Though my life as a college professor and father keeps me busier than I ever thought I could be, the truth is that I spend a lot of time each day alone.
Alone in my office, writing or preparing for class. Alone in the car, after dropping kids off at school. Alone on a walk or a run. Alone mowing and maintaining our yard (well, for nine months of the year, anyway).
And while I enjoy the occasional respite of silence, especially after a morning or evening of the cacophony that comes with three kids, I, like most of you, also enjoy listening to things. Like podcasts
Some are long and some are short. Some are thoughtful and some are shallow. Regardless of the content, I’ve found a reliable stable of podcasts to keep my informed and up to date across different areas of American life.
So, in lieu of my traditional overview of recent stories found at the intersection of faith, political science, and public life, here are, my go-to podcasts for 2022:
The Argument: The New York Times’ Jane Coaston interviews two people from generally divergent perspectives on important questions of the day. This isn’t a podcast about arguing or debating for the sake of “owning” the other side, but rather emphasizing the reasoning behind (and attempting to understand) competing points of view. Recommended episode: “In the Eyes of God, Does a State Have a Right to Kill a Man?”
The Experiment: Produced by the Atlantic, this podcast tells stories at the heart of American culture and politics. One of the assumptions of the podcast is that America, as an idea, is an unfinished experiment. These stories certainly support that notion. Recommended episode: “The Great Seed Panic of 2020”
Plain English: After months of appearing as a guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons gave Thompson his own platform on The Ringer Podcast Network. Thompson writes about a lot of things in his position at the Atlantic, but in this podcast he focuses on explaining complicated ideas and debates in ways even novices (like, in many instances, me) can understand. Recommended episode: “The Four Ways That America Is Polarizing”
The Rewatchables: Also a product of The Ringer, Bill Simmons usually headlines a rotating cast in discussing some of the most influential, popular, and, yes, rewatchable movies of the past half-century. Recurring segments include “Casting What-Ifs,” “Half-@$$ed Internet Research,” and “Who Won the Movie?” Recommended episode: “‘Jaws,’ with Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey”
Young Adult Movie Ministry: YAMM features Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson and writer Sam Thielman discussing different films through the lens of faith — specifically, Christianity. They are joined each week by a guest with a particular appreciation of the film in question. Their conversations are entertaining, sometimes irreverent, and always insightful. Recommended episode: “How to Live in a Circle: Meg Conley on ARRIVAL”