BY CASSANDRA LITTLEWOODONLINE CONTRIBUTOR

Perfect for taking the bus, relaxing or just plain learning, podcasts are slowly taking over and changing our lifestyle. It is changing how we interact with some of the most important discussions happening around issues and topics that frequent the news cycle. Here’s a list of some of the best podcasts you can (should) listen to in 2018.

The Daily

The New York Times’ raving success of a podcast has been named one of the best by Vulture, the New Yorker and the Atlantic. Host Michael Barbaro covers issues that are making headlines, breaks them down and discusses them with the world’s best journalists and experts. It gives listeners perspective at strenuous moments. The Daily has become an essential listen that many wonder what they did without before its creation. 

Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

Oprah picks interviews she has previously done with influential people, celebrities, experts for her podcast which has a line up that includes RuPaul, Rainn Wilson, Dr. Maya Angelou, and Sheryl Sandberg. The aim of the podcast is to take a hard look at the answers we all want and “connect to the deeper meaning of the world around you.” Oprah wants to inspire real discussions with some of the best thinkers of our time. 

Call Your Girlfriend

Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow’s podcast is for “long-distance besties everywhere” where real life long-distance best friends have conversations and readers are invited to listen in. The podcast evolved from the phone calls that Friedman and Sow would have living across the country from each other. Topics range from feminism, to making friends, to sexism in Hollywood. The podcast has also welcomed a host of different guests like Hillary Clinton and Margaret Atwood. Friedman and Sow’s fun dialogue makes it a fun listen as well as a must. 

Heavyweight

“Let’s say there was a show about someone who helped people go back into the past to fix their problems, do you think you would be interested in such a show?” Host Jonathan Goldstein acts like a therapist, asking his interviewees the hard questions and having difficult conversations about past grievances in their lives. The kicker is that he tries to help them amend their mistakes. Listeners get to experience the journey each person goes on as they come to terms with what went wrong in their life and how they can make it better. Epiphanies and life lessons are frequent and welcome in this jewel of a podcast.