My favorite podcasts

I’ve been introduced to some new podcasts recently, so I thought I’d share my favorites here. My taste varies from very lowbrow to smarty-pants, so there’s really something for everyone. I’d also love to hear your favorites, so please share them in the comments!

Watch What Crappens
About: I’ve only mentioned it one or one hundred times before, but this is my very favorite podcast. It’s about “all that crap we love to watch on Bravo,” including Housewives of course, but also shows like Top Chef. The hosts live in L.A., which makes the podcast even more interesting because they always have Bravo-lebrity sightings to share.
Length: Typically between an hour and a half to two hours long
Updates: Once a week, usually on Wednesdays

Fresh Air
About: Fresh Air is pretty much my favorite NPR show and since I so rarely sit down to listen to the actual radio on weekdays at 1pm (when Fresh Air is on my local public radio station), I subscribed to the podcast. This one features interviews with tons and tons of different people from all walks of the entertainment (and beyond!) world. My favorites recently have been interviews with Tim Gunn, Ann Patchett, and Matthew McConaughey.
Length: Around 40 minutes long
Updates: Every day, two podcasts a day. Because the show is on daily and usually includes a short musical feature at the end, I get two new podcasts (one with the main interview and one containing the musical feature) dropped to my phone every day, PLUS an extra weekend episode (the weekend episode is not new; I think it’s just highlights of interviews from that week.) I try to go into this podcast daily to delete the stuff I don’t want to listen to, that way the episodes don’t stack up. This usually includes the musical features — not that they’re not interesting, but I put a podcast on so I have something to listen to for an extended period of time. The music segments are 5-6 minutes, which, no thanks.

Stuff You Missed In History Class
About: The stuff you missed in history class! I like this podcast because it’s about really random stuff you probably wouldn’t learn about otherwise or it goes in depth about some of the stuff you learned only a little bit about in school. I have heard the hosts now are not as good as the old hosts, but I never heard the old ones and I like the gals who host now. Their voices are very nasal-y (which people have actually written in and told them, oy!), but you get used to it. It’s funny — for being basically radio, podcast people often do NOT have good radio voices. Anyway, the recent podcast about Rosa Parks was fascinating. One of my favorites — one that made me get on that Google machine right after hearing the episode — was about the Nazca Lines.
Length: Usually about 30 minutes long; occasionally they run into the 40-45 minute range
Updates: Twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays

Stuff Mom Never Told You
About: A lot of stuff about the female body, historical stuff relating to women, feminist topics, etc. Chick shit, basically. Some of the topics are little…much for me, so I just listen to the topics I think I’ll find really interesting. I liked the recent episodes on women in hip-hop and Dolly Parton and am looking forward to listening to the episode on Susan B. Anthony.
Length: Usually about 30 minutes long; occasionally they run into the 40-45 minute range
Updates: Twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays

Wine 4 Sophisticated Homies
About: This is my high-school friend Ben’s podcast. Ben and his co-host are sommeliers in southern California and bring humor, as well as a ton of wine information. They also occasionally talk about non-wine topics — I loved their podcast on the history of vodka and gin.
Length: Usually around 20 minutes long
Updates: Usually once a week

NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour
About: I enjoy this show because they talk about movies/tv shows in such way that they articulate a lot of what I think about movies/tv shows. Sometimes I think the hosts are a little too into it (bordering on condescension), but with four hosts, they bring each other back to reality pretty quickly. They’re really just very passionate movie/tv watchers.
Length: About 45-55 minutes long
Updates: Once a week, on Fridays

Totally Mommy
About: Forgive the name, but this podcast is great. (I’ve only listened to two episodes so far, but they both made me laugh out loud, so there you go.) I don’t know much about the host other than that she is a comedy writer, lives in L.A., and is hugely pregnant. The show is newer (a spin-off of her show with her husband, Totally Married, see below) and features the host talking with different mommy friends about mommy topics. The guests seem to be on some end of the celebrity spectrum, which makes the podcast even more fun.
Length: A little over an hour long
Updates: Once a week, on Wednesdays

Honorable mention: Totally Married
About: As I have only listened to one episode so far, I can’t give this a glowing review just yet. But, I have another episode queued up for tomorrow and I did like the first episode I heard, so I am sure this will make it into the regular rotation. I’ll report back when I have formed a more solid opinion.
Length: A little over an hour long
Updates: Once a week, on Mondays

And that’s that! What are your favorite podcasts? Do tell!