Podcast Of The Week: (Blank) With Friends

Hey Guys!

I haven't talked about a podcast on my blog for a while now, so I wanted to introduce a new segment where every week I share the podcast I'm currently loving and my favourite episode I've listened to that week. From previous blog posts, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of podcasts and I'm always listening to something new and I'm always searching for something different to tune into ❣  

So this week I'm kicking it off with (Blank) With Friends!

(Blank) With Friends

I stumbled upon (Blank) With Friends only recently. Normally I find the podcasts I listen to by scrolling through the various genres on both iTunes and Spotify but this time I clicked on a few mini video snippets of the podcast on Instagram and then went and checked the episodes out on Spotify. 

(Blank) With Friends is a fairly new podcast to Spotify with their first episode going live on 6th March 2019 and they have uploaded two episodes since, the first one featuring Jessica Sappington and the second episode featuring Samuel Larsen. They discuss topics from Starbucks, creative passions, social media, friendships to female empowerment. The difference with this podcast is that it isn't scripted so the conversation just flows from one random topic to the next. 

The podcast hosts Mike and Jordan are great! They are able to talk in depth about particular important topics but are also able to joke around and make light of situations like "punching phones" and Steve Irwin memes. On each episode they get a friend on who is pursuing something fun and has exciting things going on in their life to share, such as Jessica' female empowerment program and Samuel's music and acting career. 

The vibe between the hosts and their guests is so good as well, it reminds me of the type of conversations I have with my close group of friends when you are sat there and talk for hours about everything and anything. 

The first episode with Jessica Sappington was an amazing and by amazing I mean AMAZING discussion focusing on female empowerment, our obsession with Instagram and how women feeling like they aren't good enough breaks her heart. Jessica has been focusing on stopping females from comparing themselves on social media and empowering women to feel strong. Which as a female myself is something so energising to listen to, especially as I've been one to compare myself to others on social media and goes through not feeling good enough ❤

Jessica's episode was so uplifting hearing such positivity around women's body image and our strength as a "female warrior", whether it be physical strength or mental strength. However, my favourite episode for this week was Episode Two...

Ep. 2 - Put That In The Pile of Things We Don't Eat

The episode I listened to this week featured Samuel Larsen, the musician, actor and performer who is known for featuring on Glee as Joe Hart and is starring in the movie After out on April 12th here in the UK. 

This week's episode focused on topics of discussion I find really interesting and enriching! Such as our engagement with social media, being creative, music, being a people-pleaser and our relationships with other people. 

For me listening to Jordan, Mike and Sam talking about such topics that I can really relate to makes me stop and think about what they were really saying. I was actually cleaning the kitchen when I first started listening to episode two and I had to stop and properly listen as Sam made some great points. For example, we always look at what our friends are doing on Instagram, where they are going out and who they are with comparing who is doing better than who, (which is a topic I actually wrote an article on for BBold Magazine about how on social media we are always trying to prove we are our best lives and comparing ourselves to others). The conversation between the three of them made me stop and think about what they were discussing which for a podcast proves how engaging it is for a listener like me!  Samuel also goes on to talk about that way we used to deal with boredom when we were younger and without social media - how we would fill our time being creative. So, when I was younger and I was bored I would write so many stories and fill journals full of little story lines but now that we have social media we don't fill our time with creativity but instead, we scroll through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Until someone says it though you never actually realise how the younger generation today is surrounded by social media platforms from the moment they are old enough to hold a phone, but we grew up building and creating things. The conversation between the three of them sparked so many different thoughts about my own interaction with social media - which is what I love! A podcast that gives me such a realisation are my favourites ❤

I think Jordan and Mike are great to be discussing such a broad range of topics that aren't just fixed to one debate. They are discussing just a wide range of issues and points it's uplifting and refreshing to hear!

If you like unscripted podcasts and topics that are raw and unedited then definitely check out (Blank) With Friends! 

You can check out the podcast on Google Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify and SoundCloud or you can just click below:

You can follow (Blank) With Friends on Instagram @blank.withfriends, Jessica Sappington here and Samuel Larsen here. 

What podcasts are you listening to at the moment? Let me know in the comments below!

See you next week for another blog post ❤

Amy x