These days, with the pervasiveness of the Internet, an impressive wave of new spoken audio content is making steadily its way into the mainstream. I’ve always been a big fan of spoken radio, but now I find myself listening only to independent podcasts, mostly hosted by amateurs, who are able to provide fresh and genuine content in a medium where innovation has been stagnant for many years.

The least I can do for all the countless hours of entertainment they are giving me is to publicly express my admiration for them.

Hardcore History

When a new episode of this podcast comes out I try to wrap up everything I’m doing and take a hiking route with my dog long enough to listen to the new episode uninterrupted. I think what makes Dan Carlin outstanding as a narrator is his great ability to immerse the listener in the situation of the era and to describe how it felt to be in the shoes of the people living through it. All in all, after listening to several episodes, I came to realize we are not so different from our ancestors, and in most cases, no matter how horrible the consequences of some actions were, we’d probably have done the same.

HistoCast (Spanish)

This history podcast is carried in a tertulia format by a panel of history aficionados. The general tone is informal but at the same time it’s quite rigorous regarding the information they provide and throughout in their analysis. The anecdotes they manage to find are priceless.

Colectivo Burbuja (Spanish)

When living in a country like Spain, with a government filled with corrupted crooks who control practically all traditional media outlets, independent podcasts like this one are really appreciated. It mostly consists of debates with speakers of diverse ideologies analyzing current news, mainly economic. It really helps understand what is really going on in this country, full of strange contradictions.

Security Now

Steve Gibson could be accused of being an expert in PR more than an expert in information security but, in spite of this, I find hard to deny his didactic ability to introduce the listener to different security concepts and to summarize the most important security events of the week.

Linux Outlaws

By the title one would expect a highly technical podcast, but more than a podcast about the Linux world, this is about using Linux as a excuse for numerous ranting, cynical comments and nerdy jokes, which I find really funny.

12 Byzantine Rulers and Norman Centuries

Even if they are considered podcasts, they feel more like history audiobooks. Lars Brownworth fabulously narrates relatively unknown amazing epochs which were highly influential but didn’t get the historical popularity they deserved.

The Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan interviews in a funny and informal tone diverse personalities. I view these discussions as examples of honest civilized conversations between individuals with very different backgrounds. I also found very interesting podcasters through this podcast.

The HaskellCast

Because these days I’m coding full-time in Haskell, in this podcast, I really appreciate the interviews to prominent figures in the community. What I like the most about listening to them instead of just reading what they write, is that somehow, by hearing them explain what they do, it’s easier to grasp the train of thought that led them to do what they did.

Revolutions

This history podcast is very informationally dense but fun to listen to nevertheless. Mike Duncan does a great job explaining the high complexity of events that led to big changes in history. He’s also the author of History of Rome which I still haven’t gone through but hope to start doing it that at some point.

Pasajes de la Historia (Spanish)

This is one of the few podcasts I listen that it’s taken from traditional media. Unfortunately, Juan Antonio Cebrián passed away prematurely but left an incredible legacy in the form of tales based on historical figures.

Let’s talk Bitcoin

This is also a podcast I follow for professional reasons. If I had to choose a single Bitcoin podcast this would be the one.