Ever since my husband introduced me to podcasts, I've become more and more obsessed with a variety of podcasts. I'm gonna give a run down of my favorite podcasts here for your enjoyment.
Sorry Not Sorry with Jenna Kim Jones
Jenna Kim Jones is a Comedian in Los Angeles, California, and hosts a bi-weekly hour long podcast with her husband, Allan Moss, also called "Hashtag Al". Her podcast releases Wednesdays and Fridays and includes fun segments such as "Foodie Call", "Today's Win", "Dear Jenna", and "Hopes and Dreams". Jenna and Al are Mormon and just had their first baby earlier this year. They're such a sweet, down to earth family, you can't help but love them. Each podcast begins with some light hearted banter between the two and makes you feel like you're just hanging out with a couple of your best friends.
Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend
Alison Rosen hosts 2 weekly shows; a Monday show and a Thursday show all from "Dining Room Studios" in her home in Los Angeles. Her Monday shows feature a new celebrity guest every week and her Thursday shows include Alison's husband Daniel Quantz, Jenna Kim Jones, Allan Moss, (of Sorry not Sorry) and Greg Heller. The Thursday shows are the highlight of my podcast week as this show includes so many fun segments such as "TV time", "Snack Chat", "Just me or everyone?", and live readings from each of the guests' young adult journals. This podcast is the primary reason I'll be snickering, or laughing out loud to myself at work.
NPR Politics Podcast
I started listening to the NPR Politics Podcast during the primaries of this election year. I did not care much about politics before I started listening to this podcast, but now I feel a lot more informed and engaged in our political process. The Podcast crew consists of Sam Sanders, Tamara Keith, Scott Detrow, and Domenico Montanaro, all politics reporters for NPR. They bring you the inside scoop even if you missed the debates, or the news. They also bring the right amount of humor to the podcast to keep you engaged. Lately they've been answering Listener Mail, covering the big news highlights, and providing "Weekly Roundups" of the news every Friday.
The Cracked Podcast
My husband introduced me to the Cracked Podcast when we first started dating and I really liked the variety of topics, the research put into each episode and the splash of humor mixed in. The Cracked Podcast is hosted by Jack O'Brien, Editor and Chief of the Cracked Website, and includes guest writers on the podcast who share their research related to the Podcast's topic of the day. My favorite episodes feature Jason Parjn, who writes as David Wong. Recently the format of this podcast has shifted to include more "live broadcasts" in front of an audience and include a panel and comedians and writers. I find the ratio of bullshit to interesting things in the live broadcast episodes leans heavily towards the bullshit end of the spectrum and I quickly turn off those episodes.
The Sporkful
The newest addition to my Podcast playlist. As the Podcast itself explains, "it's not for foodies, its for eaters". The podcast talks about food to learn more about people. Lets face it, there is one thing that we all have in common, and that is that we all eat. So what better way to connect than discussions surrounding foods from many different cultures and our own experiences with new foods. This podcast covers a variety of topics and has recently done a few series addressing the relationships between food and race, such as the "Other people's food" series and the "Who is this Restaurant For?" series. I would suggest anyone who eats to give this podcast a listen.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Friday, October 21, 2016
Dat Mom Strength, Tho
When you become a mother, your life changes. That's obvious. What I didn't expect was the strength I'd gain as a result of being a mom. Moms are SUPER strong. I realized this phenomenon about 20 weeks into my pregnancy when I held my little nephew (friend nephew) for the first time in a while and he was HEAVY. His mom was carting him around like it was NBD. I was like, "What?! I'm going to have to start lifting weights!"
False- you don't have to lift weights. Carrying a baby around is *child's play* compared to the kind of strength I later found out you need to be a mom.
