
Ask HN: Essential Podcasts? - graystevens
What do you guys&#x2F;gals consider essential podcasts? Be it tech, or webdev, or just generally &#x27;interesting&#x27;?
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tptacek
* Cooking Issues

* EconTalk

* Sound Opinions

* Planet Money

* The Nerdist, when the guest outweighs how annoying I find Chris Hardwick

* Slate Political Gabfest

* This American Life

* NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour

* Marc Maron, for guests I'm interested in

I have ATP in my podcast client, but any time I find myself listening to it,
that's my cue to go buy an audiobook because I've run out of reasonable
podcast.

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dctoedt
TED Radio Hour -- Guy Raz on NPR.
[http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=151...](http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=151446218)

Freakonomics Radio -- Stephen Dubner
[http://freakonomics.com/category/freakonomics-
radio/podcasts...](http://freakonomics.com/category/freakonomics-
radio/podcasts/)

------
mattivc
Some of the ones i have enjoyed listening to lately.

Debug ([http://www.imore.com/debug](http://www.imore.com/debug)): Interviews
with interesting people in tech. Several of them with former Apple engineers.

The Infinite Monkey Cage
([http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc](http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc)):
Panel discussion show hosted by physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince
with guest Scientist, Mathematicians and Comedians. Both entertaining and
interesting.

Sill Untitled: The Adam Savage Project ([http://www.tested.com/podcast/still-
untitled-the-adam-savage...](http://www.tested.com/podcast/still-untitled-the-
adam-savage-project/)): The podcast is hosted by, among others, Mythbusters
host Adam Savage. The show covers a large variety of topics but always seems
to land on something that interests me.

------
rbanffy
Cross-posting from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8041789](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8041789)

Manager Tools: [http://www.manager-tools.com/](http://www.manager-tools.com/)

I'm surprised nobody mentioned FLOSS Weekly: [http://twit.tv/show/floss-
weekly](http://twit.tv/show/floss-weekly)

------
lnmx
Omega Tau [http://omegataupodcast.net/](http://omegataupodcast.net/) has in-
depth interviews about science and technology.

Highlights are [http://omegataupodcast.net/2011/12/83-how-apollo-flew-to-
the...](http://omegataupodcast.net/2011/12/83-how-apollo-flew-to-the-moon/)
and more recently, [http://omegataupodcast.net/2014/06/150-the-european-
extremel...](http://omegataupodcast.net/2014/06/150-the-european-extremely-
large-telescope/)

------
brudgers
Essential? None really.

However I've been enjoying the StackOverflow/StackExchange podcast archive. It
began as a simple weekly Skype call between Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood in
the pre release days of StackOverflow. The idea was that they would develop
the company in the open. It's also interesting because community building
forms a central theme, If you think Spolsky is funny the podcasts might even
be enjoyable.

[http://blog.stackoverflow.com/archive/](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/archive/)

------
mostlybadfly
I don't have any specific tech related ones but these are my favorites:

* Radiolab - pretty interesting science related stories with interesting audio production.

* This American Life - pretty standard but always good

* Snap Judgement - another storytelling show, I switch between this and TAL.

* Savage Lovecast - mostly sex talk but the questions provide cultural insight I think.

* Alt Latino - discussion and mix of latin alternative music.

* The Splendid Table - variety of cooking topics.

* A Podcast of Ice and Fire - yes, i'm an ASOIAF fan and like hearing about rereads and book theories.

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halfdan
Node.js related:

* NodeUp: [http://nodeup.com](http://nodeup.com)

* Ghostalk: [http://talk.ghost.io](http://talk.ghost.io) (I am a co-host)

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crazypyro
"Hardcore History" is such a great one. I was surprised to not see it
mentioned. They are really just fabulous entertainment.

Dan Carlin also has another podcast called "Common Sense". Couldn't recommend
them both enough. Dan Carlin has an extremely strong ability to take
historical events and use them to bring context to current events.

------
gadders
BBC Radio 4:

In Our Time - Discussion of ideas

Frontier - Discussion of science topics

Farming Today - The name gives it away

Great Lives - Famous people nominate people from history as a great life

Last Word - Weekly obituaries of famous people

Gardeners Question Time - I like gardening.

Others:

Iron Radio - Powerlifting/bodybuilding info

Art Of Manliness - Being Manly info

Bulletproof Executive - Interesting items about how to be "bulletproof". Some
are good, some sound like absolute horse shit.

