Stefan Zweifel

Podcasts 2019

• 4 min read

A year has already passed since my Podcasts 2018-article. As I'm still listening to podcasts, I thought it would make sense to make it a tradition and share which pods listened to this year.

I can say that podcast consumption has gone down through the last year. I no longer listen to them in the gym (switched to EDM playlists) nor during my daily commute (I'm more into books right now).

I've also been more restrictive with my subscriptions. I've kept subscribed to podcasts, even though I only listened to them every other month or so or even when I knew I wouldn't enjoy them.
Now, when I don't like 2-3 episodes in a row, the subscription is gone. (That's something I also applied in other aspects in my life: TV series, newsletters, sub-reddits. Life's too short for things I don't enjoy).

Gone are:

  • Charged Tech Podcast
  • Planet Money
  • Hidden Brain

My current set of subscriptions are:

  • Bon Appétit Foodcast: I've stepped up my cooking and baking game this year. I've been following the Bon Appétit YouTube channel for over a year now (If you haven't seen at least one episode of Gourmet Makes or It's alive your missing out!) and learned a lot through their videos. Their podcast is a perfect extension with in-depth interviews with editors and chefs.
  • Darknet Diaries: A show all about hackers, breaches and all things computer. Terrific storytelling.
  • Full Stack Radio: Adam is still crushing it. Every 2 weeks there's a new interview with interesting guests about a large array of topics around web development, design and more. There wasn't an episode in the past year where I didn't learn something new.
  • Hurry Slowly: Podcast about productivity and how to become a bit more relaxed. I still have a lot of episodes in the backlog.
  • Rework: A podcast by Basecamp. If you like their work philosophy, you will enjoy their podcast too.
  • Extremities: A new podcast by the guy behind the Wendover-YouTube Channel. The first season was about the most remote island on the planet (Pitcairn). The second season was about Svalbard and the most northern city in the world.
  • Hello Internet: I still enjoy listening to Brady and CGP Grey discussing their life and stuff on the internet. Especially the community-aspect of the podcast is something I like a lot. Having been featured in their last Christmas-special was also a lifetime achievement for me 😅.
  • The Laracasts Snippet: Infrequent, short episodes by Jeffrey Way about development and life lessons. I love Jeffrey's personality and wit.
  • The Laravel Snippet: Taylor Otwell – the creator of Laravel – shares news and stories from behind the scenes.
  • The NPR Politics Podcast: Now a daily podcast, about all things American politics.
  • Radiolab: Science and philosophy podcast. I've enjoyed their past episodes very much. Recent episodes have been a bit on the boring side of the spectrum. Might be gone in the next year review.
  • Reply All: A show about the quirks of the internet. Still love the "Yes-Yes-No"-episodes.
  • Twenty Thousand Hertz: A new member on the subscription list. A podcast all about sound. Love the sound-quiz in the middle of each episode.
  • The Unmade Podcast: Brady and Tim discuss potential, silly podcast ideas. It took me some time to enjoy the podcast, but now I look forward to each new episode.
  • Einfach Politik: Podcast in German by the Swiss radio and television stations about all things politics.
  • Hotspot: Another podcast in German by the Swiss radio and television stations. The first season was all about big data and how several Swiss political parties have been using social media trackers and targeted ads.
  • Telefonbeantworter: Another German podcast by a big Swiss newspaper. I love the concept of listeners recording a voice mail and the journalists answering the questions through the podcast. Still have to come up with a good question which I would like to have answered by them.

I've also listened to episodes of the following podcasts during the last 12 months. They didn't make it to the core-subscription list, as episodes seem way to long (2-3 hours) or that the topics covered by the podcasts weren't that interesting to me.

  • Invisibilia
  • Making Sense with Sam Harris
  • Cyber
  • Joe Rogan Experience

Have you come accross a good podcast which I might enjoy or you wanna share? Let me know on Mastodon.