I'm trying to put together a big master list because actually several people have asked this question lately. This is the list I made for my nephew with some additions for this installment. When I have time, I'll add to it.
Ha ha... that wasn't the LIST, that was just my philosophy of picking podcasts.
Here's the list, or at least the first installment.
*** Books and Writing ***BBC Bookclub. Really a book club, not an interview. Much more interesting than, say, Fresh Air. The host and audience question authors about indvidual books. Search back a couple years, because they celebrated 25 years on the air by replaying famous interviews with famous authors. That said, the non-famous authors are often more interesting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5sf*** Economics (not finance or investing), statistics, psychology. **** -
More or Less, from the BBC. Each week they take a number in the news and dive into it to find out whether it's utter BS or not. About half the time it is.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd -
Planet Money and the
Indicator. Both from NPR. PM takes on topics from the original Luddites to the Wisdom of the Crowds, to why college textbooks cost so much to why you keep getting all those robocalls to extend your vehicle warranty. The Indicator takes a single economic indicator related to the news of the day, often things you've never thought of (cheese futures) and tells you why it's interesting right now.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510325/the-indicator-from-planet-money https://www.npr.org/sections/money/ -
Freakonomics. From the co-author of the best-selling book. Less about economics than you might expect and more general social science.
https://freakonomics.com/ ****** History ******
I spent most of my career as a historian and I've found most history podcasts in English horrible. There are some great ones in French, but alas that probably doesn't help you.
Throughline - a strong left/progressive slant, but well-done and good history. The recent episode recounting in more detail than usual the story of Cortez and the conquest of the Aztec empire. Sort of like the very brief podcast equivalent of Nathaniel Philbrick's great book on the Plymouth Colony,
Mayflower shortened and condensed for audio.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510333/throughline Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. This is the most popular history podcast in the world last I checked. People love it. There is at least one person on The Core that is a fan. It just isn't to my taste at all. To me, it's a very textbook-style, old-school history. I like the really obscure, undiscovered parts of history. The "small window into a big world" history (commonly known as "microhistory" in the profession). This is the other end of the spectrum. But as I say, hundreds of thousands of people are diehard fans.
https://www.dancarlin.com/The Memory Palace by Nate Dimeo. Nate is a writer and storyteller, more than a historian. A lot of the stories are in the Paul Harvey style, where there's a reveal at the end (i.e. the obscure person toiling away turns out to be the famous scientist we all know). Because Nate likes to do the reveal at the end, the show notes often give you no idea what the episode is really about... and for me that's a negative and why I quit listening. But his best episodes are beautiful and poetic.
https://thememorypalace.us/I assume you do not listen in French, but while I'm doing this... my actual favorite history podcast is
Xavier Mauduit, Le Cours de l'Histoire from France Culture - interviews with top experts. It's like Fresh Air, but only for history. Great multi-part series on the peopling of the Americas. The Radio Suisse Romande show Histoire Vivante can be excellent too. This is sort of the successor to Jean Le Brun, La Marche de l'Histoire, a long-runnning show on France Culture. Among other differences, Xavier Mauduit actually has a doctorate in history.
**** Storytelling ****
In addition to The Memory Palace mentioned under history...
The Moth. It's pretty hit or miss, but when it's a hit, it's a home run. Try these specific episodes.
Alan Rabinowitz overcomes stuttering and lives up to his promise to speak for the animals
https://themoth.org/stories/man-and-beastWanda Bullard's father jails a hippy... and takes a chance.
https://themoth.org/stories/small-town-prisonerJeff Simmermon explains his signature move: The Sad King Arthur... and gets a little grace.
https://themoth.org/stories/empathetic-subway-screamingSala Udin almost dies as a Freedom Rider and commits his life to social justice
https://themoth.org/stories/i-want-to-be-a-freedom-riderAryana Rose falls in love with a younger man and becomes a fairy
https://themoth.org/stories/i-can-die-nowAnthony Griffith knocks it out of the park on the Tonight Show while facing tragedy at home
https://themoth.org/stories/the-best-of-times-the-worst-of-timesThis American Life - podcast version of the NPR show. I haven't listened to this in a while. Don't know why. It can be great.
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Tim Ferriss interviews are long, so each one is an investment so there
are many that I have not listened to. I often skip the "business"
interviews, but then sometimes I listen to one and am surprised. Also,
I'm often surprised the other way. I thought I would really like the
interview with Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, but actually
quit halfway through.
There are so many I have not listened to - Neil DeGrasse Tyson,
Michael Pollan, Andrew Weil, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Marie Kondo, etc -
because I'm just not that interested or I missed them and I don't
usually go back.
These come to mind right away though.
Ricardo Semler - businessman who threw away the rule book and built the largest corporation in Brazil
https://tim.blog/2017/03/19/ricardo-semler/Terry Crews. I had vaguely heard of him as a football player. Turns
out, he went to college on an *art* scholarship, has won design
awards, and wasn't even originally invited to try out for his college
football team. He was a walk-on. Amazing life story.
https://tim.blog/2017/12/20/terry-crews-how-to-have-do-and-be-all-you-want/Jane Goodall... needs no introduction.
https://tim.blog/2020/04/16/jane-goodall/Richard Turner. A magician. I can't say more without partly ruining the surprise. This guy is amazing though. It will blow your mind.
https://tim.blog/2020/02/20/richard-turner/Penn Jillette - also surprising.
https://tim.blog/2020/01/09/penn-jillette/Jack Kornfield, author of "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry" and many other books on Buddhism
https://tim.blog/2020/03/12/jack-kornfield-covid19/https://tim.blog/2018/03/05/jack-kornfield/ (I have not listened to
this one yet)
Seth Godin - always a fun interview
https://tim.blog/2016/02/10/seth-godin/https://tim.blog/2016/08/03/seth-godin-on-how-to-think-small-to-go-big/https://tim.blog/2018/11/01/seth-godin-this-is-marketing/Stewart Brand (but I'm a big fan of his)
https://tim.blog/2017/11/21/stewart-brand/Hugh Jackman. I generally skip the celebrity interviews, but this one is good
https://tim.blog/2020/06/26/hugh-jackman/Michael Lewis, Chuck Palahniuk, Neil Gaiman. Good insights into the mind of some influential writers (The Big Short, Moneyball, Fight Club, Sandman). I love the Sandman series, but would definitely prioritze the other two interviews first.
https://tim.blog/2020/05/01/michael-lewis/https://tim.blog/2020/09/02/chuck-palahniuk/https://tim.blog/2019/03/28/neil-gaiman/Dorian Yates (bodybuilder). A surprise. My wife and I both liked this
https://tim.blog/2017/04/22/dorian-yates/