Podcasts

I can't remember when I started to listen to podcasts. I am sure I was not an early adopter. It might have been around 2004 using iPodder on Linux with the first iPod and later an iPod Shuffle. 

 

Over the years I used various tools and devices to download podcasts and now have settled on Pocket Casts on Android. It has nice sync functionality between multiple devices and a useful web interface too. The web app is also useful to pull up the recently starred episodes for my Friday Links.

I have a silly amount of subscriptions, the list below are the main ones which are still active and the ones I am still listen to regularly.

I often have a backlog of multiple days of audio, which is not sustainable. So recently I have started to cull episodes and feeds when I am not interested. I used to listen to really everything to get a broad input of knowledge. 

I also started to use some of the Pocket Cast features to reduce time by cutting silence, intros and speeding up the audio. Currently I am at 1.2x speed, but I will probably go back to 1x when I reduced the back-log. There are only so many Mickey Mouse voices I can stand.

So here is a shortened list of my current podcasts.

Cycling

The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast - I don't think it has been a round-table for a while. Recently it has been mostly Carlton Reid interviewing interesting people. I like both styles. Carlton is giving the UK perspective, while the others seem to be in the state.

Antritt [German] - A mix of interviews, chat, technical discussion and listeners experiences

The Bike Show - interviews. sometimes on the bike sometimes off

CyclingTips Podcast - mostly focused on the professional sport, but with fun chat segments and technical bits

Nerd Alert Podcast - the bike tech spin-off of the CyclingTips Podcast

Velohome [German] - a handful of people chatting of all kind of cycling stuff. They have episodes focused on the professional sport (Velorace) and chit chat (Velosnakk). I usually just go for Velosnakk.

The BikeRadar Podcast - from the people of the Bikeradar website, chat about a everything cycling related. A mix of road & mtb.

Radfunk - Deutschlandfunk [German] - I think this is from a German radio station. Mostly focused on Germany and the bicycle as a means of transport in cities. 

Talk

Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions - I grew up hating Bill Gates via Microsoft, but nowadays he is so bloody nice and reasonable. 

WRINT: Realitätsabgleich [German] - two German "adjusting their realities", both a very much in my bubble, which is relaxing

Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin - Alec mostly talks to artists, but also some politicians. I am quite selective in which episodes I listen to.

The Blindboy Podcast - most of the time just one guy's stream of consciousness, but in a good way. He has a way of really putting ideas into words.

Freakonomics Radio - economics view of the world. I now skip everything that is to focused on the US

Pessimists Archive Podcast - looking back at what technologies people were afraid of when they were introduced (Forks, Elevators, ...)

80,000 Hours Podcast with Rob Wiblin - how to do good with your career. First time I heard of Effective Altruism, which is an interesting idea.

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish - completely different topics, depending on the guess, but always something to learn

The Important Thing - by Rands, I thought about putting it into the Management sections, but often it is just chit chat between the two hosts

Management

The Manager’s Handbook Podcast - great recent discovery, sometimes they just talk about their Clearbit handbook and other times they have guests for specific topics.

Eat Sleep Work Repeat - about work culture, often with good guests  

Supermanagers - from Fellows, which is a 1:1 app, great guests with practical discussions

Level-up Engineering - interviews with engineering managers of all levels 

Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman - I can't listen to the original any more, it is too annoyingly overproduced. But in 2020 they introduced Rapid Response, which can be good and is easier on my patience. 

The Retro - That Agile Podcast - podcast about agile, pretty new but promising so far

Radical Candor - related to the book. Sometimes too annoyingly American for me, but sometimes very good 

Engineering

The Changelog - interviews with all kind of developers, often open source 

The Idealcast with Gene Kim by IT Revolution - I find the host a bit annoying, but the guests make up for it.  

Software Engineering Daily - feels like commercials for software sometimes, but they also have some great interviews with people from Facebook  for example

Science

Discovery - BBC science documentaries  

Science Weekly - The Guardian science podcast  

Science in Action - BBC science news

The Climate Question - BBC podcast about the climate crisis

Random

In Our Time - one of my oldest podcasts, always great discussions. I tend to skip poets and most of history and religion. Great archive.

Reply All - stories about the internet, with fun hosts and well produced

Radiolab - random stories very well researched, sadly the second host retired this year

Seriously… - a selection of BBC documentaries

Urbanism

The Sidewalk Weekly - chat about urbanism, mostly in the US

The Life-Sized City Urbanism Podcast - Mikael is very much living in his bubble, but he has some good points

The War on Cars - another urbanism podcast, maybe the one with the best title. Often focused on the US, but not always.

Streets Ahead  - UK perspective of streets for people

News

The Documentary Podcast - a mix of BBC documentaries about all kind of topics, often related to current news

Die Wochendämmerung [German] - news update in German, by two fun hosts who are very much in my bubble

Today in Focus - The Guardian current news stories

Music, TV & Films

Desert Island Discs - interviews with celebrities. What eight songs, one book and one luxury item would you take on a desert island. Great archive with interesting guests. I am not so much into the current host, but the guests do save it. Also one of my older podcasts.

Classical Fix - random musicians and other guests get introduced to classical music. I am in it for the music.

'The Wire': Way Down In the Hole - coming to a close now, but if you love The Wire I suggest you listen to the whole thing. It is like a rewatch without sitting in front of the TV. They did scale the sports references a bit down towards the end.

Kermode and Mayo's Film Review - possibly the longest running podcast I am listening to? It is mostly about the two bickering like the old guys from The Muppet Show.