Make the most of Apple Podcasts by honing the listening list, so it becomes a personal radio station!
Summary: I love podcasts for learning and comfort, especially while being active. My system includes a saved list for trying new shows and a queue of curated episodes, regularly organised to match my interests. Some favourite shows are How I Work, The Diary of a CEO, and Busy Phillips is Doing Her Best. Pro tip: download episodes in your queue for offline listening!
I love podcasts. I eat them up. It started with âSerialâ season one in 2014 but these days I listen for learning over pure entertainment. I find shows I vibe with and keep going back; thereâs something comforting about listening to familiar hosts, and their regular segments and quirks.
I only listen on my phone, because that’s what I have with me when I’m out walking (prime listening time!), or while gardening, cleaning, or organising things. I never listen to a podcast while sitting still*. My brain prefers active listening when Iâm physically active, and for rest time to be quiet đ¤ˇââď¸
*the exception to this is being in the car, public transport, or on a plane, but I would argue those are still kind-of âactiveâ times because Iâm on my way somewhere.
Saving a new podcast
When I hear about a new podcast, I immediately look for it on the Podcast app and either subscribe (if it really grabs me) or select the episode that was recommended / most appealing to save as a taste tester. That sticks it in my Saved list so at some point in the future I’ll find it there, which will remind me to check it out.
Keeping the saved episode list tidy
My list of saved episodes started out tidy enough but over the years has turned into the Wild West so every now and then I’ll sort the list by âdate savedâ and clean out anything thatâs been in there too long; if I haven’t listened by now, I’m not going to. Then I take another pass, sorting by âdate publishedâ and assessing the oldest ones for relevance.
Using the queue feature
The final triage step is to glance through the list for stuff I’m super duper excited to listen to and put those next in my queue. This means the queue is always lined up with what I’m most interested to hear so I don’t have to stop and think about what I want to listen to next.
I only started using the queue function pretty recently and it works well! You can reorganise it if something new appears that you want to check out before the rest, and delete something if you change your mind. It’s like a perfectly curated podcast radio station, particularly handy when I’m in the car.
Pro-tip: download the episodes in your queue so you can listen to them offline, then delete downloaded episodes once theyâre played.
What I’m listening to
Hereâs whatâs in my queue right now:
- Ali Abdaalâs chat with Steven Bartlett AKA the youngest Dragon on Dragonâs Den (1hr46min)
- The psychology of fashion from ABC All in the Mind (29min)
- Who am I? Identity changes with motherhood on Beyond the Bump (1hr)
- Daniella Monet talking about gut health with Tay and Taylor Lautner (1hr)
- Kayla Itsines’s simple hack to stay mentally strong on How I Work (5min)
- Kim and Penn Holderness talking about the positives of ADHD on Sibling Revelry (50min)
- A conversation between Celine Song and Sofia Coppola on the A24 podcast (1hr)
And a few shows I keep going back to:
- How I Work with Dr Amantha Imber: interviews with successful people about how they do stuff
- The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett: stories from influential people and experts about what theyâve learned
- Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal: conversations with entrepreneurs on how to be productive (spot the theme here?)
- The Resetter Podcast by Dr Mindy Pelz: science based health information, with a particular focus on perimenopause and fasting (a recent addition!)
- Busy Phillips is Doing Her Best: meandering, timely conversations between Busy, Caissie and their guests (this one is like my comfort food)
- Beyond the Bump: all things parenting (I pick whatâs relevant to my bubâs stage)