20 Listens for Navigating Life After Graduation

Tune In

All this talk about beginning your adult life is stressful. Take a trip through Audible Original podcast Maejor Frequency by music producer and performer Brandon Green, aka Maejor. Over the course of 10 mellifluous episodes, Maejor guides listeners on his journey around the world as he speaks with experts in sound—a gong master, a psychedelic advocate, musicians, and more—to bring sound healing mainstream. Oh, and you’re going to want to listen to this one with headphones on to get the full effect.

Find Balance

Not sure where to start? Celebrated wellness author and speaker Deepak Chopra hosts this 12-part series on how to connect to the world around us on our journeys to self-actualization. Featuring guest stars such as author Gabor Maté, Oprah Winfrey, and yogi Jessamyn Simmons, along with Chopra's signature soothing meditations, Mind, Body, Zone helps listeners unwind and unpack trauma, gain self-acceptance, and get in touch with who they were always meant to be.

Tap Into a Higher Power

Astrologist and well-being expert Valerie Tejeda invites us to reconnect with the moon in this ethereal wellness listen. Tejeda's steps for connecting to the lunar cycles guides listeners to a plane of existence outside of our earthly worries (like how often you really need to do laundry). Listen to Self Care by the Moon to uncover and address your true needs, and be sure to also check out Self Care by the Signs for wisdom tailored to your zodiac sign.

Feeling stuck?

It’s okay—this time in your life is all about learning who you are who you are and what you need to thrive. Few understand this stage better than psychotherapist Satya Doyle Byock, who has worked with young people between the ages of 16 and 34 to identify different “quarterlife” personalities. Consider this your guide to understanding what type of grown-up you are. Take notes.

You’re not alone

As it turns out, young adults have been going through the transition from adolescence to adulthood for decades—centuries even! In this insightful look back at how 20-somethings endured their transition to adulthood two decades ago, we learn that the generation that’s often telling young adults they’re coddled and entitled was dealing with the same challenges you are. Listen to this before your next family get-together.

Give yourself a break

If you went to art school, plan to go to art school, majored in art, or are pursuing a career in an art-related field, you're probably now used to getting asked the same question from just about everyone: "What are you going to do with that?" This listen is for you. Popular Instagram artist, Beth Evans uses her talent for illustration and easy-to-follow anecdotes to explain the everyday challenges of adulthood. Remember to check out the accompanying PDF in your library after downloading.

Put on a brave face

If your adulthood is off to a rocky start, you're not alone. Alida Nugent is just your everyday 20-something, learning how to do important life things like renting an apartment, paying off student loans, and resisting the impulse to eat peanut butter straight from the jar for dinner. Lucky for you, her fumbles can be your lessons. As an Audible listener eloquently stated, hearing Nugent tell her story, in her own voice, "made me feel like a pretty successful adult."

Love your brain

Psychologist Dr. Jess Clemmons lays the foundation for understanding mental health issues and dismantling stigma in her Audible Original, Be Well. Through a series of well-organized chapters, she unpacks the signs, symptoms, and treatment options for specific mental illnesses—anxiety, depression, ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, addiction, and more—and humanizes the challenges that millions of us face each day. With a focus on how psychiatry has fallen short when it comes to addressing specific racial, economic, and gender roles in diagnoses and treatment, Be Well is an invitation to hope for a better future for anyone who has or supports someone with a mental illness.

Listen to your body

A crucial part to loving yourself is taking care of your (physical) self. If you've ever wanted an operating guide to your body, this is it. Author James Hamblin goes beyond the topic of dieting to offer answers to questions such as, "Is caffeine bad for me?" and "Should I take my multivitamins?" Learn how to take care of yourself now while you're young to avoid a lifetime of bad habits and future health complications.

Take care of your sexual health

Physical health is critical for overall well-being—and yes, that includes taking care of your sexual health. While the phrase “sexual health” conjures images of the “miracle of birth” VHS tape, actor Elizabeth Banks (you may know her best as Effie from the Hunger Games movies) challenges conventional sex education by inviting listeners to unpack their relationship to sex, gender, shame, and pleasure. Her no-holds-barred podcast features guests such as actress Laverne Cox and author Lindy West. In case you need motivation to finally schedule that OBGYN appointment (yes, that’s your job now), this is it.

Get confident

The first day after graduation can feel a lot like preparing for the first day of school—you may find yourself in need of a new wardrobe, connections—and anything else that can help you create the best first impression possible for prospective employers. With the weight of expectations, it’s important to keep your head held high—after all, you just finished a major accomplishment! Fashion mogul Diane von Furstenberg is the queen of confidence. In this dictionary of wisdom (each section starts with a letter of the alphabet), she offers her tried-and-true recipe for finding your inner go-getter.

Find yourself... or a job

Maybe your advisor recommended this book to you—or maybe your mom did. While it’s a little dense, we promise: There really is a ton of good advice in one of the longest-running publications on advice for finding a career. Updated for 2022, What Color is Your Parachute? contains everything you need to know about job-searching, building a resume, using social media tools to your advantage, and navigating a remote or hybrid work environment. Don’t skip this one.

Save your pennies

If you were taught algebra and trigonometry but not how to balance a budget—or how to make a loan payment—you are not alone. Author and adulting expert Chelsea Fagan has written the beginners' guide to getting good with money. Go from take-out junkie to home-cooking expert (or, like, not totally terrible at cooking), and make your salary work harder for you. Find more personal finance listens in 10 Finfluencers You Should Know.

Try, try again. It's never too late.

Not everyone graduates, or graduates on time. Or lands in a career they want. Or meets the right person the first time around. So, you've made some mistakes or had a string of bad luck. That doesn't mean success is out of reach. Take it from self-proclaimed misfit, Jennifer Romolini. At 27, she was a college dropout and divorcee, just starting her career. In a little over a decade, she went from employee to boss, then from director to VP to C-suite executive. In Weird in a World That's Not, she shares how she found success without sacrificing her true self, and how you can too.

Create your own path

Change can be a great thing. It can be an opportunity to learn, to grow, to challenge yourself and gain new experiences. It can also be a scary thing. You may feel powerless, unsure, completely at a loss for what to do next. Listen up! You have choices. You can decide what happens next. You deserve to live your best life. Introducing, The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, written by Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky, someone who left the high-paying job he didn't like to make a life he wanted. The takeaway? You don't have to be stuck.

Embrace change

Best-selling author and chief operating officer of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg gives great advice. In this special edition of her breakout best seller Lean In, Sandberg shares vital information provided by accomplished leaders and social media influencers about everything from finding a job to negotiating a salary to listening to your inner voice about the right thing to do.

Take a trip

If you were an English major, you’ve likely already picked up On the Road. Even if you’ve already read it, you haven’t heard it like this. In this original rendition of Jack Kerouac’s semi-autobiographical novel recounting a series of his road trips across the US, we hear, word-for-word, the draft that Kerouac wrote in just three weeks while holed up in his NYC apartment. Maybe you do have time to become America’s next greatest author in between job hunting.

Run away?

If flying away to a remote location sounds more appealing than diving into your real-world responsibilities, Alex Garland’s The Beach may make you think twice. In search of an oasis located in a forbidden archipelago and known to foreigners only as “the beach,” our protagonist, 20-something Richard, finds paradise—and terror. Listen to your parents: Book a return ticket ahead of time.

Daydream

If your brain is just aching to get away from your new reality, this coming-of-age tale has everything you need to escape—romance, scandal, sibling rivalry. Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain as she pens a plan to leave her charming but impoverished English castle by marrying her handsome and rich new landlord. Award-winning British actress Jenny Agutter’s performance perfectly complements this charming novel. Sit back and enjoy.

Use the brains in your head

There’s a good reason why Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is in every graduate’s library. Outside of it being the quintessential graduation gift, this kidlit classic provides some much needed comfort during a period of so much change. Dr. Seuss brings you back to a simpler time while promising a brighter future—as long as you use your head and your feet to get there. For best results, listen to it anytime growing up seems just a little too difficult. Oh, and it's read by the amazing John Lithgow.