Library staff’s favorite podcasts

As you can predict, Library staff members are avid readers. We even challenge ourselves internally on how many books we will read in a year and hold each other accountable to our goals. When we’re not reading, many of us indulge our curiosity with other medium. It’s been said for years now that it’s the golden age of television, with hundreds of original scripted series created every year, many available for immediate binge watching. Therefore, in addition to our to-read piles teetering on our tables, we also have long to-watch queues. If that isn’t overwhelming enough, then how about adding on podcasts, which has experienced a kind of audio renaissance in the past few years. As a recent Vanity Fair article described, the podcast is “a return to the intimacy, wombed shadows, and pregnant implications of words, sounds, and silences in the theater of the mind.” And the best podcasts speak to our singular interests so well that it’s like listening to a friend talk to you (albeit a well-scripted friend with the perfect radio voice). So here are some of our favorite podcasts that we’re enjoying:

This American Life
This American Life is a weekly public radio program and podcast. Each week has a theme and feature different kinds of stories on that theme.

The Daily
This is how the news should sound. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, hosted by Michael Barbaro and powered by New York Times journalism.

Pod Save America
A no-bullshit conversation about politics hosted by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor that breaks down the week’s news and helps people figure out what matters and how to help.

Hardcore History
Part storyteller, part analyst, Dan Carlin has mastered the art of looking at subjects from multiple angles and dissecting and thinking about them in original ways.

The Ringer
The Ringer is a sports and pop culture website and podcast network, founded by sportswriter Bill Simmons in 2016.

Home of the Brave
Radio stories by This American Life contributor and Peabody Award winning producer Scott Carrier.

Chapo Trap House

KCRW Bookworm
Intellectual, accessible, and provocative literary conversations.

The New Yorker Writer’s Voice
The New Yorker fiction writers read their stories.

New Yorker Politics and More
A weekly discussion about politics, hosted by The New Yorker’s executive editor, Dorothy Wickenden.

New York Times Modern Love
Weekly essays that explore the joys and tribulations of love.

New Yorker Radio Hour
The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, presents a weekly mix of in-depth interviews, profiles, and short bursts of humor.

Making Sense with Sam Harris
Join Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author—as he explores some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events.

Marc Maron’s WTF
In September 2009, Marc changed the podcast landscape when he started WTF with Marc Maron, featuring Marc’s revelatory conversations with iconic personalities such as Conan O’Brien, Terry Gross, Robin Williams, Keith Richards, Ben Stiller, Lorne Michaels and President Barack Obama.