* Editor’s note: I updated this post in January 2020 to reflect my most recent podcast favorites! I’ll continue to update this post as I find new pods worth sharing. I also share all my podcast recs over on Instagram Stories—look for my Podcast highlights if you miss them in real time! 

Happy Friday! I thought I’d mix things up a bit this week and share a few of my favorite podcasts.

Listening to podcasts religiously is something I really only started doing within the last year. Of course, I hopped on the Serial bandwagon back in the day, but never really stuck around the Podcast App to find anything else to listen to. Sometime in 2017, I was having a slow day at work and found myself on Lo Bosworth’s YouTube channel randomly. In whatever video I was watching, she mentioned her podcast, and since Laguna Beach was one of my guilty pleasures back in the day, I decided to check it out—and have been hooked on podcasts ever since.

As such, I wanted to give you the run down of what I love to listen to today. I’m always on the hunt for new Podcasts, so if you have any favorites, please let me know! Have a great weekend. x

Lady Lovin’

As I mentioned, Lady Lovin’ was the first podcast I became hooked on. Hosted by Lo, her high school classmate, Jilly, who is often seen on Laguna Beach and The Hills in the background, and their friend Greta, the ladies discuss everything from dating to entrepreneurship to beauty trends. It honestly feels like I’m sitting down to have a chat with my girlfriends. New episodes are released every Monday.

In the beginning days of the podcast, the ladies used to check in about their week and then interview a guest. Lately, there have been less guests and less structure to their conversations overall—it’s typically a mix of updates on their personal lives and then answers to questions from reader emails. As such, if you’re just starting out with this podcast, I recommend you start with some of the beginning episodes until you have the backstory on everyone’s life and are able to better tell their voices apart. Some episodes I recommend starting with

• #14: Women Who Rule with Katia Beauchamp, Co-Founder & CEO of Birchbox
• #35: Growing Up in a Funeral Home with Peggy O’Leary
• #38: Periods with the Founders of Lola, Jordana Kier & Alexandra Friedman
• #42: How to Be a Rich Bitch with Nicole Lapin
• #45: Meet Dr. Angela
• #54: Matchmaking with LadyLovin

Up First

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to stay informed on the top news stories, I can’t recommend NPR’s Up First podcast enough. I listen to it every morning as I am getting ready for work!

Released around 5am eastern Monday through Friday, this 12-minute podcast gives you the background and updates on the top three news stories of the day. They’re concise reports, but the news anchors do a good job of breaking everything down and bringing in experts to explain the rest. Some of the commentary unsurprisingly leans to the left, but I’ve found the actual news reporting to be objective. If there’s breaking news, subsequent episodes of the podcast are often released later in the day to keep you informed.

LadyGang

Not to be confused with Lady Lovin’, though it is a very similar podcast, I also love LadyGang. Hosted by Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jac Vanek, it is very similar in format and content to Lady Lovin’—only way more structured, which I appreciate. At the start of each episode, the ladies share the good part of their week and the bad part of their week, then, they move into an interview or the substance of the episode, and they wrap things up with about 15 minutes of reader questions. Like Lady Lovin’, they talk about things I’d talk about with my gals, and while it can be vapid from time to time, it is an entertaining listen. New episodes are released every Tuesday, with a “quickie” episode every other Thursday.

I don’t think the order in which you listen to episodes matters that much for LadyGang, but it is hard to tell their voices apart at first—at least, it was for me! Some of my favorite episodes are:

• What the Face with Dr. Jamie Schwartz
• Kate Somerville on the LadyGang
• Darren Criss joins The LadyGang
• Jac’s Mom joins The LadyGang
• Ryan Murphy joins The Lady Gang
• Allegedly Wassa Happening with Spencer Pratt
• Whitney Port joins The Lady Gang

U Up?

When both my friend Laura and my friend Emma recommended this podcast to me, I knew it was a good one. U Up is hosted by Jared and Jordana, and each week, they talk about the state of modern dating—covering everything from the apps to hookup culture to dating etiquette. It’s part of Betches media, so you know it’s funny and oh so relatable. Both Jared and Jordana offer their opinion on the range of subjects discussed, and I really enjoy getting a guy’s perspective on dating since it’s often something I talk about with my girl friends.

