In this episode of Pod, Actually, Felix, a public speaker and moonshot strategist living in London, talks about his favorite podcast: In Our Time. This is a show that can spend an hour on the sun, mitochondria, or the Sri Lankan revolution and somehow leave him feeling steadier, cleverer, and more interested in being alive. Which is no small thing.

🎙 Felix's Top 5 Podcasts:

1. In Our Time
2. Pod Save America
3. The Rest Is History
4. Today in Focus
5. ItalianPod101

🔗 Links

• Learn more about Felix here: www.felixriley.com
• And here: www.brilliant-thinking.com
• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of Pod, Actually, Catherine talks with Ines, a writer and translator living in Lima, Peru, about her favorite podcast: Radio Ambulante. Ines describes the show as something like This American Life for a Spanish-speaking Latin American audience: a beautifully produced program that tells stories from across the region with intelligence, nuance, and care. She talks about discovering the show through her admiration for writer Daniel Alarcón, and explains why its regional outlook matters so much to her.

🎙 Ines's Top 5 Podcasts:

1. Radio Ambulante

2. The Viall Files

3) The Slowdown

4) Normal Gossip

5) Dying for Sex

🔗 Links

• Read Ines' newsletter on Substack: The Cranky Guide
• Find Ines on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ines.bellina/
• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of Pod, Actually, Catherine talks with Andrew, a professor of politics at the University of Melbourne, about the podcast he’s loving right now: Past Present Future. Drawing on his life in political thought, Andrew explains why he’s drawn to a show that steps back from the daily frenzy of the news and instead asks deeper questions about history, ideas, and how we make sense of the present.

🎙 Andrew's Top 5 Podcasts:

1. Past Present Future

2. Easy French

3. Ones & Tooze

4. The Long Game (Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer)

5. Social Science Bites

🔗 Links

• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of Pod, Actually, Catherine speaks with Patricia—a Mexico City–based nonprofit consultant and founder of Secret Cool Mexico—about her favorite podcast: Cracks, hosted by Mexican entrepreneur Oso Trava.

What starts as a conversation about a business podcast becomes something deeper: a window into power, culture, and the minds shaping modern Mexico.

🎙 Patricia’s Top 6 Podcasts:

1. Cracks (con Oso Trava)

2. The Telepathy Tapes

3. Sorry, Partner

⁠⁠4. Psicóloga Pau

5. ⁠⁠La Burra Arisca

6. Es Lo Que Hay

🔗 Links

• Learn more about Patricia's travel business, Secret Cool Mexico: www.secretcoolmexico.com
• Learn more about Patricia's non-profit: www.pontis.mx
• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

On this episode of Pod, Actually, Doug, a social studies teacher in San Francisco, talks about learning Spanish, not through textbooks, but through podcasts.

His current favorite? News in Slow Spanish: a gentle, bite-sized way to stay connected to the world while building language skills.

What emerges is something deeper: a conversation about learning, identity, and the quiet ways podcasts shape how we move through the world.

Doug listens on his short commute, not to chase headlines, but to absorb language, rhythm, and culture—finding in the process a softer, more manageable way to engage with the news.

🎙 Doug’s Top 5 Podcasts:

1. Throughline

2. The Daily

3. Radiolab

4. Radio Ambulante

5. Freakonomics Radio

🔗 Links

• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

On this episode of Pod, Actually, Trisha, a London-based current affairs writer talks about the podcast she listens to most: the BBC’s Witness History.

Each episode is just nine minutes long, yet it captures a moment from history through the memories of someone who lived it. For Trisha, the brevity is part of the appeal — but the deeper attraction is something else entirely.

In a media world built around hyper-curated playlists and endless choice, Witness History offers something rare: random discovery.

In just nine minutes a day, it offers a glimpse into the past — and a reminder that even turbulent moments eventually become history.

Trisha's top five podcasts:

1. Witness History

2. The Globalist

3. Taiwan This Week

4. The Rest Is Classified

5. Empire: World History

🔗 Links

• Learn more about Trisha here: www.trishadeborchgrave.com
• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of Pod, Actually, Andrew talks about his favorite podcast: Mindscape with Sean Carroll.

Andrew discovered Mindscape while trying to improve his own teaching. A deep dive into Richard Feynman’s lectures led him into quantum mechanics, Bayesian logic, and eventually to Carroll’s long-form, curiosity-driven interviews.

🔗 Links

• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of Pod, Actually, Jocelyn talks about her favorite podcast: Bitch Sesh, the cult-favorite show devoted to The Real Housewives franchise.

Jocelyn calls it a “guilty pleasure,” but what unfolds is something more interesting: a portrait of why we turn to “ridiculous” television, why warmth matters more than expertise, and how much we need to like the people whose voices keep us company.

Jocelyn's top five podcasts:

1. Bitch Sesh

2. Pod Save America

3. Stay Tuned

4. This American Life

5. Lovett Or Leave It

🔗 Links

• Read the companion piece on Substack: https://podactually.substack.com
• Support Pod, Actually on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodActually
• Follow Pod, Actually on Instagram: www.instagram.com/podactuallypodcast

📩 Tell us about the podcast you love: podactuallypodcast@gmail.com