
Ask HN: Recommend me a Podcast - whatusername
Hi HN..  I've been doing a bit more commuting than normal lately and have found I have more commute time than podcast time.  What Podcasts do you listen to that you can recommend to others?  (Basically I'm after the HN guidelines -- anything that satisfies my intellectual curiosity)
======
arethuza
The History of Rome Podcast: [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-
of-rome/id261...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-
rome/id261654474)

I've listened to all 112 episodes so far (and still quite a bit to go) - once
this finishes I'll probably go back and listen to the "12 Byzantine Rules"
again - which is also very good.

Although not purely a podcast, I can also strongly recommend the BBC Radio 4
series "In Our Time" - which is available as a podcast:

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/in-our-time/>

This is an informal "history of ideas" and is the kind of thing the BBC does
extremely well.

~~~
kranner
IMO 'In Our Time' is less useful than it appears at first. Melvyn Bragg
invites a few University professors to discuss a topic in every episode and
things go straight to the deep end with everyone trying to sound smarter than
everyone else. It's an intellectual knife-fight where the listener hasn't even
been told the rules.

ABC Radio National's Philosophers Zone
<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/> is way better and covers much the
same topics. Great interviewer; talks clearly and slowly and summarizes key
points periodically. It's the Mixergy of philosophy.

~~~
maw
_things go straight to the deep end with everyone trying to sound smarter than
everyone else_

Yeah, that's the degenerate case, and is why I'm less keen on IOT than I used
to be. The Indian Rebellion (20100218) was the worst one this year (although
I'm almost two months behind now).

Still, when it's good, it's really good. Fortunately, you're rarely compelled
to listen to an episode: if it's no good, just move on.

~~~
kranner
At least they are short, mercifully.

I think I lost the ability to take this sort of arrangement seriously after
having watched this little 'bit of Fry and Laurie' sketch...

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFD01r6ersw>

------
mahmud
NPR's Planet Money grew on me. First few times I heard it I thought it was
about a bunch of unsophisticated 20-somethings trying to make finance "cool".

I was very wrong. They brought rigor and a human touch to finance. The format
is extremely compelling, and the stories narrated from sharp angles.

<http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/>

------
hswolff
WNYC's Radiolab: <http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/>

Absolutely brilliant in every way. Has the highest production quality of any
podcast I've ever listened to. Please give it a listen as soon as you can.

~~~
napierzaza
I love the stories they tell, but I can't listen to it. They're constantly
interrupting the flow of the podcast with sound effects and pointless frills.
I also can't stand how they often talk over interviewees.

~~~
VMG
It was much worse in the earlier podcasts, the new ones are pretty solid.
Don't download the big torrent you can find on Isohunt but download the latest
~20 podcasts. I found the effects irritating too at first but now I kinda like
them.

------
mattmaroon
This American Life is pretty much the gold standard in podcasts.

~~~
ja27
Wanted to mention that (at least for me) the iTunes Store feed for This
American Life is usually messed up. The RSS feed from their website works a
lot better:

<http://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast>

~~~
dimarco
Have you tried the iPhone app instead of the iTunes feed? It sends a nice push
notification whenever a new episode is ready.

------
soitgoes
A few podcasts I enjoy:

The Guardian's Media Talk podcast is normally very good:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/series/mediatalk>

Robots, News and Views on robotics: <http://www.robotspodcast.com>

Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: <http://www.theskepticsguide.org/>

Radiolab: <http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/>

Techzing: Startup and tech talk: <http://techzinglive.com/>

Mixergy: Startup interviews: <http://mixergy.com/>

Floss Weekly can be good depends on the guest: <http://twit.tv/FLOSS>

~~~
VMG
\+ For the skeptics guide. It's very interesting and fun.

------
netcan
econtalk : <http://www.econtalk.org/>

1 hr interview show (usually a writer promoting recent book) by a Hayek
influenced economist. Most shows relate in some way to economic issues but not
much. Many are about truth, bias and knowledge in social science fields.

I recommend starting with the archives and picking out guests you know and
like already.

~~~
frognibble
Econtalk is my favorite podcast. For those who might be put off by economics,
here are a couple of interviews that readers here on HN might find
interesting:

Paul Graham on Start-ups, Innovation, and Creativity
<http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/paul_graham/>

Paul Buchheit on Google, Friendfeed, and Start-ups
[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2009/09/buchheit_on_goo.htm...](http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2009/09/buchheit_on_goo.html)

~~~
netcan
I wouldn't personally start there (eg I like econtalk & I like PG's essays but
I didn't feel like the show was a showcase for either one).

