My List

• Tig & Cheryl True Story is by far my favorite podcast. It's a comedy podcast about documentaries. They release new episodes on Monday mornings to give fans a little happiness boost for the beginning of the week. Towards the end of each episode, they announce the documentary they'll be watching for the following week. Sometimes they have incredible guests like Amanda Knox talking about the Amanda Knox documentary. Other big ones have been Beanie Mania (HBO), The Pez Outlaw (Netflix), The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker (Netflix), The Fastest Woman on Earth (HBO), and of course, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (HBO)—start there.

• On Wednesdays, you can find me having lunch with Pants with Kate and Leisha. Being a big fan of the original L Word and the band Uh Huh Her, made me start listening but I’ve stayed for the good chats. It’s the perfect thing to listen to if you want to feel like you called a friend. The topics range from interviewing Gwyneth Paltrow to spending half an hour talking about mixing cement for a driveway.

• I hope that everyone reading this has already discovered 99% Invisible with Roman Mars. It’s spectacular. They describe it as “a field guide to the hidden side of everyday things”.  I can’t even do it justice by saying anything else except that it’s a must. The book is also amazing. Snaps to my wife for discovering this podcast and sending it to me years ago!

• The Moth also deserves a very short description. It’s simply the best storytelling you can ever encounter. It’s so raw and beautiful. I’ve had the pleasure of attending in-person Moth events. They host them in tons of places. I actually attended the first-ever Spanish Moth in Los Angeles. Start any episode and you’ll be hooked.

• Planet Money and Freakonomics Radio are two of my favorites for long walks. They’re also about “the forces that shape our lives” and “the hidden side of everything” respectively. Mostly it’s tied back to money or financial things. It’s just really interesting stuff. They interview people who are doing incredibly specific and fascinating studies.

• I struggle with Adam Grants’ voice for some reason, even though I absolutely appreciate the topics he discusses in Work Life . It adds so much value to leaders. The guests are also incredibly high quality. It’s super fast-paced and I learn the most actionable things to apply to my and my team's work through his pieces.

• The Week in Art is incredibly boring because of the host's British tone but the topics are beyond fascinating. If you love art and want to find a way to keep up with it, this is the best thing you can listen to. I also have a small arsenal of other art-specific shows that are more geared towards collecting that I’m happy to provide to anyone interested.

• Shifting gears drastically, Dinner SOS by Bon Appetit makes me happy. I don’t really make dinner often and especially not dinner parties but have always loved everything that has to do with food. Bon Appetit is a huge visual inspiration for me. I’ve practiced food styling in the past and love very technical recipes when I do cook.

• The Happiness Lab is awesome! It’s hosted by Dr. Laurie Santos, who seems like the best teacher anyone could have. The episodes are less frequent but go into great detail about the science of happiness. It has great stories and basically makes you think about why we’re so bad at guessing what will make us happy.

• Smartless makes me laugh and learn useless new things about celebrities. It’s more entertaining than most of the others. So whenever I’m having a less focused week this is what I’ll put on. It’s hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. Also, Sean asks the best questions and I’m big into asking good questions. There’s something interesting in the art of wholeheartedly digging into people’s stories.