The recent listening sensation Serial introduced a lot of people to podcasts, especially runners. It replaced music as earphone fodder while out on the road or treadmill, something podcasts have been doing for me since I bought my first smart phone in 2009. I never liked listening to music while running outside because I felt it disassociated from my surroundings, but as my long runs stretched into one, two, or three hours, I needed to do something with my time other than run around in my own head. Here are five of my favorite podcasts for running. You’ll notice that none are about running. That’s on purpose. I want to learn about something else while on the road. All are free. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me Frequency: Once a week, one hourThis NPR quiz show was the first podcast I ever listened to while running, and I’ve stuck with it for good reason—it’s funny. The variety of voices in the show, including announcer Bill Kurtis, three expert panelists, call-in contestants, a celebrity guest, and fellow Runner’s World writer Peter Sagal keep the show from ever feeling stale. I listened to it so much that I was a contestant myself in the “Listen for the Rhyme” challenge. If you ever call me and get my voicemail, you’ll instantly know that I was a winner. I also ran with Sagal when the show made a guest appearance in Philadelphia. A heckler yelled at us to “Run like a man!” We still don’t know who was being heckled. (Peter, for that, I forgive you for the New Jersey jokes. Almost.)Best Episode: “February 13, 2014” I stoped running during this one because I laughed so hard. The celebrity guest? Al Gore. He might not strike you as funny, but he turned on the charm, especially when telling stories about college roommate Tommy Lee Jones (there was a knife throwing incident) and being asked questions about My Little Pony. MORE: Watch: ‘This Girl Can’Comedy Bang Bang Frequency: One hour, once a weekThis one became so popular that host Scott Aukerman turned it into an IFC television show with the same title. This comedy podcast helps me get a run started when I don’t want to move. There’s a lot of improv, and a lot of laughs. I know that’s a short description, but just listen to the show. You’ll get it from the start.Best Show: “#211, Nick Kroll and Jon Hamm” If you didn’t know Jon Hamm was a total comedy nerd, this might seem like an odd pairing, but he goes toe-to-toe with Kroll in a whacked out episode that includes an improvised skit where Hamm plays the twin brother to Kroll’s regular Comedy Bang Bang character El Chupacabra. Together, they dub over Mad Men in English, but with Spanish accents.Planet MoneyFrequency: Twice a week, variesLike Serial, Planet Money is a stand alone podcast that spun out of This American Life. (You’ll sometimes hear their reporting on TAL and across the NPR universe). Planet Money started in September 2008, exactly when the American economy imploded. Today, it’s less personal finance or even straight financial reporting and more a creative spin on what it means to be part of the U.S. and the global economy.Best Episode: “$1 Billion that Nobody Wants” This is a brain twister of a story about presidential dollar coins that are being stored by the Federal Reserve. Yes, $1 billion of them as of 2011, which is when this podcast aired. The follow up “Dollar Coins in the Wild” is a good one, too, especially since the train that runs through my town spits them out as change. MORE: No Marathon For Me, Thanks: 5 Reasons She’s Opting OutBullseye Frequency: Once a week, one hourHost Jesse Thorn does some of the most in-depth interviews I’ve ever experienced—both in print and audibly—on this show. Sometimes you can hear how shocked these very famous people are that he would ask a question about something specific because no one has done the deep-dive research. The show also includes interviews about pop culture and “The Outshot,” Thorn’s recommendation of something that listeners should know about.Best show: “Bubba Sparxxx and Ian MacKaye” In this podcast is a very real and frank conversation about how Sparxx became famous, why he disappeared for seven years after his 2006 album release, his issues with addiction, and trying to get back into the music game. I never thought I’d care so much about the guy whose song “Ugly” blasted at every bar I ever went to in college. Till the DVR Do Us Part Frequency: Varies, half hourThis is the new kid on the block, a podcast by husband and wife Ted and Jenny Fox. It does not carry any false pretenses: Their intro and exit music comes from a speaker pushed up against an iPhone. What it lacks in production values it makes up for in humor. Listening to this podcast is like hanging out in the basement, which is where they record the show. They come off as the coolest couple from high school if that couple was obsessed with TV and movies. A note of warning: this podcast is labeled explicit (because they curse—often) so you may want to skip this podcast if that’s not your thing.Best Episode: “FMK: Christmas Movies” Yes, I edited that title to keep it clean. The podcast is Ted and Jenny giving a holiday twist to that classic time-wasting game, but with your beloved (and not so beloved) Christmas movies. (Ted, White Christmas is a marry, not a kill. Sheesh). I can already hear you guys saying “But what about The Moth, WTF with Marc Maron, This American Life, Radiolab.” Never fear! Tell us in the comments about your must-have podcast. The article “What Am I Going To Do Without ‘Serial?’ " originally ran on Zelle.runnersworld.com. MORE: Her 1,000-Mile Year
