Rnz: The Podcast Hour

Caroline Mabey and Taylor Glenn are friends and comedians, trying to keep an open mind when it comes to self improvement. So in each episode of their podcast 'Self Renovators', they test out some of the self help techniques claimed to help you lead a better, happier, more productive life. For a week they'll try out say breathing exercises, a digital detox, or even a gruelling regime of cold showers, and report back on whether it's helped them, what the science says, and if they're going to adopt the method, adapt it, or ditch it altogether. Here they're trying out a productivity tool called a bullet journal: if you Google it you'll see it's become a bit of a thing since it was invented by a Brooklyn designer called Ryder Carroll a few years back. It's a bit like a good old written to-do list; just far prettier, and a lot more complicated! [Episode 21 of the Self Renovators podcast is called 'Bite The Bullet Journal' and is hosted by Caroline Mabey and Taylor Glenn].

The ABC series 'How Do You Sleep At Night?' introduces 6 people doing unpopular or controversial things. From abortion clinic protesters, to big game hunters and people making billions from running pokie machines, the show's host Sarah McVeigh gently probes why they do what they do, and how they justify it to themselves. We play a clip of her shadowing Patrick Muttart, a tobacco industry lobbyist who's unapologetic about his chosen career path, working to promote the interests of an industry which kills 7 million of its customers every year.

Could listening to other people's stories be an important way to build empathy- that valuable ability to put yourself in someone else's position to understand their feelings? That's one of the interesting ideas getting explored in an art installation that's now become a podcast called A Mile in My Shoes. The arty part of the idea is that a shipping container designed to look like a shoe box arrives in your town. You borrow a real pair of someone else's shoes, put on your headphones and go for a walk while you listen to a story lasting about 10 minutes from the shoes' owners. And these stories come from a collection featuring people from all walks of life, from sex workers to surgeons, from refugees to the rescue services. Now the borrowing the shoes part isn't going to be an option if you subscribe to the podcast, but we speak to artist Clare Patey who set up the project about how it all works, and play Dianne Lawrence's story produced by Meri Fatin for A Mile In My Shoes.

Los Angeles is the second biggest city in the US with 4 million people and its importance as a major centre for film and TV production means that for ages people have been moving there, lured by the promise of better work, and the prospect of Hollywood fame. Among them is sound engineer David Weinberg and his girlfriend who upped sticks and moved cross-country from St Louis a few years back. 'Welcome to LA' portrays their sometimes jarring adjustment to California life, introducing a cross-section of crazy stories and kooky characters that seem to live in a grey area somewhere between fact and fiction. Petty criminals, adult entertainment workers, drum circle facilitators, Hollywood hopefuls, and Hollywood has-beens...all human life is here! We play some of Episode 2 of KCRW's 'Welcome to LA' called Paradise Motel, produced and presented by David Weinberg.

Colourful slices of LA life, building empathy by hearing stories, people doing unpopular things, and a light-hearted look at self improvement.

For 13 years, the American podcast Love + Radio has been quietly serving up personal narratives (sometimes adult-themed) with cutting-edge sound design. As one happy listener puts it: "The stories are great, strange, intense, the sound is a delight, and they have never tried to get me to accept a tote bag." We take a listen to the recent episode 'Coming Back' in which Pam Reynolds reflects on her near-death experience during major brain surgery.

Talking while you eat, even with your mouth full, isn't a problem in 'Hoovering'; in fact it's positively encouraged! The show's host Jessica Fostekew is a British writer and comedian who some of you might have heard before on 'The Guilty Feminist' podcast. We play her interview with the comedian and broadcaster Josie Long.

'Endless Thread' uses the popular social news site Reddit and its massive online communities as the source for its stories. We play two clips: one story concerning a Reddit user called Prufrock 451 (aka James Erwin) who lives in Iowa and works for an insurance company. He's also a big military history buff who became an online sensation on a discussion thread called 'Rome Sweet Rome'. The second excerpt comes from an episode called 'Doom Jelly'. It's all about the excruciating pain and the overpowering feelings of doom and dread you experience if you get stung by the scary Irukandji jellyfish (a type of box jellyfish that comes from northern Australia). 'Endless Thread' is presented by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertsen for WBUR.

