Podcasts

A frequently updated collection of podcasts I’ve listened to that have made enough of an impact for me to return to them frequently.

In many cases, I’d recommend going back to the start and listening from episode one. However, this isn’t always the best reflection of what the podcast’s capable of, so I’ve included a Where to start recommendation for each.

Whilst split into categories, don’t put too much stock in these. Podcasts are a broad church and almost every single podcast listed falls into two or more of the groups they’ve ended up in.

Last updated: Tuesday 15th October, 2019.

PODCASTS

News + Current Affairs

The Bugle
Satirist and comedian Andy Zaltzman takes on the weeks news. Former stimping ground of John Oliver, he now hosts the show with a rotating panel of comedic co-hosts including Alice Fraser, Hari Kondabolu and Nish Kumar.

Start with… the most recent episode. Whilst the archive’s worth exploring for some quintessential John Oliver rants, the subject matter is somewhat time sensitive.

The Week Unwrapped
A weekly podcast that unearths things that have happened around the world that didn’t necessarily make the headlines, but have the potential to impact our day-to-day lives.

Start with… the most recent episode. Again, as a news-based podcast the topics covered are of the moment.

Calipahate
Rukmini Callimachi is The New York Times’ terrorist correspondent and this podcast gives an insight into the unbelievable in-depth work she’s been doing on understanding ISIS. As much as offering a better understanding of ISIS, its a great look at how journalism works.

Start with…the first episode.

Business

Planet Money
The economy is complicated and, at times, opaque. Planet Money makes it accessible through creative subjects and by humanising the forces that impact us. As a US podcast, there’s a US slant, but every episode is interesting, even if not entirely relevant to UK listeners.

Start with… The M&M Anomaly

ReWork
The business world often focuses on fast, exponential growth and scale. ReWork looks at the alternative: growing slowly, organically and sustainably.

Start with… Take a Stand

Freakonomics
Taking a look at the hidden side of everything, Freakonomics take a look at the less rational, more human side of economics, decision making, business and everything in between.

Start with… The Upside of Quitting

Startup
The podcast that started (or charted) an entire podcast network. The first series of Startup follows Alex Blumberg et al. as they pitch, build and launch their podcast network, Gimlet Media. From the second series, the podcast swings focus to other business, startups and entrepreneurs, providing a window into what it’s like to start and run a business.

Start with… How Not to Pitch to a Billionaire

How I Built This
Interviews with the founders of some of the worlds largest brands and companies. You might not recognise every name or company covered, but the less familiar episodes are often the best.

Start with… Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard

Business Wars
Exploring some of the fiercest and best known rivalries in business, this US-produced podcast puts together a host of mini series that are insightful, dramatic and, at times, over the top (think reimagined conversations performed by the same voice actor). However, those indulgences are what make it the fun, gripping listen that it is.

Start with… Nike vs. Adidas

Comedy

Hip Hop Saved My Life
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan sits down with a variety of people and talks hip hop. First and favourite albums, how his guests got into it, what they’re listening to at the moment — these are the pillars the podcast is formed around, but hilarious tangents quickly and frequently ensue.

Start with… Episode 20: Frankie Boyle

The Adam Buxton Podcast
Adam Buxton sits down and chats with a wide spectrum of guests, from comedians and directors to writers and musicians (including Queens of the Stoneage frontman, Josh Homme). The insightful, witty and at times obscure conversations are heightened by the jingles Buxton uses to structure the podcasts, which he creates himself.

Start with… Ep. 55 — Simon Amstell

No Such Thing As a Fish
Brought together by the fact-finders behind panel show QI, the format and style of this podcast is infintely more enjoyable (and funny) than the TV show. Each week, the four panelists bring along their four favourite facts and share related trivia and information they’ve found. They often do live recordings around the UK and they’re well worth going to.

Start with… The most recent episode. Released each and every Friday, you’ll no go wanting.

You’re Doing It Wrong
If Adam Buxton’s at the helm, it’s going to be good. The podcast edition of his Radio 4 show takes a look at everything we’re doing wrong — parenting, work, dieting — the list is endless and the chats are characteristically irreverent.

Start with… The first episode and work through them all. They’re only 20 or so minutes a piece.

