I listen to podcasts a lot—when preparing food, walking to work and stores, helping injured insects, using the restroom, and doing other chores. Following are some of my favorite podcasts, organized by category. You can search for them by name in iTunes Store or online.
You can also convert text into podcasts using a text-to-speech program.
See also Pablo Stafforini's recommended podcasts.
Contents
Animals
- ARZone (Animal Rights Zone) Podcasts: interviews with animal-rights activists
Computers/software
- Coding Blocks Podcast
- Conversations about Digital Preservation
- CS 162 - Spring 2008: Operating Systems and System Programming: Berkeley lectures
- The Future of the Internet By Stanford Continuing Studies Program
- Harvard Extension School's Computer Science E-1 - Understanding Computers and the Internet: excellent intro to computer hardware, the Internet, and security
- IBM Computer Science Spotlight: short discussions with IBM developers about their projects
- Learning Rails by Michael Slater and Christopher Haupt
- Programming Throwdown: introductions to many programming languages and other computer-science concepts, along with software news
- Software Engineering Radio - the podcast for professional software developers: interviews about software principles and case studies
- Talking Robots - The Podcast on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence: interviews with leading robotics researchers
- TechStuff: layperson-accessible discussions of various computer, software, and non-computer technologies, including histories of tech companies
Computer security
- Security Now: This is one of my favorite podcasts because it teaches about both computer security and computers in general, and host Steve Gibson is very good at explaining things.
- SANS Internet Storm Center Daily Network/Cyber Security and Information Security Podcast: ~5 minutes of cybersecurity news daily. (In contrast, Security Now is only weekly, which makes it less useful for learning about urgent issues.)
Effective altruism
- The 80,000 Hours Podcast with Robert Wiblin
- Doing Good Better Podcast
- The Turing Test: Harvard students effective-altruism podcast
Fundraising
- The Foundation Center - Philanthropy Chat: philanthropy/fundraising interviews
- The Fundraising Authority: interviews with fundraising advice
- Philanthropy This Week: interviews about philanthropy/fundraising
Futurism
- Science, Ethics, and the Future: podcast of my organization, Foundational Research Institute
- Singularity 1 on 1: interviews with well known futurists
- Singularity Bros
- The World Transformed
General
- Stuff You Should Know: light-hearted introductions to a wide range of topics; I often listen to these podcasts when I'm not focused enough for something more dense, because the hosts of this show make the material very easy to digest
- Nature Podcast: science news
- New Scientist podcast: (sadly no longer available)
- TEDTalks (audio)
Neuroscience
- Abnormal Psychology Lectures
- All in the Mind: radio program featuring stories and interviews about psychology and neuroscience
- Brain Matters: interviews with neuroscientists
- Brain Science Podcast: more interviews with neuroscientists
- Neurobiology By Dr. Earl Beyer, Harrisburg Area Community College
- Neuroscientists Talk Shop: neuroscience professors discuss technical topics with guest speakers; the material is sometimes advanced but very rewarding
- Social Psychology Lectures
- The Society of Mind (2007) By Marvin Minsky
Personal finance
- Money Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for a Richer Life
Philosophy
- Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot: interviews on atheism, ethics, and philosophy
- Philosophy Bites: fifteen-minute interviews with famous philosophers
- Rationally Speaking: discussions and interviews on philosophy of science and rationality
- Waking Up with Sam Harris
Physics/math
- Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009: course lectures on planets, stars, and cosmology
- FQXi Podcast: physics/cosmology news and interviews
- Strongly Connected Components: interviews with mathematicians
Politics
- Brookings - @ Brookings Event Audio: discussions of US public policy
- Ralph Nader Radio Hour
- The Young Turks: entertaining presentation of the news from a progressive standpoint
Social sciences
- The Audible Anthropologist: ten-minute discussions of culture, rituals, beliefs, etc. of various societies
- New Books In History: interviews with authors of new history books (this is one of many good "New Books" podcasts)
Startups
- How To Start A Startup
- StartUp Podcast by Gimlet Media