10 Podcasts Every Teacher Should Listen to This Summer
Summer has a way of reminding us to slow down.
After months of lesson planning, grading, meetings, and emails, it's time to refill your own cup. While summer often comes with a stack of professional development books and classroom projects, it's also a chance to feed your curiosity in entirely different ways.
Some of my favorite ideas have come from entrepreneurs, storytellers, psychologists, and everyday people with extraordinary experiences. They remind me why curiosity matters and why great stories are often the best teachers.
Whether you're heading out on a road trip, enjoying your morning coffee, walking the dog, or finally tackling that garden project, here are ten podcasts worth adding to your summer playlist.
Best for: Rediscovering joy
Dr. Laurie Santos has a gift for taking the science of happiness and making it feel surprisingly practical. Every episode leaves me with one small idea I can actually use, whether it's being more present, worrying less, or appreciating the little things we usually rush past. It's like a mental reset button.
2. Unlocking Us
Best for: Meaningful conversations
If you've ever heard Brené Brown speak, you know she has a way of making big topics feel approachable. She talks with authors, researchers, artists, and leaders about courage, creativity, and what it means to be human. It's the kind of podcast that makes you pause and think long after the episode ends.
Best for: Letting go of perfection
Teachers are experts at taking on too much. Kendra Adachi offers gentle reminders that you don't have to do everything to do the important things well. I always walk away feeling like I have permission to simplify my life just a little more.
4. Hidden Brain
Best for: Feeding your curiosity
Ever wonder why people make irrational decisions? Why habits are so hard to break? Or why some conversations bring people together while others push them apart? Shankar Vedantam has a remarkable ability to take complex ideas about psychology and human behavior and turn them into stories you'll think about for days.
5. Everything Happens with Kate Bowler
Best for: A little grace
Kate Bowler has a wonderful sense of humor and a refreshing honesty about life. She talks openly about joy, disappointment, hope, and finding meaning in everyday moments. It's comforting without being overly sentimental.
Best for: Big ideas and fresh inspiration
Another personal favorite.
Guy Raz interviews the founders behind companies you've probably heard of and plenty you haven't. What I love most isn't hearing about billion-dollar businesses. It's hearing how messy the journey really was. Failed ideas, lucky breaks, hard pivots, and persistence show up in almost every episode.
As someone who's built a business, I find these conversations endlessly inspiring. They remind me that every great idea starts as something uncertain.
7. The Moth
Best for: Falling in love with storytelling again
This is one of my personal favorites.
The premise is beautifully simple. Ordinary people stand on stage and tell true stories from their lives. Some will make you laugh out loud. Others will completely catch you off guard. A few might even leave you with tears in your eyes.
We believe some of the best learning happens through stories. The Moth is a reminder that one person's experience can challenge our thinking, broaden our perspective, and stay with us long after the episode ends.
Best for: Getting completely lost in a great story
If I could recommend only one podcast to someone who has never listened to one before, this might be it.
With host Ira Glass, every episode weaves together stories that are funny, surprising, heartbreaking, and completely captivating. I'll often start an episode while running errands and end up sitting in my driveway because I need to hear how it ends.
It's storytelling at its absolute best.
9. Ologies
Best for: Learning something just because it's interesting
Remember what it felt like to learn something simply because you were curious?
Alie Ward has an infectious curiosity that's impossible not to catch. In each episode, she sits down with an expert in a different field, from sharks and mushrooms to volcanoes and insects, and asks the questions the rest of us are wondering. You'll laugh, learn something unexpected, and probably find yourself sharing random facts with family, friends, or even your students. It's a reminder that learning can be joyful simply because we're curious.
10. The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast
Best for: Easing back into school mode
I intentionally saved the only education podcast for last.
When August starts creeping into view and you're ready to think about your classroom again, Jennifer Gonzalez offers practical, thoughtful conversations that leave you feeling energized rather than overwhelmed. It's a great bridge between summer break and the excitement of a new school year.
Your Best Back-to-School Supply Might Be a Fresh Perspective
Teachers spend so much time helping students grow that it's easy to forget to nurture our own curiosity.
So this summer, give yourself permission to listen to something that has nothing to do with lesson plans. Laugh at a great story. Learn about an obscure topic. Be inspired by an entrepreneur. Hear someone else's life experience.
You might be surprised how often those moments find their way back into your classroom. Happy listening!
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