I’m not sure what next week will be like, so I wanted to touch on some favorites now instead of the very end of the month.  One of the goals I had this summer was to get on a walking schedule.  One of the things I started doing on these walks was listening to podcasts, so I thought I would share some of my favorites.

Hank and John Green are the Vlogbrothers on YouTube.  Separately, they have their own projects, but the Vlogbrothers channel is where it all started.  Basically, each brother would check in with the other once a week, and it grew into this huge community.  Hank has other channels that promote science and education.  John is a YA author who wrote The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns.  And they have done projects with the Gates Foundation, explained various issues that were in the news, and even do a huge fundraising project at the end of the year.  Oh, and they started VidCon, a YouTube Creator convention that gets bigger every year.

Their podcast is only a few years old, I believe.  I can’t remember when I started listening to them, but Michael and I usually have several episodes ready for long road trips.  They give advice (dubious advice, mind you) to people who write in with questions.  They also talk about the news from Mars and AFC Wimbledon (their interests, respectively).  And they also tout the podcast as a comedy show about death, which it’s not really, but sometimes they do get on the topic of extremely weird ways the world could be destroyed (or not so weird ways, I guess).  It’s hilarious, and it’s two brothers sharing life.  Thumbs up.

I talked about this podcast a bit in my letter to Jen Hatmaker.  So I’m not going to go into great detail about it here.  I am still enjoying it, somewhat, though not every podcast I’ve been able to relate to.  She is in a different life stage than I am and has different priorities.  But for every mom I know, I recommend this one wholeheartedly.

This was a podcast I really just fell into.  After I went through my library of books, changed my office into a library (that I practically live in now), and started reading more this summer, this podcast is perfect.  She talks to some writers but most readers.  In each episode, after getting to know her reader and what that reader likes and doesn’t like, she recommends several books.  There was one podcast this summer where she answered listener questions and did recommendations there too.  Needless to say, I have added several books to my Book-et list from this podcast.

This is not a current podcast.  I believe it ended in June, and I’m not sure if she will do it again next year.  But Shauna Niequist was the first interview for Jen Hatmaker’s podcast, and I absolutely loved it.  So, I went searching for Niequist’s podcast and found this.  I believe it’s a part of Relevant Magazine which is where Niequist writes?  But, the eight interviews that she does are phenomenal.  I also get a lot of book recommendations from this podcast as well.

And last, but definitely not least, The Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin (and her sister Elizabeth Craft).  I really enjoyed the book, The Happiness Project) from this author, and this podcast is basically an extension of that book, plus her other books.  It gives some practical ways to incorporate happiness (or basically organization, relationship maintenance, and self-care) into your life.  The conversation on each podcast is light and, well, happy, which is sometimes needed when I’m waking up in the mornings, getting ready for the day.  This is also the first podcast that I ever listened to, and I highly recommend it!

Do you have any favorites this month?  What podcasts should I add to this list?