Fashion
7 Podcasts to Inspire a New Hobby
These shows spotlight tips from experts and interviews with casual hobbyists that may move you to pick up a new pastime.
Ever since the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 inspired a wave of sourdough starters and Zoom drawing classes, hobbies have been having a resurgence. These seven podcasts spotlight their importance, featuring expert tips and interviews with casual hobbyists that may inspire you to pick up a new pastime.
‘The Dork Forest’
Jackie Kashian, a standup comedian, began this series back in 2006 as a YouTube series, interviewing guests about their most heartfelt and unabashed passions (“dorkdoms” in the show’s parlance). Many of the featured hobbies are delightfully niche — recent episodes have focused on crop art, fidget toys and Finnish sauna culture. But even when the subject is more mainstream, like movies or baseball, it’s the guest’s specific relationship to their hobby that drives the conversation. Many of Kashian’s guests are fellow comedians and performers, making for a reliably entertaining rapport throughout the sprawling back catalog.
Starter episode: “Jesse Thorn and the Love of the Game”
‘The Beginner’s Garden’
While the mental and physical health benefits of gardening have been well documented, it’s not the most accessible of hobbies. Figuring out what to plant and how to keep it alive can be daunting, the cost of supplies and equipment can mount fast, and for urban dwellers with limited outdoor space, the barrier for entry is particularly high. Growing your own food can be a fun, inherently rewarding place to start, and that’s the focus of this amiable podcast. Over the course of more than 300 episodes, Jill McSheehy has tackled seemingly every novice question imaginable, deciphering lingo and sharing digestible tips that aim to build a thriving garden in whatever space you have available.
Starter episode: “5 Tips to Help You Decide What to Plant in Your Garden”
‘The Recipe With Kenji and Deb’
Depending on how you approach it, cooking can either be just another chore to dread or a creative and therapeutic hobby. This series from the food writers J. Kenji López-Alt (a New York Times columnist) and Deb Perelman definitely encourages the more positive mind set. In every episode, López-Alt and Perelman each make a different version of the same classic dish (whether stovetop mac and cheese or Caesar salad), discussing their recipe development process in detail as they go. One of the winning elements of “The Recipe” is that it’s not prescriptive — rather than settling on one universal “perfect” recipe, the chefs explain their personal preferences, then give listeners the information they need to make their own adjustments. By breaking their recipes down ingredient-by-ingredient, digging into what each one is doing, they make the science of cooking approachable and fun.
Starter episode: “Meatloaf”
‘The Casual Birder’
