I'm having a serious love affair with podcasts lately, and not just because I have one. I spend about 40 minutes in the car each way to work four days a week (I work from home on Fridays) and it's become time that I can use for entertainment or to learn something new. I used to really look forward to listening to NPR news but for some reason it's been unbearably depressing to me lately. I keep trying to get back into it but, I swear, as soon as I switch on the radio if it's not a story on war it'll be another story I can't bear to hear, like what I actually heard the other day, "Spaniards are abandoning their horses in record numbers..." Nooooooope; podcasts it is!

By listening to podcasts about news, culture and entertainment I can essentially curate my own NPR station without the depressing side effects. Yay!

Here are the podcasts that regularly join me on my commute lately:

+ NPR Food. All the NPR stories about food; genius.

+ NPR Books. NPR stories about books!

+ Planet Money. Economics has never been so fascinating.

+ Pop Culture Happy Hour. I'm embarrassingly out of the loop in most things pop culture and I love that this show lets me catch up on what everyone is talking about. 

+ TED Radio Hour. TED talks developed for radio.

+ Snap Judgement. Stories on a theme, similar to This American Life, but with beat and rhythm.

+ Radio Lab. You're probably already listening to this one. If not, then immediately queue up Musical Language.

+ How They Blog. Blogging advice and interviews with successful bloggers.

+ Spilled Milk. I've mentioned this one before but it remains a favorite. I'm also a subscribing member and get secret episodes! 

+ Sarah R. Bagely podcast. I love Sarah's honest conversations with other "recovering perfectionists". I binged on her podcast when I first discovered it and it gave me a lot to think about. We struck up a conversation on Twitter and it led to an opportunity to be interviewed on her podcast! My episode will air in late May; I'll definitely share a post about it when it does!

I'm crushing on several of Slate's podcasts and by subscribing to the Slate Daily podcast you can get them all in one feed. My favorites include:

+ Political Gabfest. Intelligent political conversation (with an admittedly liberal bent that warms my heart); I particularly like hearing from Emily Bazelon who is incredibly sharp and articulate.

+ Culture Gabfest. Intelligent talk about culture that helps me stay somewhat in-the-know.

+ Mom and Dad Are Fighting. Honest conversations about parenthood.

I'm always looking for new podcasts and I'd love to know what you're listening to lately. Hopefully it includes The Girl Next Door Podcast? Hashtag shameless plug.