Jen: Welcome to the podcast today. I am so excited because we have a guest on our podcast today, Andy Smiley, and I'm so excited to have her here. She is actually the host of another podcast called The Friendly Podcast Guide, and she is a podcasting expert and today she's going to share with us some podcasts that you can listen to with your teenager, and I'm so excited to dive into that. But before we do, Andi, will you introduce yourself to my listeners and tell us a little bit? Andi: Yes. First of all, thank you so much for letting me be on your show. It is a delight. I'm so excited to Yes, share some podcasts because that is what I do on my show. So my show is called The Friendly Podcast Guide, like you said, and my episodes are short because I like a short podcast. So I make a short podcast and I just talk about different shows every week. So, Whatever kind of show you're interested in, I've probably talked about at least one. And instead of going and listening to the podcast, that can be 45 minutes to an hour. You can just listen to my show. That's about 15 minutes, and then you're not wasting your time on a show that you might not even like. I started it because as a mom, I wanted. Companionship. I wanted to not feel so lonely and so bored. When I found podcasts that kind of fit both of those, because podcasts all have a community. If it's like really spelled out in a Facebook group or in an Instagram account, then great. Or it's just a lot of people that like the same type of podcast and when you find each other, it's like really exciting. Yeah, and that was just such a revelation for me as a stay-at-home mom to finally. Like someone or people to talk to and something to talk about that wasn't like kid related . And so that, that was just like a whole new world for me. And as a mom of littles, I got really bored. Five year olds are great and adorable, but also they're not the best conversationalists, right? And so being able to have some podcasts that were kind of like the adult conversation in my day was wonderful. So because of that, I wanted to make a podcast that helps moms find podcasts that they love, so they're less lo, less bored, and less lonely. Jen: Awesome. I love that. And I love that, Andi, as I have followed you, I have discovered that there is more to the world of podcasts than my classic podcast that I listen to, which are self-help business and parenting podcasts and then some scripture study podcasts mixed in. And as I have discovered that there's a whole big world of podcasts, I've also realized that my teenagers are out there listening to this whole big world of podcasts. The other day I was talking to my daughter and she was like on this podcast that I listened to, and I was like, “wait, wait, wait, what? You listen to podcasts?” And she was like, “yeah, mom.” And then another day my son was sitting on the couch and you know, I was working and he was just sitting there with his headphones in and all of a sudden he burst into laughter, like. Having a laughing fit. And I'm like, what are you listening to? He was like, I'm listening to my podcast. And again, I was like, you listen to podcasts, what's happening here? And then just a couple weeks ago, one of my daughter's friends was over. She actually had a bunch of friends over and one of 'em came down to the kitchen where I was and she was like, “Hey, I listened to your podcast the other day.” Oh my gosh. You listen to podcasts? Like again, just shocked every single time that teenagers are listening to podcasts and it's because there's more than just this world of self-help and parenting and you know, like the boring stuff maybe we listen to as adults, there's more to it than that. So I love that you've opened my eyes to this whole new world. And I love what you talked about with connection and how important it is to have that feeling of connection and sometimes how being a mom you can feel really lonely. And this same concept applies with our teens, and that's why wanted to have you on today because parents tell me all the time that they struggle to find a way to connect with their teens. You know, their teens have interests. And you as a mom, you always try and be interested in the things your teen is interested in. But sometimes they don't want you to be interested in those things. They want those for like their own interests. They're like, mom, Leave me alone. And you have interests that you're interested in as a mom, but sometimes your teens don't care about those. I mean, I listen to my business podcasts in the car and my kids are like, seriously ? Do we have to, you know? And so your interests don't always match up, but when you can find something that is a shared interest like a podcast or a show or something that you can share an interest in, it is so nice to be able to connect over those topics. And so I'm super excited for you to share some of your favorite podcasts that parents can listen to with their teens. Andi: Fabulous. The first podcast I have for you is called Stuff You Missed in History Class. Truly it's one of the OG podcasts. It's been around since like 2008. There are so many episodes, and one thing that I really like about this podcast is that first of all, there's so many different episodes that you're bound to find something that you're going to connect with your teen about. Just to help you understand like the breadth of the different types of episodes I just went through really quick because it's one that I listened to a lot and I saw the history of penicillin, the invention of the dishwasher, and an episode about Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor, who was the first woman to pursue a career in dentistry. Really kind of random, but because of that you're bound to find something that you and your teen both find interesting. And as a side note, one of my favorite times of year to listen