Podcasts are a great way to consume information and entertainment. I use BeyondPod Pro to track, download, and listen to my favorite podcasts.

I listen to podcasts on my Nexus 5 during commutes and when I go running. I estimate this accumulates to around 12 hours per week. The total time is randomly divided between podcasts, audio books, and music. I estimate podcasts get about 5 hours per week. I usually listen to podcasts at 1.5x speed.

This post lists my favorite podcasts, as of December 2014. The list is taken from the BeyondPod Smart Playlist, which reflects the order and precedence of listening.

Podcasts I never miss

These are the first 3 feeds in the Smart Playlist, that I listen to regularly on a weekly basis.

1. All About Android on the TWiT network. Hosted by Android enthusiasts Json Howell, Gina Trapani, and Ron Richards. Excellent Android show.
2. This Week In Google on the TWiT network. Hosted by Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, and Jeff Jarvis. Not just Google stuff. Great content all around.
3. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series. A Stanford course with a different guest entrepreneur every week, during the academic year.

Podcasts I listen to sometimes

The next 10 feeds are next on the Smart Playlist. I usually listen to new episodes from the top 4 on a pretty regular basis. I sometimes get to listen to the others, during periods that are slow on new episodes, or if I have extra listening time.

1. The Business of Freelancing by Brennan Dunn. New on my list. Trying it out.
2. The Moth Podcast. For the occasional good story.
3. 2 episodes from my TED category (see below).
4. Manager Tools. Recommended by my previous boss, when I started managing. I don’t manage now, but I like the practicality of their content. They tend to over-talk anything, so it’s a natural fit for 2x listening speed 🙂 .
5. Gigaom – Internet of Things, hosted by Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel.
6. NPRs TED Radio Hour, hosted by Guy Raz. Takes a theme, and dive deep into it using multiple TEDTalks that touch the theme.
7. Selected Shorts. More good stories.
8. TEDTalks. Because, TED. Not always great without the video, but it’s unlikely that I’ll get to watch the video…
9. In Beta on the 5by5 network. Christie Koehler and Kevin Purdy talk about tech culture and such. Used to be good. Not so much lately. Might get demoted soon.
10. The Tim Ferriss Show. He gets really good (and diverse) interviews!

Stuff I usually don’t get to

The next 13 feeds are next on the Smart Playlist. I rarely get to listen to those. I keep them for a couple of reasons. One, so I never run out of episodes to listen to. Two, if I’m in a mood for one of those, I like having them ready. Three, if I hear from another source about something that interests me on one of those, I have it ready.

1. FLOSS Weekly on the TWiT network. Not about dental hygiene. Randal Shwartz and guests on Open Source Software.
2. Security Now on the TWiT network. Hosted by Leo Laporte and the mythologic Steve Gibson. Kinda way too long episodes.
3. Know How on the TWiT network. Robert Ballecer and Bryan Burnett do fun projects. I think it loses a lot without the video stream.
4. Mac Power Users, with Kaite Floyd and David Sparks.
5. Freaknomoics Radio, hosted by Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt.
6. Science Friday Audio. Started as a radio show, created in 1991 by Ira Flatow, providing science news and entertaining stories.
7. The Web Ahead on the 5by5 network. Hosted by Jen Simmons.
8. 60-Second Mind, from Scientific American. A quick weekly commentary on the latest news in behavior and brain research.
9. 60-Second Science, from Scientific American. A quick daily commentary on the world of science.
10. David Allen Company Podcast – once in a blue moon episode from the creator of GTD.
11. Classical Mythology Podcast. No longer active (but so is classical mythology).
12. Dan Carlins Hardcore History. Insanely deep, long, and well-researched takes on history.
13. Stuff You Missed in History Class, by Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey.

Stuff I should probably remove

The last 5 on the Smart Playlist should probably go away…

1. The Economist (all audio).
2. Stuff You Should Know.
3. This American Life.
4. BrainStuff.
5. Great Speeches in History.

Feeds in my TED category

A useful feature in BeyondPod Smart Playlists is the ability to dynamically queue a couple of episodes from a category. I mentioned above that I use this with the TED category, so here’s a list of feeds in that category:

• A Taste of TEDTalks.
• NPRs TED Radio Hour.
• TEDTalks.
• TEDTalks Education.
• TEDTalks Kids and Family.
• TEDTalks Science and Medicine.
• TEDTalks Technology.

Summary

That’s my list. What’s on yours?