Hi everyone,
I wanted to follow on from the theme of the last blog post so I thought I would share with you my top five podcasts. As I mentioned in the last post “five books that helped my sight loss journey and life” listening to podcasts was the introduction to the spoken word and opened up audiobooks for me. With this in mind I wanted to share the ones that made me laugh, cry and open up to myself.
Podcast: “A radio programme that is stored in a Digital form that you can download from the internet and play on a computer or on an mp3 player” – English Cambridge dictionary definition
A podcast is an episodic series of spoken word digital audio files. Podcasts can be series of interviews or simply spoken word or experiences. A podcaster is the person who speaks whether that be interviewing or sharing. There can be one or two podcasters. On some shows they have a panel within the podcast episode where they will discuss a certain topic. Some podcasts are sponsored therefore they have either adverts in-between or the podcaster will promote a product at he start and end of a podcast episode. Sponsers help pay for more elaborate recordings, where there is a studio cost and sound engineer or producer involved. There are lots of programmes and hosting websites on the internet that make it possible to create your own podcast, if you don’t have sponsors knocking at the door or a bottomless money pit. Some of these are Podbean and Ankor. This is a great way if you are starting off.
So now I have shared some the technical bits, let me share my top five podcasts;
1 Project Love Podcast
This was the very first podcast I listened to. My sister was always talking about podcasts and how I should listen to some. So when I lost my sight this was the perfect time for her to download some onto my phone. This was one of them. The podcast is hosted by two lovely ladies Selina Barker a life and business coach and Vicky Pavet a life and love coach. This pair met in passing through a mutual friend and set up Project Love to bring positivity, sharing self-care tips and providing great coaching. Their podcast consists of a mix of interviews and sole episodes. Through this podcast I came across many amazing people and I went on to work alongside some of them. This is a light hearted podcast that shares important life changing insights.
2. How to fail with Elizabeth Day
This podcast is my favourite, I have a complete girl crush on Elizabeth. She is an amazing woman, a role model to many. She has faced some personal life changing moments and failed at some of them to. Instead of taking that failure in a negative light she flipped it and started to talk about it. Following a bad break up she started her podcast that talks about failure. She states :
“The podcast that celebrates things that haven’t gone right. This is a podcast about learning from our mistakes and understanding that why we fail ultimately makes us stronger because learning how to fail in life actually means learning how to succeed better”
This is the intro to the podcast and every time I hear it I smile because it is so true! I have listened to episodes where she has interviewed philosophers, tv stars, musicians, activists, writers and many more. It was on this podcast that I heard for the first time, Elizabeth Gilbert. What another amazing woman! I bought her book Big Magic, as soon as the episode finished. Elizabeth Day has a way of introducing her guests that wraps their life and career into a few minutes, enabling the listener to feel like they know the guest before they speak. I love this one!
3. Table Manners with Jessie Ware
This is a fun podcast. The hosts are Jessie Ware (the singer in case like me you didn’t know who she was) and her mum. Pre Covid-19 they would invite guests round to Jessie’s house for dinner and interview them over a gin and tonic and good food. They talk about their favourite foods, their food memories and general about what they are up to. The relationship between Jessie and her mum is so sweet. They bounce off each other and definitely entertain, with a few risky comments and the odd swear word. It certainly humanises the mega famous. I recommend if you are after something light and a giggle.
4. RNIB Conversations
This was the second podcast I subscribed to on Apple Podcasts on my phone. I wanted to get more of an insight into the sight loss community and I found this on the internet. This gave me hope and a better understanding of sight loss. They interviewed people with sight loss and what that meant to them. They shared tech information, resources and support. I found this so beneficial at the start of my journey to complete sight loss. I don’t listen to it as much anymore but certainly pop back and check in.
5. BBC In Touch Podcast
This is again a podcast focusing on the sight loss community. It has a variety of episodes, interviews, stories and information-based episodes. They interview people who are involved in the sight loss community such as charities, volunteers and people with sight loss, to get their stories. They have episodes that cover new policies, new technologies, new support and if and how people challenge these. It is another great insight into the world of sight loss, what is going on in our community and sharing empowering stories. If you want an idea of what goes on and how we achieve the things we do this is well worth a listen.
Well, there you go these are my top five podcasts. There are so many more that I would like to share with you but I don’t want to keep you too long as it could go on for pages! I will however mention a few good shows that popped up during the start of lock down from Covid-19 in 2020.
My two favourites from these are unlocking us with Brené Brown, a podcast that shares her wisdom, also Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s ‘Lockdown Parenting Hell’. This is so funny, if you are a parent you will be able to relate to so much of what these two talk about and they do it in such a light hearted and funny way it is near impossible to be offended. I love it!
Thank you for reading again and if you have a spare half hour or hour while you are cooking, cleaning or simply relaxing please do try a podcast. If you listen to any of the above please do comment below and let me know what you thought.
Take care and stay safe
Nina xx
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