11 Philly-Made Health and Wellness Podcasts You Should Be Listening to Right Now
From mindful goals and fitness routines to the opioid crisis and plant-based dieting, these Philly podcasts will tell you what you need to know about health and wellness.
Two Disabled Dudes, a podcast hosted by two Philly-area athletes, will get you thinking about how to live beyond circumstances. / Photograph by One:Eight Productions
Podcasts have taken the world by storm, probably because they let us tune in and stay up-to-date while we’re on the go. No matter if we’re taking a long road trip, commuting to and from work, or winding down before bed, podcasts allow us to listen to stories or feel part of meaningful conversations for free (!). Just for our Be Well Fam, we’ve rounded up some of the best local health and fitness podcasts, so you can learn, get motivated, and stay in the loop about all things wellness in the Philly area.
Fit This In
Spearheaded by four women (two from Philadelphia, two from Harrisburg), Fit This In explores the latest fitness and health trends. The podcast offers 13 honest reviews of recent crazes like cryotherapy, matcha, and sleep tracking apps to help you figure out if they’re worth your time (and money).
Goal Magic
Hosts Cynthia Spitalny and Brennen Lukas are firm believers in magic. We’re not talking Houdini’s kind but rather each person’s potential to do amazing things. And their podcast helps you figure out exactly how to do that by practicing mindfulness. With episodes like “How to Stop Mindless Social Media Scrolling” and “Moving Past Your Excuses to Get What You Want,” Goal Magic will help you explore what’s holding you back — work, debt, bad habits, unhealthy relationships, and more.
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Muscles to the Masses
Julie Read’s love for muscles manifests in so many areas of her life: She’s a certified personal trainer, a licensed massage therapist, and an artist. (She draws muscle art!). In her podcast, Read discusses, you guessed it, muscles, tackling topics such as strength training, coaching, adaptive fitness, gym ownership, and even menopause through women-only interviews. The most recent episode aired this past November, but Read and her guests provide a wealth of information in just 17 episodes.
Nutrition Rounds
We’re all about plant-based nutrition here at Be Well, but we’re not usually talking to (or, in this case, listening to) cardiologists about it. Dr. Danielle Belardo is an exception. For Nutrition Rounds, which launched this past December, the Philly-based heart specialist sits down with physicians and other leading nutrition and health experts to talk about how going vegan can increase your quality of life.
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Penn HealthX
Created by Penn Medicine grad student Ryan O’Keefe, Penn HealthX showcases innovations in the healthcare industry. Through interviews with medicine and business professionals, the podcast explores the relationship between health and technology. Although the content mainly targets medical students, it’s informative for anyone who wants to know how their health might be impacted by current events, including the ongoing conversation about contraceptive coverage and the disparities that exist when it comes to LGBTQ+ patient care.
Philly Strong
Hosted by Bill Shiffler, the head coach at and owner of CrossFit Renaissance, this comprehensive podcast covers strength and conditioning training, nutrition, and general wellness. It’s got three years’ worth of fitness tips, food for thought (our favorite was “What is your ‘why’?”), and interviews.
Positively Social
Listening to Positively Social feels like hanging with your gal pals. The podcast offers inspiring, informed conversations about positive thinking and lifestyle practices, including food, fitness, mental health, and professional success. Created by healthcare professionals Parisha Smith and Dr. Rubina Tahir (who also co-founded the Positivity Charge, a wellness company that hosts women empowerment events across the country), Positively Social will get you thinking about your own health habits and how they impact your daily life.
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Primary Care Perspectives
In her science- and medical-themed podcast, Dr. Katie Lockwood, a primary care pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, discusses issues affecting pediatricians. Primary Care Perspectives will pique your interest even if you’re not healing tiny humans, though, thanks to its wide range of fascinating topics, including environmental toxins, anxiety in children, car seat safety, and teen pregnancy.
Someone You Know
Since 2017, drug overdoses have been the third leading cause of death in Philadelphia. Amid the crisis, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation created Someone You Know, an awareness campaign designed to reduce the stigma of opioid misuse and inspire hope in people seeking help with addiction and recovery. To continue this mission, the foundation launched an interview-style podcast just last week that will feature some of the same people from the original campaign, with updates on their progress.
Strong Feelings
In Strong Feelings, best friends Katel LeDû and Sara Wachter-Boettcher openly share their ambitions and fears as well as thoughts about work, politics, friendship, and more. The weekly podcast also features intimate conversations with authors, mothers, doctors, and other kick-ass women and non-binary folks that deal with important topics like mental health and inclusive workspaces.
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Two Disabled Dudes
Earlier this year, we talked with Kyle Bryant about his memoir documenting his cross-country ride and life with the movement disorder Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). In Two Disabled Dudes, Bryant joins co-host Sean Baumstark, who also lives with FA, to talk about setting goals and dreaming big. Their guests have included Paralympic athletes, leaders in the rare disease community, public speakers, survivors, and patients — all of whom inspire us to live beyond our circumstances.