The morning after I gave birth to my gorgeous, healthy, apgar-score of 9.5 baby girl, I learned that a pregnant woman I had recently befriended and was due the same week I was... had lost her baby. Suddenly, my bliss was shattered in heartbreak for this woman. I couldn't help but look at my shockingly blessed life and wonder "what gives me the right?" I was wracked with guilt and began living my life in a state of paranoia - "Will I lose my baby?" Following some postpartum scary health symptoms of my own, I began to wonder, "Will my baby lose me?" "If my baby or I fall asleep tonight, will we wake up?"
Cue something approaching a mental break - something approaching an existential crisis. Scratch that. I just Google'd it, and it was an actual existential crisis. Death was constantly on my mind. The truth or myth of an afterlife was something I meditated on daily. The very existence or purpose of my life was called into question. What is life? What is death? Who is God? If I die tonight, will I go to heaven? If my baby dies tonight, what will happen to her... or to me?
I mean, it got to the point that I was having full-blown panic attacks. Literally. My doctor sent me to a psychiatrist.
At this point, I feel like the Holy Spirit came to me and said, "Do you have faith?" and I said, "Do I?"
In Sunday School I learned that faith is putting your belief and trust into something that you can't prove. I put faith into things all the time - I have faith that if I get on the train in the morning, it will get me to my office *mostly* unharmed. There are a ton of examples, but the most important implementation of faith is ... saving faith. Do I have the kind of faith that will get me into heaven if I die in my sleep tonight?
To that, Holy Spirit said "Do you know me?" I said "yes?" And then He said "Let me take care of your life."
And then I realized that God is good. All the time. God is good when he blesses me with a loving family and a beautiful child, and He's still good even if they are taken from me. There are things in my life I simply cannot control - whether I live or die, whether my child lives or dies. I must have faith that God is good no matter the path my life takes, and that He is worthy to be in charge.
And that is how I started being able to go to sleep at night.
So yeah, anyway - I can also do actual push ups for the first time in my life, too.
False- you don't have to lift weights. Carrying a baby around is *child's play* compared to the kind of strength I later found out you need to be a mom.
The morning after I gave birth to my gorgeous, healthy, apgar-score of 9.5 baby girl, I learned that a pregnant woman I had recently befriended and was due the same week I was... had lost her baby. Suddenly, my bliss was shattered in heartbreak for this woman. I couldn't help but look at my shockingly blessed life and wonder "what gives me the right?" I was wracked with guilt and began living my life in a state of paranoia - "Will I lose my baby?" Following some postpartum scary health symptoms of my own, I began to wonder, "Will my baby lose me?" "If my baby or I fall asleep tonight, will we wake up?"
Cue something approaching a mental break - something approaching an existential crisis. Scratch that. I just Google'd it, and it was an actual existential crisis. Death was constantly on my mind. The truth or myth of an afterlife was something I meditated on daily. The very existence or purpose of my life was called into question. What is life? What is death? Who is God? If I die tonight, will I go to heaven? If my baby dies tonight, what will happen to her... or to me?
I mean, it got to the point that I was having full-blown panic attacks. Literally. My doctor sent me to a psychiatrist.
At this point, I feel like the Holy Spirit came to me and said, "Do you have faith?" and I said, "Do I?"
In Sunday School I learned that faith is putting your belief and trust into something that you can't prove. I put faith into things all the time - I have faith that if I get on the train in the morning, it will get me to my office *mostly* unharmed. There are a ton of examples, but the most important implementation of faith is ... saving faith. Do I have the kind of faith that will get me into heaven if I die in my sleep tonight?
To that, Holy Spirit said "Do you know me?" I said "yes?" And then He said "Let me take care of your life."
And then I realized that God is good. All the time. God is good when he blesses me with a loving family and a beautiful child, and He's still good even if they are taken from me. There are things in my life I simply cannot control - whether I live or die, whether my child lives or dies. I must have faith that God is good no matter the path my life takes, and that He is worthy to be in charge.
And that is how I started being able to go to sleep at night.
So yeah, anyway - I can also do actual push ups for the first time in my life, too.
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