The podcast just launched back in November, so there are a manageable number of episodes. I love this podcast so much that I caught up to real time within a week. There’s no need to listen in order—I jumped around to the episodes I was most interested in first, then listened to the rest. Let me know if you listen—I’d love to compare notes.

Super Soul Conversations

I own The Oprah Show on DVD, so it should come as a surprise to no one that I love her podcast, Super Soul Conversations, which is the podcast version of her show, Super Soul Sundays. In these 30-40 minute episodes, Oprah interviews thought leaders, authors, celebrities, politicians, and innovators to help to help listeners awaken to their best selves and discover a deeper connection to the world around them. I’ve had—as Oprah would call them—so many “aha” moments while listening to this podcast. And, this is stating the obvious but, Oprah is such an amazing interviewer, so she’s really skilled at getting people to go deep and share.

You could listen to this podcast in any order, but I am making my way through it chronologically—and almost caught up to real time! Some of my favorite episodes are:

• Brené Brown Parts 1 & 2: Daring Greatly
• Sheryl Sandberg: How to Build Resilience and Find Joy After Loss
• Tracy Morgan: What His Near-Death Experience Taught Him About How to Live
• Joel Osteen: Two Powerful Words that Can Change Your Life
• Mitch Albom: The Dying Know the Secrets to a Good Life
• Rainn Wilson: Why Are We Really Here?
• Nate Berkus: Surviving the Storm
• David and Francine Wheeler: Life After Loss

How I Built This

One of the most inspiring and informative podcasts I listen to, How I Built This features interviews between NPR’s Guy Raz and the stories behind some of the best known companies. Released each Monday, he interviews founders and entrepreneurs for a little under an hour to examine the ideas they brought to life, the challenges along the way, and what lessons they learned. This is definitely a must-listen if you have an entrepreneurial spirit or are interested in starting your own business. Guy has the most relaxing radio voice and does a really good job of building rapport with his guests. Added bonus—the quality on his live shows is really good, which isn’t often the case with podcasts.

Some of my favorite episodes are:

• Chipotle: Steve Ells
• Southwest Airlines: Herb Kelleher
• Kendra Scott: Kendra Scott
• LearnVest: Alexa Von Tobel
• The Home Depot: Arthur Blank
• Instagram: Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger
• Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman
• Spanx: Sara Blakely

Second Life

If you love How I Built This, you will also love Second Life. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, the founder of Who What Wear, she interviews women entrepreneurs who are on their “second life” and have transitioned from their first career. Hillary is such an amazing interviewer and if you’re looking for a reliably great, inspiring podcast week after week—this is a good listen. Even if I don’t know the guest, I always enjoy listening! Some of my favorite episodes are:

• Cindy Crawford
• Paige Adams-Geller
• Anastasia Soare
• Mercedes Abramo
• Gregg Renfrew
• Tamara Mellon
• Susan Tynan
• Nancy Silverton
• Kendra Scott
• Aimee Song

Bad on Paper

I have loved, loved, loved reading Grace Atwood’s blog over the years and was so excited when she started a podcast with her good friend, Becca Freeman. What originally started out as a podcast that reviewed books has grown into so much more—each week, Grace and Becca have a guest or have a topic the two of them discuss (like travel preferences!) and then once a month, they review a book. I was lucky enough to see their podcast tour here in DC twice this year and theirs is always a podcast I prioritize over others in my queue. If you enjoy my blog, I know you will love this podcast. Some of my favorite episodes are:

• Kate Kennedy
• Eva Chen
• Carly the Prepster: Unfiltered
• Cindy Crawford
• Travel Routines, Tricks, Recs, and Some Very Strong Opinions!
• Katharine McGee
• The Nitty Gritty of Our Morning Routines
• Your 20s vs. 30s
• Alyssa Mastromonaco
• Hitha Palepu
• Grace & Becca’s Favorite Things