It’s a new semester, which means it’s time to come up with a new decoration scheme for your dorm room, master a new collection of courses and come up with new ways to make the trek between classes manageable. While you figure out the best way to walk from CoMo to Flanner in 15 minutes, I’ve got you covered on entertainment along the way. Podcasts are blowing up in the mainstream, which is great news because it means that there are new shows being produced every day! But with the average length being about an hour, it can leave a lot of people wondering how they can incorporate podcasts into their busy schedules. Fear not! Keep reading to discover your new podcast obsession with this list of perfect walk-to-class length shows!
- Up First (NPR)
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A list of short podcasts to start your day wouldn’t be complete without NPR’s Up First podcast. Clocking in at 13 minutes per episode, Up First aims to deliver the morning’s news to you in bite-sized, info-packed segments. Miss lounging around and watching the morning news, but love the light-hearted banter that makes podcasts feel like you’re sitting in on a conversation with friends? Then Up First is for you! An added bonus is that the podcast’s soundtrack is light enough that it won’t jolt you awake on the walk to your 8 am lecture, but engaging enough that you won’t fall back to sleep while listening to it
- Kind World (WBUR)
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If listening to current events sounds too heavy and depressing to you, tune into WBUR’s Kind World instead. Kind World explores the interconnectedness that exists between us and others through stories of compassionate acts and uplifting events. It’s sure to make your morning walk just a little brighter and give you something to talk to your friends and family about over the course of the day; and trust me, you’ll want to. These stories are incredibly poignant and touching.
- 600 Second Saga (Mariah Avix)
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Maybe you’re not looking for a story about the real world. Maybe you want to listen to Mariah Avix tell stories that authors and creatives have come up with instead. If so, head over to the accurately named 600 Second Saga (that’s 8 minutes if you were wondering) podcast, where you will find three seasons of short stories from a variety of genres. As someone who lives for anthology series like The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents…I cannot recommend this podcast enough.
- 60-Second Series (Scientific American)
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This is for all the College of Science students out there and anyone else who is fascinated by scientific topics but perhaps doesn’t have the patience or know-how to sit through a lecture about them. Scientific American’s 60-Second series has a podcast for just about anything you’re interested in. You can check out 60-Second Tech, 60-Second Space, 60-Second Health, 60-Second Mind or 60-Second Science depending on what topic you’re curious about. In just 60 seconds (or with ads, 2-3 minutes), you can learn about a variety of scientific topics and current events, which will help keep you up to date in your science classes or give you something interesting to talk to your parents about when you call home.
- TED Talks Daily (TED)
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Have you scrolled through this list and decided nothing fits your particular interests? Fear not! TED Talks Daily uploads short TED Talk audios every morning on every topic imaginable. Want to know what ping pong can teach you about life or how policewomen make communities safer? There’s a TED Talk for that! I love this podcast because it brings together such a variety of diverse perspectives and backgrounds and gives them a place to talk about things that they are passionate about or have expertise in. You are guaranteed to learn something you never expected to learn on your walk to class, from large life lessons to scientific, technological or political information.
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