I’m a huge fan of podcasts. I’ve never really been a music person (I’m partially tone deaf and it affects how I hear music) so since I spend a ton of time in my car driving to auditions, various day jobs, and just living life; I make sure that I always have some great podcasts to listen to on the road.
While there are some fun podcasts that I listen to that are just silly, a majority of what I listen to are entertainment industry related podcasts. I’m always learning new things and I’ve gotten to hear some interviews from people I admire. I know that podcasts are becoming more and more popular each day, but I just wanted to share my list of my favorite industry podcasts.
Inside Acting
I’ll admit that I’m a bit biased in this choice. I’m the production coordinator for Inside Acting, but before I was a part of the team I was a huge fan of the show. Inside Acting is a bi-coastal podcast and while a lot of the interviews are with actors, we do try to get a variety of creative types on the show (I’m partially in charge of recruiting guests). We try to be very interactive with the audience and we answer questions from listeners on the show to try to help everyone that we can. If you only listen to one podcast, I think you should make it this one!
The Nerdist
This podcast is hosted by Chris Hardwick and while it focuses on the “nerdy”things in life, there are some amazing interviews with filmmakers and actors. Just this past weekend, I listened to the interview with Eli Roth and he had some great stories about his adventures in filmmaking. While everyone might not be a fan of the “hostfull”episodes (those are episodes with just the hosts chatting randomly and not interviewing a guest), this is one that you might want to go through the past episodes and pick and choose some amazing interviews to listen to.
NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour
This podcast is a new addition to my podcast listening. There are 4 hosts on each episode and they go around discussing issues and topics that are part of pop culture. They will discuss things like how ratings are figured out for shows, Comic-Con, and the upfronts. I find this a more entertaining podcast, but they really do bring up some interesting discussions and I always find myself learning new things after listening to each episode.
KCRW Podcasts
I’m making this one category, because there are so many amazing podcasts from KCRW to choose from! Personally, I listen to Film Reviews, Hollywood Breakdown, LA Observed, The Treatment, The Business, and The Spinoff. I find these the most educational of all the podcasts I listen to. They have some entertaining moments, but these are the ones that I seem to learn the most from. There are great interviews with various people in the industry, there are discussions about major issues affecting the film and tv world, and there are articles from various news sites that are talked about and analyzed.
There are a ton of other podcasts that I listen to, but they tend to be silly and entertaining (like the Disneyland podcast that I enjoy when it comes out each month). But I try to listen to as many educational podcasts as possible. When you spend so much time in your car, you really need to take advantage of that time. And I find that podcasts really help me make the most of my time (especially when I’m stuck in horrible traffic).
If you have any podcast recommendations for me or if you want to know what silly podcasts I listen to, let me know in the comments. I’m always looking for new podcasts to add to my routine and I’m always happy to share what I’m listening to!