Looking over the archive, here are some from the archive that I liked:

Blakley on Fashion and Intellectual Property

Okrent on Prohibition and His Book, Last Call

Romer on Charter Cities

Boettke on Elinor Ostrom, Vincent Ostrom, and the Bloomington School

Hitchens on Orwell

Kling on Freddie and Fannie and the Recent History of the U.S. Housing Market

Karol Boudreaux on Wildlife, Property, and Poverty in Africa

Chris Anderson on Free

Taleb on Black Swans

------
henry_flower

      % uraniacast -lv | grep -v ^pol | sort
      biz.econtalk http://www.econlib.org/library/EconTalk.xml
      biz.ft.digital_business http://podcast.ft.com/rss/21/
      biz.ft.listen_to_lucy http://podcast.ft.com/rss/18/
      biz.harvard_ideacast http://hbsp.libsyn.com/rss
      biz.mixergy http://feeds.feedburner.com/Mixergy-main-podcast
      biz.the_economist http://www.economist.com/media/rss/economist.xml
      biz.wsj.the_journal_report http://feeds.wsjonline.com/wsj/podcast_the_journal_report
      comp.37signals http://feeds.feedburner.com/37signals_podcast
      comp.agile_toolkit http://agiletoolkit.libsyn.com/rss
      comp.bsdtalk http://feeds.feedburner.com/Bsdtalk
      comp.coderpath http://feeds.feedburner.com/coderpath
      comp.entrepreneurial_thought_leaders http://www.stanford.edu/group/edcorner/uploads/podcast/EducatorsCorner.xml
      comp.floss_weekly http://leoville.tv/podcasts/floss.xml
      comp.grady_booch http://csdl.computer.org/rss/podcasts/audio/onarch.xml
      comp.hacker_medley http://feeds.feedburner.com/HackerMedley
      comp.security_now http://leoville.tv/podcasts/sn.xml
      comp.software_engineering_radio http://feeds2.feedburner.com/se-radio
      comp.stackoverflow http://rss.conversationsnetwork.org/series/stackoverflow.xml
      comp.technometria http://rss.conversationsnetwork.org/series/technometria.xml
      comp.the_startup_success http://startuppodcast.wordpress.com/feed/
      comp.twi.startups http://feeds2.feedburner.com/twist-audio
      comp.twi.venture_capital http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThisWeekInVentureCapital-audio
      eng.bbc.6_minute_english http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/how2/rss.xml
      etc.bbc.thinking_allowed http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/ta/rss.xml
      etc.twi.comedy http://feeds.feedburner.com/twicomedyaudio
      hist.dan_carlin http://feeds.feedburner.com/dancarlin/history
      psych.the_psych_files http://www.thepsychfiles.com/feed/
      sci.omegatau http://omegataupodcast.net/category/podcast-en/feed/
      writ.writing_excuses http://www.writingexcuses.com/?feed=podcast

------
nooneelse
Lots of very good stuff mentioned by others already so I'll just mention
others:

Astronomy Cast: <http://www.astronomycast.com/> I saw someone else mention it,
but it needs a second vote. I love the "not just what we know, but how we know
what we know" format.

All in the Mind: <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/default.htm>

For amusement, The Bugle. John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman BSing for a bit is
fun.

~~~
petercooper
I've listened to <http://www.astronomycast.com/> almost every single night for
the last 3 years. I must have listened to every episode at least 5 times.
Amazing stuff.

------
steveeq1
Entrepreneurship Thought Leaders: <http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html>

It's an excellent podcast from Stanford. The guest speakers give a good idea
of the quality of the podcast: Marc Andreessen, Steve Case, Steve Blank, Eric
Ries, David Heinemeier Hansson, Mitch Kapor, etc

~~~
patrickk
+1 these are excellent

EDIT: not sure why this was down voted, all I did was concur with the above
statement.

~~~
Hagelin
Because all you did was concur with the above statement?

------
MartinCron
One of my favorites that hasn't yet been mentioned is NPR's "On the Media".
They talk about currrent events in the context of how they are being reported,
which tends to make me feel more informed than just getting the "straight"
reporting.

Also, they do a lot of reporting on old media/new media issues, and they don't
get the technology wrong in ways that make me cringe.

------
JeffJenkins
The Economist: Audio Edition. It's exactly what's in the magazine, but voiced
by some excellent English readers. It comes free with a subscription, either
digital or print.

------
msuster
Obviously depends on your interests.

I do a video & podcast every week that covers startup lessons, venture capital
advice and deals funded for the week. It's called This Week in Venture
Capital. <http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-venture-capital/> (there are links
to there to the free iTunes download.

Also, This Week in Startups is great because it profiles startup CEOs and
talks about the week's news. Hosted by Jason Calacanis and is here:
<http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/>

Other recommendations: www.mixergy.com - Andrew Warner is great and profiles
successful founders.

And I live TED talks.

