The WALKING podcast

Jon Mooallem is a New York Times Magazine writer and the author of several books, which means you'd expect his walking podcast to be a polished essay series. It is not. The WALKING podcast is exactly what the title threatens: Jon turns on a microphone, walks somewhere (often a trail near his home on Bainbridge Island), and describes what he sees. Sometimes he narrates the trees. Sometimes he just breathes and you hear gravel under his boots for two minutes. Sometimes he has a small observation about a banana slug. That's the whole show. It started as a minor joke during the early pandemic and became a cult favourite among people who find most podcasts too loud, too produced, or too eager to sell them a mattress. There's no structure, no guests, no ads, no takeaway. Episodes drop irregularly and run anywhere from ten minutes to nearly an hour. What makes it work is Jon's actual voice, which is funny and self-aware without trying hard, and the willingness to let long silences stay in. Listening feels a bit like borrowing a friend's attention for a while. I'd recommend starting with any episode, really, since they're interchangeable by design. If you hate it after five minutes, you'll hate all of it. If you don't, you might find yourself subscribing for good.