Audio distraction: podcasts, audio books, radio on demand

Jenny TipsforME

Jenny TipsforME

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
There is an excellent thread on TV shows in this forum: https://www.s4me.info/threads/tv-shows.483/

There doesn’t seem to be an equivalent for audio content though. In my experience of ME there are times when audio is the only accessible form of entertainment. My intention is for this first post to be a summary of suggestions so it is accessible when we’re that severely affected (I can’t read a whole thread at the point I need to lie in the dark listening to something).

Do you have spoken audio suggestions which are available online? Please give a link and suggest which heading it should be under (you can also add chatty comments in your post, it would be good to note if the content might be aggravating or upsetting):

Comedy/Entertaining
BBC's Cabin Pressure
Comedy of the Week (BBC Radio 4)
Friday Night Comedy (Radio 4)
Answer me this!
Stuff you should know
No such thing as a fish
My Dad wrote a porno
Listen Against (only funny if you listen to Radio 4)
‘Fortunately’: Jane Garvey, Fi Glover and guests

Gentle Fiction including Cosy Murder genre
Harry Potter read by Stephen Fry
Over Sea, Under Stone, the first of The Dark Is Rising series
Wild Chamber (and other Bryant & May books) by Christopher Fowler
Love Sex and other foreign policy goals by Jesse Armstrong
Turbulent Priests (and others) by Colin Bateman
The Woman who went to bed for a year by Sue Townsend
The cost of living by Rachel Ward
The new neighbours by Diney Costeloe
Foreign Bodies (Radio 4 - foreign murder mysteries in English)

Gripping/Weighty Fiction
Autumn by Ali Smith (and other books in this series)
Stasi Child by David Young
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A week in December by Sebastian Faulks
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (also funny)
The girls of slender means by Muriel Spark
See you in September by Charity Norman

Politics and News
Audio Long reads (The Guardian)
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
Reasons to be cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd
Week in Westminster
Analysis

True Stories
This American Life
The ME Show
This is Criminal
Sick Boy
All in the Mind
TED Radio Hour or TED Talks Daily
The Moth
On Being
You Must Remember This
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Ouch! Disability talk
The Teacher’s Pet (true crime podcast)
S-Town

Sciencey
Brain Science Podcast
Freakonomics
All in the Mind
Science (The Guardian)
More or Less: Behind the statistics
Thinking Allowed
Science vs.
The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
The Self Illusion by Bruce Hood


ME Specific
The ME Show

Misc/Other
Test Match Special on Radio 4 longwave
How to Disagree: A beginner's guide to having better arguments (Radio 4)
Sleep with Me (for insomnia)

I noticed @hellytheelephant has blogged about podcasts:
https://thechronicelephant.blogspot.com/2018/02/10-podcasts-to-make-your-ears-smile.html

There’s also a thread about books which says it includes audiobooks but I haven’t read that because my ME dyslexia is too bad to read for pleasure (I can often read for information but it’s no longer enjoyable). Are there good audiobook suggestions in that thread? https://www.s4me.info/threads/books-including-audio-books.111/
 
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Also what do you use to listen to content?

https://www.stitcher.com/
I’ve listened to 700 hours of podcasts in the last 18mths on Stitcher. Some of my links will be stitcher links but you can also find many of these podcasts elsewhere. The idea is you stitch together the podcasts to create the equivalence of your own talk radio station.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/podcasts/id525463029?mt=8
I also use the Podcasts app by Apple

https://rbdigital.com/
I listen to audiobooks through the RB Digital app. My public library is signed up to this which means I can borrow audiobooks for free (I needed my library card details). Even though these are digital they are treated as out on loan when someone has ‘borrowed’ them. This means it is worth clicking the ‘available’ filter when searching.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio
I listen to the iPlayer radio app too, but I can’t remember if you need to pay the BBC Licence fee (lots of BBC content is also on Stitcher).

https://librivox.org/
Suggestion from @Sly Saint - these are public domain books read by volunteers (so generally fiction written pre 20th century).
 
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Freakonomics is very interesting, I listen to that too. It’s basically economics made interesting.

This American Life is American people’s lived stories. That’s also one I follow.
 
Jenny TipsforME said:
what are those about and which categories should they go under?
Click to expand...

ScottTriGuy said:
Some of my favs:

Brain Science Podcast - science
Freakonomics - science
This American Life - sociology, life stories
The ME Show - life stories
This is Criminal - crime, life stories
Sick Boy - interview people living with illness - life stories
All in the Mind - psychology, life stories
Click to expand...
 
If you can afford it, I find Amazon's Audible good. You pay about £7 per month subscription which includes one free audiobook. And they have special offers and some free downloads. If you don't like a book you can sell it back and get your money back.

Bargains I've bought include Stephen Fry reading the entire Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes collection - including several novels and lots of short stories, all counted as a single 'book'.
 
I’m going to add some comment and links later but here are some I like taken from screenshots to save energy

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These are podcasts I listen to on Stitcher

Audio long reads are long Guardian essays read aloud, usually topical.

Science is science news from the Guardian

More or Less is fact checking statistics and more amusing than it should be

Thinking Allowed is discussion of new sociology/ethnographic research

The Moth is a story slam with stories of personal experiences

On Being is true stories with a spiritual emphasis

Sleep with me is a silly approach to helping insomnia

These are audiobooks I enjoyed on RBDigital (presumably available on other apps):

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Ali Smith was involved in this year’s MillionsMissing but the novel is nothing to do with ME/CFS. Except I found it meandered a bit like my mind does, so I wonder if her style of writing is somehow the product of forced physical rest?
https://rbdigital.com/#book/9781501942297

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This sparked my interest in Modern Stoicism which I’ve blogged about a few times (not the same as being stoical in everyday speech): https://tipsforme.wordpress.com/?s=Stoicism+&submit=Search



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These are cosy murders I didn’t find any of this series disturbing.






This was a heavier novel than I usually listen to but it kept my interest.


You’ve probably heard of this.


I’ve seen Bruce Hood speak live, interesting ideas (I studied psychology at Bristol uni once upon a time)


Famous Magical Realism novel


I found this amusing.


This is a good novel, heavy themes.


I wasn’t sure how to categorise this. I remember laughing but one of those that takes you through different emotions.


Colin Bateman’s Dan Starkey novels are humorous mysteries (more ridiculous than Cosy Murders genre).



If you’ve watched the series, you’ll be amused to spot the difference from the original book (a lot less sex).


a>
 
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I’m intending to come back, add some comment and add everyone’s titles into the first post, but before I go for today here are a few more audiobooks I enjoyed:

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I found this entertaining. I think some pwme might get very frustrated with the idea that she has chosen to stay in bed. https://rbdigital.com/#book/9781501950780










 
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Having got into true crime TV documentaries I’m now discovering the world of true crime podcasts.

NB these aren’t necessarily the best idea if you’re feeling low (would increase perception of the world as a dark place I expect) but they are absorbing for times of being bored sick of being sick.

The Teacher’s Pet is one I’ve listened to all the episodes. It’s an Australian missing person case.

My Favorite Murder I tried but haven’t got into yet.

I’m currently listening to S-Town which isn’t necessarily the type of series you think it’s going to be at the start. Definitely not one for if you’re already low, but I’m finding the (real) characters fascinating. It would make a good film. It’s made by the This American Life team.

I think I like the ones where they take time to investigate the cultural context. I’m not really into hearing the gruesome details condensed into one episode, I’m interested in what creates these situations. Teacher’s Pet is interesting in that way.
 
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