~~~
mikeknoop
What's the connection between the "This Week In" (thisweekin.com) network and
the assorted shows on the TWiT (twit.tv) network?

~~~
MC27
There isn't a connection, one network (TWIT) is fronted and owned by Leo
Laporte, the other (This Week In) by Jason Calacanis.

Laporte doesn't seem to like how Calacanis has diluted the TWIT brand by
launching a similar sounding network, so Calacanis is essentially banned from
appearing on Laporte's network.

Not really a fan of either though. These days, TWIT seems to focus on shows
that are opinion heavy, rather than content heavy, while Calacanis' podcasts
feel a bit too "pie in the sky".

------
pkulak
I like Hardcore History. The guy sounds exactly like Glenn Beck in his voice
and speaking style, which made it nearly impossible for me to listen to at
first. But, now that I'm over that, it's great.

~~~
stcredzero
His take on what combat must've been like in ancient times is spot on. It
gives you an insight of how different the psychology of people like that was.

------
jasonmcalacanis
This Week in Venture Capital is amazing.

web: <http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-venture-capital/>

itunes: [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-venture-
capi...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-venture-
capital/id364736777)

------
Apreche
The most intellectually stimulating podcast I have ever listened to. 12
Byzantine Rulers - <http://12byzantinerulers.com/>

My podcast (I have no shame) GeekNights - <http://frontrowcrew.com/>

------
billturner
My favorite podcast these days is The Tobolowsky Files:
[http://www.slashfilm.com/category/features/slashfilmcast/the...](http://www.slashfilm.com/category/features/slashfilmcast/the-
tobolowsky-files/)

Stephen Tobolowsky, the actor probably best known for Ned Ryerson in
_Groundhog Day_ , is a fantastic storyteller. He's been recounting stories
from his life, inside hollywood, and everywhere in between. Funny, poignant,
and something I look forward to every week.

------
orchidguru
TechZing gets my vote. <http://techzinglive.com/> It's broadly about issues
relating to tech startups but meanders quite a bit. The hosts are characters
and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

~~~
jayro
Hey, this is Jason from TechZing. Thanks so much for the mention! I never
really thought of myself as a character, but you're probably right. ;)

By the way, for anyone interested in checking out the TechZing podcast, we not
only discuss tech, startups and other HN-like topics, we'll even on occasion
take a risk and venture into the unknown. For example, we recently interviewed
a historian of UFOs and the national security state which, to our surprise,
turned out to be one of our most popular shows of all time.

This week we're interviewing David Fogel, who evolved a world-class checkers
playing algorithm named Blondie24, and I anticipate that to be an especially
interesting show.

Anyway, you should listen to us here: <http://techzinglive.com> because if you
like HN then you'll probably like our show.

~~~
TY
Jason, the interview with Richard Dolan (UFO guy) was the best show in my
memory and I listened to almost all of Techzing episodes.

------
taifun
NPR's All songs considered:
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=37> Great music podcast

CBC's And the winner is:
[http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?newsandcurrent#andth...](http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?newsandcurrent#andthewinneris)
The best documentaries from the Canadian brodcasting corp.

------
jesseendahl
Radiolab is brilliant. I doubt you will find a better radio show/podcast than
that. Listen to the episodes on memory and race—they blew me away.

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

They discuss very interesting economic issues that everyone can relate to.
Suitable for any audience.

------
jpspeno
Stuff You Should Know Podcast: [http://www.howstuffworks.com/stuff-you-should-
know-podcast.h...](http://www.howstuffworks.com/stuff-you-should-know-
podcast.htm)

------
limmeau
Software Engineering Radio, <http://www.se-radio.net/> (English, sometimes
with a German accent).

Chaosradio Express, <http://chaosradio.ccc.de/> (in German with a German
accent). Two-hour interviews on mostly technological topics.

------
kingkilr
If you have any interest in Django, I'm a fan of DjangoDose (
<http://djangodose.com/>), I'm also one of the hosts though.

------
elmindreda
Seminars About Long-term Thinking at the Long Now Foundation:
<http://longnow.org/seminars/>

BBC World Service documentaries:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/>

------
b3b0p
What are your interests? Are you looking for podcasts specifically related to
the topics discussed on Hacker News?

All the Hacker News related ones I currently listen to and know about have
been listed, so there is no need to repeat those.

So, I'll list the ones based on my other interests that I enjoy:

1\. The Dan Patrick Show

iTunes: [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dan-patrick-show-
podc...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dan-patrick-show-
podcast/id279241099)

I do not enjoy sports much, I can't sit through a game of any professional or
college sporting event, even going to the actual game bores me to tears.
However, this show is fun, daily, keeps me up to date. It's a good listen at
night while working on my next big thing or preparing for the next day. I am
able to competently converse with the many sports fans at the office, at the
gym, coffee shop, etc. Note: I lied, I care about 2 sports team: Minnesota
Twins and Vikings.

