In Which I Give In, Just A Bit: My Favorite Podcasts (ft. me being featured on a podcast!)

So, I used to hate podcasts. I was of the opinion that they're just one more thing to keep up with in my life, and having too many things I feel like I need to be on top of is stressful, y'know? It just is. However. However. I have, over the past year or two, had something of a change of heart. 

And while I'm still not a huge podcast listener most of the time (unless I don't have an audiobook going at the moment, in which case I need something to listen to) I do have several podcasts that I consistently follow, listen to, and enjoy. For most of these podcasts, either they post infrequently enough that I don't feel swamped (and in fact wish they posted more often) or they have huge archives, so there's no hope of me ever catching up, so I don't even try, so I can just listen to one if I want to listen to a podcast. (Do you know how freeing that is? It's totally great.) So, I thought I'd share a few of my recent favorites with you!

But first, before that, I wanted to announce that this very week, I was featured on one of the podcasts on this list! I was invited to be on Two Retired Homeschoolers for their discussion of The Return of the King, and I had an absolute BLAST! I'm really grateful to Rebecca and Holly for inviting me--it was a great time, and I was happy to finally be able to talk to them live about the things they talk about on their podcast because, as I say below when I'm talking about their podcast, I'm always wishing that I could have a conversation with them about what they're talking about in the podcast! If you'd like to listen (which I'd highly recommend, even if you don't care that I was on it, because we talk about all sorts of fascinating things, like Eowyn, and baptism, and allegory, and Stuff), you can find it HERE on Spotify, and probably also on Apple Music, but since I don't darken the door of any Apple-owned software (my dad works for Microsoft...it's a whole thing) I can't give you that link. But I trust you can find it! 

On to the rest of the post! 

Bible In A Year & Catechism In A Year

Starting off with something very basic...these were my gateway drug into podcasts. Of course, I didn't actually listen to Bible In A Year while it was going on, because I am Stubborn, and it is wayyyy to much to ask for me to jump on a trend, even a Catholic trend. I just Don't Do That.
However, I did listen to it during the liturgical year of 2021-2022, and it was a great companion while mucking goat stalls during my summer job that year, and while walking to classes during the school year. It goes through the Bible in chronological order from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.
Each episode generally has part of a longer book or two, and part of a shorter book (e.g. Genesis, Job, and Proverbs) which correlate in time (although the shorter book is often from the Wisdom books, or somewhere in there—Proverbs lasts pretty much all the way until the end of the year). There are also three Messianic Checkpoints throughout the year—where we take a break from the Old Testament to read a Gospel and discuss both the Gospel itself and how it relates to the Old Testament.
After the readings during the episode, Father Mike will give 5-10 minutes of commentary on what we’ve heard, which is always phenomenal. He also has many very meme-able Father Mike-isms…”man, oh man”… “what a gift” … “goodness gracious” … I’m pretty sure there are many Father Mike Schmitz-ism mugs. 😊
I think this podcast was really good for me as a very stubborn person, because I don’t always take the time to marinate in God’s Word, AND I need to have things pounded into my head multiple times before they stick. So, to be pounded in the head with God’s Word (and the recurring themes that Fr. Mike would bring up about God’s Word) for 365 days was actually really beneficial to my spiritual life and bore a lot of fruit.

Favorite Episode So Far: Day 328: Stephen is Martyred
(solely for Father Mike’s reaction to the reading from Proverbs, although the other readings are good, too)

I started Catechism in a Year at the beginning of last year, 2023, hoping to actually Be On The Trend for once (which is very out-of-character), but I went through a hard time at the beginning of February which led to me hopping off the bandwagon because I fell behind and then felt discouraged about catching up. (Yes, this is a really great reason to abandon a podcast, I know, I know. But I didn’t have the energy for it at that point.) Part of the problem was that the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is what Father Mike is reading through in this podcast, is a lot more dense than the Bible. With the Bible, I can get away with letting it wash over me if I am, say, mucking out a goat stall, or driving somewhere. But with the Catechism, I have a hard time paying attention if I am even driving, which is usually something I can do while listening to things.
With that said, if you are looking to have an in-depth overview of everything about Catholicism (or even if you’re curious about a certain topic and want to find the episode that is about that aspect) this is an excellent resource! (And I may go back and finish it one of these days…)

Favorite Episode So Far: Day 29: Knowing the Name of God

 

