Se7en + 1 of Our Favourite Podcasts…

I grew up with radio… my mum listened to Women’s World every afternoon of my childhood and my teenage brothers listened to detective carry-on’s on a Friday night… never ever missing a beat. Well for those of you who think listening pleasure is a thing of the past, have you met the world of audiobooks. And if you, like me, don’t always want to be reading a book… sometimes when I am washing the dishes or folding laundry, I just want a little company… conversations that wash over my ears and inspire me with enthusiasm. A couple of weeks back, in response to our “How to get any housework done while homeschooling post?” a couple of folk asked what podcasts I listen too…

Before I dive into our faves… I do use an app to gather up and listen to all our podcasts, called Downcast. It is very easy to navigate – search for the podcast that you are after and subscribe. You can see all the podcast notes and links on the display… how often am I listening to something and think I must go bad to that link… honestly if if isn’t right there, then I will never click on a link. So this just makes listening and following along so much easier.

1. The Art of Simple: I love, love, love this podcast… Tsh Oxenreider of Simple Mom fame has a fabulous podcast going here… She just chats with a couple of her favourite blogger friends about this and that… Honestly I have washed so many dishes with Tsh and friends chatting beside me, so many folk to keep me company that I have been known to lag with the dishes… so that I can listen just a little longer. I tell you I feel like I know these gals and they have so fun and life experience to share… I’ll say it again: Love it!!!

2. This is Your Life by Michael Hyatt: He talks about, writes about, blogs about Intentional Leadership and his work is incredible. If you are not following along… then follow right now and settle in for a good listen… really right now. I try to listen to this when my teens are around, there is a lot to learn from this guy – everything: how to get up in the morning, how to create your life plan, how to cope when your work just overwhelms you… all very good life lessons for all of us. And it is always good to hear “do the right thing” from someone who isn’t necessarily your very own parent. Just saying, put this one on, especially when your teens are about.

3. How they Blog and Inspired to Action: Kat Lee has also stood alongside me while I hang laundry… ten shirts, ten trousers, ten undies and twenty socks almost daily for the longest time… hang them out, bring them in and fold them – Kat Lee is my laundry friend, couldn’t do it without her. How they Blog is just brilliant… featured guests, who really know their stuff and are still just regular folk, talking about blogging – finding the time, the inspiration, the tools. I think I could probably talk about blogging forever, myself, and so I really enjoy this one. Her other podcast, Inspired to Action is also one of my faves. She chats with great and amazing moms… about their life and times, you get to hear their story and everybody has a story to tell.

4. Learning with Leslie: This guy has the most amazing energy and he talks about blogging – with lots of enthusiasm. If you are looking to learn something or you need a confidence boost then this is the one to follow… a quick and inspiring listen and you will feel like you are conquering the world. I always learn something new about blogging on his podcasts!!!

5. BBC Learning: School Radio Podcasts… this sounds dreadfully dull… but their is always something fab to listen to. Some amazing history, a great book to download, drama fun, just great goodies to listen to. Click on the image and take a look at their podcast page, download a topic and listen away. You won’t be disappointed, these have turned out to be some of our faves. Also the page updates from time to time, you need to keep a look out for new and interesting things that might be flying past. Our kids really enjoy the podcasts on this site.

6. The Guardian Children’s Books: The latest and greatest Children’s books… news, reviews and interviews. As well as authors reading excerpts of their new books. There are a few book/author podcasts for kids and adults out there, but this one happens to be consistent in posting and has lots of authors that are lurking in our library bags… so we like this one.

7. Two New Podcasts I’ve Just Started Following: The Read Aloud Revival Podcast: This is a new one, all about creating a culture of reading aloud to your kids, I am keen to listen along and get some tips. And: Jeff Goins has a new podcast too… I love his writing and willingness to share his expertise… so I am interested to see how his podcast turns out… just listening away, there have only been a handful of podcasts on both of these so far.


And the se7en+ 1th

8. S.exy Marriage Radio: I come from an era where parents never ever spoke about relationships and anything to do with them… which means this is not a topic I always feel free to dive into and discuss with my kids, especially my older kids. Also it isn’t a topic at the top of my mind and I don’t think to bring it up… and I have to say my kids don’t ask very much about it either… but I know that I need to talk about it with them and I know that they think about it – I was actually their age once!!! So I listen to these guys: a guy and a gal that talk frankly and openly about intimacy in marriage and christian relationships. I first heard about them on Simple Mom… and while I only stop by and listen from time to time they always give me something to chat about with my kids… I don’t listen with my kids mind you, but I always chat about it later, with a “hay have you thought about…” ideas about how to spoil your wife and communicate with her, how to look after your husband… what a girl is looking for in a husband and what a guy is looking for in a wife. Good conversations to have with your kids, obviously gear it too their age… but it helps to have heard other folk talk about it first in the most ordinary and honest and frank way. There is so much available out there on this topic, and our kids, are bombarded with it… I really want to be the one to talk about this with our kids and this podcast has been invaluable in giving me ideas for talking plainly with them about topics that I don’t normally talk about at all.

So those are the podcasts I have at hand, my steady favourites… but I am always willing to learn about something new – so if you have a fab podcast to share… I would love to hear from you in the comments.