is Halloween. Like October they do just Halloween type episodes. So if you've got a kid that's likes that kind of a thing, just go to all of the Octobers of stuff you miss in history class and you'll have plenty to listen to with them. The other thing that I really like is the hosts are Tracy v Wilson and Holly Fry. And they are, Very well researched and then they also have a really good rapport with each other. And so it's like this balance of, they're pretty scripted. They'll write it all out first and then read it so there aren't too many tangents, but at the same time, you know that they, they've worked with each other enough that they're really good at like bouncing off of each other, if that makes sense. Yeah. So it feels like you're just kind of part of like an academic conversation that isn't stuffy, if that makes sense. Yeah. Jen: So you're not reading a history book, but it's kind of fun, right? And engaging. Andi: Definitely. Yes. Yeah, that's cool. That's a really good way to word it. . So that is that one. And usually the episodes are between 45 minutes and an hour, so those are really good ones for road trips. if you want to like listen to one a week while you're driving your kids to school and then like you can be excited cuz that's the only time you listen to that episode or something like that. That would be a nice way to incorporate that one into your life with your teens. The next one is similar. It's under the same umbrella. It's called Stuff You Should Know and Josh and Chuck are the hosts and they are. They're a riot. They are much less scripted than Tracy and Holly, but they are just as researched. The vibe is more like, you show up at a party and Josh and Chuck are there and they've been like reading about this thing and they wanna tell you all about it, And so it's less scripted, more tangents, but truly the tangents are kind of my favorite part. They are so funny and just clever. Just fun. I think it's obvious, but I also listened to this one regularly and I just went back in my podcast app and these are the topics I found that I thought were funny. Satanism, the Iowa caucuses and Rosa Parks were all in the past couple of months. you can definitely find something that both you and your teen are interested in very easily. They've also been going for as long as stuff you missed in history class. So like thousands of episodes to choose from. And they're also 45 minutes to an hour long. Okay. And I love that they're kind of maybe more funny. Yes. Jen: Sometimes I think laughing with your teen is a great way to connect when you can find something that you share. This is funny to me and it's funny to them. I think that's a great connection tool. Andi: Completely agree. Some of my best memories, which sounds so funny, like traveling with my husband is episodes of a funny podcast. I usually download a bunch for a road trip and we'll turn one on. Another stuff you should know, episode was all about why wombat poop is square: which it is, which is random. And it was such a funny episode that still I can tell you exactly where we were: like we were in the Wendy's drive-through in Jackson Hole on like a little getaway when we were listening to this busting a gut. We could not stop laughing. So, I agree. Connection happens so much easier when you are laughing. The next one that I wanna talk about is, it's called Dear Hank and John, if you've ever heard of John Green, he is the author of The Fault in Our Stars or Turtles All the Way Down. Definitely like YA (Young adult) novels. And his brother Hank is awesome. Well, okay. John and Hank are both awesome. They're really good at talking. They've been on YouTube for forever. They used to do mental floss, but just random facts, really interesting. And they have a podcast and truly when I was doing research for this episode is when I found them. And I've already listened to a couple of episodes and I absolutely love them. Their rapport is awesome. They're brothers and so very fun and very genuine, but also silly at the same time. On their podcast, they answer questions like how to quit your job how irritation works and why it's harder to wake up when it's rainy outside. Kind of just random questions, but also, pertinent questions. One question that I listened to when I was prepping for this episode was: why does your heart muscle not get chiseled and like toned like your arm muscles do? And they answered the question and then dove into, why does it matter if your muscles are chiseled and why do we care so much? So it was really interesting and fun. And as a side note, Hank really likes Mars for some reason, and John really likes like this fourth-tier soccer team in Wales. And so they always update you on what's going on in those realms too. Kind of random, but also fun and just like a thing to look forward to in each episode. There are 300 episodes to choose from, so a bunch, not a thousand, but still quite a few. Yeah. And each episode is around an hour. This one would probably be better to save for like a road trip or something like that because it's a little bit more flowy and hard to find a spot to stop, if that makes sense. But very engaging. I, I've been thoroughly entertained. Another podcast - this one is a little bit shorter because like I said, I do love a short podcast – is called Part-Time Genius, and it's for teens who love asking absurd questions. So what I was going through looking at past episodes, it was like surprising facts about alligators, how rats keep outsmarting humans, like just really kind of random again, but interesting, right? Like, I guess I could learn about alligators for 20 minutes. I like this one because it's a little bit shorter, but still kind of engaging in interesting questions, interesting discussions. The last one that I wanna talk about is called Song Exploder. So if you have a teenager who likes music, this would