5 Podcasts To Help You Avoid Awkward Salon Small Talk

Do you ever find yourself stuck in the chair at your local beauty salon—be it of the nail or hair variety—forced to make painfully awkward small talk when you're just not in the mood? Here's the secret to help you GTFO

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There you are held hostage with toes splayed apart by little rubber doodads or hair foiled to one step away from gaining radio frequency with no escape from the confab. Whether it's because of the lady sitting next to you who is going on and on about her daughter's boyfriend, you've run out of chitchat with your normal stylist since you now have to go back for root touchups once a month, or you're just in a particularly hermit-like mood, you've been in the search for a polite and convenient escape. Your answer: podcasts. And to help get you started…

1. WTF with Marc Maron

Via en.wikipedia.org

The fruit of a fairly successful stand up comedian’s midlife crisis turned career reinvention, Marc Maron’s podcast features impressively candid conversation between the funnyman and his peers, friends, and industry icons.

Recommended Episodes:

Louis C.K—a brutally honest look at the career paths of these two old friends who came up in comedy at the same time and the trials and tribulations that their friendship has endured (sometimes) over the past twenty plus years

Robin Williams—recently republished in the wake of the comedian’s death, the two sit down for a discussion of the icon’s long career, his troubles with drugs and alcohol, and a frank all the while joke fueled look at William’s fight with depression

Marc Maron—once you’re hooked on the podcast, there is no better episode than when Marc turns the tables and has comedian Mike Birbiglia interview him, giving us, his devoted listeners, a deeper look into his life as a bitter, drug addicted, and struggling comedian

Honorable Mentions: RuPaul, Amy Poehler, Conan O’Brien, and Lena Dunham

New Episodes Added: Mondays and Thursdays

Length: 60 mins +

2. This American Life

Via iheart.com

Let’s consider this the OG escapist talk radio broadcast of the modern era, if not the standard to which all others are compared. Hosted by the impeccable Ira Glass, the episodes are compilations of stories from various tellers all under a corresponding theme.

Recommended Episodes:

Harper High School—a two-part look over five months at a school in the south side of Chicago where 29 students were shot in the previous year alone

What Doesn’t Kill You—an exploration of how four different people haven’t coped with their respective brushes with death, including a standup comedian’s battle with cancer and a teenager’s scuffle with a shark

Valentine’s Day—stories of how love drives us to crazy places including a (s)experiment after a 13-year relationship and an undercover high school drug bust

New Episodes Added: Every Sunday

Length: 60 mins

3. Stuff You Should Know

Via findingbenjaman.com

Brought to you by HowStuffWorks.com, it’s co-hosted by the charming, albeit slightly geeky, and hilarious Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant. Often using pop culture references, the two educate their listener on a wide variety of topics ranging from detailed moments in culture to scientific principles to the history of specific objects to hard hitting questions like whether or not zombies exist.

Recommended Episodes:

Tattoos: Not Just For Dirtbags Anymore—an in depth look at the amazing history of tattoos from where they started to their popularity among Edwardian era British aristocracy

How The Donner Party Worked— a horrifying lesson on the unfortunate American pioneers who were caught in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846-47 and the terrible misadventures they endured (including but not limited to cannibalism)

How Twinkies Work—everything you wanted to know and more about the much beloved American processed delicacy

New Episodes Added: Every Tuesday and Thursday

Length: 30 – 60 mins

4. Grantland

Via onlineworldofwrestling.com

Unlike the others on this list, instead of a single podcast, the sports and pop-culture dedicated website hosts a series of recurring shows all worthy of exploration, ranging in topics from reality tv, current news in movies and television, and everything sports (particularly NFL, NBA, and the Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees).

Recommended Podcasts:

The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons—hosted by the website’s Editor-in-Chief, his podcasts features regulars like college friends and family to discuss the current topics in sports, famous friends like Jon Hamm, and other editors from the site to talk about whatever is hot in the news. Recommended past episodes include his conversation with writer (and friend) Chuck Klosterman about the finale of Lost and his call with college buddy Jack-O about the first 20 seasons of MTV’s Real World

The Right Reasons Podcast—cohosted by Juliet Litman and David Jacoby, this podcast gives a journalistic look at everything important in reality TV highlighting a weekly breakdown of shows like The Real World, MTV’s Challenge, Survivor, and the Bachelorette as well as “weird watches of the week”

Hollywood Prospectus—Staffers Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald discuss the haps in Hollywood including rundowns of their favorite shows, movies, and critiques of award shows and stars

New Episodes Added: At one episode from Grantland team added almost everyday

Length: 60 mins (give or take)

5. Bret Easton Ellis Podcast

Getty Images/Ulf Andersen

The relatively new project from the notorious writer comes as a conversation with impressive industry and industry adjacent friends to give listeners a view of the zeitgeist from the other side of the looking glass.

Recommended Episodes:

James Van Der Beek—The two discuss the actor’s time as Dawson Leery, his experience portraying one of Ellis’ literary characters on the big screen in Rules of Attraction, and life after the Creek

Kanye West—In the podcast’s debut episodes, the gentleman discuss current culture in all forms and Kanye admits that he wishes he could call himself a “Creative Genius” on customs cards but fears his poor spelling would cause issue

Chuck Klosterman—in the last episode before 2014, the two pop culture crazed men discuss what made the news in 2013 and the evolution of Miley Cyrus

New Episode Added: Every Monday

Length: 60 mins (give or take)