Podcasts Of The Week: Self-Critical, Comedic, Singing Lessons (Dr. Neff, Conan, And Ariana)

Hey! On Saturday’s I highlight a podcast about being a creative professional. Sometimes it’s direct, sometimes it’s indirect, but it’s always entertaining and educational. This week I’ve got THREE for you. Your Podcasts of the Week are…

Dr. Kristin Neff on NPR’s Hidden Brain. Find me a person with creative inspirations and I’ll show you a person who knows how to talk themself out of sharing what’s going on inside their head. Dr. Neff is a leading researcher on self-compassion and how it relates to self-criticism. Introverted professionals, take special note of this one.

Conan O’Brien on Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out. This is a replay, but the discussion about the years and years of work Conan put in on lousy feedback to rebuild Late Night in Letterman’s wake, is astounding. Add to it that Birbiglia is standing on his shoulder’s (and knows it), and this is a particularly beautiful – and funny! – conversation.

Ariana Grande on Eric Vetro’s Backstage Pass. OK, music fanboy Matt (that’s me) is super-excited for this new podcast. Eric Vetro is THE vocal coach to the stars. Whether you’re already killing it or you’re an actor who needs to sing for a part in a movie, this is the guy you call, because he’s the real-life Merlin of vocal coaching. Listen for the journeyman aspects of the artists, like Ariana being so sick on tour she can’t speak and how Vetro warms her up to perform. Also listen to the coaching talents of Vetro himself, who knows how to build each exercise off of the prior exercise’s results…masterfully. This is only episode one and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.

That’s all I’ve got, but what about you? Heard any good ones this week? Let me know!