I’ve been listening to all of Darknet Diaries this year and it’s been amazing. Hoping 2022 will be filled with similar gripping brain food. Happy new year.
<i>Acquired</i> is by far the best podcast I've listened to this year:<p><a href="https://acquired.fm" rel="nofollow">https://acquired.fm</a><p>The hosts tell the stories of great businesses (for example: TSMC, Berkshire Hathaway, and Standard Oil). They dive into each company's history (which is always fascinating), analyze what made the business tick, and discuss the lessons that can be learned from it. It's a bit like <i>How I Built This</i>, but geared toward founders rather than the general public and also much more entertaining.
<i>Dear Men</i> - a relationships podcast by Melanie Curtin. It covers lots of relationship topics: communication, intimacy, sex, emotions, therapy, trauma, etc. The host/author runs a counseling group for men and does surveys on related topics to her “Big Sexy Dataset” (a few thousand opt-in volunteers to her surveys). She frequently does one episode with an interview guest on a given topic, then follows it up with a group of girls on the same topic then follows that with a group of guys on the same topic.<p>A close second is <i>How to Save The World</i> by Katie Patrick. It is primarily about how to find and utilize cross-functional skills to influence/persuade others into improving the world in lots of ways (sustainability, energy use, ethical eating, etc). She takes a really practical approach as opposed to heavy-handed and/or smug tactics frequently associated with these campaigns. A great resource for NGOs, software devs, academics, policy makers, and others.
Besides a few other that have been mentioned, I like <i>You're Wrong About</i> (<a href="https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1112270.rss" rel="nofollow">https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1112270.rss</a>). It covers ... let's say pop culture history, and how we often are ... completely wrong about how certain events really happened.<p>Atlas Obscura have a podcast, too: <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast" rel="nofollow">https://www.atlasobscura.com/podcast</a> If you like the website, you're probably going to like the podcast as well.<p>If you know German, I can recommend <i>Sternengeschichten</i> (about astronomy) and <i>Einschlafen Mit Wikipedia</i> (they read articles from the German Wikipedia in a very quiet voice, great for falling asleep, as the title suggests).<p>Of those already mentioned, <i>Fall Of Civilizations</i> deserves special praise.
The Red Line podcast has been an excellent deep-dive geopolitics podcast with some high profile guests & multiple perspectives. I always learn so much each episode, it covers a lot of my blindspots in the field. <a href="https://www.theredlinepodcast.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.theredlinepodcast.com/</a><p>Honourable mention to Mobile Suit Breakdown podcast. The episode-by-episode analysis of the Gundam series has greatly improved my literary appreciation for a show I was otherwise only barely interested in. The hosts dig into not just the show but also the world that would have inspired the creators. A lot of background research goes into each installment. <a href="https://gundampodcast.com/" rel="nofollow">https://gundampodcast.com/</a>
Fall of civilizations has the history of many: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast</a><p>I especially enjoyed <a href="https://youtu.be/d2lJUOv0hLA" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/d2lJUOv0hLA</a>, as I had no idea the first cities were already so advanced and lasted for so many centuries.
I have really enjoyed listening to CoRecursive with Adam Gordon Bell. The “Apple 2001” episode is a great one to get started with. It features a David Shayer, who worked on a secret project at Apple for a US Government contractor: <a href="http://corecursive.com/063-apple-2001" rel="nofollow">http://corecursive.com/063-apple-2001</a>
Soft White Underbelly<p>Interviews with addicts, homeless, prostitutes, pimps, murderers, gang members and other interesting folk on Skid Row, LA.<p>I've heard some really mesmerizing, tragic and bizarre things on that channel.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/SoftWhiteUnderbelly" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/c/SoftWhiteUnderbelly</a>
Team Deakins: the great cinematographer Roger Deakins, with his wife, James, interviewed pretty much everyone interesting they knew in film, and had someone interview Roger about most of his notable projects. They wrapped up a couple months ago as it was time to get back to work. I really hope the archived episodes stay up forever as it’s a monumental technical resource as well as a source of some cheery and cordial conversation, much of it between old friends.<p><a href="https://teamdeakins.libsyn.com/" rel="nofollow">https://teamdeakins.libsyn.com/</a>
I like to listen to Lex Fridman and Joe Rogan when they have guests that I'm interested in. Between the two of them, it's a rare opportunity to see some really interesting people being themselves.
“Revolutions” and “The History of Rome” by Mike Duncan. I think I enjoyed Revolutions a little bit more, as it’s more recent history.<p>Also, “In our time”, which is my go-to for standalone episodes.
I can’t pick a best, but here are the best two:<p>* The British History Podcast<p>* The History of English Podcast<p>Both are very well-made and entertaining. The second might actually be the highest quality series of lectures I’ve ever heard (including sources in person like at university).
I've enjoyed the Huberman Lab podcast a lot.<p><a href="https://youtube.com/c/AndrewHubermanLab" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/c/AndrewHubermanLab</a>
No Such Thing As A Bad Movie is consistently entertaining and has helped me find some truly weird bad movies, like The Legend of Simon Conjurer and Night Train to Terror. It's my go to when I want to learn about bad movies but don't have the option to watch video (in which case I watch Best of the Worst).
