Podcasts to listen to right now

I have a list for you of the four podcasts you should stop what you are doing and listen to right now.

I don’t know about you, but I have always found podcasts to be a positive way to spend my time while I’m driving, doing dishes, running, etc. I love listening to music as well, but I also love the ability to learn something new, become inspired, improve myself, and laugh while I am going about my day.

I think right now this is of the utmost importance. It is so easy to let all of your time be consumed with the news. While it is important to stay informed, it is also important to take care of yourself.

Stress, anxiety, and worry are not going to make you or your family better, healthier, or more prepared to face this crisis as it continues to develop.

I have created a list of the four podcasts I think will assists you in this unprecedented time. These four podcasts (well, two of them are series… So maybe a few more than four) are full of tools to help you manage your stress, understand what you can control, realize that good will come of this, and make you see you are not alone.

Tools to help:

1. Kara Loewentheil – Unfuck Your Brain Podcast

Kara Loewentheil is a Master Certified Life Coach, Harvard law school grad, and feminist scholar who brings a hilarious and no-nonsense approach to self-improvement using thought work. Her podcasts are always insightful, short, and will blow your mind each time with the realization that it is all just your thoughts and you can change them!

This approach, now more than ever, is important during this global crisis, and that is why she created a series for you: Turn Panic into Peace.

Turn Panic into Peace Series

The series covers how your brain works and why you are feeling anxious, nervous, and stressed. She then dives into how you can move out of your ‘lizard brain’ (the reactive mind) and into your thinking mind to start managing that stress.

2. Natalie Bacon – Design Your Dream Life Podcast

This podcast is a gem. It is always 30 min, short and to the point. Very well thought out and full of useful and empowering information to help you to, as she says, ‘reignite your life’. She is a Life Coach trained in thought work and she delivers easily digestible, clear advice about how to manage your mind and create ‘your dream life’.

This is especially important given the uncharted waters we are all facing at the moment.

When There is Chaos in the World

Her episode ‘When There is Chaos in the World’ covers how to manage your mind when there is change happening that is outside of your control. She helps you to understand how to re frame your thoughts, make the most out of this experience and how to regain some control over your thoughts, your stress, and your situation.

The Future is Bright:

3. Krista Tippet- On Being Podcast

On Being is my all-time favorite podcast. Krista Tippet is an incredible host and interviewer. It is full of amazing interviews about religion, physics, spirituality, humanity, and more. Every interview is thought provoking, inspirational, and expands my thinking in new ways. I love this podcast because it has introduced me to so many interesting books, authors, musicians, scientists, and spiritual leaders, to name a few. Through all of the years of interviews there is one common theme: We are all human BEINGS, we are all in this together, and it is beautiful, messy, and wonderful.

Rebecca Solint-Falling Together

The episode they released last week is especially poignant. It is a rebroadcast from 2016 but the team at On Being thought it was perfect for the global crisis we are facing. The interview is with Rebecca Solint, who wrote a book titled A Paradise in Hell, the Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, about the unpredictable and incalculable events that break us and at the same time redeem us. Events like Hurricane Katrina (and global pandemics).

I find this quote of hers to be encouraging in this time of isolation and uncertainty because it helps me to see that good will come of this:

“When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up to become their brothers’ keepers, and that purposefulness and connectedness bring joy even amidst death, chaos, fear, and loss.” 

Rebecca Solint

To make you laugh and know you are not alone:

4. Story Corps

If you have never heard a Story Corps recording, you are in for a treat! The Story Corps Mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories to build connections between people in order to create more compassion and connection in this world. The ‘stories’ are conversations between loved ones and friends recorded in a sound booth and moderated by a trained staff member. The stories are all archived at the library of Congress. The topics are endless, and the wealth of knowledge, joy, and humanity that you will receive from listening to the stories is infinite.

Series to Uplift

In this time of global crisis, Story Corps has stepped up to create a “series to uplift” highlighting some of their favorite stories to make you laugh, uplift you, and bring you comfort to remind us that we are all in this together.

four podcasts to listen to right now

Get Listening!

I encourage you right now to put down the phone, turn off the news, and fill your mind with positive and uplifting information that can help you make the most of this time.

These four podcasts are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many wonderful people out there right now turning this crisis into an opportunity to help and connect, not shrink and despair.

Find those resources and those people. Focus your brain on that.

We are all in a situation that is unprecedented. We don’t know what the future will look like or how long this pandemic will last. It is easy to let this uncertainty overwhelm our brains and hearts and lead us into despair.

I encourage you to remember;

You have control over your thoughts and how you use this time to grow, love, and nurture yourself, your family, and your community.

Choose, hope, choose love, choose courage.

Be Gutsy, I believe in you!

Be Gutsy! Share the Love!

Amanda Richey