A little over a year ago, I discovered the fantastic world of podcasts. As usual, I am late to the party. But, better late than never, as they say. With the runaway success of the Serial podcast, however, I am feeling like I am a little ahead of the game for a change.

On a suggestion from my husband’s BFF, I checked out the podcast app on iTunes. I can’t recall now what my first podcast was but I quickly fell in love with this fabulous media format. It was like talk radio on my own terms and time. Glorious!

I have learned new things. So many new things! I have become a new fan of celebrities, singers, authors and comics. I discovered GISHWHES, and if you have been reading any amount of time, you will know how important that is to me. I have laughed out loud at my desk at work. I am always entertained. The nice thing about podcasts, for me, is the learning.

I was one of those kids that liked school. I love learning new things. The sad thing with life, is that once you finish formal schooling and fall into a career, your learning decreases. Unless, you pursue knowledge, if does not always happen. Not to imply that people don’t continue to learn throughout their lives but rather that their vastness of topics becomes smaller. So this is one way for me to add to my trivial knowledge of the world.

One of my favorite podcasts is The Nerdist podcast. It is a bit geeky and a bit funny but I have learned new things about new people from it. Hey, trivial knowledge is still knowledge. You never know, I could have a shot as a Jeopardy champion some day…

I have listened to a couple different podcast from Kevin Smith’s SMODcast network. Hollywood Babble On and Edumacation are my favorites. They are a bit irreverent but still funny. Edumacation is irreverent but great for learning new things.

I like Call Your Girlfriends. Occasionally I listen to What’s the Tee? with RuPaul. We all need our drag queen fix from time to time. The Bugle with John Oliver & Andy Zaltzman. If you like John Oliver’s show on HBO, this is a great podcast but is focuses on European news from a satirical stand point. I love the Say What podcast. And have enjoyed The Alton Browncast but there has not been a new episode in some time. (Insert sad face here)

One of the best producers of podcasts is NPR. Now, I must admit that I have never really been an NPR listener. (Not that classy of a girl, I guess). A friend recommended a podcast to me called How To Do Everything. They are short lessons in how different things work or answering listeners questions. I like that they are usually less than a 1/2 hour. From How to do Everything, I started listening to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. I love the slightly upscale look at various pop culture topics. I love that some of the hosts are in my age range. And recently I started listening to Ask Me Another. Which is a game show but presented in a bit of a nerdy way. Seriously, who can resist that?

And well there was Serial. Oh, Serial! I loved this podcast, It was addicting. I somehow managed to save a couple of the last episodes for a couple of weeks after the last episode aired due to my denial that it was over. If you aren’t up on the hype about Serial, do catch up! (www.serialpodcast.org) Sarah Koenig, you are brilliant! I can’t wait for Season 2.

I will admit that I can’t always keep up with the volume of new episodes. Obviously, from my sporadic blog posts on occasion, my free time, is at times, a luxury. But I know that I can always learn something new from of these delicious little radio programs.

It never hurts to check out new media. And there is definitely something for everyone. Just look, you will see. Happy Listening!

TA-DA!