
Podcasts to make you smarter - happy-go-lucky
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170707-the-24-best-podcasts-to-make-you-smarter
======
joaomsa
If you're into history/philosophy, can't recommend enough:

\- The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps [1]

Manages to truly live up to its name while remaining very approachable to
someone not very familiar with philosophy.

\- In Our Time [2]

Technically a long running BBC radio program with a massive back catalog, but
many episodes would certainly interest HN users with very insightful
discussions.

These aren't the sorts podcasts I can follow along easily while doing other
things though.

[1] [https://historyofphilosophy.net/](https://historyofphilosophy.net/)

[2]
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player)

~~~
jzymbaluk
+1 for HOPWAG. I've recently caught up with the series completely, including
his other series on the history of Indian philosophy, and I can't recommend it
highly enough. Peter Adamson is such a pro, he's got the conversational tone
and dry wit of a really good professor (which he is), and the series has been
so consistently good for nearly 300 episodes now. It's a big time investment,
but a very rewarding one.

Podcasts have been my main form of entertainment now for over a year, so I'm
gonna drop some history/other brainy recs too for anyone interested.

Hardcore History - essential listening for history fans, skews more toward
audio book format than podcast.

History of Rome / Revolutions - a bit drier, but more thorough than hardcore
history, I list these together because they're the same author. Very well
researched

History of the 20th century - relatively new podcast aiming to tell a
multidisciplinary history of the 1900's, very entertaining well produced

The Rhine - The history of Rome, but focuses on the Rhine region, he's
planning on following the history of the region into present day

Planet Money - economics for everyone, an npr podcast

Omega Tau - deep deep deep dive interviews into engineering topics. Everything
from Rollercoaster design to the gemini missions. English/German bilingual

Intelligence squared - debate club, basically. A thesis is decided, a team
argues for, another against, audience decides who won

~~~
piva00
How do you think HOPWAG compares to "Philosophize This!"?

I ask because I have invested some time on Philosophize This and after the
first 20 episodes it got much more enjoyable but I could see myself switching
to another in-depth history of philosophy podcast if it's much better.

The only problem I see is that HOPWAG seems to be still on the 14th century,
is it supposed to stop there or is it still ongoing and will someday arrive at
modern times?

~~~
jzymbaluk
This is also his second time in the 14th century, and he'll be going around
the horn again at least once more. When he got to around the 6th or 7th
century, Peter said he was going to do three passes over pre-renaissance
philosophy. First he followed philosophy in the arabic-speaking world,
following muslim, jewish and christian philosophers who wrote in Arabic (this
is Peter Adamson's academic specialty). After following this thread nearly to
modern day, he wrapped around and followed Latin and vulgar European
philosophy, in which he's now beginning the 14th century. He has said it's
then his plan to wrap back around and cover Greek language Byzantine
philosophy before finally charging ahead into the Renaissance. Peter also
publishes a companion podcast, The History of Philosophy in India (he
alternates weeks publishing normal HOPWAG and the India series). He's also
expressed interest creating similar companion series for Chinese, African,
etc. histories of philosophy.

It says on the box "without any gaps", and that's really what you're getting,
as complete and comprehensive a history of philosophy as you're likely to get
in the podcast medium. This series lets you see how ideas evolved as
philosophers responded to and engaged with each other throughout the
centuries. Adamson does a really good job at framing how the various
philosophers would have though about, and came up with these ideas in their
own time and contexts. He engages each philosopher's ideas in the context
where they were created, while still doing a good job relating these ideas
back to what modern philosophers might think.

------
jlebar
Would "24 infotainment podcasts" be a better way of describing this list?

Nothing wrong with infotainment. Maybe it will even make you seem more
interesting at parties. Nothing wrong with that, either. But it's not the same
thing as being smarter.

~~~
gramstrong
Eh. Cognitive exercises don't hurt, even if the knowledge gained isn't
particularly useful. Just because something is entertaining doesn't mean it
won't stretch your critical thinking muscles.

I guess define "smart".

~~~
jlebar
I would actually have no problem saying that a podcast that stretches your
critical thinking muscles makes you "smarter".

But do any of the listed podcasts do that? To work a muscle or your brain, you
have to actively...well, work. I haven't tried all of the podcasts they
listed, but of the ones that I have tried, they're all passive entertainment.
(And again, nothing wrong with that.)

------
Dowwie
What would it take to make a crowd-ranked list of podcasts, authored by the HN
community? HN accounts ought to be linked, and posts karma-weighted.

Hmm. I'm on the cusp of losing my productivity.

~~~
j_s
_Ask HN: What podcasts are you listening to?_ |
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14529759](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14529759)
(last month)

------
JoshCole
One podcast that I learn from not mentioned in this list is
[http://www.writingexcuses.com/](http://www.writingexcuses.com/)

It drills down into the nitty gritty of how to write stories and I learned a
lot about writing while listening. They tend to cover a different specific
aspect of writing in each podcast. So one podcast may focus primarily on the
uses of spacing while another might focus on how to write a pitch for a book.

------
philip1209
As an engineer, I find learning about design to be fascinating. The High
Resolution Podcast has quickly become a favorite of mine. Every week, the
hosts interview leaders in the design industry from leading companies. Topics
have ranged from research to diversity.

