Favorite Podcasts

Posted on:August 6, 2023 at 03:19 PM

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Intro

One of my friends is moving cross-country this month, coast to coast, and asked me for some podcast recommendations to pass the time on their incredibly long drive.

It got me thinking, and since I gave him the short version - even if he thought it was long - I wanted to record the rest of my thoughts.

I don’t think it’s an overexaggeration to say that screens dominate the majority of modern Americans’ waking life. It’s somewhat unavoidable for my career, but I find that even while not working, I’m usually playing video games with friends, watching television with my wife, or otherwise responding to messages or perusing the internet on my phone.

The internet is amazing. The amount of information that can be shared today compared to just 50 years ago, let alone thousands of years ago, is astonishing. But there are more ways than one to consume that information, and podcasts are my favorite non-screen alternative.

While I’ve probably listened to one or two episodes from hundreds of podcasts, here are those I find myself coming back to often, and in some cases, those I’ve listened to every one of or do my best to listen to weekly.

followHIM

Genre: Religious

Hosted by: Hank Smith, John Bytheway, and other LDS professors, scholars, etc.

This one comes first because I was listening to it earlier today, and it’s related to something that means the most to me personally.

When I was a missionary for my church in Houston & East Texas, there were lots of long drives, from the city out to Vidor, Orange, sometimes all the way out to Lousiana. My mission companion and I would take advantage of those drives to listen to missionary trainings, talks from conferences, and other religious material.

It was helpful then, and it’s uplifting now, to listen & learn more about the Bible and other inspiring scriptures.

These are my recommended because I listened to them this week and I think Paul’s story is cool & worth learning about. I just finished Part 2 earlier today while I was kayaking. But pick any episode on any part of scripture that you’re curious about/interested in, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Kayaking Fitbit Map

The Vergecast

Genre: Tech News

Hosted by: Nilay Patel, (formerly) Dieter Bohn, and the Verge Staff

As the flagship of the Vox Media podcast fleet, I’ve listened to the Vergecast quite regularly since I started working in the software industry as a high school senior, in 2015.

What’s unique about this podcast is that the Verge is my favorite tech news site, and I read it multiple times a week. It’s been in my Chrome bookmarks for longer than I can remember.

So when a news story is discussed, I’ve more often than not already read the article about it, and the extra insight that that provides makes for an in-depth, enjoyable and informational experience.

I used to watch it live-streamed every week, and mourned the loss of that when they went audio-only a few years ago. Recently, they’ve started filming the recording and posting on Youtube, but nothing matches the rush and interactivity of tweeting or commenting live and having the podcasters immediately react or respond.

There have been many spin-off podcasts from the Vergecast over the years, and while I haven’t found all of them to be as appealing, here are some worth checking out:

Dear Hank & John

Genre: Advice Column

Hosted by: Hank Green & John Green, the Vlogbrothers

This is a unique one in that I’ve listened to it from the start. I tend to skip over the episodes where one brother is away and a guest speaker joins them, but I’ve heard most, if not all, of the rest.

It’s a comfort podcast to me, one where I get the inside jokes and love to hear Hank & John’s perspective on things. They each have been very successful in running businesses, authoring amazing books, and maintaining one of the longest running channels in Youtube history.

While I don’t have any specific episodes to recommend, you can pick any one and jump right in. Be warned though, many inside jokes have accumulated over the lifetime of the show, so an earlier one may be a better bet.

The Omnibus

Genre: Documentary

Hosted by: Ken Jennings & John Roderick

Official Description: An encyclopedic reference of strange-but-true stories compiled as a time capsule for future generations.

I started listening to the Omnibus after watching the Jeopardy GOAT tournament in Jan 2020. I’ve long looked up to Ken for his initial Jeopardy prowess, and as a fellow computer science nerd and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. John brings a completely separate but equally valuable perspective.

It’s a fun and engaging podcast with a unique premise, and I have to say I’ve learned a lot about the weirdest, most obscure things from them because they talk about it in such an entertaining way.

TED Talks Daily

Genre: Educational

Hosted by: Elise Hu & various TED presenters

Short-form summaries of some of the best TED talks out there. What more could you want?

This is for when I don’t feel like hunkering down for an hour or more of audio and just have a short drive or few minutes where I want to learn something new.

The amount of preparation that goes into each TED talk is astounding, so these are incredibly concentrated ways to peek into a certain field of study.

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Genre: Commentary Hosted by: John Green

John’s the author of the Fault in our Stars and just has a good writing style. He did a few dozen episodes and then stopped, then wrote a book with all the podcast episodes and more in it. It’s basically the Omnibus but two topics per episode instead of one, one guy instead of two, and much more literary than conversational. He’s an incredible writer, and it comes across in each of the episodes.

There are no bad episodes, but these are my favorites