On my first big cycle trip, I deliberately didn’t take an MP3 player. Part of the trip’s joy was to get away from modern life and make me appreciate its trappings all the more when I returned.
On my current trip, a year or more on the road, my MP3 player has been an absolute blessing. Yes, I still enjoy escaping 21st century living but I get plenty of that every day as it is. For those days when motivation is low or the road dull, audiobooks and podcasts are fantastic. Plus, it helps stop my brain from stagnating from a year of exercise with little intellectual input.
Below are a collection of podcasts that Laura and I listen to on our bikes and would recommend to anyone else travelling.
We still have many months of cycling ahead so please do add any recommendations. Almost all of ours come from BBC Radio 4 which may be the best station in the world but we’d certainly appreciate having our minds broadened!
How we listen whilst cycling
First up, for those concerned about safety, I primarily listen to talk radio and just use one earphone. On busy roads, in poor conditions and at night, I turn it off.
Laura has an Android smartphone and I have a tiny cheap MP3 player that cost about £20. We both have small waterproof pouches we hang around our necks and stick in our pockets.
Finally, we use the free Android app OneCast to manage podcast downloads.
Podcasts to Travel to
All the podcasts below are available for free.
Desert Island Discs
Famous people are interviewed about their lives around a format of choosing eight songs they’d take to a desert island.
It may sound naff but this is a fantastic show and I guarantee you’ll find someone in their thousands of guests that you’re interested in. Plenty of adventurers have been on the show (e.g. Ran Fiennes, Bear Grylls, Anne Daniels, Pen Hadow) but it includes people from all walks of life. The current host, Kirsty Young, is supremely skilled at teasing out personal stories from even the most reluctant of guests. Huge archive of guests over several decades. Thousands of episodes.
Great Lives
A discussion about a significant figure from history. What makes it more interesting is that the figure each week is nominated by an enthusiast so you get to hear a different side to contemporary celebrities too (e.g. MP Eric Pickles talking about the film director John Ford, or ex-footballer Grahame Le Saux enthusing about conservationist Gerald Durrell). 200+ episodes.
The New Elizabethans
Short 10-minute podcasts about the people who have changed Britain or reflect its changes during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Edmund Hilary to Barbara Windsor, Simon Cowell to Rupert Murdoch. ~60 episodes.
TED talks
Ideas worth spreading. Some really interesting talks here. They have a wonderful website where you can watch and download all their videos. With a little more effort you can find MP3s to listen to e.g. on this spreadsheet, by converting their videos or by converting YouTube clips (see below).
More or Less
This show takes numbers from the news (e.g. claims by politicians and newspaper headlines), popular ideas (e.g. there are more people alive today than there has been in the history of the world?) or controversial issues (does wearing a bike helmet really make you safer?), crunches them and determines the truth. Big archive.
Analysis
“Makes sense of the ideas that change the world”. Like the degree of any self-respecting Cabinet Minister, this podcast covers politics, philosophy and economics. Weekly when running.
Freakonomics Radio
This is apparently popular. I enjoyed the book and although the titles of every podcast sound fascinating, the rigour and focus of their investigation is rubbish so I’ve given up on them.
This American Life
Recommended by lots of people. Just downloaded my first episide. Weekly.
Other shows I like…
Otherwise, I listen to lots of politics and economics shows which might have less broad appeal (e.g. Radio 4’s Week in Westminster, Any Questions, Guardian Politics Weekly and The Economist Audio). My favourite show is BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze.
Comedy Podcasts
Friday Night Comedy
Laughs are a great motivator on a slow day. It’s hard to find good comedy but Radio 4’s Friday Night Comedy is an exception. The shows rotate with the News Quiz by far the best. The The Now Show is OK. Weekly.
The Ricky Gervais Show
Quite old now and whilst plenty of it is puerile the other half is laugh out loud funny. 24 episodes, first 12 free.
More comedy recommendations welcome!
Adventure & Travel Podcasts
Roz Savage’s Adventure Podcast
Ocean rower Roz Savage interviews other adventurers every week.
Extra Pack of Peanuts
The website’s based around cheap and alternative travel. The regular podcast interviews guests from the world of travel and adventure.
Cycling 360
The show that makes better cyclists. Laura says this covers interesting topics about cycling but the lack of editing means the pace is often a bit slow and rambling.
Good Sources of Podcasts
The BBC
The BBC has a vast array of podcasts you can download. I get most of mine from Radio 4.
The Guardian
Weekly podcasts on music, science, politics, technology and sport. I listen to the politics one and have used Football Daily to keep me informed about the World Cup.
YouTube
You can convert any YouTube video into an MP3 which, with a little more effort, opens up a whole world of possibilities.
What other podcasts would you recommend?
6 Comments
Jim Martin
We will have to toot our own horn here. Add Adventure Rider Radio to your list please. :)
Tim Moss
Thanks Jim. I think you just have!
Amaya
Thanks for the recommendations–Eric and I are huge podcast fans and always on the lookout for new stuff to download.
Here are some of my favorite podcasts:
BBC From our own Correspondent
BBC Crossing Continents (current world events)
BBC Thinking Allowed (anthropology)
BBC History Hour
BBC Hard Talk
There is a new story driven podcast collective called RADIOTOPIA
http://www.radiotopia.fm/
My favorite Radiotopia podcasts are Strangers (story driven podcast about connecting) and 99 percent Invisible(a podcast about design)
Another popular Economics Podcasts is Planet money: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/
Although if you don’t like Freakonomics I doubt you’ll enjoy Planet Money–it’s economics lite.
The Moth is another very popular story driven podcast. http://themoth.org/about/programs/the-moth-podcast
Tim Moss
Thanks Amaya. That’s a great list and no surprise coming from a couple who have been on the road so long!
I’m keen for some more economics input so will give Planet Money a go. Interested to try some story podcasts too.
Can’t believe you guys can handle Thinking Allowed. Heavy stuff!
Dosh
Hi Tim,
Ive been following your blog for a while with interest as I am planning to set out shortly on a bicycle journey with a fairly similar route to yours (never having done anything remotely like this before). I too am a card-carrying Radio 4 fan and podcast addict. So here are some recommendations for you: Radio 4′s From Our Own Correspondent – several stories each week from BBC correspondents around the globe with license to reflect on people and places in the news in more depth than your typical news despatch, full of subtle observation and top quality writing; The Moth Podcast – true stories told on stage without notes in 10-20 minute bite size chunks, can be a bit hit and miss but is often moving, thought provoking or simply hilarious; I also love This American Life and another podcast from the NPR stable that’s worth a listen is Snap Judgement – A bit of a cross between This American Life and The Moth, usually true stories but with some magic production dust sprinkled over them; Philosophy Bites – in each 20 minute episode a philosopher is interviewed about a single topic, it sounds academic but it isn’t, the topics are very much of general human interest; If you like TED I think you would also enjoy listening to the podcasts produced by the RSA of their public lectures and events, it usually follows the format of some notable public thinker, academic, politician or pro-social entrepreneur introducing some ideas in their latest book or research followed by an audience Q&A, always mentally stimulating and often entertaining too. Enjoy :-)
Tim Moss
Hi Dosh, there are some great sounding podcasts in there. Thank you. I’m familiar with From Our Own Correspondent but Philosophy Bites sounds really interesting.
More interesting is that you’re planning a big bike trip! Exciting stuff. Please do email if ever I can help with anything (or just send me a photo to make me jealous)!