Early morning listening: podcast edition

November 22, 2022 7:26 PM

I'm looking for some podcasts to listen to in the early morning on walks outside or on the treadmill. Ideally, they would have content that inspires me, gets me thinking, makes me feel motivated. More details below.

What I'm looking for:

• Something to start my day off on the right note.
• Shorter episodes, about 15-20 minutes each.
• Open to mindset/self-help content, although I have a pretty low tolerance for "woo" so I'm having trouble sorting through the top charts on my own.
• Also open to some religious/spirituality content - I really like the Take One Daf Yomi podcast, but each episode is only 7-8 minutes long.
• Maybe I would like some poetry?

What I'm not looking for:

• Anything news or politics related - too stressful for 6 am, and I spend my whole day reading news anyway.
• Too many hosts - a one on one interview is fine, but not a crowd jostling for air time and jokes.
• History or educational podcasts - I love these, but I'm not in the right headspace to absorb them so early in the morning.

posted by airplant to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Can’t go wrong with Poetry Unbound!
posted by bxvr at 7:35 PM on November 22, 2022 [2 favorites]

Beauty and the Bittersweet with Miracle Laurie May might be right up your alley.
posted by platinum at 10:09 PM on November 22, 2022

It'll sound counter-intuitive but it could work: Nocturne. New episodes only once per month or so anyways.
posted by mannequito at 10:22 PM on November 22, 2022

This one may be a little out there suggestion, but try Bluey recap podcast It's Gotta Be Done?
posted by freethefeet at 3:54 AM on November 23, 2022

Radio Rumi is a bi-weekly podcast by noted Persian scholar (and delightful human being) Fatemeh Keshavarz. Episodes may be a little longer than you’d asked for.
posted by Silvery Fish at 4:36 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]

Tiny Victories is great! It’s two kinda cynical ladies talking about small things that have happened or they have done that give them hope. It’s relentlessly nice.
posted by Night_owl at 8:24 AM on November 23, 2022

This is Actually Happening has longer episodes, but you could do them in parts. One voice at a time (key for me, too), each episode is a first-person account of a key event or period in the storyteller’s life that served as a turning point or had an impact on their worldview. They’re brilliantly edited such that even though the raw content is an interview, each episode flows like a monologue and the interviewer is absent save an introductory sentence and a conclusion on the order of “thanks for listening.” You never hear the two of them interact. It has long been my favorite podcast, gives me much to think about but is not sensationalist.
posted by saltykitten at 9:39 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]