HN Explorer

Ask HN: What podcasts are you listening to?

121 points by appwiz ↗ HN
I’ve tried building a habit to listen to podcasts but to no avail. I don’t feel like I’ve found the right ones yet that fit into my sweet spot. I’m interested in a few topics: biographies, software design, and learning about advanced financial investing (e.g. private equity).

What are you listening to? Would love recommendations.

173 comments

[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 232 ms ] thread
laptop-man
no sleep podcast the lucky die dark dice gray rooms stuff you should know white vault this week in tech
jhickok
White Vault was fantastic!
laptop-man
everything by fool and scholar has been very immersive and enjoyable
qamorgan
If you haven’t listened to Acquired, I highly recommend checking it out. Really great startup history podcast.
piecerough
Are you interested in biographies of... anyone? Personally, I like to hear stories behind people interviewed which I listen to.

Somewhat related to your interests could be Planet Money, Freakonomics, Robot Brains, Business Wars

liamwire
For casual listening, I really like Connected, and Cortex, from Relay FM—the former being an Apple-centric podcast, the latter being anything productivity-adjacent, and co-hosted by CGP Grey.

For more niche, ‘serious’ interests, Peter Attia’s podcast, The Drive, and it’s short-form counterpart, The Qualies, are fantastic. Truly world-class conversations. Another in the same league is Sam Harris’ podcast, Making Sense.

Finally, for sheer entertainment value that intersects the world of technology, Darknet Diaries has been a favourite for years.

LorenDB
This Week in Linux and Destination Linux, both by the TuxDigital network.
r0fl
All in Podcast has really grown on me.
badtension
Does anyone know a good podcast about climate change, renewables, new technologies that are being tested etc.?

Something without all this technobabble about making "green" solutions that act mainly as solutions to get VCs money. I would like something honest, preferably from people who really care and know what they are talking about.

jpm_sd
I just started listening to "Hardware To Save A Planet" but it's pretty pop-sci press-releasy.
badtension
Thanks, I'll check them out. It seems like they mainly talk with people that have vested interest in talking about their companies but if they ask tough questions then I guess it's ok.

I just can't stand passionate talks about e.g. cement block-based gravity energy storage when in reality this idea would not have a chance of working. And a small $3000 prototype is not a viable proof.

andelink
Hey, made an account to respond to you. Check out The Energy Gang. My favorite podcast in this space. I think it meets your requirements. I listen to every episode and can’t recommend it enough
badtension
Hi, thank you so much, I really appreciate it!

Skimmed through the episode titles, looks like there is some meat inside, will give it a go tonight.

It's kind of amazing to me how important this topic is and how much fake or dishonest info floats around, seems like so many people are just virtue signalling and care mostly about making profit off of it.

andelink
Nice, I hope it clicks for you!

I agree, you gotta really cut through the noise to find legitimate sources. I do think we’re at a turning point though. Climate change is now a dollar-and-cents issue and as such will be given a seat at the table by politicians and businesses alike.

I will say that if you’re interested in technology discussions only, you might have to pick and choose your episodes. Tech comes up in each, but there is a lot of policy and regulation talk

watchdogtimer
I suggest "Catalyst with Shayle Kann". He is VC specializing in clean tech, and has honest conversations with guests in the industry who really know their subjects.
0xbadc0de5
Patrick Boyle on Finance

Lex Fridman

Fall of Civilizations

Hardcore History

ripplefringe
A suggestion I would have is treat the podcast a library to choose from and not a subscription.

For example:

* maybe you don’t love Marc Maron but you LOVE David Sedaris. Just listen to that interview.

* maybe you hate news but you’re curious about a specific current event. See if “The Daily” has an episode on that.

I’d recommend finding high quality podcasts and looking through their archive. There is no better podcast than hearing a high quality operation like “This American Life” tell a story all about one of your interests.

In that vein, I keep an eye on:

The daily

This American life

Today explained

Planet money

Marc Maron (he really pulls a lot out of people)

Those are super mainstream, but they’re popular for a reason.

BossingAround
The daily is an absolute must listen (on a daily basis)

Today explained is a poor cousin of the daily, but it is worth the listen if you get over the "we're cool and hip" nonsense.

This american life is great if an episode lines up with your interests.

OP, don't sleep on these.

nebqr
These are the ones I listen to regularly.

Uhh yeah dude - I can't explain it. Here is a clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvMJbxo6t8

The Flop House - My favorite bad movie podcast.

Hello From the Magic Tavern - Comedy/Fantasy improv with great production and guests.

chadlavi
A hearty ra-raow and chunt's up to you!
lwneal
If you're interested in AI, there's one podcast you need to listen to. The host's delivery is a little bit robotic, but the guests include some of the best AI minds in the world, as well as celebrities like Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and the co-founder of Facebook.

