Welcome to the Bubblewrap Diaries! A possibly-one-off, maybe more-than-once thing named for the tedious meditative task of cutting up bubble wrap.

This is a job we do here at LRT about once a month, sorting and processing bag after bag of used bubblewrap, dropped off by neighbours here in Machynlleth.

Why on earth do we spend time this gloriously inefficient task, you ask? Because we have a strict no-new-plastic policy, and because our precious goodies still need protection in the mail, and because bubble wrap is so often a single-use plastic…

…and because it makes for prime podcast catching-up time!

Here are my current favourite podcasts for bubblewrap days…

Homoground | Awesome queer music playlists and interviews. I’m always finding great new artists via Homoground.

Gurls Talk | Adwoa Aboah has a gift for making difficult topics (like addiction, gender identity, grief, race representation and more) super-accessible.

CIIS Podcast | An ongoing interview series from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Such fascinating guests (including Angela Davis! and so many other brilliant people.)

Stance | A great POC-centred magazine show about all kinds of cultural stuff.

“Where Should We Begin?” | I’m not sure I’ve ever not cried listening to this podcast, which broadcasts live therapy sessions with relationships therapist Esther Perel.

On Being | I confess, I’d forgotten all about this once-favourite spirituality podcast until spotting this week that the latest interview is the Indigo Girls!! It’s awesome. And there’s so much to explore here – Krista Tippet’s platform is greatly respected and she gets such wonderful guests on the show (this years-ago interview with Mary Oliver is a favourite of mine.)