You’ll never catch me on the New York subway without my headphones. These small ear-shaped miracles allow me to live in a glorious fantasy world where men never make suggestive comments, no one plays Candy Crush with the goddamn sound on, and I can listen to a vast assortment of incredible podcasts. The best ones suck me in and are so absorbing I forget I’m in public, on the subway.

My most recent discovery is Ear Hustle, a podcast all about life in prison, produced and shared by inmates in an actual California prison. I’ve been bingeing the first two seasons and keep finding myself awkwardly choked up on my commute. So many of the stories are heart breaking, and refreshingly humanizing.

I’m certainly not the only one who’s found myself emotional on the traditionally stone-faced MTA commute. I asked some fellow podcast lovers to share.

New Yorkers Share 9 Podcasts That Emotional Reactions on the Subway

1. Last Podcast on the Left

My obsession with true crime podcasts is EXTREMELY subway-problematic. If I’m not on the edge of my seat listening to the latest Casefile, I’m laughing/gasping/having EMBARRASSINGLY PUBLIC reactions to The Last Podcast on the Left. I challenge you to listen to their Albert Fish 4-parter and not groan-snort-puke on your fellow L trainers. (side note: I actually had a fellow passenger notice that I was listening to LPotL on my phone, and asked if I’d recommend it and I was so conflicted because the humor is VERY bawdy, the subject matter is GRUESOME in the extreme, and the topics are NOT handled delicately AT ALL but MAN, is it a LOT of FUN!)
– Meghan Sara, blogger at meghansara.com and seven-year veteran tour guide for Ghosts, Murders, and Mayhem Walking Tours

2. The Adventure Zone

I commute far too much for work, and I have been listening to podcasts on the train that have made me both laugh and cry. The most jarring one, however, was the series finale of The Adventure Zone, an actual play Dungeons and Dragons podcast from the McElroys. After years of listening to the podcast, we hear how those good, good boys lived the rest of their lives, and I was silently bawling on the 11:30PM train home from work. I didn’t notice, but I wound up having half of the car to myself.
– Justin Kirck, actor, blacksmith, creator of The Hollow podcast

3. Comedy Bang Bang

This was years ago, during graduate school. I was listening to Comedy Bang Bang as I was headed uptown on the C train midday. There was a great bit where Bobby Moynihan was riffing as a murderous orphan, and the others were using a mnemonic device to remember their plan to escape (Episode 150 “Time Bobby”). I was uncontrollably laughing and had to put my head down on my knees and wipe my eyes to compose myself. The train was only half full, but definitely nobody sat down next to me after that. It’s still one of my favorite podcast episodes ever.
– PolyGalSeeks co-host of A Mighty Love podcast, exceptional tweeter, PhD

4. The Bodega Boys

In 2016, I needed a new podcast to listen to on my commute, and someone recommended The Bodega Boys. Within the first ten minutes or so of Episode 13 “Blizzard Baes“ I’m completely losing it, laughing out-loud on a crowded subway car. Between the impression of a racist NYPD Detective named Officer Prosciutto, jokingly encouraging listeners to take part in a K2 (Synthetic cannabinoid) Challenge, and what it’s like when you won’t poop when you’re in a new couple, I was immediately hooked.
As a runner-up, in the most recent episode of our podcast on Love Languages, Poly Gal Seeks saying “if you don’t send me a dancing cat gif, do you even love me?” made me chuckle on a recent subway ride home, which led to someone making direct eye-contact with me across a crowded subway car and exaggerating rolling their eyes at me.
– Demetrius, creator and co-host of A Mighty Love podcast and blog

 

5. Reply All

One of my favorite podcasts, Reply All, has an episode called “Zardulu” that has changed the way I view reality. It sounds dramatic, but it really did. I won’t spoil anything – because you should definitely listen – but at its core, the episode is about the creation of viral videos. I have this vivid memory of sitting on the train giggling because it was so wild, but also wishing everyone around me was listening so I could talk about it. I then immediately went to work and made everyone to download it (it’s still the podcast episode I recommend the most). It’s been over two years since I heard it the first time and I can honestly say I’ve never watched a viral video in the same way. Sidenote: Thanks to Zardulu I’m now supremely fascinated by subway rats.
– Ashley Hufford, producer and social media boss

6. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me

I laugh aloud on my morning subway commute whenever I listen to Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, and what gets me are the poop jokes. Something about the morning – my brain isn’t quite working correctly yet, Peter Sagal is feeling especially silly, and the platform is 120 degrees, I can’t help myself but laugh aloud. Poop jokes are my vice. The laugh is never at an opportune moment though. It’s probably when I should be standing from my seat for a pregnant woman, or a mariachi band is rolling down the train car… but I can’t help it. Peter, Paula Poundstone and Mo Rocca really get me going and make the mornings what they should be; lighthearted and subtly informative.
– Mary in Manhattan, blogger at maryinmanhattan.com and candy professional

7. Wynabego Warrior

As an Audio Drama Creator for Just Press Playhouse, I listen to a lot of other audio drama podcasts. Although there have been MANY that elicit a reaction from me, the four that consistently get me are The Arcane Files of Jack Tracer, Wynabego Warrior, Alba Salix and Wooden Overcoats). Specifically, Wynabego Warrior had a character name “DooKee” toward the end of Season 2. Name alone is, funny but there was a situation (NO SPOILERS) which the name converged with action. I may have scared the passengers next to me with my audible laugh!
– Gabe Templin, actor and co-creator of Just Press Playhouse

8. Ear Hustle

Don’t forget the source of all my tears this week! I mentioned above how much I am enjoying this podcast and the feels it gives me.

What podcasts make you audibly chortle, gasp, or weep?

Everyone seems to like laugh out loud moments as opposed to crying ones…but if you want a good public cry, Storycorps is easily the most well-known tear-jerker podcast! It has certainly made me teary on trains!