Hot New Podcasts, for your listening pleasure

For the past few months I've started most sentences with, "I was listening to this podcast the other day..." and it's become a running joke amongst my friends and family. "When do you get the time to listen to all these podcasts?" they ask. Um, I work from home, alone, all day. I need something to listen to!

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I listen to a huge variety of podcasts that span comedy, everyday stories and feminist issues. If you've never listened to a podcast - it's easy. All you have to do is go to the iTunes podcast app on your phone, iPod or iPad and subscribe. You can also listen to them all online on their respective websites.

Here are a few of my all-time favourites:

This American Life This is basically the podcast of all podcasts. The one that started it all. Each week has a theme, and reporters interview normal people about everyday things that cover that theme. Shows date back all the way to the 90's, so you've got lots to choose from. (This is my favourite episode: Valentine's Day)

Love & Radio From PRX’s Radiotopia, Nick van der Kolk’s Love Radio features in-depth, otherworldly-produced interviews with an eclectic range of subjects, from the seedy to the sublime. You’ve never heard anything like it before. New installments are added monthly. (This is my favourite episode:
Choir Boy)

Strangers Each episode is an empathy shot in your arm, featuring true stories about about the people we meet, the connections we make, the heartbreaks we suffer, the kindnesses we encounter, and those frightful moments when we discover that WE aren’t even who we thought we were. (This is my favourite episode:Born Rich)
The K Ohle The K Ohle is a multi-format podcast hosted by comedian Kurt Braunohler. FORMATS INCLUDE (but are not limited to): The Boat Show – "The Best Non-Boating Boat Show on the Internet" -- Kurt and his guests talk at length about boating, a topic of which they have no knowledge. PETophilia – “The Animal Show for People Who Think Animals are Dumb” – guests get into it about their pets; plus, Animal Stories of the Week, Fact Animal Facts, and Who’s Dumber, the fun game the humiliates animals! Get Lost! – “This Feels a Bit Rape-y” - Every episode, Kurt takes a guest into his car, blindfolds them, drives them somewhere they’ve never been, and they have to figure out where they are and how they’d get back. And they have some chats along the way. FactTime - Kurt and co-host Matt Oberg unpack and investigate improvised stories from comedians while applying faulty scientific theories in a very produced and tightly edited format. If you love Radiolab, you'll love FactTime. (This is my favourite episode: THE K OHLE #57: PET-O-PHILIA WITH KRISTEN SCHAAL)
TED Radio Hour Based on TED Talks from around the world. (My favourite episode: Memory Games)

And my new favourites:

Serial If This American Life started it all, Serial took podcasting to the everyman. People who had never heard of podcasts were talking about Serial. A story told week by week, season one investigated the murder of a teenager in Baltimore in the 90's and interviews her ex-boyfriend, who is serving life in prison. Unmissable!

Upvoted by Reddit There are so many remarkable things bubbling up in communities across the site every day that reddit created a podcast, Upvoted, to learn about the people and their stories beyond all the upvotes.

Criminal Stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. The show’s producers are full-time radio people, but Criminal is what they do when they go home at night.

Invisibilia Launched in January 2015, Invisibilia (Latin for "all the invisible things") explores the intangible forces that shape human behavior – things like ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions.Co-hosted by NPR's Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel, who helped createRadiolab and This American Life, Invisibilia delves into a wide array of human behavior, interweaving narrative storytelling with fascinating new psychological and brain science.

This Week In Social Media This conversational live Internet radio show features a panel of PJA Advertising’s finest, along with frequent special guests. Each week we’ll discuss the juiciest social media-related dreams, nightmares, and hot topics.

The State We're In The show brings you astonishing, true and personal stories from all over the globe. TSWI will bring you guests who will amaze you, break your heart or leave you laughing – sometimes all of those things at the same time.

Death, Sex & Money A podcast about the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation. Host Anna Sale talks to celebrities and regular people about relationships, money, family, work and making it all count while we're here.

BBC Radio Woman's Hour Daily Covering everything from the gender pay gap to the power and joy of female friendships - this is a great podcast for men and women alike.