Stop Everything and Listen to these Podcasts

Heya! Long time, no see. I've been off the airwaves for a while but I have been behind the scenes, as I have just picked up a new camera for blog/travel/portrait photography. The pictures in this post were taken by the Lumix G7, and so far I'm loving it. Keep hanging around to see some gorgeous quality images around this space! Onto the topic of this article, I'm talking about podcasts. I've been really getting into them recently, and I'm uber surprised at how amazing the free podcasts are just on your iPhone. I have 8 to recommend, depending on your tastes, but all of them are incredible for long train/car rides, background noise while working, or just having a good dedicated listen. 

F O R  C R E A T I V E S 

Wowee 

If you love art or design, this is a great one. They cover starting out, the creative process, and growing as a creative person, amongst other things. They have new guests all the time, currently, I'm listening to the episode featuring Julie White. Wowee Podcast is also fairly new, so if you wanna beat the crowd, jump on following these guys.

Starving Artist

We hate to admit it, but cracking the tax bracket as an artist is hard. Whether you're a writer/actor/painter/muso or all at the same time, most of us aren't batting up there with the lawyers and the managers. This podcast is talking the hard line of being an artist; money. People talk about their experiences with Kickstarter, selling manuscripts, managing social media. My personal favourite piece of advice I got from this podcast is 'F*CK PLAN B', which is an episode by Tom Dickins. I'm working my way through the episodes but I'm loving this so far.

F O R  F I C T I O N 

Welcome to Nightvale

This is wacky, man. There's no other way to describe it. The basic concept: a broadcast from a radio station in the fictional town of Nightvale, a town where nothing is quite normal. Everything from the gossip of the town, the strange lights in the night sky, the weather and everything supernatural goes into this fantastic podcast. Joesph Fink and Jeffery Cranor are deadset my creative writing idols for how in-depth they go with creating the strange world of Nightvale. It's amazing for long-form storytelling, give it a listen if you want to question everything. 

F O R  D E E P  T H I N K I N G 

The Heart of It

Some of you might know Estee Lalonde, a gorgeous Canadian YouTube/Blogger who has just launched a fantastic little podcast. She doesn't mess around. She gets to the point on the hard-hitting topics. There are only six Eps thus far and I've loved listening to every single one of them. The Tattoo episode was intriguing and the Protest pilot, featuring the Nasty Woman poet Nina Donovan, went to town on how a collective of people in the right place at the right time can change literally everything. It's a beautifully produced podcast, keep at it Estee!

Call Your Girlfriend

Honesty is the best policy here and these women have got it going on! Take the most recent episode. It talks Harvey Weinstein, #metoo, A street named Rhianna and California recognising a third gender. Call Your Girlfriend takes topics that we're scared to talk about in real life and explains that conversations are so important for tacking the rough subjects. For an honest, sex-positive, strong, witty podcast, give this a try.

F O R  R A M B L E R S 

Crash on my Couch

Another YouTube podcast, Will Darbyshire and Arden Rose get chatting about anything and everything. I'm not kidding. You'll hear about bad dates, that weird Szechuan Sauce phenomenon, Japanese Vending Machines and Treasure Hunts. Will and Arden are wonderful people and listening to this podcast is like chatting with friends on a Sunday afternoon. It's a fun fusion of pop culture, millennial life and the weird and wonderful world we live in.

Bang On: Double J

This is an ABC produced podcast featuring two radio presenters, Zan Rowe and Myf Warhurst. Each week, they meet up and chat about film, TV, news, festivals, cultural phenomenon and as the name suggests: they are Bang On with their recommendations. This podcast introduced me to my new favourite TV series, a nordic drama called SKAM. The women on this podcast are hilarious and well spoken and if you're looking for recommendations for new media or some chill company on the drive home from work, chuck this on. It's like the best of the Triple J chats, but no ads in between. I believe there's also a Ben and Liam playlist, so you can head on over and check them out too.

F O R  P O L I T I C S 

Vox's The Weeds

Ever turned on the radio/news and wondered - 'what the actual hell is going on in the USA?' You're not alone. The talks about environment and education and economy are difficult to understand, especially when wanting to apply it to the life of the everyday person. If you're curious about breaking through the 'weeds' and getting to the heart of issues like gerrymandering, natural disaster budgets and immigration this is the podcast for you. With switched on hosts Ezra Klein, Sarah Kliff and Matthew Yglesias, why not learn more about the world (and policy) surrounding you?

NOTE: Something I've been meaning to say for a while. Politics is important! I know that you might be wondering, why would a seventeen-year-old blogger be advocating for reading policies and writing to your representatives and learning laws when she writes about cafes and lipstick? The fact of the matter is, we all have a vote in the way our country is run, and legislation affects you regardless of whether you're the Prime Minister or a Barista. If you've never read up about politics and how government works in your country, please do so. I see too many people detach themselves from politics because they think it's too boring or too divisive. It's important and it affects you; get involved!

That's all from me! Good luck on your exams if you're a student and I'll see you all soon. 

Em x