podcast junkie

This summer...especially post-Ironman...I have discovered a new obsession. Podcasts. Some are shows that I have listened to regularly for a while now - StoryCorps, This I Believe, and This American Life. Others are relatively new to me - RadioLab, Selected Shorts, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me.
Summer days are so quiet at school and I'm usually entering data, doing some form of paperwork, clearing out files, cleaning my office (or the faculty lounge!), etc... that it's been really easy to start one of these (often one hour) programs and listen to it from start to finish with very few interruptions. It's gotten so that I look forward to it each day. Will I learn more about sleep? or famous tumors? or parasites? or limits? or the secrets of success? or Lucy (and other chimps)? Maybe I will hear a great story or a touching exchange between a father and a daughter who have been separated for five years and reunited in a painfully honest conversation. Sometimes I cannot listen to one in its entirety because I lose focus or because it's too difficult (too sad, too painful, hitting too close to home). Sometimes I find myself laughing out loud at my desk - hoping no one else will come in and wonder why I'm laughing when I'm all alone in my office. From tears of sadness to tears from laughter, these shows will be vivid memories from this summer.
They offer me random bits of information, food for thought, feeling odd connections with people I don't even know because we're all experiencing some commonalities of humankind, chances to explore things I had not ever thought about...oh, and in case you think they are too "heavy", sometimes just pure entertainment! They also remind me of just how much I have to learn in this world and of all that there is to experience. But it's been a true pleasure to listen to all of these stories and let them bounce around my head the rest of the day...and night...and weekend. So if you find yourself bored with the usual stuff on the radio, check them out. They are well worth whatever time you dedicate to them whether it's an entire road trip or just a commute to work! Oh, yeah, and one of the toughest things about school starting up is going to be shifting my podcast listening to evenings and/or weekends only...