsessed
Thirst Aid Kit
Dirty John
Homecoming
Not a Crime
Up and Vanished
Deadly Manners
Getting Curious
Friday Night In
Criminal
Lightwork
Women Behind the Wall
Call Your Girlfriend
Another Round
Two Dope Queens
Fresh Air
Awesome with Alison
Natch Beaut
How Did This Get Made?
The Lazy Genius
The Art of Manliness
Crimetown
The Good Place
Ologies
In the Dark
There Goes the Neighborhood
Terrible Thanks for Asking
OKC Over Easy
The Popcast
The Robcast
WTF with Marc Maron
Invisibilia
Caliphate
Wonderful
Slow Burn
In the Dark
Rise Together
The Sandwich
Dr. Death
Spermcast
Mom and Dad are Fighting
This Sounds Serious
The Unspoken Podcast
The Lifestylist
Generation Why
Martinis and Murder
One Part
Wabi Sabi
Ear Hustle
Beautiful Anonymous
It’s Been a Minute
Oprah Super Soul
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
99 Percent Invisible
Song Exploder
The Wilderness
Crime Junkie
Tom Lorenzo
Happier
GOOP
Rise
Keep It
The History Chicks
Dressed
Dear Sugars
Lovett or Leave It
Goal Digger
Coffee and Crumbs
Nursing and Cursing
Unqualified
Girls Girls
Rich Roll
My Second Life

I’m almost scared to ask. Do you have any (NOT mega-lengthy) others that you love?