Over the summer, I drove from Alaska to Colorado. With long stretches of driving, entertainment is a must. After a while music can get boring, so I decided to mix it up a bit and checked out a variety of podcasts. I compiled a list of entertaining podcasts that will make one hour of driving feel like 5 minutes! Check these out for your next road trip.
Serial
Serial is an awesome series of podcasts that is part of NPR. There are currently two seasons, both were very interesting. The first season is called “ The Albi,” it’s about a teenager who was convicted of murder who claims he is innocent. The following is taken from the Serial website description.
Season 1: It’s Baltimore, 1999. Hae Min Lee, a popular high-school senior, disappears after school one day. Six weeks later detectives arrest her classmate and ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, for her murder. He says he’s innocent – though he can’t exactly remember what he was doing on that January afternoon. But someone can. A classmate at Woodlawn High School says she knows where Adnan was. The trouble is, she’s nowhere to be found.
The second season is titled “Dustwun” it’s about a man deployed in Afghanistan who voluntarily walked off his post in the middle of the night. He was kidnapped by the Taliban and was rescued years later. The following is taken from the Serial website description.
Season 2: In May 2014, a U.S. Special Operations team in a Black Hawk helicopter landed in the hills of Afghanistan. Waiting for them were more than a dozen Taliban fighters and a tall American, who looked pale and out of sorts: Bowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl, a U.S. snewier, had been a prisoner of the Taliban for nearly five years, and now he was going home.
Both seasons are fascinating and very entertaining. I am still regularly searching for updates on these stories as they are all true stories
S-town
S-Town is my favorite podcast EVER, it’s so entertaining! My boyfriend and I pulled up to Jasper National Park during our 3-week road trip, about four hours into this podcast. We were walking along Maligne Canyon and all I could think or talk about was S-TOWN. I was actually bummed that we didn’t have service so I could keep listening. Here I was in the beautiful Canadian Rockies and I was obsessing over a story in rural Alabama.
S-Town is centered around a man named John who lives in a rural town in Alabama. He is so fed up with what he believes to be corruption in his town that he contacts a reporter to investigate. There are seven episodes that go in a direction you would not expect. This is my favorite podcast, I would highly recommend it if you enjoy an incredibly fascinating and interesting story.
How I built this
How I built this is an awesome interview series. This is also an NPR show where Guy Raz interviews people who have started very successful businesses. Each episode details how the person got to where they are today. Some of my favorite episodes are Starbucks, Airbnb, Vice, and Edible Arrangements. Check out more here.
30 for 30
I am not a big sports person but I really enjoy ESPN’s “30 for 30 Podcasts Show.” It basically depicts really interesting sports stories from the past. My favorite story is “on the ice.” It’s about the first expedition of women who trekked to the North Pole. This was a group of average women with experienced female guides. It’s a very inspiring and interesting story. Click here to check out more 30 for 30 podcasts.
I thought before that listening to people talk on road trips would be incredibly boring, but I was very wrong. Listening to podcasts makes me feel like I’m engaged in a conversation and makes the time go by faster. I highly recommend these for your next road trip or even daily commute!
Are you ready to rent an RV with Outdoorsy and take off on your next road trip?
