I have a three hour drive from my home to college. While it doesn’t seem like much, I have a hard time listening to one playlist for three hours (unless, of course, it’s Hamilton). So instead of playlists I listen to *drum roll please* podcasts! Some of the podcasts I loved in 2016 have been renewed for another season(s) in 2017, so without further ado here’s my list of recommended podcasts:

Number one has to be Heavyweight. Hosted by Jonathan Goldstein along with Gimlet Media,  Heavyweight is created around the idea that almost everyone has a part of their past they wish they could change. Jonathan finds these stories and helps their owners come to terms with their past. I love this podcast because it’s sentimental and reminds me of parts of my life. The stories are so personal yet it’s easy to connect with the people telling them. If you want to check it out click HERE.

Who doesn’t love cereal? Whoops, sorry, I meant Serial! This podcast has been out for a whiiiile, but now there’s a second season (and a third season in the works). For those of you that missed out on the Season One, here’s a brief overview: teenager was wrongly convicted of murdering his ex girlfriend, a reporter picks up on his story over a decade later and decides to interview everyone involved to see if he was actually wrongly convicted.  The story was actually so compelling that a judge ordered a new trial for Adnan, the convicted ex-boyfriend of the murdered high school senior. Season Two is about Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, who sneaks out of a remote U.S. Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan. After he abandons post, six men from his unit are killed. He is blamed for their deaths. But should he be? Find out in Season Two of Serial, linked HERE.

As a Harry Potter geek you can probably guess that I jumped on the bandwagon with the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast series. I went to Catholic school for almost a decade and have some pretty interesting views on religion, but I actually really like taking my favorite book series and evaluating (and reading) it as a sacred text. There are even prayers at the end of each episode for or about characters from the books. I wouldn’t suggest this for anyone that’s very devout in practicing their religion because I feel like some episodes, and perhaps the whole idea of reading a fantasy book series like you’d read the Bible, Torah, Quran, etc., that poke fun at the definition of religion itself. That being said, I still really like this podcast, and so does the friend I recommended it to.  Click HERE to give it a try.

Have you ever had a paranormal experience? UFO sighting? Deja vu that seemed to go…unexplained? Welcome to the club! Unexplained is about real life events that go ‘unexplained.’ The host of the podcast, Richard Maclean Smith, talks about the history of the event as well as the science behind why or how it could have happened. While the explanations are mainly theories, they still have enough traction to make the unexplainable easier to swallow. Find it on iTunes or at this link HERE.

My friends sometimes say I remind them of a walking encyclopedia, like “the internet without the dirty pictures” to quote an Entomology professor I know. If you need random facts, look further than yours truly. But since I can’t be everywhere at once, the podcast Stuff You Should Know is a great backup. Reminiscent to “How It’s Made,” Stuff You Should Know talks about top facts and opinions on just about any subject you could ever want. From animals to Japan to war there’s a podcast for everything, including my favorite: Psychology! Check it out at think link HERE.