50 Podcasts Worth Checking out

I've been a bit quiet publishing anywhere lately, but I've been in listening and thinking mode. Conversation Agent is moving to a new platform, hopefully soon. My list of topics to cover has grown well, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I promised I would publish a list of podcasts worth checking out — here it is.

My work (and life) is at the intersection of business, technology, culture and human behavior as we try to imagine and predict the future while learning from the past and present. A healthy dose of creativity and innovation help us design a life that works.

I'm interested in a return to humanity.

Conversation is the software that comes with our operating system, we should use it as a tool to get more of what we want.

Good podcasts share three characteristics: 1. / address a core human need; 2. / deliver a distinct point of view; 3. / make you think about a topic differently, and for a longer time.

A note on listening. Listening is hard, because it requires constant attention, and at the same time is easier to do than watching, especially when you're doing carpentry work, painting walls, or sanding floors (all things I have done successfully).

50 podcasts worth checking out

Business

How I Built This - a “behind the scenes” tour of how entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas into world-changing companies. Hosted by renowned NPR journalist Guy Raz.

Inside LaunchStreet - has a “big picture” focus on innovation. It helps business pros and enterprises at all levels stretch their thinking and find ways to differentiate in marketing, sales, operations, and life.

Opening Arguments - a lawyer and a comedian get behind a mike. The hosts balance informative with engaging. Law affects our daily lives and it's something that most people know little about. This show makes it accessible.

Planet Money - the interplay between economics and our daily life. Fun and enjoyable. An education about dollars and cents via NPR.

The Knowledge Project - run by Shane Parrish, this podcast explores the ideas, methods, and mental models, that help expand your mind, live deliberately, and “master the best of what other people have already figured out.” The conversations run long enough to get interesting.

Collaboration Superpowers - interviews with remote-working experts including advice and action lists plus pitfalls and solutions. Weekly.

Outside In - on the most customer-oriented brands in the world. Business leaders, media figures, and academics come together to discuss strategies for fostering true “customer first” cultures.

Everyone Hates Marketers - a no-fluff, actionable marketing podcast for people sick of shady, in-your-face marketing.

The Allusionist - linguistic adventures with Helen Zaltzman. This show reminds me that language is mutable and fungible, and that when we humans talk with each other, it's a miracle we know what the other person is saying.

The Art of Charm - for insatiable networkers who want more love-life, lifestyle and career tips in their arsenal.

Writing

All Good Copy - the link is to an episode I particularly liked. Glenn Fisher talks to Nick Parker about how understanding tone of voice can help you as a copywriter, what it means to be a copywriter and the best way to reinvigorate your thinking if you find yourself stuck in a creative rut.

Death of 1000 Cuts - an 8-week writing course given by poet Tim Clare. The 15-minute podcast gives advice and a structured 10-minute writing exercise every day for 8 weeks. It helps with stagnant writer’s block, writing confidence, writing fatigue and helps exercise the writing muscles for people to feel empowered to write and to dedicate the time to creativity. 

The Portfolio Life - CreativeLive teacher and writer Jeff Goins helps writers discover their voices and stay productive. On recent episodes, he discusses ways to redefine the meaning of a bestselling book, how to finally start writing that book and how to sustain a long-term career in the arts.

The Content Champion - deep dives into the art and science of content marketing. Each episode covers techniques step-by-step so you can bring new ideas back to your team every time you have a listen.

Longform - long conversations with writers of non-fiction. Good host and really interesting conversations. Slow compared to other podcasts.

Behavior

Hidden Brain - features amazing storytelling backed by experts in the field on why we do and think the ways that we do. Answers questions like: Why did a competitive luxury brand gift Snookie a rival Gucci handbag? Why are people in multi-cultural relationships more creative? Why should marriages be more like Pinot than Cabernet? Why does wearing bright red sneakers make other people feel you're more influential?

Nir and Far - Nir discusses how design influences customer behavior and analyzes how specific companies build habits.

Change Agent - everyone’s got problems. They try to fix them on air. Uses powerful analogous inspiration can be in helping us change our behavior.

Technology

Rocket - a few tech journalists talk about general geek topics, with an emphasis on tech. Perfect balance of smart informational chat and good host chemistry.

Exponent Podcast - a focus on understanding the strategy and business implications of the news of the day, as well as the deeper trends at work in technology. Hosted by Ben Thompson, the author and founder of Stratechery, and Jon Nathanson, a writer for Slate. Recorded weekly.

Masters of Scale - Reid Hoffman interviews some of the world’s top businesspeople to figure out “how companies go from zero to a gazillion.” Guests have included legends of business like Sara Blakely, Eric Schmidt, and Mark Zuckerberg.

a16z - the official podcast of Andreessen-Horowitz discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future—especially as ‘software eats the world’. It covers emerging fields and mediums for creative expression, new experiences, and potential effects of technology on society at large. Multiple episodes are released every week.

Theory of Everything - conversations about life and technology and the connections between things. Really interesting and well thought-out.

Future

The Future of Everything - Wall Street Journal's impeccably researched radio-style features on technologies and ideas that are pushing our world into an uncertain future. Hosted by Jennifer Strong every Wednesday.

Review the Future - takes an in-depth look at the impact of technology on culture. Not strictly about work, but definitely about technologies that will affect our work: economic singularities, the threat of cheap weapons, brain-to-brain interfaces, and more.

IDEO Futures - entrepreneurship meets design. On the art and science of bringing cool stuff to life by designers who build to think. IDEO's motto, “Don't get ready, get started!” animates each 30+ minute show.

Flash Forward - about the amazing possibilities – and downsides – the future holds. Each month Rose Eveleth imagines a possible future scenario based on current innovations. 

