I first got into podcasts by looking all through BBC listings. There’s enough there to last a lifetime. After that I’ve found other stuff from YouTube recommendations, other podcast recommendations, suggestions online, etc.
Recently commented in a similar post, so I’ll paste that comment:
Podcasts are my thing. I’ve got you covered.
Depends on what you’re into:
More or Less: Behind the Stats - analysis of some statistic from the news
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos - what science says about how to be happy
The Audio Long Read - long form articles from the Guardian newspaper
You Are Not So Smart - cognitive science related. How we know things, our biases, how our thinking is flawed, etc.
Dan Snow’s History Hit - One of the few history podcasts I really like
Short History Of… - a short history of some specific thing
The Forum - expert panel discussion about some topic
Behind the Bastards - Very well known podcast focusing on some bastard personality
CrowdScience - in depth investigation of a listener science question
Radiolab - in depth investigation of a topic of their interest. Quite broad scope.
Unexpected Elements - a very varied mix of discussions around a science topic from the news
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Tim Harford is the podcast king for me. This show is a deep dive into something that went wrong in news or history, and an investigation of all the systemic failures around it. It tries to show how blame is hardly ever warranted on a single person and the systems are at fault.
The Martin Lewis Podcast - UK consumer advocate and saving guru
Show Me The Meaning! A Wisecrack podcast - a couple of philosophers talk about a movie
The Inquiry - a deep dive into a news story
Revisionist History - Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about a range of different things
The Law Show - UK legal system issues
The Infinite Monkey Cage - comedy science panel show
The Supermassive Podcast - space related podcast
File on 4 investigates - detailed story from deep investigative journalism
Thinking Allowed - light philosophical ramblings
When It Hits the Fan - two public relations experts talk about PR issues from current events
Discovery - science related. Currently mostly doing shows about “a life scientific” I.e. talking to a scientist about their life
Overthink - philosophy made accessible
What It’s Like To Be… - a person from a particular occupation talks about their job
People Fixing the World - people from different parts of the world fixing some local problem in their community in a creative way
Hidden Brain - my absolute favourite. Cognitive science related. Explains how the brain works and how to use the understanding to male your own love better.
Within Reason
Your Parenting Mojo - evidence based parenting. Can be a very dry long-winded research presentation, but this has improved my parenting (and life) immensely
Sideways - different ideas and how to look at things differently
Darknet Diaries - stories from the dark underbelly of the internet
The Reith Lectures - once a year short lecture series, but well worth listening to the backlog
Evil Genius with Russell Kane - comedians discuss how some villains from history weren’t so bad and how some heroes from history were terrible people
Owls at Dawn - ramblings of a couple of philosophers
Sound of Gaming - excellent music show about music soundtracks from videogames
Playing god? - medical ethics discussion
30 Animals That Made Us Smarter - this series has ended but it is worth listening to the backlog
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - this series has ended but it is worth listening to the backlog
A History of the World in 100 Objects - this series has ended but it is worth listening to the backlog
I would also recommend the podcast series made to accompany the Chernobyl and Last of Us TV series.
Listen at x2 speed. A 40 min podcast becomes a 20 min podcast and is clearly comprehensible and enjoyable. It actually gets annoying hearing regular speed for how slow it is.
Set your podcast app to autoskip the first and last 1 to 2 min (depending on the podcast) as these are usually ads and shoutouts to other podcasts. A lot of podcast episodes are less than 10 min in total. Skipping 2 min is 20% of the podcast time.
Delete upcoming podcast episodes that are not of interest. You don’t have to listen to everything.
I listen any time I can give attention. Commuting (40 min x2), chores like cleaning (an hour a day), gym (an hour every other day). I’ll even listen in the shower or while shaving or while I’m sitting in the park watching my kids play on the swings from a distance. I’m effectively listening for 2 hours max (real time) in a day. With double speed this effectively gets through 4 hours of podcast content.
I even put one earphone in and listened to podcasts while getting a root canal and crown at the dentist. It makes a huge difference if you can keep yourself mentally engaged rather than just staring at the ceiling and thinking about the drill grinding away your tooth. Podcasts can be amazing and much better than doom scrolling brain dead content (just need to avoid brain dead podcasts).
I drive a lot for work, so I listen to a lot of audio books and podcasts. I got to the point that listening at 1.5x sounds normal. It doesn’t feel like speedrunning, I don’t even do it to get through stuff faster, it is just that people talk so … slowly.
Of course, the reader is a huge variable. I have had to crank up an audiobook to 2.5x-3x for one reader. Of course that is usually way too high to be comfortable. I do 2x quite often but 1.5x really is the best and feels the most natural. I can’t do 1x or it feels like the reader has a speech impediment.
I first got into podcasts by looking all through BBC listings. There’s enough there to last a lifetime. After that I’ve found other stuff from YouTube recommendations, other podcast recommendations, suggestions online, etc.
