http://www.happykatie.com

 
 After a return drive to Marfa, Texas – yes, the very same remote West Texas town I visited 2 months ago (I've been smitten) meant 17+ hours in the car, as well as some pretty extended drive times to get anywhere out of town.

Here is my list of favorite podcasts, carefully culled and curated after hours of evaluating an incredibly large number of them.  I've also included a few bonus aural delights thrown in to add some rhythm to your life:

1. This American Life - A consistently fantastic long running podcast with creative and curious contributors that also all seem to have great taste in music and lots of random luck
2. Savage Love Podcast - This one definitely falls in the NSFW category – a very sex positive call-in show with the one and only sex advice guy Dan Savage.
3. Things You Missed in History Class - Hands down one of the most well researched and packed with information of any other podcast I have ever heard ever.  Katie and Sarah make this one of the most entertaining shows around.  Also, their voices calm my brain down.
4. Splendid Table – Perfect for people that love food and drink – lots of interesting niche culinary features with interviews, call in questions and reports of wonderful things to try.
5. Freakonomics – Not just a fantastic couple of books and regularly updated NY Times economics blog, Freakonomics is a great provider of podcast brain candy that covers everything from population booms to climate change to picking ice cream flavors to Pandora radio stations influencing the education system. 
6. Stuff From the B-Side - Music history like you've never had it before.  Brilliant stuff, great themed shows.  Always leaves me hungry for longer music samples, but guess that makes me exploratory.
7. PRI:  To The Best of Our Knowledge - Another theme-driven interview and story podcast, NPR / PRI coolness with great voiced and well spoken contributors.
8. The Public Speaker:  Quick and Dirty Tips - A practical podcast for me to listen to – actionable public speaking tips to polish your performance, soothe your nerves and help you creatively branch out.
9. Rick Steves' Netherlands and Belgium - Super collection of interviews and discussions on the finer points of Dutch tourism.  If you like to skip the cheesy stuff and eat like a local, this is a great place to do it before that next Amsterdam trip.
10. NPR Tiny Desk Concert Series – Pretty amazing how music savvy the NPR has grown lately.  This concert series is just one of the ways the NPR dudes are flexing their indie muscles – cool bands drop by, play a few times and uploaded to the Internet.  But cooler than that just sounded.

And, of course, I listen to my own podcast – the show I co-host with the most marvelous Esther Steinfeld – the Business Maker's Overtime Show.  It always amazes me how differently (read: better) some of our shows come out sounding after being massaged by our fearless producer John Whiteside.