
Ask HN: What are your favorite podcasts? - painted
what are you listening to during work or any other time of the day?
======
peckrob
1\. Hardcore History [0]. Even if you're not a fan of history, check it out
because Dan really grips you with the story. I can't say enough good things
about this podcast and look forward to each new episode. The episodes are
LONG; they're more like audiobooks in a way. The series on World War I
(Blueprint for Armageddon) [1] was six episodes and 24 hours long. Perfect for
road trips, but the downside is there's only 2-4 a year.

2\. The British History Podcast [2]. Fills the gaps between Hardcore History
releases. Jamie does a weekly, very deep dive into the whole of British
history, starting from prehistory up through (currently) Alfred the Great.
He's a bit more funny and sarcastic than Dan is, but you still end up learning
a great deal.

3\. Escape Pod [3]. Science fiction short stories covering a wide range within
the genre.

[0] [http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-
series/](http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/)

[1] [http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-
history-50-bluepri...](http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-
history-50-blueprint-for-armageddon-i/)

[2]
[https://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/](https://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/)

[3] [http://escapepod.org/](http://escapepod.org/)

~~~
oatsandsugar
My fav thing about Escape Pod is their reviews of previous stories. Quite
frank, and usually give an interesting perspective.

~~~
smallhands
+1 for Hardcore History his world war 2 eastern front still haunts me

------
cjoy
Omega Tau.

Science and engineering topics in the form of interviews with domain experts
(often on site). Some episodes in German language, many in English. If you
want to spend 2h learning about fusion and plasma or how batteries work or how
airbus builds planes or what goes into a radar satellite... this is for you.

\----

AB Testing.

Alex and Brent, 2 managers at Microsoft, discuss how not to lead teams and how
not to do testing. By discuss, I mean rant along in a productive manner.

\----

Javascript Jabber.

Good podcast, has lost some steam for me lately, but many early episodes are
good for people who are new to the show.

\----

Software Engineering Radio.

Has a great backlist of episodes on topics like architecture, type systems,
database systems ... definitly one where it makes sense to look through the
archive instead of just subscribing.

\----

Software Engineering Daily.

Used to subscribe, but lately the episodes feel more like infomercials where
50% of the time is spent by the guests pitching their product. Did enjoy the
earlier episodes though.

~~~
maxxxxx
Omega Tau is great.

------
j_s
Maybe this should be a monthly feature like Who is Hiring:

 _Podcasts to make you smarter_ (49 comments 10 days ago)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14737772](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14737772)

 _Ask HN: What Podcasts are you listening right now and why?_ (77 comments 28
days ago)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14616998](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14616998)

 _Ask HN: What podcasts are you listening to?_ (62 comments 40 days ago)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14529759](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14529759)

------
epmatsw
Accidental Tech Podcast - Apple and random tech discussion. Super fun listen.
One of the hosts is also the author of Overcast, which is my favorite podcast
app.

The Talk Show - Similar to ATP, but slightly more serious and with rotating
guests

Pardon My Take - a humorous sports podcast. It’s kind of juvenile, but it’s
growing on me.

Best of Mike and Mike - a semi-serious sports podcast. This one’s about to
end, unfortunately.

Stuff You Should Know - funny but informative info about random topics you
never realized you wanted to know about

Hardcore History - super long and rarely released episodes, but he gives an
amazing in depth look at various historical battles. WWI, the Persian Wars,
the Cold War 1945-1965, and the Anabaptist uprising are free now, and are all
awesome.

~~~
oatsandsugar
SYSK also has hilarious but terrible puns. I remember the episode they had on
termites: "They Bore, but they aren't Boring" <\-- Elon would approve

------
devmpk
How I Built This by NPR

They interview founders of successful companies and talk about the very
beginnings of their companies and how they started them. You hear about the
humble beginnings of AirBnB, Mark Cuban, WeWork, Lyft. All really cool stories
of starting businesses.

------
chadgeidel
In addition to the ones mentioned here, I like:

What Trump can teach us about con law (from Roman Mars of 99PI):
[https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/trump-con-
law](https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/trump-con-law)

50 Things that made the Modern Economy (Tim Harford):
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b1g3c/episodes/downloads](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b1g3c/episodes/downloads)

Internet History Podcast:
[http://www.internethistorypodcast.com/](http://www.internethistorypodcast.com/)

You are not so smart:
[https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/](https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/)

Unjustly Maligned:
[https://www.theincomparable.com/ump/](https://www.theincomparable.com/ump/)

------
gigatexal
Talk python to me - Patrick Kennedy’s highly polished podcast on my favorite
language The cppcast Syntax - web front end stuff Software engineering daily
Mac OS ken Brent Ozar Office Hours -SQL server q and a Coder radio (and pretty
much anything from Jupiter Broadcasting) - Linux and OSS oriented banter
regarding development work

~~~
Godel_unicode
Talk Python to Me is actually Michael Kennedy, if you like that checkout
Python Bytes. Less polished, greater breadth in less depth, much shorter.