Recently commented in a similar post, so I’ll paste that comment:
Podcasts are my thing. I’ve got you covered.
Depends on what you’re into:
More or Less: Behind the Stats - analysis of some statistic from the news
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos - what science says about how to be happy
The Audio Long Read - long form articles from the Guardian newspaper
You Are Not So Smart - cognitive science related. How we know things, our biases, how our thinking is flawed, etc.
Dan Snow’s History Hit - One of the few history podcasts I really like
Short History Of… - a short history of some specific thing
The Forum - expert panel discussion about some topic
Behind the Bastards - Very well known podcast focusing on some bastard personality
CrowdScience - in depth investigation of a listener science question
Radiolab - in depth investigation of a topic of their interest. Quite broad scope.
Unexpected Elements - a very varied mix of discussions around a science topic from the news
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford - Tim Harford is the podcast king for me. This show is a deep dive into something that went wrong in news or history, and an investigation of all the systemic failures around it. It tries to show how blame is hardly ever warranted on a single person and the systems are at fault.
The Martin Lewis Podcast - UK consumer advocate and saving guru
Show Me The Meaning! A Wisecrack podcast - a couple of philosophers talk about a movie
The Inquiry - a deep dive into a news story
Revisionist History - Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about a range of different things
The Law Show - UK legal system issues
The Infinite Monkey Cage - comedy science panel show
The Supermassive Podcast - space related podcast
File on 4 investigates - detailed story from deep investigative journalism
Thinking Allowed - light philosophical ramblings
When It Hits the Fan - two public relations experts talk about PR issues from current events
Discovery - science related. Currently mostly doing shows about “a life scientific” I.e. talking to a scientist about their life
Overthink - philosophy made accessible
What It’s Like To Be… - a person from a particular occupation talks about their job
People Fixing the World - people from different parts of the world fixing some local problem in their community in a creative way
Hidden Brain - my absolute favourite. Cognitive science related. Explains how the brain works and how to use the understanding to male your own love better.
Within Reason
Your Parenting Mojo - evidence based parenting. Can be a very dry long-winded research presentation, but this has improved my parenting (and life) immensely
Sideways - different ideas and how to look at things differently
Darknet Diaries - stories from the dark underbelly of the internet
The Reith Lectures - once a year short lecture series, but well worth listening to the backlog
Evil Genius with Russell Kane - comedians discuss how some villains from history weren’t so bad and how some heroes from history were terrible people
Owls at Dawn - ramblings of a couple of philosophers
Sound of Gaming - excellent music show about music soundtracks from videogames
Playing god? - medical ethics discussion
30 Animals That Made Us Smarter - this series has ended but it is worth listening to the backlog
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - this series has ended but it is worth listening to the backlog
A History of the World in 100 Objects - this series has ended but it is worth listening to the backlog
I would also recommend the podcast series made to accompany the Chernobyl and Last of Us TV series.
S Town - a nice fiction mini series drama story.
That’s too many podcasts! How can anyone listen to that many?
Listen at x2 speed. A 40 min podcast becomes a 20 min podcast and is clearly comprehensible and enjoyable. It actually gets annoying hearing regular speed for how slow it is.
Set your podcast app to autoskip the first and last 1 to 2 min (depending on the podcast) as these are usually ads and shoutouts to other podcasts. A lot of podcast episodes are less than 10 min in total. Skipping 2 min is 20% of the podcast time.
Delete upcoming podcast episodes that are not of interest. You don’t have to listen to everything.
I listen any time I can give attention. Commuting (40 min x2), chores like cleaning (an hour a day), gym (an hour every other day). I’ll even listen in the shower or while shaving or while I’m sitting in the park watching my kids play on the swings from a distance. I’m effectively listening for 2 hours max (real time) in a day. With double speed this effectively gets through 4 hours of podcast content.
I even put one earphone in and listened to podcasts while getting a root canal and crown at the dentist. It makes a huge difference if you can keep yourself mentally engaged rather than just staring at the ceiling and thinking about the drill grinding away your tooth. Podcasts can be amazing and much better than doom scrolling brain dead content (just need to avoid brain dead podcasts).
I’m not that starved for content that I need to speedrun it. 1x speed is fine for me.
I know. The few shows I have are enough for me.
I drive a lot for work, so I listen to a lot of audio books and podcasts. I got to the point that listening at 1.5x sounds normal. It doesn’t feel like speedrunning, I don’t even do it to get through stuff faster, it is just that people talk so … slowly.
1.5x is probably my happy medium where I can still take stuff in. 2x is just to fast for me. Age might have something to do with that as well.
Of course, the reader is a huge variable. I have had to crank up an audiobook to 2.5x-3x for one reader. Of course that is usually way too high to be comfortable. I do 2x quite often but 1.5x really is the best and feels the most natural. I can’t do 1x or it feels like the reader has a speech impediment.