I'm (Finally) Sold on Podcasts

Resisting them for two decades, you could say I'm a late adopter.

Big news - I listened to my first podcast this week! Yes, you read that right. I am a (very) late adopter of podcasts, and I am hooked. I listened to one episode of Dan Harris’ Ten Percent Happier podcast this week, and I learned more in an hour than in a dozen hours devouring a book with similar insights.

You might be asking yourself why I caved. One word: traffic. I have the great pleasure of working from home, so I don’t drive a lot. But last weekend, family friends were in Oregon and I live between Seattle and Tacoma, about 250 miles away, and I wanted to see them. I could have flown or taken the train, but I wanted the freedom of having my own car.

It will be great, I told myself. I packed snacks, which I didn’t eat, made a road trip playlist, and naively thought I’d stop along the coast, taking a leisurely drive south. Who doesn’t love a summer road trip? The drive should have taken four hours or so, but it took at least five. On the return trip, I left mid-morning on Sunday. Google Maps said traffic was clear and if I left at 10, I should be home by 2:30. Sold!

The closer I got to home, my arrival time kept getting moving further away from me. I stopped for gas somewhere around 1 p.m., and I had had enough of my playlist and music altogether. I couldn’t sing another note, not that any of them were any good anyway. A friend (thank you, Bridget) had told me about the Ten Percent Happier pocast a year or so ago, and I had an episode downloaded already but I never listened to it. Well, it was time, and I am so glad I did.

I love music and often listen while I’m driving around town or walking my dog, but in a few short days, podcasts have become an alternative way to entertain myself — or learn something new — on the go! I realize this is not revolutionary, but I resisted for two decades.

Because I have a short attention span — squirrel! — I assumed I would not be able to focus on a podcast, so I never tried it. Thinking about how I consume TV or movies though, I am never singularly focused unless I concentrate, put away my phone, and ignore Jack’s barking in the background. There is always laundry to fold, email to check or a game to play in the background. I still get distracted during podcasts, but I can easily go back and listen to parts I want to listen to again. Why didn’t I do this sooner?

So help me out here, podcast listening friends. What are some of your favorite podcasts? What should I listen to next?