Armchair Expert
A podcast I didn’t expect to enjoy, but do enormously, sees actor Dax Shephard calling in a convoy of celebrities and familiar names for long-form conversations about what they did to get to where they are. They don’t just hit on the struggles faced along the way, but as a result of the success that they were seeking. A former drug and alcohol adict, Shephard has now been sober for over fourteen years, but it still adds an extra dimension to the conversations he ends up having.

Start with… Ira Glass

Science + Tech

Radiolab
A podcast I’ve been enjoying for seven years, Radiolab does things between your ears you didn’t think were possible. Bringing science to life, its producers build rich, all-encompassing audio experiences that don’t follow a release schedule, making for a wonderful surprise when you find one waiting for you in your podcast app.

Start with…Breaking News

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
A weekly science show hosted by a panel of American sceptics. The panel cast a critical eye over historic scientific discoveries, recent developments and innovations, and some of the people and ideas that undermine (or choose to ignore) science and facts altogether.

Start with… the most recent episode. They’ve been publishing the podcast for over 12 years, so best to start from where they are rather than trying to catch-up.

The Infinite Monkey Cage
In this extended version of the BBC Radio 4 show, physicist Brian Cox and British comedian Robin Ince combine forces to host panel discussions on all manner of science-related subjects, like Schrödinger’s Cat (a recurring theme) and the apocalypse. A balance of academia and irreverance is created thorough a well-organised panel of academics, experts and comedians.

Start with… Irrationality

Reply All
Technically, Reply All is a podcast about the internet. But with such a broad, all-encompassing starting point, it inevitably covers all manner of subjects — from lost BitCoin and the origins of specifice memes, to the dark web and those irritating automated calls we all receive.

Start with… Long Distance Parts I & II

Intrigue

Choiceology with Dan Heath
We are not the predictable, cool-headed, rational people we think we are. Anyone that’s read books like Nudge or Predictably Irrational will be familiar with the ideas explored in this podcast, but the examples and stories that come with the insights make this more than worth the listen.

Start with…Summit Fever

This American Life
Another podcast I’ve subscribed to for several years. The quality of each episode is outstandingly consistent. In-depth, well-researched stories on a theme, seamlessly stitched together with unparelleled production value.

Start with: The Perils of Intimacy.

Invisibilia
Another podcast on the invisible forces that impact our daily lives, but this time focusing on human behaviour and how we think, how we feel and what we do or don’t believe.

Start with… The Secret History of Thoughts

Heavyweight
Jonathan Goldstein is somewhat of a podcast/public radio heavyweight himself, but that’s not what this podcast is about. Instead, he pinpoints a moment in people’s lives where things didn’t go as planned or hoped and, whilst telling their story, helps them to confront and overcome it.

Start with… Gregor

Serial
Arguably the one that put podcasts firmly in the public spotlight, the first series of Serial grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and didn’t loosen its grip until the final episode. I was enthralled, scurrying down every rabbit hole, reading every article and listening to every off-shoot podcast between episodes in the hope of gleaning just a little more on this fascinating true story. I can’t say the second series captured my attention in quite the same way.

Start with… S01 Episode 01: The Alibi

S-Town
From the makers of Serial comes this left-field investigative series. A true story, it starts with a twist and your expectations are continually challenged and undermined from there on in.

Start with… Chapter I

99% Invisible
We take some of the best, most innovative and useful design for granted — it works so well, we don’t even notice it. 99% Invisible unpacks the thinking, the hard work and the complexity behind the seemingly simple.

Start with… 09X — 99% Doomed. Some of the earlier episodes only last between 5 and 15 minutes, so download a handful and queue them up.

Health + Wellbeing

The Billy Yang Podcast
Filmmaker Billy Yang chats with a range of endurance athletes and innovators, covering the what, the how, the who and the why that make them tick.

Start with… Mark Gainey (co-founder and Chairman of Strava)

Conversations With People Who Hate Me
Dylan Marron is a writer and video maker that spends his time concentrating on and highlighting social justice issues. As a result, he receives a lot of negative messages from people from across the internet. In this podcast, he takes those online comments offline and converses with the people that wrote them. The results are fascinating.

Start with… You’re A Piece of Sh*t

Home Roads
“Who are you? And where are we?”. Matt Barbett heads out in the saddle with interesting folks from the world of cycling and explores their home roads. I’ve always felt conversation and openness flow that bit freer when the legs are turning and the first few episodes seem to reinforce that theory.

