01 January 2019

My Favorite Podcasts

Happy New Year!

Let's welcome 2019 with a list of my favorite podcasts from the end of 2018, in descending order of preference.

1. The Talk Show With John Gruber There's just something about Gruber's voice that beckons me to look through my Overcast favorites for a new episode, which usually comes once every two weeks. Almost always with a tech pundit guest, Gruber never conducts an interview, but instead simply converses from beginning to end at a relaxed pace, often resulting in two, three, and on rare occasion, even four hour long episodes, without any music intros or gimmicky sound effects. Enthusiasm for Apple is the regular topic, with commentary on a wide range of other related tech topics.  Apple bias: 9 out of 10.

2. Techmeme Ride Home The perfect blend of tech headlines and brief, sometimes snarky commentary, this daily episode is the excellent round up of tech news that I was looking for a few years ago. Recorded in New York City, it brings an East coast perspective to what is often Silicon Valley focused news.  Apple bias: 5 out of 10.

3. Accidental Tech Podcast The best thing about ATP is the trio of hosts who bring a great mix of technical depth, clearly articulated opinions, and a dynamic of humorous banter.  Apple bias: 7 out of 10.

4. Upgrade A few things set this tech podcast apart. There are named, regular segments to the show, and co-host Jason Snell seems to straddle dueling roles of primary guest and secondary host. Snell is the primary host on many other podcasts, but this seems to be his weekly forum for being interviewed. Apple bias: 7 out of 10.

5. The Chad & Cheese Podcast: HR's Most Dangerous Podcast After listening to many HR recruiting related podcasts, I found myself always coming back to Chad & Cheese. They do their homework, they get interesting guests, they are consistently snarky, and most importantly, the show has gotten better over time. They have room to further improve (audio volume levels still inconsistent, the sound effects are still overused, overemphasis on vendors instead of practioners), but this is the go-to podcast for keeping up with the recruiting tech industry. Their heavy use of swear words means I can't listen while my kids are in the car.

6. Vector with Rene Ritchie The Apple analysis from Rene is always deep and rational, although his bias in favor of Apple is sometimes a bit much, even for me. Most of his episodes are scripted audio versions of his YouTube show, which are not as enjoyable as when he is in a more conversational setting. Most of his podcast guests are fascinating, although he has had a few snoozers. Listen for the occasional, brief and very subtle Star Trek: The Next Generation references. Apple bias: 10 out of 10.

7. Pocketnow Daily I find Jaime Rivera's broadcaster voice quality more compelling than the show content, because the very brief, daily episodes are mostly about Android smartphones which I will never buy (I use a carrier-less Huawei P20 Pro as my primary camera and my last ever Android device). He does cover Apple mobile tech, but with a somewhat healthy skepticism and occasional disdain. Apple bias: 3 out of 10.

8. Subspace Transmissions: A Star Trek Podcast This is my favorite Trek podcast that is still in production (Engage: The Official Star Trek Podcast with Jordan Hoffman, my all time favorite Trek podcast, was unfortunately canceled). The co-hosts are dedicated fans of all incarnations of Trek. They were a bit more critical of Star Trek: Discovery than I would prefer, but their views are always fair and thoughtful.

I welcome your recommendations for other podcasts to try, especially those hosted by women.