Podcasts that I listen to

A work colleague asked me the other day for podcast recommendations, so I’m belatedly putting this list together. I tend to listen to podcasts when commuting and on my daily walks – about 90 minutes a day, more or less – and I usually listen to stuff that’s interesting or work-related.

In alphabetical order:

• The Agile Revolution – excellent Brisbane-based podcast focusing on news and topics on agile development (esp. SCRUM and Lean). I’ve worked fairly closely with two of the three hosts (Craig and Renee), so maybe I’m biased, but I enjoy this one a lot. Updates roughly fortnightly.
• Agile Toolkit Podcast – hosted by Bob Payne, he interviews presenters at major Agile conferences in the US. Updates erratically in spurts, but always interesting.
• Coding by Numbers – another local podcast, by Craig Aspinall and Steve Dalton. Technically focussed – they talk about languages, libraries and tools. Updates roughly fortnightly.
• Daniel Pink – the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, he hosts an NPR radio show, where he talks to other leading management-science types and occasionally remembers to take questions from callers. HIs second season has just started. Updates monthly-ish when running.
• Dr Karl on triplej – classic Aussie science call in show. Amazing breadth of topics covered.
• IT Conversations – the first serious podcast channel I started listening to. Covers large range of various IT and technology related topics. Hit and miss – all episodes are good, but not all are on topics I’m interested in. I normally let this one back up a bit, so that if I get an episode that doesn’t thrill me, I can skip it.
• The Science Show – another classic Aussie science show, mostly interviews with professional scientists.
• Software Engineering Radio – Very strong technically focussed podcast by a couple of German engineers (it is English language, though). Mostly interviews, very high quality.
• TEDTalks – TED talks are amazing. ‘Nuff said
• WNYC’s RadioLab – I got onto this one from the Science Show podcast. Covers various areas of science-stuff, but in a very different and unique presentation fashion. May not be everyone’s idea of a good show though.

I do listen to a couple of other entertainment ones, but these form the bulk of my listening time. As it turns out, the average intake works out at about 90 minutes a day – I’ve got a large backlog that I’m gradually whittling down (mostly the TED talks), and it’s coming down slowly.

So – anyone got some other good podcasts? Let me know in the comments.

Author: Robert Watkins

My name is Robert Watkins. I am a software developer and have been for over 20 years now. I currently work for people, but my opinions here are in no way endorsed by them (which is cool; their opinions aren’t endorsed by me either). My main professional interests are in Java development, using Agile methods, with a historical focus on building web based applications. I’m also a Mac-fan and love my iPhone, which I’m currently learning how to code for. I live and work in Brisbane, Australia, but I grew up in the Northern Territory, and still find Brisbane too cold (after 22 years here). I’m married, with two children and one cat. My politics are socialist in tendency, my religious affiliation is atheist (aka “none of the above”), my attitude is condescending and my moral standing is lying down. View all posts by Robert Watkins