Ask HN: Any good audio podcasts? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Any good audio podcasts?

55 pointsrbanffy71 comments

Many of my favorite tech podcasts seem to be vanishing. What are your favorites and why?

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I'm a big podcast fan. Here are my favorite tech podcasts:

* ATP: http://atp.fm

* Giant Robots: http://podcasts.thoughtbot.com/giantrobots

* The Changelog: http://thechangelog.com (disclaimer: co-host)

* Ruby Rogues: http://rubyrogues.com

* Debug: http://www.imore.com/debug

Non-tech but also lovely:

* We Have Concerns: http://wehaveconcerns.com

* The New Disruptors: http://newdisrupt.org

* The Incomparable: http://www.theincomparable.com

* IRL Talk: http://www.irltalk.com

What is "We Have Concerns" about, I can't find an About page anywhere on their site. Looks interesting though!

From their Patreon page:

It's called We Have Concerns and it's a mix of science, philosophy, and improv comedy. It's also where we get all of our weird out.

http://www.patreon.com/wehaveconcerns

Gah, thanks. That kinda stuff should be on the front page though. Subscribed!

99% Invisible - http://99percentinvisible.org/ You Are Not So Smart - http://youarenotsosmart.com/ NPR Planet Money - http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/

99% invisible has shot up to the highest priority in my playlist. highly recommended

In terms of light entertainment I enjoy Merlin Mann's stuff:

Roderick on the line: http://www.merlinmann.com/roderick/

Back to Work: http://5by5.tv/b2w

Thanks for these links! I will have to check them out. This week I have been listening to all the old episodes of "you look nice today" http://youlooknicetoday.com

Pragmatic: http://techdistortion.com/podcasts/pragmatic (nothing to do with the defunct Pragmatic Programmers podcast, straight technology talk; professionally produced; replaced Ruby Rogues as my favorite podcast)

Infinite Monkey Cage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w (science, brilliant! no interspersed advertisements)

Hardcore History: http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hh (when I need to get away from technology and science; professionally produced, no interspersed advertisements)

Seconding Hardcore History by Dan Carlin. I'm currently going through the Blueprint for Armageddon series, where he gives a passionate and compelling telling of the events leading up to and surrounding World War One.

These aren't really technical, but they're some of my favourite podcasts.

* Trivia: Good Job, Brain! http://www.goodjobbrain.com/

* Video games: Idle Thumbs https://www.idlethumbs.net/ -- they also had a book club that was fun

* Poetry Magazine podcast: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audio?show=The%20Po...

* New Yorker podcasts: http://www.newyorker.com/podcasts

http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/ has lots of good advice. Most importantly, it has a transcript, for those of us who are not fans of audio.

My top 5 (in no order):

ted radio hour http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

radiolab http://www.radiolab.org/

linux outlaws http://sixgun.org/linuxoutlaws

techzing http://techzinglive.com/

accidental tech podcast http://atp.fm/

- http://techzinglive.com

- http://rocketship.fm/podcast/

- http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/

- http://www.2600.com/offthehook/archive_ra.html

- http://bootstrapped.fm/

Some I listen to regularly: 99 percent invisible, planet money, radiolab, the occasional Nerdist podcast, this american life, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, Dirtbag Diaries

Love Radiolab I would add 1. Startalk (http://www.startalkradio.net/ ) 2. How stuff works ( http://www.howstuffworks.com/hsw-podcast.htm )

to the list

Love Dirtbag Diaries, just wish they'd post more often, or on a regular schedule of some kind. Very high quality, interesting content when they do though.

There's some interesting Tech podcasts that i'll give a try this week.

Some people might still enjoy some Non-Tech ones below:

* NoAgenda http://feed.nashownotes.com/rss.xml

* The Smartest Man in the World - http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSmartest?format=xml

ITM Brother.

+1 For No Agenda. The best podcast in the universe!

In the morning! I second No Agenda! I've been listening for years. Here are some others (non-tech):

- Let's Drink About It: http://www.letsdrinkabout.it/

- The Morning Stream: Geeky morning show, four days a week http://frogpants.com/tms/

- Back to Work: Merlin Mann (Need I say more?) http://5by5.tv/b2w

- Ear Biscuits: An interesting look at YouTubers and "new media" folks. Their stories, etc. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ear-biscuits/id717407884...

Also, a shameless plug: I've been interviewing developers ranging from Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical to Frederico Knabben of CKEditor. I want to learn from experience. How'd they start their businesses and what knowledge have they accumulated over time? So far, I've racked up 10 interviews. Highlights include:

- Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical

- Mitchell Hashimoto, HashiCorp

- Jeff Haynie, Appcelerator

- John O’Nolan, Ghost

Here's the latest show: http://www.binpress.com/blog/2014/09/09/binpress-podcast-epi...