~~~
gigatexal
Right I am going to fix my typo

------
jonathansizz
Council on Foreign Relations: The World Next Week, The President's Inbox

Financial Times: World Weekly, The Money Show, Alphachat

BBC: The World This Week, Analysis, In Our Time, Infinite Monkey Cage, The
Public Philosopher, A History of Ideas

Philosophy: The Partially Examined Life, Philosophy Bites, The Philosopher's
Zone, The History of Philosophy Without any Gaps

Others:

The Carnegie Podcast

Radio Atlantic

Guardian Books

Guardian Science Weekly

------
nvahalik
ARRL The Doctor is in -
[http://www.arrl.org/doctor](http://www.arrl.org/doctor)

No Agenda - [http://www.noagendashow.com/](http://www.noagendashow.com/)

The Dividing Line -
[http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/webcast/](http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/webcast/)

The Adam Morgan Show - [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-adam-morgan-
show/id1...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-adam-morgan-
show/id1088616591)

The Briefing / Thinking in Public - [http://www.albertmohler.com/the-
briefing/](http://www.albertmohler.com/the-briefing/)

------
tmaly
Indie Hackers [http://indiehackers.com](http://indiehackers.com) is my current
favorite

The Startup Chat [https://thestartupchat.com/](https://thestartupchat.com/) is
a close second.

Startup School by Seth Godin was a limited 15 episode production of a event he
did, this is also really good.

------
phillnom
Uhh Yeah Dude, Chapo Trap House, Bodega Boys, Comedy Bang Bang, Cum Town, How
Did This Get Made?, With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus

------
ianleeclark
I have never successfully found a software engineering podcast that I've
liked, so this will be a bit different from most here:

A Cast of Kings -- Game of Thrones episode discussion

My Favorite Murder -- Semi-descriptive title, but they talk about their
favorite murders

Not Alone Podcast -- Podcast about things going bump in the night

Startups for the Rest of Us -- A marketing podcast aimed at micropreneurs

Last Podcast on the Left -- Comedy/oddly well researched show about Aliens,
Murder, and anything else macabre or strange

The Adventure Zone -- A podcast about 3 brothers and their dad playing DnD

Strange Matters -- Another "things that go bump in the night" sort-of podcast

I have about 30 podcasts that I follow, but some of them I won't listen to if
the subject doesn't interest me. These, however, I will listen to every
episode (I'm putting off the final episode of "The Adventure Zone...") as soon
as they come out.

------
drcongo
Crime stuff: Accused, Someone Knows Something, Up and Vanished, Criminal,
Sword and Scale, Convicted, Beyond Reasonable Doubt.

General: Radiolab, 99% Invisible, Revisionist History, Snap Judgement, This
American Life

Amusing: No Such Thing as a Fish, RHLSTP, Adam Buxton Podcast

Listening to with my daughter: The Tumble, Brains On!

------
alanfalcon
_Coffee With Butterscotch_ \- A Game Dev Comedy Podcast. Super entertaining,
and also interesting to hear from these brothers ( _Butterscotch Shenanigans_
) who managed to build a Game of the Year winner[1] (Awarded by _Touch Arcade_
and others) using _Game Maker_ of all things! Very informative to hear them as
they make business mistakes and learn from them, and occasionally make a
decision that actually positively affects their bottom line. This is what
_passion_ sounds like—the kind of dedicated passion that breeds success
against all odds.

[1] The game? _Crashlands_ \-
[https://www.crashlands.net](https://www.crashlands.net)

------
Arcsech
The Magnus Archives is a great horror podcast. It's mostly-independent pieces
of short fiction, but start at the beginning because there's definitely a
meta-narrative.

Also good is The Bright Sessions, also fiction, about a psychologist for
people with superpowers. Also start at the beginning of this one.

A new one that's quite interesting is Ear Hustle, produced by and about the
inmates of San Quentin prison. It's a fascinating look into the reality of
prison life.

And then I'll second the recommendations for Hardcore History (snag The
Prophets of Doom episode while it's still free, it's great) and 99% Invisible.

------
daveilers
The Hilarious World Of Depression (THWOD) 99% Invisible Accidental Tech
Podcast Reconcilable Differences Do By Friday Cortex Writer's Almanac Radiolab
Note To Self MBMBAM The Incomparable (as topics interest me)

------
chasely
Interview Format: EconTalk, Conversations with Tyler, The Ezra Klein Show

News or weekly roundup: Slate's Political Gabfest, Slate Money

Others: Two Dope Queens (comedy), History of Japan, Dan Carlin

~~~
kaa2102
EconTalk is awesome.

------
oatsandsugar
Story Club - brief (often humorous) vignettes of Australian life

The Adventure Zone - funny people playing DnD

Song Exploder - bands rip apart their music and explain their process, often
channel by channel

And ... Planet Money, Reply All, This American Life, More Perfect, What Trump
Can Teach Us About Con Law, Data Skeptic, Arms Control Wonk, The Mystery Show

------
_mjk
"no such thing as a fish", a podcast on four favourite facts of the week.
Really fun to listen to :)

~~~
painted
it's my current favourite :)

------
fern12
NPR's Fresh Air. Terry Gross has a very soothing voice. She covers a wide
range of topics, but my favorites are those relating to politics, history and
science. She definitely does her research, and knows how to ask thoughtful
questions.

