Are you looking for the best podcasts to listen to in 2021? Wonderful, welcome.
In this blog post, I have combined my recommendations with yours (after asking for your favourites via my Instagram stories) and I have created the ultimate bucket list of podcasts for 2021.
I have included a mixture of comedy (we need it right now), wellness, self-care, travel and mental health to give you a variety of categories to dive into.
Here’s a challenge for you… why not make your way through these episodes/podcasts this year? Choose one new podcast a month in 2021?
From Russell Brand, Fearne Cotton and Eckhart Tolle all the way to BBC Earth, The Food Medic and Alan Watts, in this podcasts to listen to in 2021 bucket list I feel assured you will find something suited to your taste.
In my ‘ways to add more joy into your life’ blog post, one of the suggestions was to switch up your podcast/book choices and take a recommendation from a friend. Switching up your perspective and learning in this way can trigger new ideas, creativity and inspiration. See all my wellbeing guides and tips here.
Consider that as you read through this list of podcasts, perhaps choose one that you wouldn’t normally pick and step out of your comfort zone!
Other posts on my blog that you may enjoy:
Best podcasts to listen to in 2021
1. Catch Cait
After submitting a phenomenal blog post to Where’s Mollie? on her time in Antarctica, I noticed Katie @catch.cait had released a travel podcast where she takes us with her to different corners of this beautiful world. It almost feels like a travel blog in a podcast as you get up close and personal with Kate’s experiences through the country in question. The good, the bad and the captivatingly honest.
I’m listening to the Costa Rica episode as we speak! So many great tips!
*adventure pending*
2. Shagged Married Annoyed
I’ve only listened to this trailer so far and I’m so ready to tuck into this podcast. Hilarious realities of relationships, life in lockdown and the little things that make us tick.
Category: Comedy
The only way Rosie and Chris Ramsey can have a conversation without being interrupted by a toddler or ending up staring at their phones is by doing a podcast. They’ll be chatting all about life, relationships, arguments, annoyances, parenting, growing up and everything in between. Each week they will answer questions from the public and a secret celebrity.
3. Happy Place with Fearne Cotton
I have been a fan of this podcast for a while now. Fearne is still as raw, real and relatable as ever and brings some world-famous names into normal conversation. Very grounding.
Category: Mental Health
Fearne Cotton talks to incredible people about life, love, loss, and everything in-between as she reveals what happiness means to them.
4. The Worst Traveller
I haven’t listened to a travel podcast yet, can you believe it?! Excited to tuck into this one. Seems it’s the closest thing to world travel we have right now in this pandemic and I’m here for it.
Category: Travel, Comedy
From Death Threats in India, to walking across Frozen Lakes in Canada… Join me as I take your ears on a journey around the world. I don’t always do things the best way… But I do things my way.
The Worst Traveller is a weekly podcast of travel stories where, more often than not, there’s trouble involved…
5. Under the skin with Russell Brand
Does Russell Brand even need an introduction? I cannot get enough of his vulnerability, comedy and dedication to bringing sensitive, controversial and important topics into the limelight.
Category: Comedy
My new podcast ‘Under The Skin’ asks: what’s beneath the surface – of people we admire, of the ideas that define our time, of the history we are told. Speaking with guests from the world of academia, popular culture and the arts, they’ll help us to see the ulterior truth behind our constructed reality. And have a laugh.
6. Love, Sex & Magic by Melissa Wells
This is one of the podcasts I’m currently listening to. I absolutely love how Mel touches on so many different topics that often have shame wrapped around them. Sex, self-pleasure, trauma and more. This podcast is raw and talks to some of the most powerful thought-leaders in the spiritual industry.
Category: Self-help
Heart centred wisdom, soul-shaking truths, and insights that are juicy AF.
Welcome to Love Sex and Magic, the show for people who believe they CAN have it all AND know they deserve it; relationships that are healthy AND passionate, careers that are successful AND fulfilling, and a life filled with meaning, purpose and magic.
Join me as I sit down with some of the most brilliant, inspiring and knowledgable voices in the fields of love sex and relationships, health, spirituality, self-love, and personal development.
7. REROOT with Eamon and Bec
This one was another recommended by you guys! Fellow vanlifers hollllla! I’ve got this podcast episode below on my ‘to listen to this week’.
Category: Personal journals, Travel
A podcast by Eamon and Bec about blurring the lines between hustler and hippie. Delving into the tipping point of change that reroutes your life and the story of what happens next. Chronicling tales of entrepreneurs, artists, creators and anyone else leaving their mark on the world.
8. Delicious ways to feel better by Deliciously Ella
This particular episode with Matthew Walker will change the way you sleep forever. So many nuggets of wisdom to help transform your sleep and your life. We ALL sleep, we all need it… how much do you know about sleep?
Category: Nutrition, Health
Confused about health and wellness? Each week we interview an expert to bring a little inspiration to your life – from gut health to mental health and anxiety, how to make sustainable changes, finding happiness, what happens to our brains when we exercise, skincare 101, dealing with stress, veganism and the environment and so much more.
Hosted by Ella Mills, the founder of Deliciously Ella, this podcast brings you open, honest conversation around mental and physical health.
9. Lockdown Parenting Hell by Rob and Josh
If there’s anything that’s going to get us through this lockdown it’s a comedy and these boys do a fantastic job of lifting the mood and our spirits with their humour.
Category: Comedy
Parenting….just not as you know it…
10. Unlocking Us by Brene Brown
On my huge drive from England to Portugal, I binged hard on podcasts, mostly Brene’s. I was going through a break up at the time and so her conversations about love, vulnerability, shame, apologising and more we’re just amazing. This one stands out to me but honestly, her whole podcast is amazing!