[https://www.highresolution.design/](https://www.highresolution.design/)

------
waiseristy
Another good one : [http://omegataupodcast.net/](http://omegataupodcast.net/)

Covers Science, aviation, and engineering, and aviation

------
nathan_f77
I'm surprised they didn't mention Waking Up with Sam Harris [1]. I've recently
started listening, and he talks to some really interesting people about very
interesting topics.

> The Waking Up podcast was selected by Apple as one of iTunes Best of 2015
> and won a 2017 Webby Award for best podcast in the Science & Education
> category.

I also really enjoy listening to the stories on The Moth [2].

[1] [https://www.samharris.org/podcast](https://www.samharris.org/podcast)

[2] [https://themoth.org/podcast](https://themoth.org/podcast)

------
cyberferret
Not on the list, but I do enjoy listening to Helen Zaltzman's "The
Allusionist" \- very useful for broadening one's knowledge of the spoken
language...

~~~
gumboshoes
I prefer A Way with Words, which is more entertaining and has actual linguists
and etymologists. The hosts have nice interplay and it works on multiple
levels: goofy fun if you want it but real information if that's not enough.
[http://waywordradio.org](http://waywordradio.org).

------
DamnInteresting
It's refreshing to see recommendations that aren't just the same rehashed
list. Thanks OP, I plan to give a few of these a try.

~~~
kenjackson
What's the old rehashed list for podcasts that make you smarter? I feel like I
should listen to those too!

~~~
DamnInteresting
These lists are usually characterized by having _RadioLab_ in the #1 slot. I'm
not saying I disagree, _RadioLab_ can be amazing. But the lists do little good
for a veteran listener like me if they're all mostly the same.

Other podcasts that frequent such lists are _99% Invisible_ , _Planet Money_ ,
_Freakonomics_ , and _Stuff You Should Know._ Newer lists will include
_Revisionist History_. Those are all good podcasts, deserving of praise, but
anybody who's been listening for any amount of time is well aware of them.

~~~
HenryTheHorse
As it happened with blogs in the mid-2000s, we are _all_ listening to the same
damn 10 podcasts. Discovering quality podcasts based on topic/keyword is
almost impossible.

------
ben_utzer
The Infinite Monkey Cage non apple links are here:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads)

------
andrewprock
Obviously missing podcasts:

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe

EconTalk

The Moth

A couple others for the HN crowd:

Data Skeptic

This Week in ML&AI

Software Engineering Radio

~~~
BinaryIdiot
> The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe

This is the biggest omission, IMO. They do a really good job digging through
the science, current news and they _always_ follow-up if they make a mistake.
It's one of the very, very few places where I feel like I don't have to double
check everything they say. I mean, sure you should probably do that with just
about everything but the reality is no one really has time for that.

Plus their Science or Fiction game at the end of every episode is fun.

------
christophergray
The art of memory applied to memorizing foreign language vocabulary (including
Chinese), bible verses, etc.

[http://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/category/podcast/feed/](http://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/category/podcast/feed/)

[http://masterofmemory.com/feed/](http://masterofmemory.com/feed/)

------
BenGosub
If you are into macroeconomics can't recommend David Beckworth's podcast
enough. [https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings](https://soundcloud.com/macro-
musings)

------
cbcoutinho
My two favorite podcasts currently:

    
    
        The Meateater podcast - talks about hunting and wildlife issues
        
        Waking up - Sam Harris's podcast where he interviews guests on a number of issues

------
tambourine_man
I'd suggest BBC's In our Time. Science, philosophy, poetry, history, etc. Good
stuff and easy listening enough.

------
ryanx435
Honestly surprising that Joe Rogan isn't on this list: he constantly has
guests on that cover all sorts of interesting topics. Some of his guests are
comedians or UFC related, but the other topics he covers are very good as
well.

~~~
InitialLastName
I'm sure he's got interesting moments, but it would be hard to convince me
that "makes you smarter" is anywhere near Joe Rogan's resume.

~~~
ryanx435
Honest question: have you ever actually listened to any of his podcasts? Or
are you just judging him by what you've heard others say about him

~~~
InitialLastName
I haven't listened to his podcasts, except for the occasional excerpt that's
bubbled up through the internet ether.

I'm mostly judging him through my familiarity with the rest of his public
activities: \- The Man Show \- Fear Factor \- Selling garbage supplements and
BS health fads without the least amount of scientific backing \- the
occasional stand-up routine/guest appearance

~~~
ryanx435
wow. so you admit that you are dismissing his podcast without actually
listening to it.

> but it would be hard to convince me that "makes you smarter" is anywhere
> near Joe Rogan's resume

do me a favor, as one human to another, listen to just 1 of his podcasts
before judging him. Its not even about him, its about the guests that he has
on.

Try this one, it is a mind blower:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USg3NR76XpQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USg3NR76XpQ)

~~~
InitialLastName
I'll give it a listen, when I have an extra 3 hours free.

I'm not dismissing his podcast, per se, I'm dismissing him and his persona in
terms of the phrase "makes you smarter".

