About three years ago, my fellow book club members started raving about podcasts. They said that it’s like radio–but not quite–and also like an audio book–only serialized, and are released as episodes over the internet. As an avid reader, I was only slightly interested. Why would I listen, when I preferred to read? Moreover, listening to podcasts required that I deliberately set aside time just listening. The others may be able to split their concentration between podcasts and tasks–but not me.
In January, however, when I started work at a Bonifacio Global Heights-based office, I had a change of heart. Commuting from my home to my office took two to three hours daily.  It was mind-numbing. I became desperate for a way to spend the time more productively in some way, so I revisited the podcast player app installed on my phone.
Podcasts, free audio programs distributed for free over the internet as opposed to a traditional radio station
To say that podcasts cover a wide variety of topics is almost an understatement. It seems as if there are hundreds if not thousands of podcasts about anything you can imagine. There are podcasts about books, sports, politics, travel, education, languages, TV shows, and much more. There are even podcasts about podcasts.
To listen, what you need to do is download a podcast player, choose the programs matching your interest, start exploring, then start listening.
Itunes is probably the most well-known podcast player. I use Podbean on my Android phone. You can also listen from your desktop.
Since January I have listened to a few dozens and have come up with my list of top 10 podcasts that I am recommending friends to listen to. Why not check them out as well?
My Top 10 Podcasts
SERIAL
Serial unfolds one true story, a small-town murder mystery, over the course of a whole season. Investigative journalism has never been so gripping. Season One investigated the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, an 18-year old student in Baltimore, Maryland. Her boyfriend was arrested and charged with her murder. For Sarah Koenig, some things did not add up so she set out to interview the boyfriend, as well as other witnesses. What followed were surprising twists and turns and an examination into the reliability of memory. Is Adnan Syed innocent? The possibility of having a definite answer to this question kept listeners hooked. His case is being retried. Riveting.
TED TALKS DAILY
Ted Talks Daily is a collection of talks given at TED and TEDx conference around the world. When I want to feed my mind with positivity and thought-provoking ideas from the world’s leading thinkers and doers, Ted Talks Daily is my go-to feed. So far, my favorite episode is Jia Jiang’s What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection. Most of us fear rejection, and yet he sought it for a hundred days–from asking a stranger for $100 to requesting a burger refill. By seeking rejection, he desensitized himself from it and discovered that simply asking for what you want can open up possibilities where one expects to find dead ends. He also discovers that people can be kinder than we imagine. Very inspiring.
ALICE ISN’T DEAD
If you want surreal, then Alice Isn’t Dead is your podcast. It follows a truck driver in her journey across America to find the wife she had assumed was dead. She drives through towns lost in time and encounters not-quite-human serial killers. Each episode contains visions upon visions of terrifying worlds that co-exist with ours. A conspiracy arch leads the character deeper into the fringes of reality, one that threatens to overwhelm the universe. Disturbing.
LIFEAFTER
LifeAfter is composed of two awesome science fiction stories. In The Message, a team of scientists is trying to decipher a message received 70 years ago from outer space. The story is narrated from the point of view of Nicky, an earnest graduate student covering the investigation. Quite quickly, the team realizes that the message contains a virus or a curse, causing those who listen to it to suffer respiratory arrest. The second story is called LifeAfter, which follows FBI-agent Ross as he tries to process his wife’s death eight months ago by conversing with her digital persona. What starts as a virtual illusion soon becomes a trap, as he gets pulled into a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the line separating life from death. Each episode provided taut suspense. Awesome twists at the end of each story.
ARCHIVE 81
A found-footage and an immersive audio drama, Archive 81 follows audio producer Dan Powell who takes on the job of arranging every tape in his employer’s archive in the correct order. To do that he has to listen to each tape. The stories he hears are mind-boggling. This podcast is probably one of the most deeply layered stories I will ever encounter. On one level is the story of his predecessor Melody, as she interviews the occupants of a nightmarish apartment building. Then there are the individual stories of the tenants. Next is the story of Dan as he tries to piece together a Lovecraftian mystery where Cthulhu-like beings from a warped reality threaten to spill over into our world. Separated by time and space, Melody and Dan might be destined to share the same fate. Fantastic story-telling.
THE BRIGHT SESSIONS
Imagine if the X-men sought therapy in their youth? This is the simple but powerful premise of The Bright Sessions. This science fiction podcast follows the mysterious psychologist named Dr. Bright as she works with patients with unusual abilities. One can read minds, another can travel through time, while another can coerce people into doing his bidding. Unlike most of the podcasts I listened to, The Bright Sessions focuses on the characters, telling their stories with masterful acting and an uncomplicated narrative structure. Each session is a recording of Dr. Bright’s sessions with her patients, bookended by her notes about the case. Despite her seemingly genuine empathy, I can’t help but wonder what her real motivations are. Smart and entertaining!
ARS PARADOXICA
PLANET MONEY
Of all the podcasts in the world, I had to run into Planet Money, which shines as a masterpiece of pithy discussions in my book. It talks about the economy, through stories spiced with surprises. I would never have thought I’d love listening to topics about the economy. The hosts explain the ways things work so clearly, and so enthusiastically that I can’t help but enjoy listening. Listening is like having cobwebs swept out from inside my skull.  In my first day of listening, I learned about drop shipping, how zoos work, how insurance can make farmers more productive, and how Telemundo is rocking American television. Planet Money is fun! It has become my comfort podcast.
THE BLACK TAPES
Serial meets Creepy Pasta in this investigative documentary by a public radio. Referencing generously on real life figures and urban legends, The Black Tapes is spooky, paranormal, and disorienting. Is it a real investigation, conducted by journalist Alex Reagan, of the cases that Dr. Richard Strand, a paranormal researcher and skeptic, has yet to debunk? Or is it a fictional documentary in the tradition of 1938’s War of the Worlds broadcast that duped people into believing there is an actual alien invasion? If you choose to listen, you might prefer to believe that it is fiction because who would want to live in a world where ghosts with upside-down faces are real and that listening to the ‘unsound’ would mean you would die within a year. I did listen to the unsound and I am now wondering if the curse is real. I was listening to The Black Tapes while walking along Makati’s elevated walkway, the longest in the country, when the lights started to go off and the darkness sped towards me. I ran but it caught up with me on the stairs. Perhaps it was just coincidence. I am waiting for season three. I want to know if evil is going to take over the world. Scary.
LIMETOWN
“Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. American Public Radio reporter Lia Haddock asks the question once more, “What happened to the people of Limetown?” So we now arrive at the most movie-like podcast I have listened to, with a season ending that left me feeling dazed, breathless, and in shock for days. It has the most finely-tuned suspense, detailed storyline, and intense acting I have ever encountered in an audio drama. That egg timer was a magnificent and unforgettable piece of theater. Like Serial, Limetown was a sleeper hit. My favorite.
Listening to podcasts seems to stimulate my imagination more strongly than movies do. In a way similar to reading, the words I hear evoke images in my mind, creating a world around me, like an alternate universe superimposed on the familiar scenes of everyday life. Maybe this is because only one sense is involved, my hearing, so that my brain has to make an extra effort to fill in the gaps?
For me, podcasts have everything I need to make my idle hours productive. It has transformed long commutes into exciting times. If you want to be educated, entertained, or keep updated on current issues while stuck in traffic, perhaps you should listen to podcasts as well. You can even listen to audio books or learn a new language through your podcast player.
Do you listen to podcasts? Share your recommendations below!