2\. Weekend Confirmed

iTunes: [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/weekend-confirmed-the-
vid...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/weekend-confirmed-the-
video/id364678400)

I enjoy video games, mostly older stuff, but I like to think I keep up to date
on the current market. This is typically 2 hour very professionally well done
weekly podcast. Show host is Garnett Lee of former EGM / 1Up fame. He does an
awesome job. Two thumbs way up. I look forward to this every week.

3\. A Life Well Wasted

iTunes: [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-life-well-
wasted/id3036...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-life-well-
wasted/id303688916)

It's retired now, but everyone who enjoys video games even a little needs to
listen to these (except for the last episode; don't bother). Truly epic and
well researched and produced.

Honerable mentions or already mentioned previously: Retronauts, Twit, NPR
Planet Money, This week in Startups, MDN (Mac Developer Network), Engadget,
Joystiq

------
lovskogen
Also, You Look Nice Today - great comedy.

------
Gianteye
I've been enjoying Dan Savage's Lovecast a lot -
<http://podcasts.thestranger.com/savagelove/archives.php>

He's an adorably snarky sex advice columnist.

~~~
petercooper
Savage Love is one of my favorites. He's not the sort of person a lot of
people here would be likely to admit listening to, but I know at least a few
do ;-)

Dan is, perhaps, responsible for me coming entirely around to absolute and
total equality for people of all sexual persuasions. Not that I was _against_
it before, but I was neutral. Now the idea that gay people can't marry or
adopt in many areas almost makes my blood boil.

------
ivey
Radiolab and You Look Nice Today are already mentioned several times.

Lately I've really been enjoying Risk: <http://risk-show.com/> Honest stories
people thought they'd never share.

------
starnix17
Anything on 5by5: <http://5by5.tv/>

------
motters
Hooting Yard
[http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/archives/category/shows/hoot...](http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/archives/category/shows/hooting)

Little Atoms <http://www.littleatoms.com/>

Skeptoid <http://skeptoid.com/>

Hacker Public Radio <http://hackerpublicradio.org/>

FLOSS Weekly <http://www.twit.tv/floss>

Linux Outlaws <http://www.linuxoutlaws.com/>

------
ericboggs
I think Mark Suster does a good job with This Week in Venture Capital -
<http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-venture-capital/>

------
avar
Astronomy Cast: A hard science (almost exclusively discusses accepted peer
reviewed theories) podcast about cosmology. Everything from the Big Bang to
Missions to Mars: <http://www.astronomycast.com/>

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: A skeptical podcast by Steven Novella &
co. They cover a lot of interesting topics, and some other ones that I'm not a
big fan of. But overall pretty good: <http://www.theskepticsguide.org/>

------
moultano
On the Media is my favorite for news. Frankly it's one of the only news
programs where I feel like I've legitimately learned something about the
situation after listening to it.

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
+1 for On the Media

<http://www.onthemedia.org/>

in fact, I've been on a couple of times:

<http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2007/05/25/05>
<http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/05/21/03>

very intelligent hosts, covering very important issues in a deep way.

~~~
DrJokepu
Come on, this is ridiculous. Why was this downvoted? I mean, seriously, what's
so bad about the content of this comment that made it deserve at least two
downvotes?

If the entire readership of HN hadn't had such an unquestionable integrity
without exceptions, I might be tempted to think that it was downvoted simply
out of pure childish hatred and not some real objective reason. But that would
be, of course, impossible.

------
mrlyc
TED Talks: "Riveting talks by remarkable people"
<http://feeds.feedburner.com/tedtalks_audio>

Conversations with Richard Fidler: a little-known, even in his home country of
Australia, radio interviewer who is better than Michael Parkinson
[http://abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/conversationspodc...](http://abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/conversationspodcast.xml)

------
danielford
I'd recommend the Thomas Jefferson Hour for people interested in early US
history or the enlightenment period.

<http://www.jeffersonhour.org/?id=16>

The podcast consists of Clay Jenkinson, a Jefferson impersonator, being
interviewed and answering listener questions on various historical or modern
topics. I wouldn't normally like this, but Jenkinson has accumulated a
mountain of knowledge on the period, and seems to have read everything that
was formative in Jefferson's intellectual development. This creates a
remarkably effective illusion that Jefferson is actually speaking.

The format is two in-character sections where Jefferson answers questions,
then one out-of-character section where Clay Jenkinson gives context for the
answers. Occasionally Jenkinson also does an entirely out-of-character show
where he talks about recent events in the news. While out-of-character,
Jenkinson always maintains a clear separation between Jefferson's opinions and
his own thoughts on a subject.

I don't think The Thomas Jefferson Hour is as good as Radiolab or the
Philosopher's Zone, but it's still one of the best podcasts I've ever listened
to.