be a perfect podcast for them. It is a podcast where they talk to a musician and they take apart like one of their most famous songs or I think it's sometimes just the musician's favorite song. How it was made, what gave them the idea, how they got the hook, you know, all of the different parts of it. If you've seen, hamilton. They had Lynn Manuel Miranda on there to talk about one of the most famous songs from Hamilton. I'll just send you the episode so you can like put in the show notes. A lot of teenagers are really into Hamilton and would enjoy that episode. Guests other than Lin Manuel Miranda are Panic at the Disco, but also people that parents would enjoy, like Madonna was on there talking about one of her, so one of her songs. So, definitely one that's just kind of fascinating because at least for me, I don't usually think about how a song was made. I just like listen to it and enjoy it. So it's kind of like a fun behind the scenes type podcast. There are almost 300 episodes of this one, so another one that there's a lot to listen to and only about 20 minutes, so a shorter podcast, awesome. I love that. Jen: I can't wait to go check out these podcasts because I am really excited to connect with my teens and I know there are a couple that you mentioned that I know right off the bat, like my teens are gonna think this is fun. The reason that I had you on right now is we as parents have spring break coming up and spring break means road trips, it means traveling. It means your kids are out of school and they need stuff to do. And I thought what a perfect time to introduce a new podcast, whether you're on the road trip or whether you're just back and forth to day trips or activities that would be a really fun time to introduce a new podcast. You kind of covered this earlier, but a couple of ways that you could listen to podcasts with your teens and use this as a place to connect is you can listen to them together in the car or at home or wherever. But you can also listen separately. Like if they're listening to it and you're listening to it, it can just be a conversation starter. And I know sometimes that's just as fun to just have a conversation about what I took from this episode and what you took from this episode, and we're able to chat about it together. I know this is something still to this day that my mom and I both listen to some of the same podcasts and she'll call me, Hey, did you hear…? And I'm like, we haven't listened yet. Or you know, we just exchange information from podcasts. And so that's a fun way to connect too, even if you don't want to listen together or you don't have time in the car together. I know once. Our kids get old enough to start driving themselves, you don't have as much car time with them. So you can still apply this and use this as an opportunity to connect even if you're not in the car with your kids all the time. So thank you so much for being here. Andi, will you tell my listeners where they can find you, where they can find more information if they want to check out your podcast? Andi: Definitely. I'm the friendly podcast guide on all major platforms. Well and probably minor ones too, for podcasts. If I'm not on a podcast platform, let me know cuz I want to be on it . You can also find me on Instagram and TikTok as friendly podcast guide. And if you are looking for more podcast recommendations I have a guide that's just to help you find a podcast that you'll love. There are like 27 different podcasts on there separated by categories. There's like nine different categories, or if you have teens and little kids. I have a podcast guide for kids podcast because at least for me, I have littles right now, and I don't like listening with my kids unless I've already listened to a couple to make sure they're kid friendly. But this guide has. 27 also. That's funny. 27 different podcasts that I've listened to the podcast so I can like vouch for its kid-friendliness without you having to go through and make sure that it works for them. And yeah, kid podcasts have saved my bacon as a mom. And truly, at least with some of these, I've had them on my show and they've been like, oh yeah, like my 14 or 15-year-old still likes to listen to my kid podcast because we listen with the little kids. So yeah, sometimes they have some, some overlap as well, just being interesting for both teens and kids. So if you want either of those, I will give you links. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll share those in the show notes too, as well as links to all of the podcasts that you mentioned today. So that if you wanna find Andi and listen to her podcast and get her guides you can just check out the show notes and head on over to check out The Friendly Podcast Guide. Stuff You Missed in History Class: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history-cl-21124503/ Stuff You Should Know: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-26940277/ Dear Hank & John: https://complexly.com/shows/dear-hank-john/ Part-Time Genius: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-part-time-genius-28198159/ Song Exploder: https://songexploder.net Song Exploder Netflix Episode with Lin Manuel Miranda: https://www.netflix.com/title/80992997?tctx=0%2C0%2CNAPA%40%40%7C73dd7505-88fd-4def-9e40-4dfdee93cb38-240566656_titles%2F1%2F%2Fsong%20exploder%2F0%2F0%2CNAPA%40%40%7C73dd7505-88fd-4def-9e40-4dfdee93cb38-240566656_titles%2F1%2F%2Fsong%20exploder%2F0%2F0%2Cunknown%2C%2C73dd7505-88fd-4def-9e40-4dfdee93cb38-240566656%7C1%2CtitlesResults%2C80992997%2CVideo%3A80992997&trackId=255824129 The Friendly Podcast Guide: https://friendlypodcastguide.com Podcast Recommendations for Kids: https://friendlypodcastguide.com/the-best-tip-for-parents/ Podcast Recommendations for Adults: https://friendlypodcastguide.com/stop-your-endless-search-for-podcasts-a-guide-to-find-a-podcast-you-will-love/