------
jypepin
For the french speaking, Nouvelle Ecole is a very nice, humble podcast
interviewing people with a non-standard path. Very nice and interesting!

[http://nouvelleecole.org/](http://nouvelleecole.org/)

------
od0
Data Skeptic (love this podcast)

Data Driven Discussions (new podcast)

Linear Digressions (good shorter discussions)

Pod Save America (awesome)

Coaching for Leaders (great interviews, the best soft skills podcast I've
found)

Software Engineering Daily (a little hard to keep up, mostly listen to
specific topics)

a16z (general trends)

------
0xbadf00d
[http://packetpushers.net/](http://packetpushers.net/) \- great podcast for
network-related industry news & opinion. Nice mix of useful information and
personality bombast.

------
relics443
ADB - Android Developers Backstage (it's actually the only podcast I listen
to)

------
ranic
Some of my favorites:

Planet Money - Current events and finance

Astronomy Cast - Long-running podcast with each episode about a topic in
astronomy

Death Sex & Money - Human interest stories

On The Media - Current events

Love and Radio - Human interest stories

Welcome to Night Vale - Weird scifi-ish stories in a newscast format

------
ISL
A niche offering: Slide, the avalanche podcast.

It may be too technical/specific for the general listener, but there's a lot
there regarding risk management and personal awareness, which applies broadly.

Daily listening: Marketplace, Planet Money.

------
JRutherford
Mixergy, How I Built This, Startup, Criminal, Savage Lovecast, Dear Sugars, On
Being, James Altucher Show, Planet Money, Fresh Air, Just the Right Book,
Masters of Scale, The Distance, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

------
theelfismike
Acquired - history of (mainly) tech mergers/acquisitions/IPOs

------
peacetreefrog
econtalk - quite good, been going since 2006. two episodes with paul graham
and sam altman from back in the day too

[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2009/08/graham_on_start.htm...](http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2009/08/graham_on_start.html)

[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/07/sam_altman_on_s.htm...](http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/07/sam_altman_on_s.html)

------
Blackstone4
The Bottom Line - Excellent business podcast

Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman

How I built this - Interviews with entrepreneurs

Freakonomics - Very good

The Tim Ferriss Show - Lots of interesting people come on the show

------
tyenl
No Agenda

------
Max_Mustermann
* Skeptic's Guide to the Universe: Science and Skeptiscism weekly Podcast

* Savage Lovecast: Frank Sex and Relationship Advice

* 99 Percent Invisible: Design

------
kyle_martin1
This Week In Machine Learning - [https://twimlai.com](https://twimlai.com)

------
Cerium
ADV China, a talk show on two wheels. SerpentZA and C-Milk ride motorcycles
through rural china while discussing China.

------
kyle_martin1
The Tesla Show - [http://theteslashow.com](http://theteslashow.com)

------
rsendv
The DFJ Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar from Stanford eCorner, This
American Life, and Democracy Now!

------
3stacks
Comedy Bang Bang, Monday morning podcast, Chapo Trap House, and Cum Town. I
take it as a chance to shut off

------
sotojuan
Dark Pixel Gaming podcast (and YT channel) - discussion on gaming news focused
on JRPGs.

------
kaa2102
Interview/Comedy: We Got the Jazz gotthejazz.com

EconTalk econtalk.org

So Money by FARNOOSH farnoosh.tv

------
joekunin
Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" is perhaps my favorite .

~~~
oatsandsugar
But it is so slow to come out with new episodes!

The WW1 series he made - amazing!

------
efm
Greater than Code - software development from a humanist perspective

------
jandrusk
\- The Changelog Podcast \- Talk Python To Me \- Podcast.Init

------
tapestrieshere
Chapo Trap House

~~~
evanlivingston
Second this. Usually very good critique of both conservative and liberal
politics, sometimes inane.

------
maxxxxx
Scale your code podcast is quite good.

------
curiousgal
Planet Money

------
david_blitz1
Intercepted, Chapo Trap House

------
thingschanged
Sam Harris - Waking up Podcast. Dan Carlin - Hard Core History Econtalk

------
david_blitz1
Intercepted

------
draw_down
Hollywood Handbook, Chapo Trap House, Your Kickstarter Sucks, No Goals, Cum
Town

Pretty much all are comedy except Chapo, which is a leftist political show.

