My favorite podcasts in different categories
An organized list of my favorite podcast shows that have taught me a lot.
I listen to a lot of podcasts and have learned a great deal from them. Here I will share a categorized list of the shows I found the most useful (for episodes, see this post). Maybe it will help someone discover and learn something useful.
For me, listening to podcasts is about becoming smarter while doing a task that does not require a high level of cognitive availability (house chores, driving, walking, etc.). If I have found a perfect audiobook on a topic I want to dive deep into, then I certainly prefer that audiobook over a podcast. But most of the times, audiobooks go a bit too deep into a topic than I would like. Podcasts that I listen to fill that gap for me. But it is not easy to find the right podcast.
Most podcasts out there are conversation-based, but those are the minority in my list below. I am usually attracted towards podcasts where the podcaster is well-prepared to speak on a topic, and gets to decide the flow and structure of the content. This resembles a well-researched presentation, book, or article.
The main list
| Category | Show | My comments on the show | Some good episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy, life, and culture | TokCast | ToKCast is about the work of physicist and philosopher David Deutsch, and related matters. David Deutsch has had an enormous impact on my worldview. It is no hyperbole to say that his ideas are world-changing. The podcast host is Brett Hall (David Deutsch himself does not have a podcast). | I would recommend listening in chronological order. In most of the first 60 or so episodes, he reads from David Deutsch’s book The Beginning of Infinity, along with his comments to make it more digestible. Then he reads from The Fabric of Reality. |
| Philosophy, life, and culture | Making Sense | Through this podcast, I have discovered some of the most interesting thinkers and ideas of our time. Sam Harris’ clarity and incision on difficult issues is unparalleled. Some episodes of the podcasts are rather U.S. focused. | - Facts & Values - Surviving the Cosmos (conversation with David Deutsch) - Final Thoughts on Free Will - Reality and the Imagination (conversation with Yuval Noah Harari) (and his other conversations with Yuval) - Will We Destroy the Future? (conversation with Nick Bostrom) |
| Health | The Drive | Extremely in-depth podcast about how to live a long and healthy life. Many of his conversations are too technical for everyday listeners, but he has summary episodes and AMAs from which I learned a lot about the cutting-edge science of improving and maintaining health (or check our his book for the ultimate summary of his work). | - #01 – Tim Ferriss: depression, psychedelics, and emotional resilience - #328 – AMA #66: Optimizing nutrition for health and longevity: myth of a “best” diet, complexities of nutrition science, and practical steps for building a sustainable diet - #285 – AMA #55: Exercise: longevity-focused training, goal setting, improving deficiencies, managing emotional stress, and more - #282 – AMA #54: Magnesium: risks of deficiency, how to correct it, supplement options, potential cognitive and sleep benefits, and more |
| History | The History of Rome | Everything you wanted to know about the history of Rome from its founding to the fall in the 5th century. Less than 200 total episodes, each around 25 minutes long. I enjoyed it so much that I went through all its episodes in 1.5 months or so. | Best listened in chronological order from first to last episode. |
| History | Hardcore History | Dan Carlin’s narration style is unique and enthralling. He focuses more on the non-mainstream parts of history. | - 56 – Kings of Kings (behind paywall) - The Celtic Holocaust - Death Throes of the Republic Series |
| Software general | Kopec Explains Software | 10-20 minutes of explanations of the software and programming concepts. Beginner-friendly. | Search based on the concepts you want to learn about, e.g.: - Why Was the iPhone’s Software Revolutionary? - Why Do Strong Passwords Matter? - What is an Operating System - The Go Programming Language |
| Cybersecurity | Modem Mischief | Well-researched recollections of major internet-related breaches, incidents, and biographies. Focuses on the story and doesn’t get too technical. | - Sony Pictures Hack - The Silk Road (2-episode series) - Anonymous - Julian Assange (3-episode series) - Edward Snowden - Operation Bayonet |
| Cybersecurity | Darknet Diaries | Probably the most popular cybersecurity podcast. Going since 2017. Often focuses on stories but sometimes get into the weeds. | - Shadow Brokers - NotPetya - FDFF / Information Monopoly - Bangladesh Bank Heist - WannaCry - Mikko - Stuxnet |
| Cybersecurity | Malicious Life | Podcast by the American cybersecurity company Cybereason. Also one of most popular cybersecurity podcasts, also going since 2017. Focuses on the history of cybersecurity. Has a more corporate spin to it. | - The Equifax Data Breach (2-episode series) - What Happened at Uber? - The Economics of Cybersecurity - The Fappening/Celebgate |
| Cybersecurity | Unsupervised Learning | Not a podcast per se, but Daniel Miessler is a well-respected professional in the field and his popular blog has been going since 1999! This “podcast” is actually the audio version of the videos he puts on YouTube. | The latest UL NO xyz to learn about the latest developments in cybersecurity. All of them have an accompanying text version on his blog if you prefer to read (also check out my post about best blogs). |
| Effective Altruism | 80,000 Hours Podcast | The main podcast of the effective altruism movement. Smart people thinking about how best to improve the world. | - David Chalmers on the nature and ethics of consciousness - Tom Davidson on how quickly AI could transform the world - David Roodman on incarceration, geomagnetic storms, & becoming a world-class researcher - Mushtaq Khan on using institutional economics to predict effective government reforms |
| Effective Altruism | Cold Takes Audio | Not a podcast per se. Audio version of Cold Takes blog by Holden Karnofsky. His ideas are wild but thought-provoking and worth considering, given the stakes involved. | - All Possible Views About Humanity’s Future Are Wild (and several others in chronological order following the same theme of “the most important century”) - Learning by Writing |
| Tech general | Dwarkesh Podcast | This podcast has fast become one of the most popular podcasts about all things tech and Silicon Valley. Dwarkesh has been described as “the new Lex Fridman.” | - Will scaling work? [Narration] - Holden Karnofsky - Transformative AI & Most Important Century - Francois Chollet, Mike Knoop - LLMs won’t lead to AGI - $1,000,000 Prize to find true solution |
Honorable mentions
- Deep Questions: Cal Newport’s approach to productivity (detailed in his book Deep Work) has been an important influence on me. On the Deep Questions podcast, Cal answers questions and shares case studies about putting these ideas into practice in the real world.
- Astral Codex Ten Podcast: Audio version of one of my favorite blogs, Astral Codex Ten.
- Revolutions: A history podcast covering the American, French, Russian, and other revolutions, by Mike Duncan of The History of Rome.
You might also be interested in my post about detailed testing and comparison of podcast apps or the one about my favorite podcast episodes.