It's called Lexman's Artificial Intelligence Podcast. The best thing is, there's a new episode every two hours, because the host doesn't need to sleep.

[1] https://lexman.rocks

kentrf
- ADSP

- Embedded.fm

- CPPCast before they called it quits

- Unnamed Reverse Engineering podcast

- Darknet diaries

- Open source security podcast

And for those who understand any Nordic language, I can't recommend P3 Dystopia enough.

DrZootron
How I Built This - founder stories

Risky Business - news from the cybers

Darknet Diaries - tales from the dark side of the internet (for h4x0rs)

hestefisk
Echo Darknet Diaries - it’s very good.
semireg
I love HIBT. I’ve listened to 400+ episodes and regularly have to stop listening because I’m so motivated.
is_true
Same here. Guy is a great interviewer.
TheFreim
I really like Jimmy Akin for his podcast, "Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World". It covers various mysteries topics, from the cause of inflation to remote viewing and parapsychology. Jimmy does all of this in a non sensationalist way while retaining an interesting story-like format. He comes to topics from both the perspective of the Catholic faith and applying a reasoned approach.

Podcast: https://sqpn.com/podcasts/jimmy-akins-mysterious-world/

Video Version: https://youtube.com/user/JimmyAkin

slyall
My top ones would be:

  Tech:
  - Kubernetes Podcast from Google
  - O11ycast
  - The Kubelist podcast

  Non Tech:
  - Exploring the Lord of the Rings - Tolkien with lots of Dad Jokes
  - The Prancing Pony Podcast - Tolkien line by line
  - The Song of Urania - History of Astronomy
marcc
Thanks for the kubelist podcast mention. It’s fun to record these and happy to hear you enjoy it!
iancmceachern
Seconded on the prancing pony. It's a nice break from reality.
Fnoord
Speak The Truth, to get proper, verified updates and assessments about the war in Ukraine by a former US army sniper.
Arkadin
Why would a former US army sniper have interesting insights into war in Ukraine? Unclear on both what a sniper’s perspective would bring to the discussion and why US army combat xp would be relevant to a war where the US army is not deployed.
Fnoord
Because he has recent combat experience, and therefore better tactical experience than the average Russian soldier. Also because the US army is less hierarchical and top-down than the Russian he has more operational and strategic insight. He filets the Russian army, with precision.
f0e4c2f7
The Knowledge Project

All In

Conversations with Tyler

Lex Friedman

Tim Ferris Show

Bankless

Hardcore History

I find that with most podcasts you have good and bad episodes. Also even really medicore podcasts often have 1 or 2 really good episodes.

LocalPCGuy
Plus 1 for Hardcore History, I fall behind all my other podcasts every time a new 6 hour episode drops.
gnabgib
[0] The Jordan Harbinger Show - Jordan has some amazing guests, is charismatic, and a pleasure to listen to (twice a week)

[1] No Such Thing as a Fish - Dan, James, Andrew and #GetAnnaOnTwitter deliver interesting facts with great humour (weekly)

[2] Techmeme Ride Home - Brian gives a great brief breakdown of tech news (daily)

[3] Software Engineering Daily - Mostly interesting deep dives, when it's not a promotional piece by a company. Better when Jeff hosts (insanely: daily)

[0]: https://www.jordanharbinger.com/ [1]: https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/ [2]: https://news.techmeme.com/180306/podcast [3]: https://softwareengineeringdaily.com

hestefisk
[3] used to be decent but it‘a really turned into quantity over quality. He podcasts every day, but it’s filled with ads and promotions.
Harbinger26
this showed up in my google results and made my day. Thank you so much for recommending The Jordan Harbinger Show :)
hestefisk
2.5 Admins - with Jim Salter from Ars. It’s a great sys admin podcast

BSD Now - everything *BSD. Quality has declined quite a bit since Benedict joined, though.

Corecursive - some really great stories on software development. The recent one on debugging LISP in deep space is great.

Changelog - Sometimes decent interviews with founders and in-depth tech interview. Avoid JS Party though, it’s really daunting.

Cyber - stories on hacking and cyber security from Vice / Motherboard.

2600: Off the hook - legendary.

hestefisk
Non-tech / news / business:

The Guardian Long Read - excellent long-form investigatory journalism from my favourite news source

The Guardian Today in Focus - analysis of news topics; keeps me up to date

Wall Street Breakfast - Recent headlines on financial markets by Seeking Alpha

1over137
Wow, Off The Hook is still on? I listened like 25 years ago. Is it still good?
hestefisk
Yeah except when they do fundraising.