Luckily, my commute to work averages less than ten minutes, and on a good day, it's even shorter (but not by much!). So, it's pretty hard for me to listen to podcasts on my commute. As soon as I get involved and up to speed, I arrive home.
However, I do make a longer drive about every two weeks, but lose radio reception pretty quickly. I have discovered a series of podcasts that I really enjoy - and many of them have medical topics.
The BBC World Service, which is home to high quality radio, broadcasts a series called The Forum. There is a host and generally three guests who are experts on the week's topic. The guests are leading thinkers, academics, artists, philosophers or writers.
I first heard The Forum last year when I was driving around England. They were doing a deep dive into Moby Dick.
I was immediately hooked and have been listening to it ever since. Locally, it's broadcast on WYPR-HD's BBC channel at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays.
As I mentioned, there is a serious and scientific aspect to these shows, each of which lasts about 45 minutes. Some of the medical topics have included:
Other recent topics are Imhotep: The Man Behind the Mummy; James Watt: The Power of Steam; Balloons and How They Changed the World, and many, many more. The show has been broadcasting weekly since 2008, so they have accumulated quite an archive of a vast range of topics.
I hope you'll take a listen, here.