I like No Agenda too. I just have a hard time finishing their 2.5/3 hour podcasts.

Search for these in your favorite podcast app.

- Rich Roll Podcast (Lots of life inspiration & healthy eating advice)

- Tim Ferriss Podcast (Interesting random people and perspectives)

- An occasional episode of Joe Rogan Experience. I don't find Joe all that highly-intelligent, but I find his views, questions, and interviews interesting and thought-provoking.

- The Nerdist (Good, informal interviews)

- Trail Runner Nation

- Zencast (Everything by Gil Fronsdal)

I don't really listen to any tech podcasts anymore. I'll catch ATP on occasion, but for me they're all a bit of a waste of time, immersed in minutiae. I can catch all of the important bits I want with a 5 minute glance at my Twitter stream, or Techmeme or The Verge or wherever.

I also don't listen to every episode of the above podcasts. The only time I have for podcasts is during commuting and I take frequent breaks from any podcasts/music as a form of commuting meditation, left alone with my thoughts. That happens at least one day a week, and I've gone as long as 3 weeks of commuting in silence, with nothing playing.

Techzing: http://techzinglive.com/

Tim Ferriss Show -> http://fourhourworkweek.com/category/the-tim-ferriss-show/

I like Tim's style, very insightful and I think he gets some great guests.

I listen to:

bsdtalk: http://bsdtalk.blogspot.co.uk/

FLOSS Weekly: http://twit.tv/show/floss-weekly

Tech Weekly: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/techweekly

Linux Voice: http://www.linuxvoice.com/category/podcasts/

Ubuntu UK: http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/

If you're into comedy, I'd recommend Joe Rogan Experience (sometime's gets tech guys), Fighter and the Kid, Monday Morning Podcast with Bill Burr, WTF with Mark Maron.

I find a good laugh important after a long day at work!

I second JRE, great podcast and guests. Some of the guests on JRE have their own great podcasts. My preferences are:

- Duncan Trussell Family hour : duncantrussell.com

- Chris Ryan - Tangentially speaking : chrisryanphd.com

- Psychedelic Salon By Lorenzo

if you haven't checked out the fighter and the kid, you should. Brenden Schaub (UFC heavyweight) and Bryan Callen. Hilarious

Unfortunately not exactly tech, but Hello Internet is extremely enjoyable and it's made by some pretty awesome guys.

http://www.hellointernet.fm/

In addition to several of the ones already mentioned by others, I'd include Free as in Freedom - http://faif.us/ - It covers legal and policy issues in technology (particularly FOSS), rather than technology directly, but I think it fits your question. I find it provides some good depth on issues that aren't covered as fully or as often as on other podcasts, if you are interested in legal issues.

TropicalMBA for startup business talk. Nathan Barry Show and Kalzumeus for inspiring, actionable content. Seth Godin's Startup School series is pretty timeless as well.

Kinsella on Liberty: http://www.stephankinsella.com/kinsella-on-liberty-podcast/ (often talks about intellectual property in the context of technology)

MKBHD: https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee (reviews Android phones and talks about various tech news)

I'm a big fan of the Daily Tech News Show (http://www.dailytechnewsshow.com/), and I present a digital startup show that focuses on stories for product-led web and mobile startups, which is called Bootsector (http://poddle.io/bootsector/).

Daily independent news: Democracy Now! <http://www.democracynow.org/podcast.xml>

Entrepreneurship: Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series <http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html>

Bad Voltage: http://www.badvoltage.org/

"Every two weeks Bad Voltage delivers an amusing take on technology, Open Source, politics, music, and anything else we think is interesting, as well as interviews and reviews. The show is presented by Jono Bacon, Jeremy Garcia, Stuart Langridge, and Bryan Lunduke."

I've made a site just for this purpose:

http://www.programmingpodcasts.com

To start, one I try not to miss is FLOSS Weekly, which always brings in some interesting free/open source project. There is also the NPR Hourly News Summary and the WSJ Tech News Briefing (which are fairly short), Steve Blank's Customer Development for Startups (always valuable lessons) and Grady Booch's On Computing (always deep).

Software Engineering Radio: www.se-radio.net

* OWASP Podcast: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Podcast

* Security Now: http://twit.tv/sn

Something you can listen while jogging or cycling, when reading is practically not an option.

My regulars:

- Forever Jobless

- Mad Marketing with Marcus Sheridan

- Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn

- Empire Flippers

- The Nathan Berry Show

- Kalzemus Podcast (like twice a year there is a new ep.)

Those are the ones I haven't got tired of yet.

I used to like Startups For The Rest Of Us and The Foolish Adventure, but I sort of grew out of both of those as they got repetitive or I started to dislike the hosts (familiarity breeds contempt).

Thanks for the Empire Flippers shout, Brian. Glad to hear you dig the show.

The new Relay.fm podcast network has some good stuff on it, particularly Analogue.

