Here are my Top 5 podcast episodes I recommend listening to over the weekend.
Which podcast would you suggest? Share with the community in the comments.
📰 News
Podcast: The Daily - A New York Times Podcast
Episode: “The Collapse of Champlain Towers”
Host: Michael Barbaro
Apple | Spotify | 🕰️ 27 min | 🗓️ 06/29/2021
One of the dominating news stories this week has been the developments around the Champlain Tower collapse in Surfside, Florida. This “The Daily” episode investigates how this horrible disaster could happen, who might have been the responsible parties for the upkeep failure and most importantly, why still so many people are missing days after the collapse.
🗳️ Politics
Podcast: Consider This
Episode: “What The Pentagon's UFO Report Reveals About Aliens — And Ourselves”
Host: Audie Cornish
Apple | Spotify | 🕰️ 13 min | 🗓️ 06/29/2021
UFOs have made their comeback in the news, especially with the recent release of the new US intelligence report. If you just want to get up to date on the latest discussions about unidentifiable flying objects, this “Consider This” episode provides the perfect summary. Find out why there are particularly many UFOs sightings in the United States and if the existence of UFOs has been confirmed.
💬 Culture & Society
Podcast: The Tim Ferriss Show
Episode: “This is Your Mind on Plants”
Host: Tim Ferriss
Guest: Michael Pollan | Author
Apple | Spotify | 🕰️ 2 hr 2 min | 🗓️ 06/30/2021
Spoiler: This is my favorite podcast episode this week. Tim Ferriss interviews no other than the bestselling author Michael Pollan, who is known for his masterpieces “How to Change Your Mind” or ”The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. The focus of the discussion is on his latest book “This Is Your Mind On Plants”, in which hedives deep into three plant drugs — opium, caffeine, and mescaline. Why is the use of some substances legal and socially acceptable, whereas others are a federal crime? What is the meaning and cultural heritage around some plant drugs, like mescaline for Native Americans? And why is the human attraction to psychoactive plants so powerful, yet it’s still mainly a taboo topic. You will find the answers to these and many more questions in the lengthy, highly fascinating conversation.
🌍 Environment | 🥑 Health
Podcast: Short Wave
Episode: “The Climate Crisis Is A Public Health Crisis”
Host: Rhitu Chatterjee
Guest: Dr. Renee Salas | Massachusetts General Hospital
Apple | Spotify | 🕰️ 12 min | 🗓️ 06/30/2021
With the current record heat in the US northwest and Canada, I was looking for a podcast that goes beyond the surface. This “Short Wave” episode discusses the intersection between climate change and human health. Dr. Renee Salas provides interesting insights, including the fact that 37 percent of heat-related deaths are due to climate change. Lastly, the question is raised how a new health care system that takes climate change into account could look like.
📖 History
Podcast: Today, Explained
Episode: “Canada’s Indigenous Kids”
Host: Sean Rameswaram
Guest: Connie Walker | Journalist
Apple | Spotify | 🕰️ 27 min | 🗓️ 06/29/2021
One of many shocking news stories these days has been the discovery of mass graves of Indigenous children in Canada. Although I consider myself fairly educated on the history of Native Americans, I had no idea about how Native people in the neighboring country have been treated. This episode reveals the history of Indigenous boarding schools that have been operated until 1996, cultural genocide and to which reckonings the recent findings have led on both sides of the border.