------
jbarmash
I listen to a lot of podcasts, here are some of my favorites:

Entrepreneur: 1\. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders

    
    
       2. Venture Voice (hasn't been updated in a while, but Greg Gallant is a very good interviewer, and some interesting ones are non-tech, e.g. Jon Boggle).
    
       3.  StackOverflow Podcast - not strinkly entrepreneur, but good general technical discussions.  Great to listen to when you don't have your full attention to devote.
    
    

General Interest:

    
    
       1. This American Life
    
       2. The Moth
    
       3. NPR Planet Money
    
       4. WNYC Radio Lab - stories with science bend
    

Some other ones I listened to in the past that I'd recommend:

    
    
       Hanselminutes (technology, focused on .NET, but other topics as well)
    
    

I also strongly recommend The Teaching Company - they put together courses
tought by the best professors. Mostly nontechnial, but interesting stuff (and
they do have some more business-focused courses).

<http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx?ai=16281>

------
pbjorklund
This week in google - Covering the googleverse and the cloud
<http://twit.tv/twig>

A lighter, enjoyable podcast from Leo Laportes network. I've been listening to
this every week since it launched and it's one of the ones I never seem to
miss. It's perfect for a commute where you tend to miss things here and there.

------
chrislo
A few BBC shows/podcasts I like:

Peter Day's World of Business: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/worldbiz>
(international business news, interviews)

From Our Own Correspondent: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc>
('letters' from far-flung places)

Excess Baggage <http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/excessbag> (travellers
and travelling)

Kermode and Mayo film reviews <http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/kermode>
(witty round-up of new film releases with a cult following)

Material World <http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/material> (science show)

------
bmac
The overthinking it podcast is one of my favorites. A panel generally
overthinks movies and other artifacts from pop culture and arrives at some
interesting concepts by following Hollywood's 'movie logic'.
<http://www.overthinkingit.com/category/podcast/otip/>

If you enjoy comedy Jordan Jesse Go! and Stop Podcasting yourself are two
podcast from Maximumfun that regularly interview comedic stars from Los
Angeles and Vancouver respectively. <http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/jordan-
jesse-go> <http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/stop-podcasting-yourself>

------
abrudtkuhl
Hardcore History is the best podcast by far (even if you are not a history
buff) -> <http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hh>

Others on my list include:

This Week In Startups -> <http://thisweekinstartups.com/>

Mixergy -> <http://mixergy.com>

Prairiecast -> <http://prairiecast.com>

Smodcast -> <http://smodcast.com/main.html>

Tell Em Steve Dave -> <http://smodcast.com/stevedave/index.html>

Common Sense -> <http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/csarchive>

------
genieyclo
<http://webpulp.tv/> is very nice, and should be interesting ton HNers because
it interviews with startups and webapps on what technologies they use, why,
and how they run their systems.

------
ja27
I always keep some episodes of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and Car Talk on
my iPod for long drives. They're not very productive, but they are
entertaining.

Backyard FX is an interesting video podcast with lots of DIY projects for
budding filmmakers.

The Wizards of the Coast / Dungeons and Dragons podcasts with the Penny Arcade
/ PvP / Wil Wheaton guys were pretty entertaining.
[http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Archive.aspx?category=resources&#...</a><p>I also
like John Hodgman's "Today in the Past" as a quick break between other
podcasts.

------
ronnier
Here's a list of podcasts for .net programmers:
[http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselmanListOfPodcastsForNETP...](http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselmanListOfPodcastsForNETProgrammers.aspx)

------
sreitshamer
The Pipeline by Dan Benjamin.

------
AlexMuir
Reporters Roundtable is a professionally produced weekly conversation about a
single tech-topic. It's great - <http://www.cnet.com/reporters-roundtable-
podcast/>

If you handle two hours of Jason Calacanis you could try This Week in
Startups. <http://thisweekin.com/startups>

37signals podcast has had a couple of moments but it's not particularly
thrilling. - <http://37signals.com/podcast>

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
++ on Reporters Roundtable and 37signals.