Rich Roll Podcast - Cool if you're into endurance sports, health, spirituality in a general sense.

MTNmeister - Outdoor related podcast (backpacking, climbing, etc.)

Enormocast - Rock climbing podcast, interview style.

BS Report with Bill Simmons - Sports focused.

Debug - Tech related.

DLC - Gaming related (video and tabletop)

* Sound Opinions: http://www.soundopinions.org - best music podcast on the web

* All Songs Considered: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/ - another good music podcast

I currently follow The Java Posse and Android Developers Backstage. Both have great hosts and are newish.

http://www.javaposse.com/ http://androidbackstage.blogspot.com/

Radiolab: http://www.radiolab.org/

Revolutions by Mike Duncan, who also did The History of Rome.

http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/

http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/

Two of my routine podcasts include > APM Marketplace > BBC's from our own correspondent - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjlq

Not exactly tech, but Found this few days ago.

This is a series about what happens when someone who knows nothing about business starts one. It's called StartUp.

http://hearstartup.com/

* stuff you should know * the daily show podcast * product people * the changelog

I highly recommend "History of Philosophy without any gaps": http://www.historyofphilosophy.net/all-episodes

NodeUp http://nodeup.com/

I use node regularly for side projects and this podcast is both educational in Node's history and use, as well as inspirational.

http://thisweekinstartups.com from @jason .. extremely good. Not techy though. I'd say it's more of a business podcast.

I would biased-ly recommend javapubhouse.com (I host it). Is a tech dive on a Java topic that you can listen while on the radio/threadmill (you can close your eyes and follow the code) :)

This week in TWiT (TWiT.tv) hosted by Leo Laporte on Sundays is a good panel show and they cover a broad range of topics. I listen to thw audio version but it is technically a video netcast.

Alex Blumberg (This American Life & Planet Money) - StartUp podcast - http://www.hearstartup.com

A similar question has been asked two months ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8041789

http://backspace.fm/ is a tech podcast in Japanese, in case anyone speaks or learns this language.

Not a tech podcast, but a bunch of 25 minutes music slices designed for pomodoros: http://tech.no.com

I've been listing to dev-hell[1] and I'm really enjoying it.

[1]http://devhell.info/

I'm an avid podcast listener, and here are some of my favourites off the top of my head:

Radio Lab (science) -- http://www.radiolab.org/

THE science show to listen to. If you're going to listen to anything from this list, this is the show to listen to. It's very well produced and always interesting. Their most controversial show was Yellow Rain (http://www.radiolab.org/story/239549-yellow-rain/).

=====================

Freakonomics (science/economics) -- http://freakonomics.com/

I often consider this show to be Radio Lab's counterpart. Their headline is "exploring the hidden side of everything". Every single episode is fascinating (here is the show "Cobra Effect" to get you started: http://freakonomics.com/2012/10/11/the-cobra-effect-a-new-fr...). The shows all lean toward a very economist-like way of looking at things, so unless you're in the field, you'll enjoy much of the insights that come about because of this.

=====================

Planet Money (economics) -- http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/

Just a well-produced podcast about money and its long-reaching tendrils. Shows usually focus on interesting stories about money/finance that are in the "background" and go otherwise unnoticed by the population at large.

=====================

TED Radio Hour (everything) -- http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

Basically a radio version of TED talks. However! It's very well produced and every show is basically made for radio. It's not just TED talks with the video part stripped out.

=====================

This American Life (everything) -- http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

The most downloaded podcast for a reason.

=====================

The Irrelevant Show (comedy) -- http://www.cbc.ca/irrelevantshow/

Fantastic comedy sketch group from Canada. Their most famous cast member is probably Mark Meer (Shepard's voice actor in the Mass Effect games). While some of their sketches can fall flat, more often than not they make me smile. Their humour has a very Canadian slant, so unless you're living in Canada, sketches about, say, Canadian law and politics, might be a little more difficult to decipher. :)

=====================

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (comedy) -- http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/

The only show that actually manages to consistently make me laugh out loud in public. It's a news trivia show with a panel of well-established comedians and writers that participate in the game. Highly recommended.

=====================

Honourable mentions include:

To the Best of Our Knowledge -- http://www.ttbook.org/

Snap Judgement -- http://snapjudgment.org/

Intelligence Squared -- http://www.intelligencesquared.com/

Science Friday -- http://www.sciencefriday.com/

Ask Me Another -- http://www.npr.org/programs/ask-me-another/

I have been a listener of Red Bar for a couple years now - www.redbarradio.net

Give it three episodes because you'll hate it after one.

Philosophy Walks - light-hearted but clever and intelligent intros to philsophers

Great Lives - 20 minute biographies of famous dead people

Personally, I find most tech podcasts annoying. The ones I still follow are the Java Posse, Hanselminutes and SE Radio.