Podcasts for Web Developers
A curated list of tech podcasts spiced with loosely related choices
Knowledge professionals live on a treadmill, continuously learning to keep updated with best practices and innovations. Even sources not directly related to the daily craft help navigate our many personal and professional challenges. Fortunately, the podcast ecosystem has spawned many content jewels through the years.
I’ve been curating a dynamic list of shows for self-education and entertainment. Maybe part of that playlist can be helpful to you too. I subscribe to more than what is shared here, but I limited myself to the ones that I am most confident about relevance and production quality.
Below, I grouped the recommendations into two categories: software development itself and another concerning general topics, maybe not even related to tech, but that could be relevant to folks in the field.
Software Development
The Changelog is a news and podcast network for developers. Most of the episodes I listen to are from JS Party or Ship It (about DevOps). Nevertheless, I subscribe to their master feed that publishes from all Changelog. Every week, I listen to something interesting from one of the other shows.
Front End Happy Hour puts together a panel with a peculiar premise. They choose a word at the start, and everyone takes a shot if one of them speaks that same word during the show. I love it 🍹. The podcast has some black belt developers from companies like Netflix and Atlassian.
Scott Hanselman hosts the Hanselminutes. He is a Microsoft employee with many miles in the programming field. His sharp mind and genuine curiosity make the show authentic and exciting.
The Programming Throwdown launches one or two episodes by month. The hosts carry an analytical mindset, bringing worthwhile questions and reflections to even exhaustly covered subjects.
Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski run the Syntax podcast. They go straight to the point and always give practical tips. Audience questions earn a dedicated episode from time to time.
Automation Testing is one of the podcasts produced by the Test Guild. I’ve doubled my efforts to improve my test skills in the last couple of years. This podcast helps me keep track of practices and tools in the test arena.
(Loosely) Related
The Drive is the nerdiest podcast about health one can get. Peter Attia goes deep on subjects like exercise, heart, supplements, and eye health to educate us on (what he calls) the 100 years marathon. The show is helping me attempt some balance on what I confess has not received proper priority for many years.
You probably heard about the Freakonomics books series. They apply the economic way of thinking to understand almost any aspect of human life. The book’s authors and their team also produce five different podcasts. I suggest you take a look at the original one: Freakonomics Radio. The show goes on the same tone as the books exploring, as they said, “the hidden side of everything.” I also learn a lot from the interviews with Nobel laureates, politicians, and even artists at People I (Mostly) Admire.
Indie Hackers is a community hub for entrepreneurs owned by Stripe. On top of the social features, the site founder hosts a podcast sharing the platform’s name. The interviews are very pragmatic, and the strategies and struggles shared there can assist anyone intending to start a business or side project with revenue intentions.
Twit is a network of tech podcats. They are huge and were among the first to play professionally in the podcast industry. This Week in Tech is the flagship program with a weekly panel of journalists and specialists dissecting the tech news. I enjoy the host’s (Leo Laporte) performance and much as the content. You could also look into This Week in Google, which is more about big tech and social media than Google itself. Likewise, I recommend a sample of the analysis on tech security news provided by Security Now.
Podcast Hygiene
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get guilty feelings by not being able to listen to everything in my feed. I had the same problem with my RSS subscriptions in the past. I’m sure I’m crazy 🤪, but do you ever feel like that?
I developed a system to soften that anxiety. The first thing is to sanitize the subscription list as much as possible. Second, set up the podcast app to only keep the last episode of every show. And last, I started to force on myself a view that the playlist is more like a stream of content (like a Twitter feed) than a to-do backlog.
And You? Do you have any recommendations? Please share them with everyone in the comments.