Finding Favorites with Leah Jones
Finding Favorites is the podcast where we learn about people’s favorite things and get recommendations without using an algorithm. Host Leah Jones explores how people found their favorites, why they love it and adventures they’ve had pursuing their favorite thing. We talk movies, music, hobbies and more!
Episodes
Monica Reida, a Chicago-based artist and writer, loves coffee. Like... LOVES coffee. Affogato, espresso, drip coffee, percolated coffee, different roasts, decaf and so much more.
Keep up with Monica online
- Monica's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monicareida/
- Monica's portfolio: https://monicareida.myportfolio.com/
- Monica's blog, Notes from a Sentient Cabbage: https://sentientcabbage2.wordpress.com/
Show Notes
We are one week out from Passover seders, so what better time to revisit Caroline's advice about preparing for the Spring holiday?
New Haggadah alert - The Promise of Liberty by Stuart Halpern & Jacob Kupietzky
Where are you leaving? Egypt Where are you going? Jerusalem What are you carrying? The bread of freedom
Pesach (Passover) starts on Monday night and Caroline Musin Berkowitz joined Leah to talk about how she gets organi...
Scott Smith, aka Our Man In Chicago, returns to Finding Favorites to talk about the Mission Impossible movies - why he loves them, how he watches them and where to start with the series. Scott first joined Leah to talk about The West Wing.
Keep up with Scott online
Show Notes
Blaise Miller, an actor/director/writer based in LA, joined Leah to talk about his new web series "Hi, Blaise Miller" and his love of sweatpants. "Hi, Blaise Miller" is a six episode series exploring life for actors in Hollywood today - the world of self tapes and self doubt. The series is distributed by Crafty and new episodes are available every Friday.
Leah and Blaise have been friends for 20 years and are celebrating their birt...
Author Joyce Miller joins Leah to talk about her new book Joe Harris, The Moon, her love of greyhounds and her love of dancing with dogs.
Keep up with Joyce online
- Look! You're Dancing: A Memoir of Dogs, Dance and Devotion
- Joe Harris, The Moon
- JoyceAMiller.com
- Follow Joyce on Instagram @joyceamillerwriter
Show Notes
Alabama based author Bradley Sides joined Leah to talk about his new collection Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood and his favorite band, The National.
Keep up with Bradley online
- Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood
- Bradley Sides on Facebook
- Bradley's website: Bradley-Sides.com
Show Notes
Ben Tanzer, a Chicago-based author and consultant, joined Leah to celebrate the launch of his new novel The Missing (pre-order on Bookshop.org for March 21, 2024 delivery) and his love of the book The Basketball Diaries. This conversation is a trip down memory lane, because Leah and Ben have been friends for 15+ years.
We briefly discuss the suicide of a mutual colleague.
Follow Ben online
Paul Scheer, an LA-based actor, writer, comedian, and podcaster, grew up in New York Knicks territory, but now loves the L.A. Clippers. He joined Leah to talk about his memoir Joyful Recollections of Trauma (available for pre-order now, shipping on May 21, 2024), picking the right sports team for your family, and the inherent drama of NBA basketball.
Keep up with Paul Scheer online
Author Esther Goldenberg visits Finding Favorites to share her loves of pour painting and drumming (djembe, not snare). She's also celebrating the publication of her first novel The Scrolls of Deborah. The Scrolls of Deborah is available for pre-order and will ship on February 20, 2024.
Follow Esther on Facebook and Instagram
Show Notes
Kathie Giorgio, a Wisconsin-based writer and founder of The All Writers Workshop, joined Leah to talk about her lifelong love of writing and her genre-agnostic publishing career. Kathie published her first short story as a teenager, her first book at 50, and will publish her 14th book in 2024.
Content Warning: Kathie and Leah are both breast cancer survivors and discuss the illness, as well as bullying, death by suicide, and politi...
Some of your favorite guests are back for the Best of 2023 Call-In Show! Leah asked guests and friends to send in a voice memo with their favorite discoveries of 2023. It's important to find moments of joy during difficult times and that's what each of our callers found!
Best of 2023 Show Notes
Carolyn Musin Berkowitz
- Snack hack!
Monica Reida
Chuck Zagorski was declared the King of Christmas by his family and joined Leah to talk about his favorite holiday. Chuck listens to Christmas music all year, but limits his seven trees and 100+ nutcrackers to a window between November 1 and Three Kings Day.
Email a 1-5 minute audio clip to Leah by December 25th to be included in the Best of 2023 show! What did you love in 2023? email your clip to findingfavoritespodcast@gmail.com
...
Emily Drake, host of the podcast Who's Missing, loves a cozy game. Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Cozy Cafe and more! We talk about parallel play, building relationships and so much more.
Email a 1-5 minute audio clip to Leah by December 25th to be included in the Best of 2023 show! What did you love in 2023? email your clip to findingfavoritespodcast@gmail.com
Follow Emily online
It's a thanksgiving interlude with a few updates of what Leah's been up to and the trailer for season 2 of Upper Middlebrow Podcast.
Stand Up Comedy
- Nicole Byer
- Kyle Kinane
- Samantha Bee
Broadway Stuff
- Beetlejuice
- What a Wonderful World
- Here We Are
- The Lehman Trilogy
- Company
Podcast Stuff
- How Did This Get Made live shows
- Welcome to Rob Abrazado
- Upper Middlebrow trailer
- Send your "Best of 2023" audio clip to...
Evonne Marzouk returned to the podcast to celebrate the release of the paperback edition of her debut novel The Prophetess. We talk about the process of finding an audience, her lifelong love of writing, and processing difficult times through writing.
We talk about donations for pre-orders, but her publisher has extended the donations through the end of the war, G-d willing, soon.
Donations are being made to Leket.
Keep up with Evo...
Pensylvania-based author and professor Holly M. Wendt joined Leah to talk about their love of all things cycling - from professional races to riding long distances, Holly loves all things two-wheeled. Their debut novel Heading North will be available on November 8th and you can order it today.
Show Notes
Bee Vargas, AKA the reigning Ms. Illinois, loves power lifting and joined Leah to talk about her journey to embracing her larger body in and out of the gym. Whether its rooftop yoga, crushing dead lifts or representing Illinois at the national level, Bee is a delight.
Follow Bee online
https://www.instagram.com/thatbeeword/
https://www.instagram.com/allbodiesaregymbodies/
https://www.tiktok.com/@thatbeeword
Show Notes
Donate to American Friends of Magen David Adom
Jerusalem-based tour guide Joel Haber joined Leah to talk about Shabbat Stews ahead of the release of his ebook Chulent & Hamin: The Ultimate Jewish Comfort Food. There is so much more to Chulent than beans and meat!
Follow Joel on Instagram and his blog Taste of Jew.
Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts
Show links
Taylore Nicholl and Michael Lester, a pair of independent filmmakers from Texas, joined Leah to talk about their love of film, making films, and dream projects.
Follow the pair online
- Support Taylore and Michael on Patreon
- Carry On (Taylore's first movie)
- @taylorenicholl on Instagram
- What We Become
- Tik Tok @mediocre_michael
Show Notes
Jesse Dukes, co-host of Upper Middlebrow, returns to Finding Favorites to wrestle with Jimmy Buffett's legacy. We talk about internal rhymes, lifestyle brands, and songs with more meaning on the tenth listen than on the first.
Keep up with Jesse online
Show Notes
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Shootings are not unusual in Belize. Shootings of cops are. When a wealthy woman – part of one of the most powerful families in Belize – is found on a pier late at night, next to a body, it becomes the country’s biggest news story in a generation. New episodes every Monday!
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.