Favorite podcasts of 2018

With all of the walking I'm doing in preparation for my half marathon , and all of the travel that I do, I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts. I've learned that I tend to "binge" episodes, letting a few build up and then spending a couple of days listening to 4 or 5 of one, then moving on to something else. A lot of depends upon what mood I'm in, how much time I have, and what I'm doing. I've also cultivated the ones that I really like, getting rid of podcasts that started to feel like homework - I have little enough free time, why am I spending it listening to something I'm not fully enjoying?

With all of that said, on my train ride home from Philadelphia yesterday I thought "why not share my current favorite podcasts with anyone who cares to read this"? Part of it is to see if I might spark interest for someone else, but it's also in order to get things written out for myself, which is basically the point of this blog. The number of times I go back and reference something here...but I digress.

Note - I had some issues with weird HTML trying to insert in two places below and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it, so just skip those parts. Sorry!

Pop Culture
My original podcast, the one that got me started, is Extra Hot Great. It's run by the folks who used to write the Television Without Pity website, which is now called Previously.tv. Each week they release their ~90 minute long podcast on TV. I like the 3 main hosts (and they have a great rotating list of guest hosts, 1-2 each week), I like that the podcast has a format they stick to (it's not two hours of rambling nonsense), and I often agree with their assessments of TV shows. Plus, they end each episode with a game to test TV knowledge - what's not to like about that?

A new favorite this year is I Hate It But I Love It. Run by two ladies out of Toronto, they talk each week about "pop culture you love and hate at the same time". Primarily they discuss a different movie each time, although sometimes they venture into TV (a la the episode on the entire series of Lost). A recent favorite was their discussion of Bring It On, a favorite movie of mine (and theirs too!). They also discussed the Nicholas Cage trifecta (The Rock, Face Off, and Con Air), all of which I highly recommend. God those movies are terrible - but how can you not love watching them!

Earlier this year I started listening to Still Watching from Vanity Fair as they reviewed in detail each episode of the FXX series "The Assassination of Gianni Versace". I enjoyed it because the book the show was based on was written by a Vanity Fair writer, so they had some behind the scenes knowledge that was really fascinating and helped my enjoyment of the show. Since then they've gone on to add weekly reviews of Westworld Season 2, Sharp Objects, and are now going into Fall TV. If you watch those shows I really recommend the podcast as they note all kinds of things that I do not!

Finally, I'm a recent convert to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I like this podcast as the episodes are typically less than 30 min each, which is a good length for me. They talk about a recent movie, or tv show, sometimes books, and have a fun segment at the end called "what's making us happy" where sometimes there are things talked about I never would've heard about otherwise.
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True Crime
I went through a phase of listening to a LOT of true crime podcasts. My Favorite Murder, Real Crime Profile...and I found myself starting to feel a low level of anxiety all the time that something terrible was going to happen. Also, I found MFM to be a bit too rambly for me, and I had a lot of issues with the male host of RCP and his habit of talking over his two female cohosts. In fact, when they had an episode addressing that (because they got a lot of feedback from the audience about how dismissive he was), and he STILL continued to mansplain at them and us, I deleted the podcast. I find myself much less stressed out now!

However, there are two true crime podcasts I still really enjoy. First is The Blotter Presents, which is hosted by one of the hosts of Extra Hot Great. Each week she reviews true crime pop culture, primarily TV shows, but occasionally books and podcasts as well. It's nice for me because I do not have the time to watch all of these TV shows, but love hearing about them.

The second is Crime Writers On, hosted by a husband and wife who are also true crime authors. They are a bit more wide ranging in their discussions, talking about podcasts, tv shows, ongoing criminal investigations, documentaries, books, etc. They're a little bit rambly for me sometimes, but they do have a format they stick to which I appreciate. I've been binging them a lot lately as I got VERY behind (I'm still listening to episodes from April); from their discussions I've downloaded the first episodes of a couple of story-based podcasts that seem pretty interesting. Maybe I'll do a post on those later!

Miscellaneous
I've tried a few science/knowledge based podcasts, and couldn't really find one that I liked. I listened to Stuff You Should Know on and off but I can't fully get into it. The topics are great (the most recent episode is "What is color blindness?"), but I feel like the two hosts never quite get into the topic in the way I would like, and I really don't like one of the hosts voice. So, I deleted it.