I had David Heinemeier Hansson on This Week in Startups and he is brilliant
IMO: <http://jc.is/9K4f0l>

~~~
AlexMuir
That episode is a classic, I highly recommend it too - DHH and Jason are a
good match.

------
danspodcast
Love this thread found some new podcasts I haven't heard of before. Ever since
I started my own business podcasts have taken over completely from movies and
tv as my primary source of entertainment. Here are my favorites:

1) The Adam Carolla Podcast - Its not heavy material (this is my daily candy
entertainment) but I marvel at how well Adam communicates and improvs-- he's
been doing radio for over 10 years and he's the most consistently funny improv
guy I've ever heard-- he constructs some pretty complicated comic maneuvers in
real time, like call-backs and alliterative rhymes and stuff... anyway the guy
is a mench

2) This Week in Start-Ups - I think @jason 's podcast is the currently the
best consistently produced business related entertainment on the web (second
is now defunct UK version of Kitchen Nightmares by Gordon Ramsay, watch out
you might get addicted) sometimes interview podcasts can frustrate you with
their non-sequitor randomness but this show involves experienced high-level
tech entrepreneurs in pitch reviews, business advice, and news commentary.
There are also some pretty awesome narratives to the show, like Jason getting
in random fights, confronting celebrities, calling out other entrepreneurs,
and starting businesses on the show. GREAT stuff.

3)Fresh Air - The most entertaining and insightful interview podcast I've come
across. Terry Gross interviews people who do interesting shaz and she asks
really damn good questions.

4)Mixergy - Andrew Warners show is like entrepreneurial popcorn, its fun to
hear what other folks are up to. Andrew pretty much seems like the nicest guy
ever and is really good at pulling out interesting stories from his guests.

5)This American Life - Finds SUPER interesting stories, tells them awesomely,
and from time to time if you are alone in your car you might pop out a tear or
two. Very pro.

6)Internet Business Mastery - The content might be a little beginner level
form many HN users, but if you are just getting started marketing an internet
based business, these guys have some really professionally produced episodes
(100 now) that walk you through every single aspect of setting up a blog based
marketing type business. Not much start up or tech info, but lots of good
mindset and basic business 101 stuff. This really helped me out when I was
making the transition to quit my job.

------
malpern
I'm a fan of Jon Udell's interviews with Innovators:

<http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/series/innovators.html>

~~~
ThomPete
This guy really do pick some very interesting companies or people that often
later on turn out to be important or popular.

Highly recommendable.

Also Phill Windley's show technometria.

Of podcastsites I can recommend both itconversations.org and spoken word.org

------
robingorry
Techzing is a great podcast about startups, web development and general
discussion. <http://www.techzinglive.com>

------
sgallant
I'm surprised nobody has brought up the stackoverflow podcasts:

<http://blog.stackoverflow.com/category/podcasts/>

87 hour-long episodes with Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood discussing the
creation of stack overflow and other tech related stuff.

Here's a good one - (interview with reddit founders)
<http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2008/10/podcast-27/>

------
Q6T46nT668w6i3m
Some podcasts my partner and I both enjoy:

Politics, Diplomacy, Economics >

Fareed Zakaria GPS = The Sunday show with actual newsmakers, global
perspective, focused on diplomacy, economics, and conflict.

The Political Gabfest from Slate = John Dickerson, best beat politics writer,
David Plotz, editor of slate, and Emily Bazelon, one of the best actively
writing essayists talking about 3 topics in politics from the week. Frequently
one topic touches on the supreme court.

Left, Right, and Center from KCRW = Crossfire without the bullshit. Usual
guests: Arianna Huffington, Robert Scheer, and Tony Blankley.

The Political Scene from the New Yorker = Short, smart discussion of the
week's policy and political happenings. The hosts are from the political,
finance, and foreign affairs staff from the New Yorker.

It's All Politics from NPR = Extraordiarily in depth for its short length.
Hosted by two of the best beat political reporters in the business. Podcast
only about political minutia, no policy discussion, just politics.

Planet Money from NPR = As someone who studies economics, it is the best
podcast out there for economics. But it's accessible for everyone. Created by
NPR's best young reporters.

Culture >

The Treatment from KCRW = Elvis Mitchell, according to Bill Murray, smartest
man alive, according to me, probably the smartest working critic.

The Monocle Weekly = Tyler Brule, founder of Wallpaper and the Monocle
magazine, columnist for the Financial Times, and friends. Casual, smart, like
the NYT Style section, but for the Financial Times set.

The Moth = True life adventures told live in front of an audience. I don’t
understand why the episodes are so short and only once a week.

The Story from APM = similar to The Moth, but with an interviewer. It’s also
published daily.

Out Loud from the New Yorker = A New Yorker writer is interviewed about a
piece that they wrote for the New Yorker that week.

On the Media from NPR = media critique, ALWAYS smart. Best show on NPR.

Fresh Air from NPR = The classic interview show.

On Point from NPR = Call-in show, but really an interview show similar to
Fresh Air. More in depth and timely than Fresh Air.

Philosophy Bites = Short discussions on open questions in philosophy.
Accessible to non-philosophers. Ususally features non-philosophers talking
about philosophy. Biologists, psychologists, mathematicians, etc.

The Double X from Slate = loosely focused on women's perspectives on life,
books, pop culture and politics. The hosts rotate, but most of them are truly
brilliant. Hanna Rosin, Margaret Talbot, and Emily Bazelon are great.

The Sporkful = For eaters, not foodies, as they say. Bryant Park Project
people, very good.

Wiretap from CBC = My second favorite podcast. Jonathan Goldstein, who's the
best regular contributor to This American Life. Does monologues and has
amusing phone conversations with his friends.

