My workday requires 10-12 hours of nearly constant attention, which means if I’m going to listen and learn, I need a curated podcasts list. I run a coffee shop. I have a thousand breaks a day between customers, but they last 30 seconds at a time. This type of work is not right for consuming media. I try to give good customer service. My friends send me videos to watch, articles to read, and songs to check out, and they stay in my Messages feeds, unclicked on forever. I never know what’s happening in the news. I have no idea where I lost my earbuds. I might have used them twice.

I go to work before the sun comes up. Often, I return at dusk or later. I drive 45 minutes each way, and the whole time, I am alone in my car, my muscle memory steering me down the flat stretch of Interstate and my eyes lazily admiring the pink sunrise over the Mississippi to my left and its overflow channels stretched through this farmland. Also, I hate talking on the phone.

For months at a time, my sole source of information, entertainment, and wonder comes from curated podcasts. Yes, I’m a hipster. Yes, I have a beard. However, I submit that under the circumstances described above, you, too, would find yourself listening to two episodes of something every day, each fitting nicely into your commute if you skip the ads with the 30-second scrub button.

So, not one to waste my own time, I keep a pretty tight rein on my podcasting habits. I won’t listen to junk. I don’t have time for it. It’s my one escape, and it needs to be good. With all this in mind, I submit to you my Top 10. These ten podcasts will enrich your life, make you think thoughts you’ve never thought, make you empathize and laugh and look at the sunrise a little harder, and will never waste your time.

Featured Download: thinking of curating podcasts or starting your own blog? Before you do, download this PDF of guiding principles.

This American Life

This show sits on the throne, not only of podcasts but of all forms of whatever this is since radios were invented. There are nearly 700 episodes. That should tell you something. Every single episode is thrilling, but I particularly enjoy Episode 47: “Christmas and Commerce,” especially Act 2: “Santaland Diaries.” If you need a place to start, start there.

Radiolab

Although, nothing quite warms my insides like This American Life and Ira Glass, Radiolab is putting out the best work in the atmosphere right now. Their staff is insanely good. Listen to the episode titled “Tweak the Vote,” and get pens and napkins ready, because you will have ideas all day long.

More Perfect

As an example of how good Radiolab’s work is, their biggest, best spinoff is one of my favorite podcasts of all time as a standalone. More Perfect covers the US Supreme Court. There’s so much drama and intrigue, and it goes a long way toward explaining why things are the way they are. Try the first two seasons before you dip into season three. It’s a little weird if you’re not already a fan. Once you become a fan, though, you’ll love the third season, which is half music and half about the 27 Amendments to the Constitution. Spoiler: Dolly Parton.

Serial

He did it! He didn’t do it! That other guy did it! No, wait, the first guy probably did it!? Investigative reporting, true crime, the science of storytelling, and cliffhangers at their finest. Sarah Koenig is a master of radio journalism. She is a huge part of what makes This American Life great, and here on her own, chasing down mysteries in the legal system, she’s at her finest. If you’re not one of the millions who’ve already subscribed, the good news is, you can probably enjoy Season 2 with no biases. Enough time has passed. If you don’t know what I mean, don’t look it up. But still, start with Season 1.

S-Town

Everyone I know who bought into the S-Town craze a few years ago thought this show was about the town where we live. It’s not, but there are similarities. This show is an incredible glimpse into the work of a reporter and the lives of his sources as they investigate a story that goes nowhere. In the process, the sources become the story. You’ll laugh. You might cry.

StarTalk

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is so dang smart. Listen to some really smart people who know how to have a good time while they talk about the intricacies of physics and the universe and things I didn’t know existed. If you’ve ever wanted a working knowledge of science, this one’s for you. I crave some extra knowledge high-level sometimes, so I make sure to keep some episodes of this one downloaded and ready to fire off.

Revisionist History

What is absolutely true about the way the world works? Whatever your answer is, in this show, Malcolm Gladwell will tell you why you’ve been wrong this whole time. I personally love the feeling of being shocked, so I look forward to this show rocking my world, but even if you’re only in it for the social science pseudoresearch, it’s totally worth it to give yourself something to chew on for a few days.

Featured Download: thinking of curating podcasts or starting your own blog? Before you do, download this PDF of guiding principles.

Caliphate

Funnily enough, I listened to this show first because long ago I knew Andy Mills, the show’s producer. Wow, though. The subject, Rukmini Callimachi, is remarkable, and she’ll probably win a Pulitzer soon. For a glimpse inside the Islamic State, religious radicalism, online recruitment of disenfranchised Westerners – let’s just say I had a lot of questions about what was really going on in the War on Terror, and this show cleared up some things for me. Get ready to binge this one from the beginning.

Atl.Latino

One of the two or three most important art forms right now is music from Central and South America, including the Caribbean. From politics to migration to crime and reform – not to mention food and film! – our neighbors to the south are presenting a kind of renaissance at the moment. Alt.Latino is NPR’s Latin music podcast, and it is incredible. We should all be paying attention. This is a great place to start.

Last Podcast on the Left

I was reluctant to get into all the true crime stuff. It makes me feel gross. The three hosts of LPOTD are really funny, though, so this one is entertaining even if it is sometimes skippable. They’re very well-researched, I assume, so I feel like I’m learning something while they’re making me laugh. Sometimes you just need to laugh, ya know? After a few episodes, I find myself hoping Henry Zebrowski finds a lot of success in Hollywood, because he’s hilarious and seems like a good friend.

Making Sense

I’m new (and way late) to the Sam Harris boat. I still can’t afford his really popular meditation service, and I haven’t read any of his books. I haven’t even read Christopher Hitchens. However, I sampled this podcast and got hooked. While I’m not into every episode, there are enough that I can pick and choose which ones to listen to and still feel like I’m getting the good stuff. Episodes are two hours long, which is a lot for me. Not every day listening. If you’re into Joe Rogan, the time commitment will not be that big of a deal to you, and you’ve likely already heard Sam Harris, since he’s been on Joe’s show. Harris is a neuroscientist and a lot of other things, and really smart and interesting people seem to love talking with him. That’s good for us!

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Colby Williams is an award-winning entrepreneur, coffee roaster, and author. His book, Small Town Big Money, came out in January and won placement in both the Axiom Business Book Awards and the Reader Views Literary Book Awards. Check him out at SmallTownBook.com.

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Featured Download: thinking of curating podcasts or starting your own blog? Before you do, download this PDF of guiding principles.