Learning and laughing on the go: Student’s favorite podcasts

Lilli Greco, Copy Editor

During the recent year, as people have reached out for different forms of entertainment, more and more people have turned to podcasts to pass the long hours. There’s something for everyone out there – comedy, supernatural and paranormal stories, advice, etc. The number of podcasts on Spotify has more than tripled since the end of 2019, going from 700,000 to 2.2 million (The Guardian)

     Recently, Spotify introduced ranked charts for their podcast selection, keeping track of what shows are popular with listeners. At the time of writing, the highest ranked podcasts (and their categories) are as follows, The Magnus Archives in art, Jocko Podcast in business, The Joe Rogan Experience in comedy, The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in education, The Adventure Zone in fiction, American Glutton in health & fitness, You’re Wrong About in history, Tales from the Stinky Dragon in leisure, Dissect in music, The Daily in news, The Bible in a Year in religion & spirituality, Invisibilia in science, We Can Do Hard Things in society & culture, Called Game in sports, Lex Fridman Podcast in technology, CounterClock in true crime, and The Friendship Onion in TV & film. 

     Senior Hannah Burgess recommends And That’s Why We Drink, a comedy and true crime podcast hosted by Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz. “It’s pretty funny.” Burgess said. “Em tells stories about paranormal stuff, like cults or conspiracy theories, and Christine tells true crime stories – both well known ones and smaller cases you don’t hear about as much.” And That’s Why We Drink has been in production since 2017 and has over 200 episodes (Apple Podcasts). 

     Burgess also said, “A lot of people listen to Crime Junkie and Wine and Crime too.” In similar strains to And That’s Why We Drink, Crime Junkie and Wine and Crime blend comedy and true crime together to make something that thrills the mind and makes you laugh. 

     Along a similar strain, junior Chloe Romm recommended Tight Pants. “It’s another true crime podcast.” She said. “I really like it – it’s pretty cool.”

     Senior Sydney Pollitt said, “Anything by Alan Watts. Specifically, Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid At All. In simple terms, he explains about how everything on earth and beyond is implied by something else. So for example, joy can go with pain and death is a part of reality but it also implies life. It’s a lot of philosophy.” 

     “He [Alan Watts] is a philosopher I follow, and he talks a lot about how we just need to put trust in the universe and wait for it to guide us.” Pollitt said. “I find it comforting.”