Whether you’re driving your own car or taking public transport, I’m sure we can all agree that listening to music or podcasts makes commuting a whole lot bearable. But in some cases when you’re on long flights and don’t want to really bring a book, consider listening to podcasts instead. You’ll realize how quick those long trips can fly by because it’s just like listening to a friend’s story.
Valentine’s Day may be over but the celebration of love shouldn’t stop at that. If you’re the hopeless romantic type or you just feel like you want to have a good cry, try listening to these podcasts about all kinds of love.
Modern Love
“Modern Love” by The New York Times is the first podcast I’ve ever listened to. It details real narratives submitted by readers about love (not just the romantic kind), loss and heartbreak, and redemption. One of my all-time favorites entitled “Promises That Can Bend” chronicles the story of a man struggling with his wife’s dementia (quite like the real life version of Noah and Allie from “The Notebook”). No further spoilers here, but it gets me to tear up every single time.
Love Me
I was quite a hopeless romantic (and even until now actually) so I saved “Love Me” in my podcast library years back. Simply put, the podcast talks about the “messiness of human connections,” a mix of real stories and fictional tales.
I haven’t had the chance to catch up on its latest episodes but I’ve downloaded this one for future use: A woman is relentlessly pursued by her stalker for over a decade; meanwhile, a former U.S. Navy sailor is haunted by the memory of a woman he killed when he discovers a song has been written about her death.
Not By Accident
“Not By Accident” takes the listener through the journey of a single mother named Sophie Harper who conceived a girl via artificial insemination. There are 34 episodes over a span of three years, which contain recordings from Sophie’s first visit to the clinic to the time when her labor was underway to her daughter’s birthday celebrations.
The Shadows
Here’s another one in my to-listen list: “The Shadows” is a six-part fictional podcast that follows Kaitlin who’s an aspiring puppeteer (and a skeptic of monogamy) and Charlie, a more successful puppeteer. Things begin to get messy when she meets another love interest. Some reviews say that the episodes can reveal a bit of TMI (we’ll leave it to your imagination) but perhaps it’s what makes it more intriguing.
Within the Wires
One of my colleagues loved “Within the Wires,” a science fiction podcast that comes in the form of relaxation cassette tapes passed on to the listener, a patient of a research hospital. Over the course of the podcast, you’ll realize that the cassette tapes are actually an escape plan orchestrated by the narrator to bust the listener out. Oleta, the recipient of the tapes, is apparently a childhood friend and love interest, of Hester, the narrator.
Header image courtesy of Unsplash
Read more:
Single on Valentine’s Day? Cry and dance to these songs
You don’t have to be a couple to enjoy these Valentine’s specials
6 sweets that make a case for edible Valentine’s day gifts
Read more by Jill Chua:
5 uncommon Valentine’s Day celebrations around the world