With the closing of gyms, restaurants, and every other activity in places around the world, walks are basically all we have these days. Whether you crave the comfort of a voice that isn’t shouting at you from six feet away, or you want to learn about something that isn’t COVID-19, here are the podcasts that Street editors recommend to keep you company on your strolls around the block (or just to the kitchen).
Eliana Doft
Podcast: The Morning Toast
Genre: Pop Culture news
How to Listen: You can watch live on Youtube every weekday from 10:30-11:30 EST, or listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or most other podcast streaming services.
This “Millennial Morning Show” is a much needed respite from the heavy news I’m consuming literally everywhere else. Hosts Claudia Oshry (famous for her meme account @girlwithnojob) and her sister Jackie dish the perfect amount of sass and wit as they recap the top five stories of the day. The Morning Toast exists in a world where The Bachelor is given equal weight to stock market fluctuations—and honestly, that is a world I want to live in. Claudia and Jackie’s observations are unpretentiously smart, and will have you giggling as you do your online homework.
Recommended if you like: Betches, Cosmopolitan, Page Six, reality TV
Melannie Jay
Podcast: Reply All
Genre: Narrative–based nonfiction
How to Listen: New episodes come out Thursdays at 6am EST. Available to listen through the Gimlet web page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or most other podcast streaming services.
What's it like being the man who invented the pop–up ad? What about the back–end engineer (no pun intended) who had to make sure Kim Kardashian didn't break the internet? Or Jennifer Ringley, whose Jennicam provided a 24/7 account of her life? Reply All posits itself as "a podcast about the Internet," but it's really about people—exploring the ephemera of online life—both affecting and affected by modern technology. Hosts PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman treat their subjects with appropriate humor and a surprising amount of pathos as they try to understand the online world, what compels us to click, to scroll, to post, to create. Reply All shows how technology may make us more human, a calming thought as we move into online classes and long–distance text exchanges.
Recommended if you like: BuzzFeed, YouTube rabbit holes, stalking other people’s Venmo charges, editing Wikipedia at 4am
Sam Kesler
Podcast: Dr. Gameshow
Genre: Comedy
How to Listen: New episodes every other Wednesday, available through most podcast outlets. Call-in to live recordings at 857-MANOLO-1.
In a world of Serial and My Favorite Murder, podcasting can seem like a dark business. Dr. Gameshow is a revolutionary remedy, designed for humor and spontaneity. Beginning back in 2014 on WFMU (a NJ and NY radio station). and since cancelled twice, Dr. Gameshow, like the Phoenix of yore, rises from its ashes stronger than before. High–strung host/comedian Jo Firestone and her sleepy sidekick/theme song composer/judge Manolo Moreno invite a special guest each week to join them in playing listener–submitted games like Werewolf Elton John, Professor Meow Meow, and One Peanut Two Peanut No Peanut Blue Peanut.
Recommended if you like: Ask Me Another, improv4humans, and My Brother, My Brother, and Me.
Ryan McLaughlin
Podcast: Call Her Daddy
Genre: Sex & Romance
How to Listen: New Episodes on Wednesday on barstoolsports.com and available through most podcast outlets
I’m more of a hopeless romantic than a freak in the sheets, but whether it’s to relate to boy problems or just to enjoy a good laugh while gaining a tip or two for the bedroom, Call Her Daddy has you covered. The Barstool Sports podcast is hosted by Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn, two “valley girls” in their 20s, living in New York City and sharing their “rarely healthy” but effective advice from all things dating profiles to sex tips. While their advice serves as part of the podcast’s purpose, what really makes listening to Alex and Sofia enjoyable is the duo’s reluctance to hold back as they exploit each other’s love lives and sexual encounters. Besides, where else are you going to learn about the Gluck Gluck 9000?
Recommended if you Like: Girls Gotta Eat, 69th Street, Romance Reality TV, Tinder horror stories
Mehek Boparai
Podcast: Modern Love
Genre: Romance, Storytelling
How to Listen: The episodes do not come out on a strict schedule, but the NYT has compiled a guide for the new listener here.
Authentic love stories take shape in all different types of love, in all different types of people. Based on the infamous NYT column of the same name, Modern Love takes the opportunity to showcase these stories and transform them into pieces of history. Each episode features a different actor reading aloud a published column piece. Then, the original author is invited back to provide an update on the love they wrote about. It’s heartbreaking, hilarious, but above all else—it’s intimate. It’s provided me an odd emotional solace while folding my laundry and washing my dishes, and there are several episodes I’ve listened to repeatedly with friends to watch them experience the story with the same wonder I did. If you find yourself finishing the podcast and longing for more of the magic, there’s an incredible series out on Prime Video bringing several of the narratives to picture with favorites such as Anne Hathaway and Dev Patel playing the writers.
Recommended if you Like: Romantic comedies, short stories, crying while doing your chores
