5 Podcasts for Multitasking

Podcasts allow you to gain knowledge and stay stimulated while performing your daily routine.

Busy schedules and long commutes often leave us with less reading time than we would like. It can be even harder to keep yourself stimulated while handling your daily responsibilities. Podcasts are one way to stay up-to-date and learn something new without stopping what you’re doing. These are DMD’s top program recommendations.

1. Up First (NPR)

What it is: Keeping up with the news these days is a challenge even for those who don’t have full-time schedules. “Up First” consolidates the most important pieces of information to provide lickety-split update ready for listening by the time you get out of bed.

Episode length: 10 minutes

Best for: Commuting to work or morning walks

2. The Daily (The New York Times)

The Times is known for its quality reporting, and they’ve carried it over to their audio platform. Host Michael Barbaro focuses NYT’s top stories, offering detailed news analysis in interviews with experts and authorities on a given topic.

Episode length: 20 minutes

Best for: Lunch breaks, commuting

3. Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! (NPR)

Americans’ stress and anxiety have spiked recently, with many citing the news as a source of worry. “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” helps take some of the pressure off by turning the week’s noteworthy events into a comedy-powered game show. Audience members can call in to participate.

Episode length: 50 Minutes

Best for: Driving, relaxing outside, doing chores or yard work

4. S-Town (Serial and This American Life)

We don’t know about you, but something about summer makes us crave some good ole’ American storytelling. A Southern gothic for modern audiences, S-Town is just in time for the warmer months. When a journalist gets a call from a small-town man about a possible murder and police cover-up, he thinks he may have the next In Cold Blood on his hands. But when he travels to the site to investigate, he finds a story — and a protagonist — he never saw coming.

Episode length: 50-60 minutes (7 episodes)

Best for: Tasks that don’t require too much of your attention

5. Invisibilia (NPR)

Ever wonder about the hidden forces that control the world around us? Then this program is perfect for you. Invisibilia combines narrative storytelling with scientific research to uncover all the intangible things that shape humans and their environments into what they are.

Episode length: 35-50 minutes

Best for: Cooking, household chores