'Where Should We Begin?' lets you eavesdrop on couples talking about their problems in a recorded therapy session. The person helping these people deal with issues like infidelity, divorce and bereavement is the Belgian psychotherapist Esther Perel who is a TED talk sensation, a bestselling writer, and she's got a great voice too! We play some of the first episode of Season 3 of 'Where Should We Begin? The Arc of Love' from Audible, called "Young Love'.

Listening in on couples' counselling: 'Where Should We Begin?', 'Endless Thread': Reddit stories, food pod: 'Hoovering' and 'Love+Radio': crafted audio.

'The Dream' explores the shady, complex world of pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing, ways of selling stuff which also encourage you to recruit new people as participants. So if you can get your friends or family members to join up, you can earn a commission on whatever they sell. Host Jane Marie has a personal interest in this topic. Growing up in rural Michigan, she knows many people who joined these schemes (and we meet some of them later in the series).

Fi Glover and Jane Garvey are BBC presenters who apparently met up hosting an event together a few years ago: they got on well and made people laugh, so 'Fortunately...with Fi and Jane' was born. Now nearly 70 episodes on, the weekly show is full of unscripted chat, and longer interviews with guests who come mainly from the world of broadcasting and entertainment. We play some of an episode of 'Fortunately...with Fi and Jane' (produced by Vivien Jones for BBC Radio 4) where they speak to the Scottish tennis coach Judy Murray, who is also the mother of tennis playing brothers Jamie and Andy Murray.

'Black Sheep' is back for a new season, with host William Ray telling more stories about colourful and controversial characters from New Zealand history. We play part of the first episode of a two-part story called 'Headhunter: the story of Horatio Robley', produced and presented for RNZ by William Ray.

The New York Times' daily news show 'The Daily' has proved a major hit: it's currently sitting at number 2 in the US podcast charts, with 5 million monthly listeners, and annual advertising revenues reported to be worth more than $US10 million. And other media organisations are trying to emulate its success. Just this week The Guardian, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and NZME., the publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have all unveiled their own daily news podcasts. Each episode of The Daily comes in at a digestible 20-odd minutes and it's ready to listen to early each weekday in the US, in time for the morning commute. Host Michael Barbaro interviews some of the Times' best journalists about the big news stories of the day, with a team of producers editing their chats, and embellishing them with music and audio clips. We play some of a story about climate change with journalist Nathaniel Rich talking about his article on a missed opportunity to tackle global warming: the US refusal to enter into an i

'The Daily' delivers the news to your ears. 'Black Sheep' portrays controversial characters from New Zealand history. 'Fortunately...with Fi and Jane' is an interview show with lots of laughs. And 'The Dream' explores multi-level marketing, from 'the plane game' to pyramid schemes.

The Australian improv duo The Bear Pack take one random word and use it as the centrepiece for a whole unscripted story. Steen Raskopoulos and Carlo Ritchie of The Bear Pack bring us some chilli-related chat.

'Dirt Church Radio' is a locally produced show with a focus on trail running- basically running done in New Zealand's great outdoors. We play some of Episode 7 featuring the American ultramarathon legend Dean Karnazes, and speak to Matt Rayment and journalist Eugene Bingham, the hosts and creators of Dirt Church Radio.

'Household Name' takes some of the biggest names in business- global giants like Starbucks and Coca Cola- and uncovers surprising stories from their past. So long ago, way back before he became US President, Donald Trump played a crucial role in selling us more pizza! Donald and Ivana's Affair (with Pizza Hut) is Episode 2 of Household Name from Business Insider and Stitcher presented by Dan Bobkoff.

From zebra crossings to prison uniforms, from Where's Wally? to the Breton shirt, stripes have always had a knack for grabbing our attention. In a BBC documentary called 'Out of Line', graphic designer Teresa Monachino shares her love of the horizontal line (produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Radio 4).

Stripy love letter: Out Of Line. Household Name: how the US President made us eat more pizza. Dirt Church Radio: trail running nirvana, and improvised storytelling with The Bear Pack.