Band on the Run

2016 may just be the best year yet for podcasts. Serial is well into a second season and is dominating the charts ever since it debuted in 2014. This phenomenon has brought along tons and tons of new shows to listen to and there seems to be endless content out there. But what podcasts are the best to run to? Personally, I love listening to podcasts while I ran. I generally only unplug the headphones for short runs or races (I never ever ever run with headphones during a race, but that's a discussion for a future time), so I've got a lot of time to listen to podcasts while I run. Personally, I prefer a show to either be a conversation on a topic, or one person story-telling. Here's what I'm listening to now:

Serial: This show is still the biggest podcast out there and it's easy to see why. Sarah Koenig has a distinct radio voice that has the right mix of others accounts along with her style of story-telling. Season one was about a teenage murder case in Baltimore and this current season follows the story of Bowe Bergdahl.

The Bill Simmons Podcast: You either love him or hate him, but I love Bill Simmons. The former ESPN writer and podcaster has a new show backed by HBO, and he's a lot more free ranging now then ever before. Bill interviews everyone from his college buddies, to movie producers, to even Charles Barkley (which is a must listen if you enjoy the round mound of rebound) and they tend to say exactly what's on everyones mind in current events sports stories. If you like sports conversations, Simmons makes your run fly by.

Run Run Live: A podcast about runners, for runners. Chris Russell has been at it for a while, and the show has taken many different forms, but this one is a classic for runners. Russell tends to get the most out of his guests, and it's always inspiring to hear the story of other runners. I have to admit that I'm not too big on that many running podcasts, and most of the time it's the host that doesn't work for me, but Chris Russell does a phenomenal job and is always enjoyable to listen to.

Reply All: Do you want to laugh while you run? Do you want to think deeply and get into the show? Reply All has the power to do both, and often times in the same episode. It's a show about the internet and how it intersects through our lives, and unlike the podcasts previously mentioned, this show has two co-hosts. A recent episodes about rat videos going viral made me laugh out loud during an 8 mile run.

Stuff You Should Know/Stuff You Missed In History Class: I'm going to lump these two together because of their styles, but that does not take away from how good they are individually. Both shows have co-hosts who explore a different topic each week. Often times, Stuff You Should Know takes on a historical topic, but often times will go into current issues or just general culture. Both shows are extremely well researched, and you are absolutely guaranteed to learn something or your money back (ok, they're free). Their topics are wide ranging and they've been making them for years, so it's easy to look through the archives and download a few interesting topics to you before a long run.

How Did This Get Made?: A podcast that reviews and discusses some of the worst movies of all time and asks: How did this get made? The episodes are hilarious if you've never seen the movie they're discussing, but I have to say it is might make you stop running from laughter on the movies that you have seen. Note, this show is extremely explicit, so keep that in consideration.

So there are a few of the shows that I'm listening to while running. What about you? What podcasts do you like to run to? Tell us about them in the comments below.