These Podcasts Can Help You Become a Better You

Podcasts are a great way to absorb new and meaningful information—and you can listen to them while walking, running, cooking, cleaning or driving. Wespath has curated a list of recommendations for all five dimensions of well-being. Whether you want to incorporate healthy habits into your life, learn how to accomplish your financial goals, improve your mental health, focus on your faith or connect with a community with Wesleyan roots, there is something for everyone. The podcasts recommended below are available on Apple Podcasts unless otherwise noted.

Physical

• The Model Health Show – “Author and nutritionist Shawn Stevenson breaks down complex health issues and makes them easy to understand and overcome,” according to the show description.
• Dishing Up Nutrition – The podcast is hosted by licensed nutritionists and dieticians who “share practical, real-life solutions for healthier living through nutrition,” according to the show description.

Social

• Small Groups in the Wesleyan Way – An excerpt from the description of the first episode summarized the podcast’s goal: It sought to go “beyond best practices to recover and learn from our Wesleyan roots and to explore the foundations for small groups that produce disciples of Jesus Christ who in turn disciple others.” Discipleship Ministries, an agency of the United Methodist Church, created the podcast, which ran from 2016-2020 and has 69 episodes.

Spiritual

• Get Your Spirit in Shape – One of two highly-rated podcasts created by United Methodist Communications—the other being Compass Podcast—Get Your Spirit in Shape “features casual conversations with United Methodist bishops, leaders, authors, pastors and others who offer spiritual nutrition and exercises to help us get and keep our spirits in shape,” according to the show description. During Advent in 2020, the podcast had a four-episode series of conversations with missionaries (Week 1, 2, 3, 4).
• Leading Ideas Talks – Created by Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary, “Leading Ideas Talks brings to the table cutting-edge leaders on subjects you care about—navigating change, reaching younger people, financing your ministry, communicating effectively—to help you be the leader God is calling you to be,” according to the podcast description.

Emotional

• Moving Forward Together (found on https://optumeap.com/) – This podcast focuses on mental health and wellness during the coronavirus pandemic and comes from Optum. The first episode, for instance, discusses “what emotions we can expect to come up when returning to the workplace and how to cope with them.”
• Not Alone: Faith & Mental Health – The show has billed itself as “conversations on faith, mental health issues and where the church can be of service to those in need.” Past topics have included disappointment, grief, anxiety and depression. One of the three co-hosts is both a reverend and a licensed clinical social worker.

Financial

• Two Black Guys with Good Credi‪t – The hosts are business owners who bring listeners their “‘straight talk’ and at times humorous perspective on making, managing, and protecting your money,” according to the show description. A recent episode consisted of a deep dive into long-term interest rates and explored, “the relationship between interest rates and inflation, the role of government bonds in the determination of interest rates, and so much more,” according to the episode description. Earlier this year they did a two-part series on savings (Parts 1 and 2) and discussed how savings can improve your mental health.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• The Compound Show with Downtown Josh Brow‪n – This podcast describes itself as a way for listeners to “learn about what's going on in the economy and the stock market each week, and meet some interesting guests along the way.” However, that does not tell the full story. A recent episode included a conversation with the author of a book about the Tulsa Race Riots, which destroyed the Black Wall Street of America a century ago.
• The Pete the Planner® Sho‪w‬ – Host Peter Dunn, also known as Pete the Planner, speaks with one person per episode and “digs deep into their financial life, fixes problems and lays-out a detailed plan on how to accomplish their goals,” according to the show description. Dunn, a former comedian, leads a show filled with “laughs and practical money advice for real people.”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