This listing of podcasts includes all of my favorites that listen to for various reasons. Some may be guilty pleasures, but for the most part, they've all
been very helpful to keep up with the latest news, events, and other information to help me grow as a person.
* Please note that some of these podcasts don't have an official website. In those instances, I've linked to the most universal landing page I could find.
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The Daily
This is very often my first dose of news and other information every morning. The New York Times releases a new episode at least every regular weekday. The host, Michael Barbaro, is a fantastic interviewer. He makes sure we all know he's still there with his "Hmm" sounds but also ensuring that he breaks things down for general understanding.
Go Listen
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Post Reports
Released at least every regular weekday by The Washington Post, this is my afternoon dose of news. The primary host, Martine Powers, does a great job of digging into the subject at hand in a way that helps us to better understand the subject matter. Whenever something even remote relates to Jeff Bezos and/or Amazon, they are quick to issue a disclaimer, but they appear to pull no punches.
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Kickass News
Despite its name, this podcast is not really a news show. It's a fantastic collection of interviews across the spectrum of interest areas. This includes Hollywood icons, politicians, authors, and many more. Ben Mathis seems to sound odd at first due to his speaking style, but that speaking style is later what I learned is one of his key assets when it comes to interviews.
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Jordan Harbinger Show
Jordan once was a "regular person" like the rest of us. Over the course of several years, he's since built himself up to be a regular stop by many celebrities, authors, and other influencers who are trying to promote various projects. He does a great job of interviewing his guests while staying on topic and keeping things interesting. His show notes are well-done.
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The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
This is basically the audio from The Daily Show. I've quickly become a big fan of Trevor Noah. He's super-smart and laser-focused when interviewing people. He doesn't cherry-pick guests and does a wonderful job of giving everyone their due respect, despite any differences of opinions or beliefs.
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The Way I Heard It
This podcast is hosted by Mike Rowe from the well-known television series named Dirty Jobs. In each episode, Mike Rowe spends roughly ten minutes telling a short story that he's written. The story isn't a story at all, though. It's a unique perspective on many historical events and figures that we probably never knew. Almost like a mystery, you usually don't know who or what he's talking about until the end.
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Today Explained
In this once daily podcast (most regular weekdays) released by new media company, Vox, the host Sean Rameswaram deep dives us into at least one of the most important news items for the day. This podcast is a wonderful compliment to The Daily and Post Reports.
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Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL)
This is one of the first podcasts I ever began listening to. It also has a YouTube channel. In each episode, you get to listen in on a lecture and/or Q&A with some of today's most influential and/or popular executives in business - straight from Stanford. Many of the guests are CEO's that you've heard of. Each episode helps you learn more about some of the challenges and advice they have for fellow leaders.
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Hackable?
This is one of my favorite podcasts. Produced by McAffee, their host Geoff Siskind and Bruce Snell go through many adventures while their co-worker Pedro and guest hackers come in to show Geoff just how susceptible he is to being hacked on various device and ways (including cars, streaming devices, and more) - complete with tips on how to protect yourself. I recommend starting from the beginning.
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The Joe Rogan Experience
Joe Rogan was originally known for being the "Fear Factor guy." He's far more than that. Originally a competitive martial artist, he's since been an actor, comedian, and truth-seeker. He's constantly looking for the most recent information and using that during his interviews. This has made him one of the most well-known and respected media hosts out there. His interviews are quite long, but very thorough. You often feel like you're witnessing a conversation between longtime friends.
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Real Time with Bill Maher
Bill Maher is well-known for his tell-it-like-it-is style of comedy and commentary. His show, Real Time, has been on for at least 14-years now, and nothing has changed. This is a weekly replay of his show. He's still interviewing people on every side of the proverbial aisle and bringing a unique sense of common sense that I feel is missing from all conversations today. I don't always agree with him, but I respect his perspectives.
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Here's the Thing
This is an excellent interview-based podcast, hosted by the one-and-only Alex Baldwin. Yes, that guy. While some know him as something of a bad-guy, as the host of this podcast, he's impressed the heck out of me as being one of my favorite interviewers. I was instantly blown away at how much he knows and the preparation he's done. Even when I don't know or care about the guest or topic, I sincerely enjoy the interviews and always walk away learning something new.
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Phil in the Blanks
If you would have asked me a year before writing this if I'd be saying anything nice about Dr. Phil, I would have called you crazy. I always thought of him as some sort of standard TV personality. Since listening to this podcast, I've learned to truly appreciate him and the things he does to help others around him. Not only that, but he's a very thorough and prepared interviewer, making his interviews very informative.
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Broken: Jeffrey Epstein
By all accounts, Jeffrey Epstein is a monster that preyed on underage girls for decades. You probably know the headlines and a few soundbites you may have come across over the past months. This podcast digs deeper, showing you just how calculated and how large of an "engine" he had developed to perform his monstrous deeds, hosted by the reporters who broke the story that finally brought him down.
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The Perfect Scam
This is a very fun podcast that helps you to better understand and protect yourself from scammers, both online and off. This podcast is produced by AARP and hosted by Will Johnson. More importantly, it always includes guest co-host, Frank Abagnale. Yeah! That guy played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie, Catch Me If You Can!. Each episode will help you feel better and better about being able to prevent yourself from being the victim of a scam.
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Breach
I often incorrectly call this the "breached podcast." This show spends a full season of episodes investigating in detail a specific data breach, including Equifax, Yahoo, Russia, and elections. The hosts do a fantastic job of detailing things in such a way that any listener can easily benefit from the information provided. I recommend listening to this, in order, from the beginning.
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Beyond the To-Do List
Erik Fisher is the host of this podcast. He regularly has guests on that help you to do things like better organize various aspects of your personal and professional life. While not everything is as task-based as the title of the show sounds, everything definitely will help you be more productive and feel better about your output.
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Reset
This is new podcast from Vox, hosted by Arielle Duhaime-Ross. In each episode, they focus on the news and interviews to get more information about things happening in the world of technology - especially things happening in and going on in Silicon Valley that affect us all.
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