Category: Relationships
I’ve spent over 20 years studying the emotions and experiences that bring meaning and purpose to our lives, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s this: We are hardwired for connection, and connecting requires courage, vulnerability, and conversation. I want this to be a podcast that’s real, unpolished, honest, and reflects both the magic and the messiness of what it means to be human. Episodes will include conversations with the people who are teaching me, challenging me, confusing me, or maybe even ticking me off a little. I’ll also have direct conversations with you about what I’m learning from new research, and we’ll do some episodes dedicated to answering your questions. We don’t have to do life alone. We were never meant to.
11. Man Down - The Anti-Man-Up Movement by Jamie Clements
I absolutely love watching men rewrite the narratives around what it means to be a man and Jamie if one of those incredible humans paving the way. The title says it all really doesn’t it? We are all so familiar with the phrase ‘man up’ but in ‘manning up’ what are we denying men? Emotions, vulnerability? Dive into this podcast and learn what it means to Man Down and harness the masculine power.
Category: Mental Health
Focusing on men’s mental health, I will be speaking to inspirational men about their mental health journey to show that vulnerability isn’t rooted in weakness, but in strength.
Vulnerability is contagious. Throughout these interviews, I am hoping to demonstrate the power of ruthlessly authentic vulnerability from inspiring people to create a world where all of us can be our true selves and create real connections.
As Matt Haig says, ‘man up’ is not a call to courage, but a demand of weakness’. Man up is finished.
12. The Laughs Of Your Life with Doireann Garrihy
Category: Comedy
The Laughs of your Life is a podcast with Doireann Garrihy at helm. In this series, Doireann aims to delve into the beauty of having a laugh, speaking to guests from all walks of life. From first memories of laughter to being laughed at to “if I didn’t laugh I’d cry” moments, these markers shape the interviews, bringing out the best in some of Ireland’s most influential people.
13. I Weigh with Jameela Jamil
Category: Society and culture
What started with a social media post has become a movement, and now a podcast. On I Weigh, Jameela Jamil challenges society’s definition of worth through weight by asking different thought-leaders, performers, activists, influencers, and friends about how they are working through their past shames to find where their value truly lies. With hilarious and vulnerable conversations, I Weigh will amplify and empower diverse voices in an accessible way to celebrate progress, not perfection.
14. The Food Medic by Dr. Hazel Wallace
Hazel’s not just a good friend of mine, she’s an incredibly inspiring doctor, business owner, online presence, trainer and blogger. Hazel dedicates her life to helping others and she does the most profound job in the process.
Category: Health and Fitness
Welcome to The Food Medic podcast hosted by medical doctor, personal trainer, blogger, and author, Dr. Hazel Wallace. In this podcast, you will hear from leading experts in their field who share evidence-based advice on how we can live healthier lives and cut through the confusing information that we find online. For more information, you can find Hazel at www.thefoodmedic.co.uk
15. How To Fail by Elizabeth Day
Category: Self-help
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is a podcast that celebrates the things that haven’t gone right. Every week, a new interviewee explores what their failures taught them about how to succeed better.
16. The Alan Watts Audio Experience
Most of you will have heard of Alan Watts? That rich voice wrapped in endless wisdom and philosophy. Though he may no longer be around, this podcast hosts all his best work and gives you hours of discussions featuring the man himself.
Category: Spiritual
Welcome to The Alan Watts Audio Experience; a podcast by fans for fans of Alan Watts!
Alan Watts was one of the most popular philosophers of the 20th century and his popularity continues to exponentially increase long after his death in 1973.
This podcast is a collection of some of Watts’ most famous and profound discussions and teachings.
17. Oprah and Eckhart Tolle: A NEW EARTH
You could say I saved the best til last. This is definitely my most listened to podcast. You’ve most likely seen me go on about Eckhart Tolle’s bestselling book A New Earth? In this podcast, Oprah and Eckhart Tolle take apart each chapter to help deepen your understanding. Readers call in and ask questions that may be similar to yours and together they unpick and dive even deeper into the transformational teachings within this book.
Category: Spirituality
Oprah Winfrey and one of the great spiritual thinkers of our time, Eckhart Tolle, present their 10-part series on Eckhart’s ground-breaking book, “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.”
18. BBC Earth
I love that these are bite-size podcasts, easy to digest and filled with nature. A great escape from the chaos of day to day life.
Category: Travel and places
‘Intimate stories and surprising truths about nature, science and the human experience in a podcast the size of the planet.
Each week the BBC Earth podcast brings you a collection of immersive stories about our world and the astonishing creatures, landscapes and elements in it. Close your eyes and open your ears as you travel from the impenetrable forests of Uganda to research bases in the Antarctic; the edges of the Thar Desert to the Shores of Lake Tahoe. You’ll get up close and personal with jewelled beetles in the Namib Desert and soar with eagles in Rajasthan as you experience tales of human emotion, of encounters with animals, of the strangest corners of the Earth and breath-taking marvels. All carefully gathered together and delivered into your ear by the good people at BBC Earth.
From the deepest caves in the world to the very edge of space the BBC Earth podcast transports you on an awe-inspiring journey in sound.’
What are your favourite podcasts? Any you think I should add in?
Love as always and happy adventuring,
Mollie.
Founder of Where’s Mollie / We Are Global Travellers, content creator, photographer and videographer. I am certainly no stranger to adventure, outward and within. I thrive in nature, with nature and by recognising my true nature in the midst of it all.
Did you find this post helpful? I’d love you to share it for me.
Pin and save this blog post for later…