Radiolab from WNYC = Broad topics in science, most interestingly presented.
Good WNYC aesthetic (lots of unconventional editing).

Comedy >

Comedy Death Ray-Radio = a funny weekly snapshot of the LA-UCB scene (i.e.
Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, etc.).

Never Not Funny = similar to Comedy Death Ray-Radio, but for NYC instead of
LA. It costs to subscribe, but the free podcast is still worth listening to.

Sports >

The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons = Usually smart, rarely-about-sports, sports
podcast.

FreeDarko Presents: The Disciples of Clyde = great writers talking about
basketball, usually other topics too.

Hang Up and Listen from Slate = My favorite podcast. Sports radio for people
who hate sports radio.

Etc. >

We also love EconTalk, and Dan Benjamin's podcasts are not totally great, but
they will be someday.

------
soyelmango
I recommend _out-law radio_ ( <http://www.out-law.com/page-7212> ), a weekly
podcast by a law firm covering technology/law matters

EDIT: Oh, there's also _A History of the World in 100 Objects_ (
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/> ) - which does what it says, based
on 100 objects from the British Museum.

------
biafra
Javaposse - <http://www.javaposse.com/>

Off the hook - <http://www.2600.com/offthehook/>

Buzz out loud - <http://www.cnet.com/buzz-out-loud-podcast/>

Android Atlas Weekly - <http://cnettv.cnet.com/live/android-atlas-weekly/>

------
aklemm
Definitely Not the Opera (DNTO to those in the know).
<http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/> The best way I can describe is that they take a
theme from day-to-day living (small talk, friends, language, etc.) and have a
series of thoughtful discussions about it. It grew on me quickly and is a nice
change up from tech, news, and tech news. ;p

------
cj
Mixergy interviews are excellent (and downloadable).

------
Eric-G
The VOIP users conference, www.VUC.me. The range of topics is all over the
place, in a good way. It goes from discussing very small installations to huge
100,000 plus installs and the products and solutions used. Every week there is
a new guest speaker giving a talk. They recently had a talk about providing a
trial cell/voip setup to a remote island.

------
mqmouse
I really like Drunk and Retired. It's done by Michael Cote at Redmonk and
Charles Lowell at the Frontside. Can get a little offtopic sometimes (like
tangents about Austin traffic) but in general really funny.

Here's one about sandboxed javascript...

<http://drunkandretired.com/2010/03/04/episode165/>

------
lukifer
Only one of my favorites that hasn't already been mentioned: The Nerdist
Podcast, with Chris Hardwick (half of the comedy duo Hard 'n' Phirm). Lots of
good interviews that intersect the Venn diagram between nerd culture and
comedy.

<http://www.nerdist.com/category/podcast/>

------
tomjen3
I can only pass on the recommendation of Dan Carlins really great hard core
history podcast <http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hh>

If you need an idea for where to start, you could start with the Ghost of the
Ost front podcasts - extreemly enlightening, but bloody.

------
ivarv
Check out Quirks & Quarks. Over its lifetime, Q&Q has won more than 70
national and international awards for science journalism. It is consistently
rated the most enjoyed program by CBC Radio listeners.

<http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/podcast.html>

~~~
jtbarrett
I enthusiastically second this recommendation; Quirks & Quarks has definitely
been my favorite podcast recently and is the only one I listen to that holds
my attention and interest every single program. It covers a delightfully broad
range of scientific topics and while nothing is explored in too much detail,
Bob asks interesting and substantiative questions of the serious researchers
he has as guests and gives them plenty of time to formulate a complete answer.

------
kristofferR
The Lifestyle Business Podcast is an absolutely awesome podcast about modern
business. The content is so valuable that they decided to take payments for
the first 30 episodes, but it's so worth it!

<http://www.lifestylebusinesspodcast.com/>

~~~
danspodcast
hehe thanks for the shout out KrisofferR! Truth is our justification for
charging for the first 30 episodes is to give show supporters an opportunity
to help us pay for our audio editor's/virtual assistant fees which helps us
produce new shows faster. Thanks for listening :)

------
pcubed
I personsally like The Changelog, run by two big fans of Github and open
source. They have on guests to discuss what's new and hot in the world of open
source. They've talked to Doug Crockford, John Resig, and some people behind
projects like NodeJS, MongoDB, etc.

------
planckscnst
Linux Action Show is one that I love that isn't listed yet.
<http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/?cat=4>

It's not particularly intellectual, but it's an entertaining rundown and
discussion of Linux-oriented news.

------
biturd
Has nothing to do with hacking, code, politics, making yourself smarter etc,
but is good for a laugh. Smodcast by Kevin Smith is pretty awesome.

