

Ask HN: Which podcasts do you listen to? - c4urself


======
m0nastic
This comes up from time to time, so here are the ones that I subscribe to (and
get OCD about making sure I'm caught up on).

There's others that I might listen to here or there, but these are the main
ones:

\- Informative

 _After Dark_ : Overflow from other 5by5 shows. Usually less than a half-hour,
frequently funny. Probably not recommended if you don't also listen to the
other shows on the network.

 _Back to Work_ : Ostensibly a show about getting to what's important with
Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin. If you like Merlin's stuff, you'll like the
show. Frequently goes off on tangents, but some of the recurring bits are
awesome and hysterical.

 _Build and Analyze_ : Marco Arment's show. Also ostensibly about development,
but basically topics meander (I think to the show's credit). This was the
hardest 5by5 show for me to initially get in to (I think I was initially
hesitant because I assumed it was going to be all iOS stuff), but I now enjoy
it greatly.

 _The Critical Path_ : Horace Dedieu's show. This one snuck up on me, but I
really like the way Horace presents information. Probably the least funny show
I listen to regularly, but one of the more informative ones.

 _Exotic Liability_ : This one should probably be in the entertaining
category, as it's a security podcast that very rarely talks about security.
Probably not for everyone (not even all security people), but I find it
endearing.

 _The FunctionSource Show_ : There's only been a couple of episodes of this
one, so it might be dead. The first couple episodes have been really really
good though. Basically, thoughts on the web, and programming in general. The
hosts are great.

 _Herding Code_ : This is a fairly recent addition to my list. I'm always
looking for an actual good development podcast (that's actually about
development), and this one is usually interesting. There's a bunch of hosts
though, and I find it really difficult to tell who is talking.

 _Hypercritical_ : This has quickly become my favorite podcast. It's just John
Siracusa complaining about things, but for some reason, it's much better than
that tagline would have you believe. I feel like Siracusa is a kindred spirit,
so maybe that's why I look forward to his show as much as I do.

 _Startalk_ : Neil Degrasse Tyson's podcast. I shouldn't really have to
explain it any more than that.

 _The Talk Show_ : The world can be split into people who like Gruber, and
people who think he's an asshole. Thankfully, the two aren't mutually
exclusive, and I really like listening to his show. In particular, the latest
episode (where he might have been celebrating beforehand) is definitely the
best of the bunch (and one of my favorite podcasts of all time).

 _This Developer's Life_ : Scott Hanselman and Rob Connery talk about things
developer-related (but it's not at it's core a technical podcast). I really
like this one, they do a great job with it.

\- Entertaining

 _Comedy Bang Bang_ : Easily the best podcast I listen to. Always hilarious.
I'm embarrassed to get so much value out of something that's free. The show is
usually a bunch of comedians (some of whom are being interviewed, and some of
whom are doing impersonations of characters), but is flat out the funniest
thing I've found available in any medium.

 _Doug Loves Movies_ : Usually recorded live, and it's a panel of famous
people who are interviewed by Doug Benson (the comedian). Episodes are mostly
made up of the panel playing a game Doug made up called "The Leonard Maltin
Game", which is way more amusing to listen to than it should be.

 _Geek Friday_ : This might be dead (or just on hiatus), but it was a show of
Dan Benjamin and Faith Corpi talking about geek-related things. Usually very
funny.

 _Gelmania_ : Bret Gelman is a comedian who I first heard of from his
appearances on Comedy Bang Bang. His style is very aggressive (it's part of
his act), but I think his show is awesome.

 _How Did This Get Made_?: A bunch of people pick a terrible movie and then
talk about it. It's usually really really funny.

 _improv4humans_ : A fairly new show. Basically it's recorded improv. They
take suggestions on Twitter ahead of time and then construct scenes. So far,
they've all been really good (which is more than I can say for most live
improv).

 _Nerdist Writers Panel_ : This might not be interesting to the public at
large, but I find it fascinating (and usually pretty funny). It's a recorded
panel of TV writers. They talk about their experiences writing on shows.

 _The Pod F. Tompkast_ : Paul F. Tompkins is my favorite part of Comedy Bang
Bang, and his podcast is fantastic.

 _Roderick on the Line_ : New-ish show with Merlin Mann and John Roderick
(musician, and super funny guy). It has no rhyme or reason (which might turn
off some, as it meanders), but so far they've all been entertainment gold.

 _Thrilling Adventure Hour_ : This is actually a live show in Los Angeles, but
they release segments as a podcast. It's billed as "old-timey radio", and most
of the segments are fantastic. Specifically, "Beyond Belief" is my favorite.

