The Radio is a Broken Record

So here's the scenario. You're driving to work, it's your hour-long commute. You're listening to the radio and you think to yourself, didn't i just hear this song? So you change the station and there it is again. The same song from the last station and the one before that. The song is not that good but because the artist is known on social media as something we should all be following, you are forced to go through the realm of Radio Deja Vu.

You now turn the radio off and are left to continue your drive in silence. This does not have to be so.  I myself have not listened to the radio in probably a couple of years now.  I was one of those people who would turn the radio off because i was tired of hearing the same three songs over and over. It's no wonder they are on the top of the charts, they're the only songs people hear. And they hear them three to five time a day.

So to break up the monotony, I reintroduced myself to my ipod. Found some great stuff on there that i had long forgotten about, some should have stayed hidden. Eek. I guess i went through a "Screamo" phase. On my ipod was a few podcasts from back in the day such as Rebel Force Radio, which is a Star Wars news and recap podcast. I now listen to it regularly on my drive to work. I came upon this rediscovery after learning that me and my wife were to be parents. So i started down the rabbit hole to listen to comedy podcasts such as Making Dad, which was good. Very informative, true and still funny. Unfortunately this podcast went through a major change and got rid of one of the main hosts making it no longer fun. I did learn a lot from it. I was learning great stuff while driving to work. Then it was onto Mugglecast which is a Harry Potter podcast and most recently, King Falls AM , which is a supernatural radio drama that plays out like a nightly radio broadcast.

There are even podcasts that will help you learn another language. Learning another language has always been something I have aimed to do. I found a great podcast that offers spanish lessons for 15 minutes a day. It is called Coffee Break Spanish . You get a spanish lesson with your morning latte. This podcast is available for other languages as well. I knew when i was speaking spanish to myself that the other drivers, most likely, thought I was crazy. That's ok though. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing , expecting a different result. Scrolling through the radio stations looking for something to listen that is NOT Justin Bieber sounds a bit more like what a crazy person would do.

I mostly do this because my drive to work is really the only me time that I get anymore. Many parents reading this will understand. When I'm not at work, I'm at home spending time with my wife and daughter so my car ride needs to be more than just staring out the window listening to the same 10 songs over and over. I want my time spent wisely.  I am also a firm believer that you should learn something new every day. Even if it is learning the new cast to an upcoming Star Wars movie or how to say "May I have a glass of orange juice" in Spanish, preferably the latter but whatever, its my car ride, you learn what you want.

Tomorrow when you kiss your significant other and your children goodbye for the day be sure to pick up your dusty iPod, lets face it, we have all stopped using them ever since phones have begun allowing you to do everything from them. Plug in on your commute and broaden your horizons.

Trust me when I say that the water cooler discussions will be much more interesting from this point on.

Here are the sites that you can visit to check out the Podcasts from above:

http://www.rebelforceradio.com/

http://mugglecast.com/

https://radiolingua.com/coffeebreakspanish/

http://www.kingfallsam.com/