------
rpconnolly
Men in Blazers -- [http://meninblazers.com/](http://meninblazers.com/)

"We discuss football. And wear blazers. Usually at the same time. Men in
Blazers is driven by the belief that Soccer is America’s Sport of the Future.
As it has been since 1972."

Consistently excellent. Zero football/soccer knowledge required.

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hdra
Have several, but one I never missed and always look forward to is [StarTalk
radio]([http://www.startalkradio.net/](http://www.startalkradio.net/)). I
don't even really understand most of the topic in the show, but I still find
it very entertaining.

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sjs382
I listen to lots of podcasts...

BS Report (Sports), Grantland (Sports & Pop Culture), Adam & Dr. Drew Show, Dr
Drew Show, This American Life, Here's The Thing, The Moth, 99% Invisible,
Risk!, in addition to a few I listen to only if the subject matter seems
interesting.

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pandatigox
I like listening to the Slate podcasts, especially The Culture Gabfest. Found
here:
[http://www.mixcloud.com/SlatesCultureGabfest/](http://www.mixcloud.com/SlatesCultureGabfest/)

------
wj
I prefer the podcasts that address the business end of things:

* Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders

* EconTalk

* HBR IdeaCast

For lifestyle businesses:

* Startups for the Rest of Us

* Tropical BMA

* Smart Passive Income

* The Foolish Adventure

Music:

* KCRW's Today's Top Tune

* KEXP Song of the Day

* Too many EDM podcasts to mention

------
m0nastic
Here's my current list, what used to be a 50/50 mix of technology and comedy
podcasts has slowly become almost all comedy ones (I increasingly find
podcasts to be a bad medium for technology discussions that aren't just
"news"):

* U Talkin' U2 To Me? -- A limited series (ostensibly they talk about a different U2 album every week, but even as someone who doesn't like U2 I found this hilarious).

* The Critical Path -- I like Horace's perspective on the mobile market

* WTF -- I subscribe to it, but only download if it's a guest I'm interested in. I also usually skip forward until the interview.

* Postmodem -- Doesn't come out very often, but I find it enjoyable

* The Andy Daly Podcast Project -- Mostly because I think Andy Daly is a national treasure

* Bret Easton Ellis Podcast -- Though easy to dislike, I have been a big fan of his for many years. I like hearing his commentary about the state of the film industry.

* Doug Loves Movies -- Sometimes hit or miss, but way more enjoyable than a live show where guests play movie-related games on stage should be.

* ATP -- I have inordinate affection for John Siracusa, even if I find the format of talking about things "in the news" with little time to have any context constantly frustrating.

* The Talk Show -- Lots of people here don't like Gruber, but I do.

* I Seem Fun -- Probably my favorite podcast currently. Jen Kirkman (a comedian) just records a show a week without any guests. I'm pretty sure the majority of people on this site would hate it though.

* Call Chelsea Peretti -- I should hate this show, because she lets people call in and talks to them (and I hate pretty much all "radio call-in shows"); but she's hilarious.

* By the Way -- Jeff Garlin is an acquired taste, but he got very good guests for this show.

* Back to Work -- I miss an episode here or there, but I still find Merlin and Dan's banter super enjoyable.

* Ronna and Beverly -- Also probably not for people here, but it's two comedians "in character" who interview a guest every week. Mostly I love it because they sound and act like everyone I grew up with's parents.

* Roderick on the Line -- I find John Roderick immensely entertaining.

* Comedy Bang Bang -- Responsible for making me laugh more than any other podcast.

* You Made it Weird -- Pete's interviews are frequently more interesting than funny, but they're frequently both.

* Thrilling Adventure Hour -- I never miss an episode of "Beyond Belief", some of the others I let pile up.

* The Dead Authors Podcast -- Only recently started getting into, but it's pretty funny.

* The Pod F. Tompkast -- I think it's currently on hiatus, but the old ones are great.

* Analyze Phish -- One guy who likes Phish tries to get another guy who doesn't like Phish to like Phish by playing him their songs (and later taking him to Phish shows). I hate Phish, and think this show is wonderful.

* Making it with Riki Lindhome -- I feel like this one might also be on hiatus, but Riki had a lot of good interviews with people about how the "broke in" to Hollywood.

* Who Charted? -- The only way I ever hear current music. Every week they count down the top 5 songs and movies with a guest.

* The Todd Glass Show -- It's a little long, but I love Todd Glass, so I like his podcast very much.

* How Did This Get Made? -- Every episode they pick a terrible movie and go off about it. It's usually really really funny.

* Nerdist Writers Panel -- Ben Blacker and Ben Acker interview a bunch of writers (usually tv writers). I like this one a lot too.