------
polyfractal
My job involves a lot of mindless tasks (molecular/cellular neuroscience -
culturing cells is much less exciting than you'd think). This affords me
plenty of time to listen to podcasts. My favorites in no particular order:

Economy/Finance:

-Motley Fool: <http://wiki.fool.com/Motley_Fool_Money_Radio_Show>

-Market Foolery: <http://wiki.fool.com/MarketFoolery>

-EconTalk: <http://econtalk.org/>

-Planet Money: <http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/>

-American Public Media Marketplace: <http://www.marketplace.org/>

_______________________________________

Startup/Tech:

-Startups for the Rest of Us: <http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/>

-TechZing: <http://techzinglive.com/>

-Lifestyle Business Podcast: <http://www.lifestylebusinesspodcast.com/>

-Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Seminar: <http://etl.stanford.edu/>

-Coder Talk: <http://codertalkshow.com/>

_______________________________________

Miscellaneous:

-Think: <http://www.kera.org/think/>

-Caustic Soda: <http://www.causticsodapodcast.com/>

-Science Magazine: <http://www.sciencemag.org/site/multimedia/podcast/>

-Astronomy Cast: <http://www.astronomycast.com/>

-It's All Politics: <http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/>

------
loganfrederick
Economics: Russ Robert's EconTalk at <http://econtalk.org>

Videogames: GamersWithJobs Conference Call: <http://gamerswithjobs.com>

Sports: Mike and Mike in the Morning Radio Podcast:
<http://espn.go.com/espnradio/show?showId=mikeandmike>

All subscribable via iTunes.

------
ilconsigliere
I have to recommend The History of Rome podcast anytime I have an opportunity.
Mike Duncan does a great job "storytelling" the history, and is very up front
about what should be accepted as relative fact (strong sources) vs. the more
uncertain elements from the more questionable sources. It's great if you're
driving a lot.

<http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/>

~~~
pavelludiq
Thanks for the link. I also recommend Hardcore History[1], by Dan Carlin. He
recently did a series on the fall of the Roman republic, which I liked a lot.
Dan Carlin also has a political podcast titled Common Sense[2], which is also
very interesting even if a bit US centered.

[1] <http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive> [2]
<http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/csarchive>

------
jfaucett
To get most all my news I listen to the following: (sorry, no English
broadcasters except sometimes BBC)

das Computermagazin - B5, VOA - Voice of America in Spanish, ciencia al cubo,
Wirtschaft - Deutsche Welle, Klartext - from sveriges radio,

In case anyone understands German I'd definitely recommend Computermagazin,
runs 20 minutes and stays compact (I agree with zrail don't like much blabber,
give me the facts )

------
zrail
The boring basics. Radiolab, Stuff You Should Know, and Planet Money are my
go-to podcasts. I can't really stand anything that's too much like talk radio,
especially when I'm at the gym (where I listen to podcasts.)

------
waqf
When do you people have time to listen to podcasts? Reading blogs/RSS is much
less time-intensive.

Also, for those occasions when people insist on delivering information via
embedded video only, why don't contemporary embedded players have a "replay at
2x speed" button? I can listen faster than you can talk (and if you actually
say something that makes me think, I can find the pause button just fine).

~~~
swanson
Commute + treadmill

------
amwelles
You Look Nice Today, This American Life, Back to Work, Savage Lovecast. I tend
to listen to podcasts on my meal breaks at work and at home for background
noise. I can't stand listening to them while I'm actually trying to do work,
because I have a hard time paying attention to two things at once.

------
pawn
I don't listen to podcasts, but I participate in a weekly podcast...is that
bad? It's a videogame podcast if anyone's interested.
<http://feeds.feedburner.com/gamerhighway>

------
eknuth
The only one I'm listening to at the moment is nodeup: <http://nodeup.com/>

The podcasters are some of the central figures in the node world and always
have useful content.

------
bazookaBen
Adam Carolla (<http://www.adamcarolla.com>). I grew up with comedy, and it
helps a lot whenever i'm commuting/treadmilling

------
flpmor
I really like "This American Life", it's not related to technology directly
but it's sometimes very inspiring about how people do things. Also listen to
"Planet Money".

------
gerad
If you're a subscriber, the Economist iPhone / Android app has an audio
edition which is quite good.

------
murz
"Hipster Runoff", it's hilarious.

------
taphangum
Tech Zing.

------
blcArmadillo
Radiolab

------
euroclydon
Mixergy