Instead, I started listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz. which tells stories behind sounds. Each episode is typically less than 20 minutes long, and they talk about some really interesting topics. I enjoyed an episode on Cars - turns out that there's a lot that goes into having cars sound like they are "supposed to"! There was also one on movie soundtracks, why some sound are pleasant and others are irritating, and one on sounds in space. They talk to scientists which I appreciate! I'm very far behind (I'm on episode 15 and there are 50) but they go quickly and I find myself wanting to listen to the next one.
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And, finally, if you enjoy listening to someone give overall pretty good advice on relationships and/or sex problems, and you want to feel pretty happy about your own boring life, I highly recommend Savage Lovecast by Dan Savage. I pay the $35 a year for the subscription (no ads, episodes that are twice as long), and it's definitely worth it. In addition to being an advice podcast, he also interviews authors, scientists, researchers, and more. He can get pretty political at the top of the show, but that segment is normally pretty short and then he gets into listener calls. And oh boy, the calls! 

Lucy: July 2018

The theme for Lucy for July seemed to be "I love the couch!" In looking through all of the photos that I took, an overwhelming majority were of her on the couch. One of her favorite things to do on the couch is to jump into my seat and hang over the back, checking us all out while we're in the kitchen. What better spot to entice us to throw the ball for her?

 

 She does love curling up on Natalie; we are all looking forward to when this lasts for longer than just a minute! But no 7 month old puppy can hang out in one spot for too long.

 See? Standing on top of Natalie is just as much fun.

 But, at the end of the day, the couch is perfect for stretching out on and claiming as her own.

Despite the love of the couch, that doesn't mean that she didn't get lots of quality playtime in. Nothing like enjoying the summer weather in the backyard.

 

And we can't forget the fun that is puppy spazz time in the living room.

Recital 2018: Henry

This year's recital was special to me, as it was the first time that both Natalie and Henry were in the same recital! That's right, Henry finally outgrew the Rising Stars program, and graduated to Jazz I, so he got to be in the Contemporary recital with Natalie. And man, is this kid cute when he's dancing on stage!

 

 

These two pictures slay me. Love that little smile!

 

He especially enjoyed class because there were two other boys in there with him. His friend Chase (in the back of the photo below) we've known for years, and the other little boy became a friend during class. They're in Jazz II together this year again!

The seriousness in this final pose (which he did lose when he broke into a smile after) cracks me up. Both he and his friend Lily were so focused. Dance is serious business, you guys!

Recital 2018: Natalie Part 2

I will warn you, this post is a long one! There were so many favorites from Natalie's two more "serious" dances (beginning contemporary and beginning lyrical) that I had trouble paring them down. So, with no further ado, here are my favorites from both dances. First up: beginning contemporary. This dance was beautiful!

 

Natalie and her friend Aly were very happy that they were partnered together during part of the dance.

Beginning lyrical was also gorgeous. I loved their costumes, and the emotion that was pulled out of them while they danced to "A Million Reasons" by Lady Gaga was beautiful to watch.

 

Recital 2018: Natalie Part I

Finally, I've had time to pull together my favorite photos of the kids from their 2018 dance recitals! As I've done in previous years, I focused on my kids during the stage rehearsal, since I was responsible for shooting all of the kids during the dress rehearsal. Because of that, I had Natalie wear more makeup than was required for stage rehearsal, since I knew I'd be taking photos of her.

I took a TON (because why not?) and as Natalie was in 5 dances in the contemporary recital, I'm going to break this up into two posts. In this one: Musical Theater, Showkids, and Jazz IV. First up: Musical Theater!

 

Apparently she has difficulty keeping her tongue in her mouth when singing and dancing :)

 

I shared this first photo (left) on Facebook as I absolutely love this shot of her. Completely full of joy at dancing!

 

All of her facial expressions for this dance are just so happy. She loved it.

And, I guess I can say the same for jazz! Check out this sassy personality.

 

I didn't realize it, but I also ended up organizing these by "happy" versus "serious" dances - I think you can tell that these 3 are the "happy" ones. I love how into them all she was, and the emotion shown. Next up: very different emotion!