28 Podcasts for Social Distancing
Seeking information? Entertainment? Comfort? We have the podcast for you.
We are living in a wild time. In a few short months, life all over the world has changed almost beyond recognition. The coronavirus continues to spread, more people are diagnosed with COVID-19 every day, and the future is looking very uncertain. But one thing is clear: social distancing will help us to flatten the curve. And so we are asked to essentially stop our lives to save others’.
While you’re practicing social distancing, you will likely find yourself in need of some information, entertainment, comfort, or all three. So, we put together a list of podcasts to get you started. We hope these recommendations from the Bello writer and member community will help you stay connected from the comfort of your home.
Coronavirus Coverage
As with impeachment, a full slate of coroanvirus pop-up podcasts have emerged from a variety of sources:
Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction
CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction is hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Rather than cover the day’s headlines — which can be found literally everywhere else — the daily show tackles just one topic each day, often in under 15 minutes.(Full disclosure: Bello editor Ashley Lusk works for CNN.)
Coronacast
Perhaps the most optimistic of the coronavirus podcasts, Australia’s ABC News Coronacast answers questions like “Do face masks work?” and “What’s the best way to wash your hands?”
The Coronavirus Podcast
BBC Radio 5’s The Coronavirus Podcast is a straightforward look at the virus. Get your questions answered and hear from the experts.
Today Explained (and more from Vox)
Vox has helpfully rounded up all its coronavirus related episodes on one page.
The Daily
Start with these three episodes:
- “Why The US Wasn’t Ready for the Coronavirus” is the disturbing but predictable history of how epidemic preparedness spikes in the time after an outbreak and slowly gets dismantled over the following years. (Erik Jones)
- “Confronting a Pandemic” talks about lessons the US can learn from its own past emergencies like AIDS and other countries’ responses to coronavirus, mainly China and South Korea. It puts in perspective this type of emergencies and connects them to our ways of life. (Laura Marina Boria)
- “Learning to Live With Coronavirus” unpacks the practical decisions we all face in the reality of a pandemic and the reasons behind them. (Erik Jones)
Viral
Can we slow the spread of coronavirus? What’s the deal with the test? How about the vaccine? ThreeUncannyFour’s twice-weekly podcast answers these questions and more.
America Dissected: Coronavirus
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (a physician and public health expert) looks at the past, present, and possible futures of COVID-19.
Non-Coronavirus Recommendations
Find comfort, connection, and entertainment in these non-COVID-19-related podcasts.
Doughboys:
Doughboys is Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell’s comedy show that reviews fast-food restaurants, but it’s really about their friendship. They are so hilarious together, so different. They take their time going through the history of the restaurants and then review them. I laugh out loud listening to Doughboys more than any other show. I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, but if I did, this would be one. (Lauren Passell)
Lizard People
Katelyn Hempstead interviews comedians about their favorite conspiracy theories, then rates the conspiracies on a scale from 1–10 on whether or not she believes the conspiracy theory, and whether or not she wants to believe. Some of the conspiracy theories are so crazy, yet I’m often almost convinced they’re true. (They’re always hysterical.) Browse for your favorite conspiracy theory or try PETA is a Scam with Brona C. Titley and Tom Neenan. (Lauren Passell)
The Bechdel Cast
I’m not a big movie person but I watch every movie reviewed on The Bechdel Cast, the show hosted by Jamie Loftus and Caitlin Durante that takes popular movies through The Bechdel Test (a measure of the representation of women in fiction that asks whether a work features at least two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man.) You’d be surprised how many movies DO NOT pass The Bechdel Test, and the ones that do often pass for funny reasons. (Like two named female characters saying they are going to kill each other.) (Lauren Passell)
The Daily Zeitgeist
I listen to The Daily Zeitgeist every day to get a lot of news but even more laughs, and it’s probably my favorite show of all time. The point is that hosts (Jack O’Brien, formerly of Cracked, and Miles Gray) talk about whatever’s in the zeitgeist, so that could be Joe Biden or whatever’s trending on porn websites. There’s always a guest comedian. It’s not news escapism, but it makes the news feel better. (Lauren Passell)
Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet
Alex and Christine Schiefer read strange and crazy one-star reviews over dramatic music. It’s very funny and light in the face of all the pandemic news. Listening to reviews from people who were disappointed by pet products that they tried on themselves is the levity I need right now. (Darian Muka)
Dirtbag Diaries
Dirtbag Diaries is a show about the relationship between people and the outdoors, and how being outside makes our relationships stronger. I’ve been listening to it as I take walks during the time I would normally be commuting to and from campus. (Jenna Spinelle)
The Wild
The natural world around us is alive and kicking and is so complex, as The Wild reminds us. (Calen Cross)
Finding Fred
No matter how scary the world is, there are always good people, and there is always good that you can do. As Fred Rogers would say: look for the helpers. Or, be the helpers. (Galen Beebe)
Imaginary Worlds
I tend to prefer nonfiction podcasts over fiction, but I’m finding many nonfiction podcasts challenging at this moment. Pretty much any topic can remind me of how extremely life as I know it has been disrupted. So could a nonfiction show about fictional lands be the best of both worlds? (Galen Beebe)
Tiny Desk Concerts
You can watch (or listen) to hundreds of Tiny Desk concerts in your podcast feed or on YouTube. Want to have a dance party in your socially distanced apartment? Check. What to feel all of the feelings about our global pandemic? Check. There is a Tiny Desk concert for it all. (Ashley Lusk)
Flyest Fables
Flyest Fables is an empowering and empathetic podcast, with Black kids as the leads and heroes. Along with writing Flyest Fables, Morgan Givens voices all the characters, writes and sings original songs, and sound designs to create the tone-perfect immersive feeling of storybook adventures. (Elena Fernández Collins)
Into The Breach
See how some of our favorite podcasters are taking the coronavirus head-on.
- The Allusionist’s Helen Zaltzman is making an emergency episode based on listener’s most soothing words.
- Life Kit tackles what you need to know about coronavirus and parenting.
- The Fresh Air Archive has collected their best coverage on pandemics and public health. While you’re there, enjoy more than 40 years of interviews by Terri Gross.
- Death Sex and Money and The United States of Anxiety teamed up for a COVID-19 live call-in episode.
- Happier with Gretchen Rubin offers tips on how to stay happy while dealing with a global pandemic.
- Counter Stories discusses how communities of color are uniquely or disproportionately affected by COVID-19. (Content warning: the second half of this episode discusses violence in graphic detail.)
- Short Wave: Skip to 13:08 for the best quote to send someone who incessantly says, “Calm down everyone, the flu is worse!”
- Planet Money looks at how the government stockpiles existing vaccines and prepares for the potential of rapidly scaling up production cycles for emergency vaccines.
- Reveal looks back at how the virus came to the US and looks forward at a possible vaccine.
- Ologies consults the über-expert: a microbiologist, a molecular epidemiologist, a virologist, and the Chair of Science at the California Academy Science (and to clarify, that’s all one person).
The Bello Collective is a publication + newsletter about podcasts and the audio industry. Our goal is to bring together writers, journalists, and other voices who share a passion for the world of audio storytelling.
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