Start with…David Millar in Girona

Food + Drink

Chef’s Story
Innovative, artistic, dedicated, hard working, idealistic, dogmatic…the world’s best chef’s have a unique view of the world, unbelievable stories to tell and a host of lessons to head, regardless of whether or not you’re into food.

Start with… Episode 83: Dan Barber Part 1

The Food Chain
Put together by the BBC World Service, this takes a deep dive into how and why our food ends up on our plates, exploring everything from supply chains and logistics to varities and cultural significance.

Start with… I Can’t Taste

Everything else

More Perfect
Making some of the most important cases to have been decided by the US Supereme Court accessible. Why is it so powerful? How are juries put together? A wealth of questions you’ve never thought to ask are answered.

Start with… The Political Thicket

The Guilty Feminist
My wife introduced me to this one and I’m incredibly glad she did. A light-hearted but still hard-hitting look at modern feminism with a superb array of guests that includeJo Brand and Peep Show writer, Sam Bain.

Start with… Us And Our Mothers.

Slow Burn
Abuse of power, political scandal, cover ups — the current US political landscape gives the Nixon administration and the Watergate scandal a new level of relevance. Slow Burn takes a look back at Watergate as it unfolded and asks whether we’d know if we were living through it once again.

Start with… 1: Martha

Answer Me This
One to love for its strangeness. Answer Me This is the podcast version of an Agony Aunt column, with listeners writing and calling in with questions and quandries searching for some guidance from hosts Helen and Olly.

Start with… Any episode you with. They’re currently releasing a podcast each fortnight, switching between new shows and one from the archive (which spans over a decade)

Crimetown
Mob bosses, corruption, organised crime — and all of it true. The first series takes a look at Providence, Rhode Island, and the dark underbelly of the city in the 1970's.

Start with… Chapter 1: Divine Providence

Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History
Some things benefit from a second look and that’s the subject of this podcast. Malcolm Gladwell re-examines stories, situations and things we think we know in a way only he can.

Start with… Hallelujah

TED Radio Hour
We all love TED Talks. This hour-long radio version repackages those talks, speaking to the people that gave them and offering a richer insight into ideas worth sharing.

Start with… To The Edge

Mogul
I like hip hop, but can’t profess to be its biggest fan or to be enormously knowledgable on its history. However, this six-part series charts the rise of hip hop through one man: Chris Lighty. It’s solely responsible for giving me a new found respect for 50 Cent, too.

Start with… Part 1: That Beat, That Beat Right There

The Dollop
Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds, two American comedians, gather around a microphone. One of them has a story from history in his hand. The other has no idea what they’re about to talk about. The rest just happens and it’s always funny, often laugh out loud.

Start with… Competitive Endurance Tickling

The History of England
I’m woefully ignorant when it comes to history, especially that of the UK. This is a Ronal podcast, doing exactly what it says on the in: retelling the history of England. Starting in the 3rd century and tackling approximately a century per episode, David Crowther — a self-professed “bloke in his shed” — retells the story of England one step at a time (he’s 240 episodes in and we’re just into the Tudor era).

Start with… 1 The Anglo Saxons: Chronicles And Arguments

Waking Up
Author Sam Harris goes in-depth on all manner of subjects with authors and thinkers. Guests include Russell Brand, Niall Ferguson, Richard Dawkins and Cass Sunstein.

Start with… #117 — Networks, Power, and Chaos

The JFDI Cast
This one came to me via The Do Lectures and it’s kept me gripped from my first listen. Mills locks himself in his basement every day to record his daily podcast, which sees him talking non-stop, unedited on subjects ranging from running to drinking to happiness. He’s also training for an ultra marathon.

Start with… #3 How To Run A Marathon On A Treadmill

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day
Day, a journalist and author, talks one on one with people of note about when and how they failed. The idea is that, in exploring the things that haven’t gone to plan, we learn and become better.

Start with… Alain de Botton

Table Manners
Getting to know people through the medium of food. Jessie Ware and her mum invite a plethora of guests to their house for dinner, from food critic Jay Rayner and musician Paloma Faith, to Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn and national treasure Stephen Fry. Over the food they've made, they discuss their lives and work, as well establishing each guests at-the-table bugbear.

Start with… Paul Smith