Abiding Together

I had listened to maybe one or two of these with my mom during high school, and recently rediscovered them when I was suddenly and out-of-the-blue given a Word of the Year for 2023 (this is not something that usually happens in my spiritual life). The podcasters behind AT had just come back from a hiatus to share their Words of the Year, and I highly enjoyed listening to their thoughts while I was packing up to come back to college.
Since then, I’ve listened to the podcast on-and-off, cherry-picking somewhat what I want to listen to, and which topics I’m most interested in, sometimes listening to what is recent, and sometimes going back through the archives.
The podcasters are two moms (one in the US and one in Canada) and one religious sister from the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity (SOLT)—Heather Khym, Michelle Benzinger, and Sister Miriam James Heidland. They’ve been friends for years, and it is a real joy to get a window into their conversations about God, the spiritual life, and growth in the love of God. They have a slightly more ‘charismatic’ take on the spiritual life than I am used to, and that can be both a breath of fresh air and a challenge for me. I don’t always ‘take to’ people talking about what “season of life” they are in, or “what God is doing in my heart right now”. But when I have an open mind, hearing both of those things from people can be really beautiful. It also is such a calming thing to listen to, for whatever reason!
On the podcast, they do talk about the growth they’re experiencing and what God is doing in their lives, but they also lead Lenten book studies during Lent (and sometimes ones for Advent, too!), have guests to talk about special topics, and catch us up on what’s going on in their lives. Also, each episode, each of the host choses a “One Thing” to share that has been impacting her life recently, whether that be a recipe, a song, a book, or something else, and that’s always a lot of fun to hear and explore.
They podcast in ‘seasons’, rather than year-round, podcasting from the beginning of the year to the end of the Easter Season, and then taking a break until the fall, usually, which makes it a lot more manageable to keep up with and catch up on! (They also added a summer study this past summer, which was fun. :))
Unlike the Bible & Catechism in a Year, which, while I think would be of benefit to any Christian, are often quite ‘Catholic-coded’, as it were, this podcast is slightly more general, and I think maybe more comfortable for non-Catholics to listen to. (Although they do talk about the Sacraments and Mass, but it’s generally in passing, and not a main topic.)

Favorite Episode So Far: S12 E2 – Word of the Year

 

Two Retired Homeschoolers

And here we go! Thank you again to Rebecca and Holly for inviting me on the podcast this week!
I think this was actually the second podcast that I got fully “into”, and that’s because I know Rebecca, one of the hosts (I know, I know, it’s a bit of a flex, as the kids say XD), who was like “so, I started a podcast”… and I was like “say no more!”
Anyway. The podcast is Rebecca and her friend Holly, both ‘retired’ (graduated) homeschoolers, who get together every three weeks to discuss a book, a proposition which involves abundant opinions, many quotes, much discussion of themes, and a lot of laughter. It quite honestly feels like I am having a conversation with my homeschooled friends about the books while I’m listening, so it’s a common occurrence for me to be like “oh, I should say…oh shoot. It’s a podcast. I can’t actually talk to the hosts.” Which isn’t something that I experience with most other podcasts, I think probably because most of the other podcasts I listen to are very “polished” (they’re funded, run ad campaigns, have professional producers, &c), whereas this one is “homebrewed”, which makes it (for me) more immersive.
Neither of the hosts are Catholic, so when they’re talking about theology (that happens fairly often, which I enjoy) I will often not agree with some of the things they’re saying/postulating, but a lot of the time I will agree with at least one of their opinions (since they’re from different theological backgrounds, and thus they also disagree a good amount of the time), and even if I don’t, I find the debate interesting. (These are, however, the times where I most often find myself yelling at my phone like “GOD IS OUTSIDE OF TIME!” or things like that. XD) But honestly, those are some of the most fun times, partially because I’m learning something new about what other people think and that's cool, and partially because I can hone my own arguments against theirs, in my head, at least. 
This is one of the podcasts that I listen to the most consistently, and look forward to new episodes of the most, so I would highly recommend giving it a try! (It is hilarious, and a grand old time.) 

Favorite Episode So Far: The Two Towers by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (ft. special guest Itzhak Vogel)
(although there are many other candidates for favorite) (including the episode that I was in, lol)

 

Speaking With Joy

Joy Clarkson is someone whose work I've admired from afar (mostly via her Twitter) for a long time! Once I had been gatewayed into podcasts by the above podcasts, I remembered that she had a podcast, and decided to give it a listen. I so far haven't listened to many of her podcasts, but she is just as delightful in podcast format as on Twitter, and if I listen to her podcast, I'm not on Twitter, which is an excellent side-benefit. Twitter can be a time-suck even if one doesn't have an account. Ask me how I know.
Joy is the daughter of Sally Clarkson, who, if you are homeschooled and/or have a mom, you’re likely to have heard of. Like her mom, she is a wonderful person, but unlike her mom, she tends to write (and podcast) about books, art, and beauty. Her podcasts are almost always done with a guest, whether that be an author, a poet, or one of her siblings.
(Oh, and did I mention she went to grad school in Scotland? The woman is living what is basically my best life. XD)
She doesn’t post super frequently—maybe once a month, sometimes less—but in my opinion, that actually is an advantage to listening to her podcast, because a) it doesn’t make me feel like I am behind and b) it enhances the anticipation.

Favorite Episode So Far: Be Like Mr Collins with Haley Stewart

 

Happier With Gretchen Rubin

If Abiding Together is calming to listen to, Happier With Gretchen Rubin is definitely more energizing! I’ve definitely mentioned before that Gretchen Rubin is one of my favorite nonfiction writers of all time (obviously below Chesterton and Lewis and a couple of others), and in my top two favorite contemporary nonfiction writers (the other being Andrew Peterson). So, I’m not sure why it took me so long to figure out that she had a podcast, but I only discovered it during the couple of weeks before finals week this past semester.
Her podcast is unique in that it’s divided into three categories: Happier, A Little Happier, and More Happier—all of which are different lengths, and release on different days. Happier and More Happier are hosted with her sister Liz Craft, and the way that the two of them interact and bounce off each other works quite well, and is really fun to listen to!
On the podcast, they talk about things that are making them happier, interesting insights about human nature, ways to build habits, ‘happiness hacks’, things having to do with the five senses, and many other things! It always sounds like they are having a lot of fun with the podcast, which then also makes it fun and energizing to listen to.
The one thing that I would say irritates me about the podcast is that there are more ads and ad breaks than I prefer. It honestly sometimes feels a little ridiculous, and somewhat gimmicky. However, I still enjoy listening to it despite that!

Favorite Episode So Far: Ep. 419: Easy Ways to Boost Focus, a New Kind of Birthday Celebration, and Building Unlikely Friendships

The Daily Nothings

This is my newest podcast obsession, and when I say obsession, I'm not even kidding. The episodes are an hour long, and I've listened to at least thirteen of them since I got home for break. That's like the equivalent of a short audiobook! But they're kind of addictive, because the podcast is essentially two Catholic friends talking about Life, and it is SO GOOD.
Both the women are a bit older than me...maybe late twenties, early thirties? Megan Day is married, and Courtney Roach is not (yet), and so they bring different perspectives, but they're also best friends, so they agree about a lot of things, too. Both of them worked for FOCUS, so it's funny, they don't seem like the kind of people I'd be friends with in real life (I don't really run with the FOCUS crowd, oop) (for my non-Catholic readers, FOCUS is a group that does outreach on college campuses), but I love listening to them talk, and they often have such excellent insights! 
The podcast is called The Daily Nothings because they talk about just that--the small things that we do every day that don't always seem to matter, but truly matter very much, from friendship, to the music we listen to, to the clothes we wear, to the way we talk about people. And it's truly so insightful every time. One that I found really applicable was the one on sharing--what is appropriate to share and when, and how some things need to stay between us and Jesus in prayer. 
The podcast is fairly openly Catholic, but almost any of the topics they talk about will be applicable for almost any woman (the three steps for How To Be Sad in the Hinge episode tickled me particularly, and seemed quite universal). 
If Abiding Together is calm, and Happier is energizing, then this podcast is just happy, and it makes me happy to listen to it. 

Favorite Episode So Far: S1: E6 -- None of Your Beeswax!

So…those are some of my favorite podcasts, even though I am (or at least have been in the past) Generally Podcast Averse. (GPA? XD) Hopefully you find a new favorite, if you’re a podcast listener!

Tell me…are you GPA? What are some of your favorite podcasts? Do you have a favorite contemporary nonfiction author?