What We Are Listening To: Favorite Podcasts

Architects and designers love a good story. With Fall moving in, each Friday in September our staff will be rounding up some of their favorite podcasts, covering a wide range of genres and styles. Whether you listen while driving or while settled into your favorite chair, tune in and see what you think. Today’s list is courtesy of Alex Zink and Denise Blakenberger…

Alex Zink

99% Invisible (by Roman Mars)
Excellent podcast about design and architecture around the world. It is one of my favorites and has been around for a while so there are endless episodes to listen to. It discusses a wide range of cool stories from how the EMS started, to how skate boarding became popular, to land use/green space in LA, why sand is the most common building material and it’s environmental impacts, and much more.

Science Rules (by Bill Nye)
This is a great podcast where everyone’s favorite science teacher, Bill Nye, interviews famous scientists about a broad range of subjects including global climate change, COVID-19, technology, and more. Bill is energetic as always and askes his guests detailed questions about complex subjects. Some of his episodes are specifically about COVID-19, one of which he interviews Dr. Fauci.

This Day in Esoteric Political History (by Jody Avirgan, and Nicole Hemmer)
This is a new podcast started in 2020 with short episodes (15-20 min). I like it because of the short light hearted history/political lessons about important US historical events that happened on the specific day of the year the episode aired. Some of the episodes are specifically about the 2020 presidential election and draw comparisons to the 1960s elections as well as others. The podcast also discusses different wars (Civil War, WWI, WWII), the 1918 Spanish flu, and more.

Hall of Shame (by Rachel Bonnetta and Rachna Fruchbom)
New podcast in 2020 that discusses sports and drama, specifically infamous sports scandals. There are many stories about cheating, lying, bribery, etc. in the NBA, NFL, MLB, Olympics, and other leagues. I enjoy the podcast because you don’t need to know much about sports and it is a good way to transport in time and forgot about everything that is going on in 2020.

Denise Blankenberger

The Rich Roll Podcast (by Rich Roll)
Rich is a world-famous endurance athlete and author. These long-format episodes each feature a distinguished guest to discuss topics on wellbeing and human potential. The episodes are engaging and inspirational. Some notable guests include: Colin O’Brady, Des Linden, and David Goggins.

Home Cooking (by Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway)
This mini-series podcast, created and hosted by Samin Nosrat (author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) and Hrishikesh Hirway (creator and host of the podcast Song Exploder) began at the beginning of lockdown. They feature a lighthearted discussion on cooking meals at home. Come for the kitchen inspiration, stay for the food puns!

What are your favorite podcasts? We’d love to hear from you – share links in the comments or tag us on Twitter (@PAYETTEpeople).