<http://www.smodcast.com/>

~~~
abrudtkuhl
Smodcast is fantastic... so is Tell Em Steve Dave

------
Symmetry
I've found History According to Bob endlessly fascinating;
<http://www.summahistorica.com/>

Short, digestible college style lectures about various history topics.

------
bbhacker
Monocle Weekly - High quality reporting about current global issues done in a
refreshing way. Awesome.

<http://www.monocle.com/The-Monocle-Weekly/>

------
AlexMuir
The Venture Voice series of interviews with great tech entrepreneurs -
<http://www.venturevoice.com/>

------
pstinnett
I've always liked the GDGT podcast: <http://features.gdgt.com/podcast/>

Insightful/thoughtful gadget discussion.

------
unshift
Uhh Yeah Dude: America through the eyes of two American Americans.
<http://www.uhhyeahdude.com>

------
mike463
TED Talks are wonderful

<http://www.ted.com/>

They have both audio and video podcasts available. search "TED talks" in
itunes.

------
chanux
And my FOSS/Linux related podcast feed <http://friendfeed.com/fosscasts>

------
daleharvey
you might want to check out <http://said.fm/> it provides recommendations for
podcasts.

~~~
abdels
As one of the said.fm culprits I would totally also recommend checking out
<http://blog.said.fm> for some listening ideas, we've got tons there.

We love discovering new stuff to listen to and our theme of the day is a
simple showcase of this, incidentally here's a very basic RSS feed I use for
testing: <http://rss.said.fm/v0.1/themes/theme_of_the_day.xml> \- this might
disappear in the long term but for now feel free plug it into ur iTunes and
go!

We're finally ready to rumble again after recently running out of cash. Our
next priority is to make the app mobile and very developer friendly (and
slightly more fun and social). Watch this space!

------
foenix
I run a podcast about cognitive science you may enjoy: <http://cogscast.ca>

------
udfalkso
Sound Opinions is a fantastic music talk show.

<http://www.soundopinions.org/>

------
protomyth
for digital video I like Red Centre <http://www.fxguide.com/redcentre> \- it
actually covers more than Red cameras and some of the episodes are pure
teaching clinics. Plus, it has got to have the best show notes of any podcast
(PDF + Pictures).

------
dmillar
NPR's Marketplace

------
lovskogen
No Agenda, for real news, no tabloid shit.

~~~
tommynazareth
I listen to podcasts all day while I work. I've consumed hundreds of hours of
all types of podcasts. No Agenda is the best show on the internet.

Edit: There is plenty of 'real news' tabloid shit though.

The value in No Agenda is the deconstruction of media and the calling out
disguised propaganda. Thanks to No Agenda, I realize why the local news is
covering 'Jersey Shore', I can see that a ten minute news segment with no
interruption is being secretly paid for, and I know to check the sponsors of
every news story and check out the history of the journalist.

Maybe I'm biased, since I've always been extremely skeptical of any entrenched
establishment, but I don't lack for intelligence or critical thinking and I
think that is the cause of my anti-establishment tendencies.

~~~
rpledge
Well said. If you listen to No Agenda you quickly start to realize that
mainstream media is a huge waste of time and completely controlled by
corporations.

Adam may have some crazy theories, but a lot of what they talk about is the
truth.

You don't have to agree with everything they say. In fact, if you only listen
to opinions that you agree with, why bother listening to anything?

------
mite-mitreski
THE BEST PODCASTS <http://channeldvorak.com/shows>

~~~
SecurityMatters
I listen to his tech5 and crankygeeks podcast, but don't bother with the link
above. It brings up a page about half obscured with what is probably a black
TV. Why bother putting up a website where the content is obscured? Maybe the
slow people who browse with javascript on see something else.

------
jacoblyles
Econtalk.

------
joubert
This American Life

------
napierzaza
The Moth is a great podcast.

People who are mostly in NY and mostly people who wrote non-fiction books who
tell stories true stories about their lives without notes. Really engrossing.

~~~
culled
The Moth is a great podcast but there website makes it difficult to find old
shows. Subscribe to the RSS feed if you want to look through their archives.

------
rick_2047
I am not exactly learn from an audio podcast type but I really liked listening
to John R Searle's class of Philosophy of Mind, at UC Berkeley Webcasts[1].
The quality is bad as hell, but the content not so much.

Also if you want to have some light listening (you don't want the all
intellectual boring life do you?) then I would highly recommend Bells in the
Batfry[2] by John bell and Decoder Ring Theater [3]. Listen to everything
produced by them, its a treat.

[1][http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details_new.php?seriesid=...](http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details_new.php?seriesid=2010-B-67280&semesterid=2010-B)

[2]<http://thebatfry.com/>

[3]<http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/>

------
sabat
Coolness Roundup: entertaining gadget reviews by two charismatic, fun guys.
<http://coolnessroundup.com/>

Chillcast: if you like chill music at all, you'll love Anji Bee and her
tasteful playlists. She's got a great voice, too. <http://www.anjibee.com/>

