LOVE Moth Radio hour and This American Life as podcasts. They are my dog walking staples.
If you want an audio book – Unbroken is great for gripping drama; we listened to as a family in the car, but it’s intense. Boys on the Boat is another one we did on a family road trip – very interesting, gets slightly boring at times with a a lot of technical details about boats and rowing – but in some ways that’s nice b/c you can zone out a little if you want. Really good story.
Another audio book suggestion but it might be better when it’s not with your kids b/c they are the wrong generation is Rob Lowe’s "Stories I Only Tell My Friends.’ His career took off at a young age and he met EVERYONE in Hollywood so it’s filled with a lot of great anecdotes. And his life story is pretty interesting. I don’t usually read celebrity books but his was a cut above.
In fact, google his deeply sweet essay about dropping his son off at college (Duke) if you want to get a sense of him as a person and a writer. He’s got a lot more substance behind those good looks than you think!!
It’s going to be you and your 28 year old daughter and 21 HOURS!!!
Your D may already have some ideas of what to listen to - podcasts are today’s young adults radio stations.
But that’s a long trip - please download some light stuff too! When I’m doing a long trip I will bounce back and forth across genres of podcasts. Like a rotation of a food related podcast, an interview podcast, a women based podcast, a home decorating podcast, and Bingemode Harry Potter.
I agree with The Moth and This American Life. DH and I managed 16 hours road trip to Charleston with just those two and a few of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcasts throw in, (who knew an hour talking about McDonalds french fries could be interesting?!)
I’ll put in a vote for satellite radio. We have it now on all our cars and love it. There is such a variety of channels that there’s something for everyone.
I find Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations a wonderful conversation starter with my adult D. It brings up how we view the world, our place in it and some cool esoteric conversations have come out of it. I’ve learned a lot about my D and how she views the world and life. And the guests are varied.
This is great! I’m actually rather overwhelmed by the suggestions but have carved out time tomorrow to check them out. D is busier than I right now and said she’d have episodes of her favorite podcast, The Impact, but, otherwise, asked if I’d supply the rest. I figure I’ll be prepared with too much so we can just skip something we find out we don’t like it.
And, yes, I’m thrilled to have this one one one time with my D but, tbh, I had no idea how long I’d be in the car when I agreed!
@MaineLonghorn , with 5 stars on Amazon from over 20,000 reviews , I’m checking Beneath a Scarlett Sky out from the library tomorrow. Thanks for the for that recommendation!
We just made a 12 hour round trip a few weeks ago. We listened to Beneath a Scarlett Sky. We didn’t quite finish it during the trip. The story was getting very exciting so I walked around the house with ear buds for a few days so I could finish it.
OK, preparing to look into all the suggestions tomorrow and have a total newbie question. How do I access podcasts, specifically from a car? I’m not aware Amazon is in this particular business but we do have Prime. I do not have audible but I do know how to get audio books from the library on my phone or ipad for the car (same with purchasing them). Just don’t have experience with podcasts…
just got back from driving (short trip) and i listened to the podcast Ask Me Another (NPR) and Wait Wait don’t tell me. Both are funny and entertaining. My D -20- likes for some strange reason the podcast “my favorite murder” – it’s actually pretty interesting. You can download podcasts from iTunes store on your iPad or phone. Or you can download them from their own websites . . . or you can stream them from their websites.
** and I’m so happy - i just looked up My Favorite Murder to see where to download it and it turns out the show is Coming to My Home Town in a few months!!! Just got a Christmas Gift for Daughter!!! YAY!
I download the podcasts while I have wi-fi and then listen to them later. Or you can stream them anytime. (I am trying to limit data use) The app has a search function -so you can search for the ones listed here.
@collage1 do you have bluetooth in your car? You can listen either through your phone or through your phone being hooked up to bluetooth.
Podcasts can be downloaded through various apps including iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, etc. You want to download them prior to the trip -when you’re in wireless - so you don’t suck data downloading while in the car. You can also probably access podcasts from the home web page of some of the podcasts. But downloading through the apps is easier and data friendly.
When the kids were young we listened to a lot of books - An old Newbery winner I thought was really good was Rifles for Watie. On the other hand we tried listening to Kerouac’s On the Road and had the CD player on shuffle by mistake. We were halfway through the CD before we realized what the problem was ! For books I generally like something light - Carl Hiassen is great for the car.
Just spent about 2 hours combing through all the podcast suggestions and lists and lists of the descriptions of episodes. I’ve downloaded (via the podcast app on my ipad that i never knew I had) 1-2 episodes of the majority mentioned on this thread. Thank you!
We’ll be in a rental car so I’ll probably have bluetooth but I’m not sure. If not, the speaker on my ipad will be sufficient but I doubt it’ll be necessary.
Still looking for just the right book or two. I’ve either read the ones mentioned here or they’re not available on axis 360 (library app). Would prefer not to buy because I don’t know what D will like…hate to pay $15 for an audio book to find out 15 minutes into it that D or I don’t want to finish it. Road trip starts Sunday so, if I haven’t found a good book or two by then, I’ll purchase Beneath a Scarlet Sky (unavailable on axis). Unbroken is also unavailable on axis.
And I loved A Man Called Ove and the Boys in the Boat and D has already heard every Harry Potter podcast (forgot the exact name but checked with her) that exists, along with the West Wing episodes. No satellite radio but I’m sure there will be plenty of singing and, yes, I already have the Hamilton soundtrack and we look forward to listening to it. Same with other Broadway shows.