Future Thinkers - for futurologists that look at life philosophically. This covers everything from AI to exploring human consciousness.

Exponential View - a newish addition by Azeem Anzar, curator of the Exponential View newsletter, in deep conversation with the world's leading thinkers and practitioners exploring questions like: How will the future unfold? What is the impact of technology on business & society?

Science

Radiolab - reporters explore fascinating and mysterious stories usually in the realm of science and nature and wind their way to answers in a series of tightly cut together interviews. The show experiments with sound to tell better stories. Well researched. 

The Guardian's Science - the big discoveries and debates in biology, chemistry, physics, and sometimes math. Science desk Ian Sample, Hannah Devlin & Nicola Davis meet the great thinkers and doers in science and technology. Weekly.

Waking Up - Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author—as he explores some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events. 

Stuff to Blow Your Mind - there’s something strange about reality. Robert and Joe examine neurological quandaries, cosmic mysteries, evolutionary marvels and our transhuman future… from the staff at HowStuffWorks.

Past & Present

The Memory Palace - the human story behind the story of our recent past. Bite sized stories from 18th - 20th century history, told with interest and pathos.

In Our Time - big, heavy intellectual discussions of very serious topics in history, art and culture. Try it out, some topics are more accessible than others.

Revisionist History - Malcolm Gladwell's examinations of historical events from a new perspective. The people, things, ideas, and events that have been misrepresented, ignored, or completely forgotten. “Sometimes, the past deserves a second chance.”

The Way I Heard It - in each episode, Mike Rowe covers a little known and short story about a famous person, event, or company. The origin stories surprise. 

Hardcore History - powerful stories from the past. Dan Carlin keeps the narrative human and personal while still showing the great sweep of history. Epic storytelling with a healthy dose of learning. Stories of real people with real feelings, who created the world in which we live. Episodes are very long.

Unregistered - Thaddeus Russell, author of A Renegade History of the United States, interviews people who break the rules of conventional discourse and expand the realm of the possible.

PRI's the World - in depth local topics, how they affect the world and what they mean to all of us. Human stories, with all the pathos and weight of great fiction, done in interview with real people. Serious show that manages to be easy on listening.

Creativity & Design

Magic Lessons - Elizabeth Gilbert's creativity podcast features her interviewing people about how they overcome the fears that are inherent in the creative process, and calling up famous creatives to get their input. I like the fact that she actually provides advice to her guests, and acknowledges the challenges we all face in being creative.

The 21st Century Creative - hosted by poet and creative coach Mark McGuinness who helps creative professionals succeed amid the demands, distractions, and opportunities of the 21st century.

99% Invisible - think pieces about design and its role in our everyday life. Impeccably researched and always interesting, with a wonderfully charming delivery from its host.

Invisibilia - explores the invisible things that shape everyday life. A good radio-style interview think-piece program, with an emphasis on the patterns of human behavior and a light touch. Gives more questions than answers, in a good way.

Staff You Should Know - how anything works from the HowStuffWorks team. From police body cameras to giraffes, from dictators to porta potties… they have episodes on most anything.

Design Matters - hosted by Debbie Millman. The world's first podcast about design and an inquiry into the broader world of creative culture through wide-ranging conversations with designers, writers, artists, curators, musicians, and other luminaries of contemporary thought.

Culture

Akimbo - Akimbo is an ancient word, from the bend in the river or the bend in an archer's bow. It's become a symbol for strength, a posture of possibility, the idea that when we stand tall, arms bent, looking right at it, we can make a difference. Akimbo's a podcast by Seth Godin about our culture and about how we can change it. About seeing what's happening and choosing to do something. The culture is real, but it can be changed. We can bend it.

Burnt Toast - conversations and researched features on food, food culture, and its relationship to daily life. An absolute delight from production to experience.

Fireside Mystery Theatre - storytelling and variety show done in front of a live audience. The stories are usually entertaining, and the theatre atmosphere adds a fun dimension.

Death, Sex, & Money - personal stories about big decisions, done in journalistic interviews style. Digs into the real stuff in people's lives.

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A good mix of different perspectives and formats makes for better learning, especially when counter intuitive, or when there's room to disagree. Podcasts offer the best of both worlds — intimacy and thinking in equal measures, so we can make up our minds as we listen. The experience is similar to that of radio.

In an interview with Italian publication La Stampa, award-winning Italian singer Mina Mazzini talks about the radio listening experience. She says, “In a world that has alas celebrated the extinction of the verb to listenwhat is left is visual enslavement. In such a world, radio is a last oasis, a natural environment where among bushes and stones one can still find everything – literature and gossip, from Cole Porter to Puccini, from politics to some extinct musical form. On the radio, it is still possible to find words offered to the listener with that tact that TV abhors.” I feel the same way about podcasts.

Carlo Emilio Gadda was an engineer from Milan who worked in Italy, Belgium, and Argentina. In 1940s, he became a full-time writer in Firenze, then Rome a decade later when he worked for RAI (Italian National TV). In 1953, when RAI asked him to write up a compendium of “Policies for Radio Programming,” Gadda wrote: “Radio listeners are not a 'public', so to speak. In truth, they are 'single people'... every listener is alone... sitting in their own armchair, after having captured the essence... the noble act of listening, he/she is bound to the secret susceptibility of being able to get irritated by the inopportune tone of a catechizing radio apparatus. It is therefore better that the voice, and the text entrusted to it, avoid all those mannerisms that provoke the idea of a condescending tone, an imparted lesson, a sermon, a message coming from on high. It is equal to equal, free citizen to free citizen, thinking brain to thinking brain.” Good podcast hosts invite this kind of conversation.

Buon ascolto.