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Podcasts to make you smarter
- DamnInteresting 9y agoIt's refreshing to see recommendations that aren't just the same rehashed list. Thanks OP, I plan to give a few of these a try.
- kenjackson 9y agoWhat's the old rehashed list for podcasts that make you smarter? I feel like I should listen to those too!
- dingdongding 9y agoDepends on what you like listening. I listen to Exponents by Ben Thomson, The Tim Ferris Show, This weekend in startups, Freakonomics radio, How I built this and Planet Money
- DamnInteresting 9y agoThese lists are usually characterized by having RadioLab in the #1 slot. I'm not saying I disagree, RadioLab can be amazing. But the lists do little good for a veteran listener like me if they're all mostly the same. Other podcasts that frequent such lists are 99% Invisible, Planet Money, Freakonomics, and Stuff You Should Know. Newer lists will include Revisionist History. Those are all good podcasts, deserving of praise, but anybody who's been listening for any amount of time is well aware of them.
- HenryTheHorse 9y agoAs it happened with blogs in the mid-2000s, we are all listening to the same damn 10 podcasts. Discovering quality podcasts based on topic/keyword is almost impossible.
- 33W 9y agoHere's my list: Side Hustle School Art of Charm NPR Marketplace Parent Savers Radical Personal Finance Intelligence Squared Intelligence Squared US Debates HBR Ideacast Happier Serial Slate Money Common Sense NPR Politics Hardcore History Freakonomics Stuff You Should Know 99% Invisible Planet Money
- Twirrim 9y agoI'd add in: Stuff you missed in history class - Various events from history, covering a wide range of events, small and large. Make me smart - Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood covering current affairs in the economy, tech and culture.
- 33W 9y agoI've heard the plugs for Stuff you missed in history class, and the first episode of Make me smart... ...but I'm about 2 months behind in my feed as it is.
- HenryTheHorse 9y agoUnless you download podcasts from websites, almost all podcast apps (iTunes, Overcast, Spotify etc) have a "Top 10" or "highly recommended" section.
- ryanx435 9y agoHonestly surprising that Joe Rogan isn't on this list: he constantly has guests on that cover all sorts of interesting topics. Some of his guests are comedians or UFC related, but the other topics he covers are very good as well.
- splawn 9y agoIm sure those snake oil supplements he peddles on there make you smarter too. /s =P EDIT: I was just halfway joking when I made this comment (I vaguely knew that he sold supplements for body building)... However, I had no idea about the "Alpha Brain" supplement that he sells. And yes, the punchline is that he claims it provides "cognitive enhancement". And No.. there is no solid science behind it and certainly no doubleblind clinical trials. I only know to care about stuff like this from listening to other podcasts such as "This week in microbiology" and "Skeptoid" that perhaps did make me smarter. (at least I don't fall for supplement scams)
- InitialLastName 9y agoI'm sure he's got interesting moments, but it would be hard to convince me that "makes you smarter" is anywhere near Joe Rogan's resume.
- maniccowboy 9y agoJoe Rogan is the smart person's idea of a stupid person.
- InitialLastName 9y agoSomehow, also, a stupid person's idea of a smart person.
- kome 9y agoI think he is kinda street smart...
- andrewprock 9y agoObviously missing podcasts: The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe EconTalk The Moth A couple others for the HN crowd: Data Skeptic This Week in ML&AI Software Engineering Radio
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago> The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe This is the biggest omission, IMO. They do a really good job digging through the science, current news and they always follow-up if they make a mistake. It's one of the very, very few places where I feel like I don't have to double check everything they say. I mean, sure you should probably do that with just about everything but the reality is no one really has time for that. Plus their Science or Fiction game at the end of every episode is fun.
- cyberferret 9y agoNot on the list, but I do enjoy listening to Helen Zaltzman's "The Allusionist" - very useful for broadening one's knowledge of the spoken language...
- gumboshoes 9y agoI prefer A Way with Words, which is more entertaining and has actual linguists and etymologists. The hosts have nice interplay and it works on multiple levels: goofy fun if you want it but real information if that's not enough. http://waywordradio.org http://waywordradio.org.
