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Podcasts to Impress

By Lily Cameron

If you’re a couple of days into the new year and already struggling with your resolutions, have we got a solution for you: passive listening! Walking through Central Tunnel, trying to avoid that guy who stands in the middle handing out bibles? Podcast time. In the back room at work trying not to feel your brain cells rot away from boredom? Pop in some earbuds pal. Need to feel like you’re doing something while you’re actually procrastinating? It’s pod o’clock, baby.

Here are some great listens so you can start the year as you mean to finish it: informed, educated, and armed with party discussion points.

1. The Weekly List

It is sometimes easy to forget that we’re basically living in the dystopian future that Back to the Future II predicted, but The Weekly List’s host Amy Siskind is the antidote to that apathy. She’s here to remind us that these new normal things are not so normal at all, and that we shouldn’t accept things at face value. The podcast is very America-centric, but touches on a lot of other important newsworthy stories from around the world, focusing on issues that sometimes get lost in the fast-paced news cycle.

More like this:

Hack: short, topical, Australian stories. Background Briefing: narrative journalism by the ABC Big Ideas: Australian-focused, lots of debates

2. I Found This Great Book

Listening to a podcast about reading rather than actually reading may feel counterintuitive, but I Found This Great Book feels like sitting in at the book club you always wish you could join. They highlight books from all different genres, focusing specifically on independent authors and works written by people of colour. If you’ve ever been stumped by what to read, or overwhelmed by the number of choices out there, I Found This Great Book is an amazing place to start.

More like this:

The Allusionist: small adventures in language

3. Bad With Money

Finances are on the top three list of things you’re not supposed to talk about at a dinner party, but Bad With Money is here to fix that. Host Gaby Dunn is open, empathetic, and informative in a way that doesn’t feel condescending. She provides her own unique perspective on money, and encourages listeners to work towards removing the stigma around talking about finances in general, especially the medley of anxieties that surround it.

More like this:

Freakonomics: socioeconomic perspective on finance More Or Less: breakdown of statistics for the layperson

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