My favorite podcasts this year were<p>Lex Fridman's: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/podcast" rel="nofollow">https://lexfridman.com/podcast</a><p>Naval's: <a href="https://nav.al/podcast" rel="nofollow">https://nav.al/podcast</a>
If you’re into things at the intersection of food, science, and culture I highly recommend Gastropod, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gastropod/id918896288" rel="nofollow">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gastropod/id918896288</a>.<p>Good production values, the hosts and guests are great, and I love that they’re long enough to really get in depth on whatever subject they’re covering. Big back catalog as well.<p>Particularly interesting was the recent episodes on edibles, lobster, and smoke, but I can’t think of one that I didn’t enjoy and listen all the way through.
People have already mentioned Darknet Diaries so I will mention two other podcasts I really liked<p>The Shrink Next Door:<p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shrink-next-door/id1459899275" rel="nofollow">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shrink-next-door/i...</a><p>The Always Sunny Podcast:<p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-always-sunny-podcast/id1594627983" rel="nofollow">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-always-sunny-podca...</a>
Not necessarily meaningful for technologists, but Joe Rogan's interview of North Korean refugee Yeonmi Park, is up there with reading one of the great fictional dystopian novels (1984, brave new world, fahrenheit451).<p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0G5o6GYjWgbSvKG3W2W2xO" rel="nofollow">https://open.spotify.com/episode/0G5o6GYjWgbSvKG3W2W2xO</a>
One very unconventional suggestion for HN but I really enjoyed the "Trash Taste Podcast". The three hosts have really funny stories and talk about a variety of interesting topics, more than just Anime, despite being branded as an Anime podcast. They also bring in a great selection of guests.
I've enjoyed The Robot Brains Podcast with Pieter Abeel [0] -- interesting insights and anecdotes and great guests! Some of the episodes I enjoyed:<p>- Ilya Sutskever (<a href="https://shows.acast.com/the-robot-brains/episodes/ilya-sutskever-explains-the-origins-of-deep-learning" rel="nofollow">https://shows.acast.com/the-robot-brains/episodes/ilya-sutsk...</a>)<p>- Andrej Karpathy (<a href="https://shows.acast.com/the-robot-brains/episodes/andrej-karpathy-on-the-visionary-ai-in-teslas-autonomous-dri" rel="nofollow">https://shows.acast.com/the-robot-brains/episodes/andrej-kar...</a>)<p>[0] <a href="https://shows.acast.com/the-robot-brains" rel="nofollow">https://shows.acast.com/the-robot-brains</a>
Mysterious Universe.
<a href="https://mysteriousuniverse.org/plus/" rel="nofollow">https://mysteriousuniverse.org/plus/</a><p>Two awesome Aussies talk about all kinds of insane stuff. Coast to Coast Art Bell style.
Odd Lots: they've been covering a lot of interesting issues related to the supply chain crisis<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots-podcast" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots-podcast</a>
A couple i didn't see mentioned yet:
The Jolly Swagman Podcast is surprisingly good, last episode was in October though. <a href="https://josephnoelwalker.com/podcast/" rel="nofollow">https://josephnoelwalker.com/podcast/</a><p>Some popsci youtubers started the safety third podcast, which is entertaining. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7QE72cxiBkiwnvGoFfqYOg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7QE72cxiBkiwnvGoFfqYOg</a>
Cumtown[0] made me literally pass out laughing once.<p>[0]<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cum_Town" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cum_Town</a>
Bad Blood: The Final Chapter<p>John Carreyrou the journalist first to break the scandal of the blood-testing company Theranos, podcast covering the trial of CEO Elizabeth Holmes.<p><a href="https://www.threeuncannyfour.com/show/bad-blood/" rel="nofollow">https://www.threeuncannyfour.com/show/bad-blood/</a><p>Hanselminutes<p>Scott Hanselman's podcast has many interesting guests covering a myriad of subjects.<p><a href="https://hanselminutes.com/" rel="nofollow">https://hanselminutes.com/</a>
Have to recommend the podcast from No Agenda. No Agenda, a show where former VJ Adam Curry and columnist John C. Dvorak, two experts from the media industry, have a conversation about politics. Twice a week they deconstruct the news cycle and give insights into the narrative of the mainstream media, political campaigns and the government.<p><a href="https://www.noagendashow.net/" rel="nofollow">https://www.noagendashow.net/</a>
Quite surprised that How I Built This has not been posted so far - <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this?t=1640525607868" rel="nofollow">https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this?t=16405...</a><p>Very enjoyable to hear stories from founders of a selection of interesting companies and very well presented by Guy Raz.
EFAP (Every Frame A Pause): <a href="https://www.efap.me" rel="nofollow">https://www.efap.me</a><p>Yes, it's a bit trite, but actually <i>thinking</i> about the media I consume is very enlightening.
Wayne Green (W2NSD) on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell from 1995:<p><a href="https://podcastaddict.com/episode/57657880" rel="nofollow">https://podcastaddict.com/episode/57657880</a>
For the business/finance/tech types, my favorites have been Panic with Friends (Howard Lindzon), All-In Pod, My First Million, Animal Spirits, Compound and Friends, and Indie Hackers.
Daily I like: snacks daily, recode, today explained, and up first. If they have an interesting guest I do WTF (Marc Maron) and Smartless (Jason Bateman, Will Arnet and Sean Hayes)
If you're into business stories and analysis <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/" rel="nofollow">https://www.acquired.fm/</a> is amazing.
Shit you don't learn in school! <a href="https://keeplearning.buzzsprout.com/" rel="nofollow">https://keeplearning.buzzsprout.com/</a>
Not all but a select number of Joe Rogan podcasts with Sanjay Gupta and Jewel for example were very good.<p>Always Sunny in Philadelphia podcast (if you love the show)