- cbcoutinho 9y agoMy two favorite podcasts currently: The Meateater podcast - talks about hunting and wildlife issues Waking up - Sam Harris's podcast where he interviews guests on a number of issues
- tambourine_man 9y agoI'd suggest BBC's In our Time. Science, philosophy, poetry, history, etc. Good stuff and easy listening enough.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- joaomsa 9y agoIf you're into history/philosophy, can't recommend enough: - The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps [1] Manages to truly live up to its name while remaining very approachable to someone not very familiar with philosophy. - In Our Time [2] Technically a long running BBC radio program with a massive back catalog, but many episodes would certainly interest HN users with very insightful discussions. These aren't the sorts podcasts I can follow along easily while doing other things though. [1] https://historyofphilosophy.net/ https://historyofphilosophy.net/ [2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player
- jzymbaluk 9y ago+1 for HOPWAG. I've recently caught up with the series completely, including his other series on the history of Indian philosophy, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Peter Adamson is such a pro, he's got the conversational tone and dry wit of a really good professor (which he is), and the series has been so consistently good for nearly 300 episodes now. It's a big time investment, but a very rewarding one. Podcasts have been my main form of entertainment now for over a year, so I'm gonna drop some history/other brainy recs too for anyone interested. Hardcore History - essential listening for history fans, skews more toward audio book format than podcast. History of Rome / Revolutions - a bit drier, but more thorough than hardcore history, I list these together because they're the same author. Very well researched History of the 20th century - relatively new podcast aiming to tell a multidisciplinary history of the 1900's, very entertaining well produced The Rhine - The history of Rome, but focuses on the Rhine region, he's planning on following the history of the region into present day Planet Money - economics for everyone, an npr podcast Omega Tau - deep deep deep dive interviews into engineering topics. Everything from Rollercoaster design to the gemini missions. English/German bilingual Intelligence squared - debate club, basically. A thesis is decided, a team argues for, another against, audience decides who won
- piva00 9y agoHow do you think HOPWAG compares to "Philosophize This!"? I ask because I have invested some time on Philosophize This and after the first 20 episodes it got much more enjoyable but I could see myself switching to another in-depth history of philosophy podcast if it's much better. The only problem I see is that HOPWAG seems to be still on the 14th century, is it supposed to stop there or is it still ongoing and will someday arrive at modern times?
- jlebar 9y agoWould "24 infotainment podcasts" be a better way of describing this list? Nothing wrong with infotainment. Maybe it will even make you seem more interesting at parties. Nothing wrong with that, either. But it's not the same thing as being smarter.
- Paul-ish 9y agoWhat makes something infotainment vs information?
- milkytron 9y agoFrom my computers dictionary: Infotainment - broadcast material that is intended both to entertain and to inform. Information - facts provided or learned about something or someone. From that, I believe infotainment is intended to be consumed as entertainment, while also being intended to inform. As opposed to just raw data or facts which aren't necessarily distributed with the purpose of entertaining.
- gramstrong 9y agoEh. Cognitive exercises don't hurt, even if the knowledge gained isn't particularly useful. Just because something is entertaining doesn't mean it won't stretch your critical thinking muscles. I guess define "smart".
- jlebar 9y agoI would actually have no problem saying that a podcast that stretches your critical thinking muscles makes you "smarter". But do any of the listed podcasts do that? To work a muscle or your brain, you have to actively...well, work. I haven't tried all of the podcasts they listed, but of the ones that I have tried, they're all passive entertainment. (And again, nothing wrong with that.)
- thesmallestcat 9y agoI saw a great TED talk about that, let me tell you about it.
- Dowwie 9y agoWhat would it take to make a crowd-ranked list of podcasts, authored by the HN community? HN accounts ought to be linked, and posts karma-weighted. Hmm. I'm on the cusp of losing my productivity.
- j_s 9y agoAsk HN: What podcasts are you listening to? | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14529759 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14529759 (last month)
- tambourine_man 9y agoI've been waiting for HN to have a curated list of podcasts and YouTube channel for years
- nathan_f77 9y agoI'm surprised they didn't mention Waking Up with Sam Harris [1]. I've recently started listening, and he talks to some really interesting people about very interesting topics. > The Waking Up podcast was selected by Apple as one of iTunes Best of 2015 and won a 2017 Webby Award for best podcast in the Science & Education category. I also really enjoy listening to the stories on The Moth [2]. [1] https://www.samharris.org/podcast https://www.samharris.org/podcast [2] https://themoth.org/podcast https://themoth.org/podcast
- christophergray 9y agoThe art of memory applied to memorizing foreign language vocabulary (including Chinese), bible verses, etc. http://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/category/podcast/feed/ http://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/category/podcast/feed/ http://masterofmemory.com/feed/ http://masterofmemory.com/feed/
- JoshCole 9y agoOne podcast that I learn from not mentioned in this list is http://www.writingexcuses.com/ http://www.writingexcuses.com/ It drills down into the nitty gritty of how to write stories and I learned a lot about writing while listening. They tend to cover a different specific aspect of writing in each podcast. So one podcast may focus primarily on the uses of spacing while another might focus on how to write a pitch for a book.
- waiseristy 9y agoAnother good one : http://omegataupodcast.net/ http://omegataupodcast.net/ Covers Science, aviation, and engineering, and aviation
- philip1209 9y agoAs an engineer, I find learning about design to be fascinating. The High Resolution Podcast has quickly become a favorite of mine. Every week, the hosts interview leaders in the design industry from leading companies. Topics have ranged from research to diversity. https://www.highresolution.design/ https://www.highresolution.design/
- ben_utzer 9y agoThe Infinite Monkey Cage non apple links are here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads
- BenGosub 9y agoIf you are into macroeconomics can't recommend David Beckworth's podcast enough. https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings