Pocket Casts (my preferred podcast player) says I’ve listened to 1038 hours of audio since 2015.
This sounds like a lot, but per week it’s only 1038 / 5 / 52 ~ 4 hours.
But it’s the consistency that counts.
In this post I’ll detail the podcasts I love and why.
Conversations with Tyler by far is the most engaging and stimulating for me. It’s a discussion format show, where Tyler interviews different notable individuals each episode. I value thoughtful and engaging questions in interviews, and Tyler provides. I only discovered the show in the last 6 months, and I’m catching up. The format is economist Tyler Cowen interviews a wide variety of intellectuals covering a wide range of topics. Tyler specializes in pointed and rapid fire questions, it is clear he spends much time preparing.
I’ve been listening to Econtalk since 2010, and episodes go back to 2007. Hosted by economist Russ Roberts who also interviews a range of guests. Relatively structured format, Russ spends much time preparing by reading relevant books, papers, and posts by the guest which informs the questions he asks. New episodes every Monday, and has released weekly for as long as I remember. Russ has been instrumental in helping me adapt a framework for thinking about many issues.
Longform Podcast, interviews with writers, often about their journey, including past experiences and the mechanics of writing. Generally delves into the specifics of guests’ latest or most prominent work.
On the Metal is a newcomer to my rotation. Hosted by Bryan Cantrill (of always be hustlin’ fame) and Jess Frazelle. Longer formed, more free flowing conversations with important folks from computing history. The guests and topics are usually a bit outside my normal tech wheelhouse but, but that’s a feature, not a bug.
I’m a recent subscriber to Stratechery, a daily newsletter by Ben Thompson focusing mainly on analysis of technology news. Ben recently launched a podcast where he reads his daily newsletter, which is why it’s on this list. I appreciate his insights, however I’m still in an evaluating phase if I value the content enough to continue paying. I do support his model of directly paying a creator for their work (no ads!).
Another Ben Tompson podcast, Exponent, with co-host James Allworth is in the general wheelhouse of Stratechery, though more focussed on the societal (human) interactions with technology. Often frequent overlaps with context from Stratechery. The format is a less structured conversation, with either one of the hosts taking the lead on any given week.
The YCombinator Podcast was on a roll until January of 2020, but have not released an episode since. Structured interviews, mainly with tech and startup oriented individuals.
I would liken Acquired to a more in depth, startup focused “How I Build This”. Episodes run 1.5+ hours, and are hosted by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal. Each episode tells the story of tech acquisition (think eBay + PayPal), though they quickly branched out into tech IPOs.
I don’t partake in too many political podcasts, though currently I listen to The Editors, which is a weekly, sometimes multiple times a week (maybe it’s twice a week?) podcast. Format is a panel discussion of current events.
This American Life is a classic mainstay of podcast consumers everywhere. Episodes like The Super are absolute gems.
Song Exploder by Hrishikesh Hirway is absolutely unique, in the words of the show: “A podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.” The episodes are actually constructed from interviews with the artists, and the show uses early demos and deconstructed tracks (like the evolution of a drum part) which documents a journey of a song. Even If I’m unaware of an artist or the particular song they “explode” I’m usually pleasantly surprised and glad that I gave the unfamiliar a chance.
Reply All is a juggernaut for “stories about the internet”. Episodes like Long Distance (Part I and II) and The Case of the Missing Hit are great places to start. Highly recommended podcast, even the least good episodes are great.
Jonathan Goldstein’s Heavyweight was a sleeper. I had plenty of interesting audio journeys in my queue, I didn’t need another podcast. But this one won me. Caught me off guard. The format is… investigative humor story?
For daily current events podcasts, I like NPR News Now, which is published many times a day. It’s a 5 minute headlines summary, useful for understanding what the big items are. The Economist’s Morning Briefing is likely a better daily summary however, as I appreciate the more global perspective.
A longer (it’s 20 minutes), but higher quality daily podcast is the Economist’s The Intelligence. It contains the daily summary like the morning briefing, but also as a few longer segments which are conversations between the host and the corresponding Economist journalist.
Other podcasts that are less top-of-mind, meaning I don’t always listen to them or they are published less frequently (but are still worth mentioning) include Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, Ask Pastor John, Go Time which are discussions on the programming language Golang, 99% Invisible, Fresh Air, and The West Wing Weekly.
I don’t often “just” sit and listen to podcasts. Instead, I use them in times my mind would be idle, like:
I can’t listen to podcasts (or audio books) when my mind needs to be present on the task at hand. I’ve tried, and it’s a frustrating experience. The audio experience is too engaging for me, it succeeds to holding my near undivided attention