Podcasts
The crème de la crème of podcasting.
Cautionary Tales - Bowie, Jazz and the Unplayable Piano
This is a great story of how bad circumstances can lead you to deliver your best. This definitely gives a deserving back story to Keith Jarrett's performance in Germany and listening to The Köln Concert is never the same after this podcast episode.
Darknet Diaries - Bangladesh Bank Heist
The level of sophistication and coordination of this hack is just mind blowing. Even though you might not be personally targeted by nation state actors, it's just another reminder to stay alert against cybersecurity risks.
Nice Try - Chandigarh: The Modernist Utopia
A Swiss architect was tapped to design a utopian state capital in India. You don't need more for a compelling story. But there are so many current-day impact from this project. The chair that was designed to be simple and be made cheaply became designer items that appear in celebrity homes. It's just remarkable how one thing leads to another.
Planet Money - The Miracle Apple
If I can only listen to one podcast, it would be Planet Money. Unlike its name, its stories are only very seldomly about money or finance. Instead, every episode is an econs nerd dream. And the real-life examples and reporting just show that economics is really in all aspects of life, like in the apple fruit market explained in this episode.
Revisionist History - When McDonald's Broke My Heart
As you might've read, I'm a Malcolm Gladwell fan and it extends to his podcast. Each episode is a deep dive into lesser known events with outsized real-life consequences. I mean, who thought a story about McDonald's french fry could be this interesting.
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend - Live with Will Arnett
I always thought it was weird that a podcast where Conan mostly interviews other celebrities always had rave reviews. I understand quickly after listening to a few episodes. This podcast is so funny that I would break down laughing in the office and people would look at me as if I'm crazy.
Land of the Giants - Who really killed Blockbuster Video?
Every season of Land of the Giants is a journey into the history of one of the large tech companies, and it's always a treat. I always thought, like many others, that Netflix forced Blockbuster to bankruptcy. But after listening to this, it's probably Blockbuster's own fault.
Reveal - My Neighbor, the Suspected War Criminal
There are so many podcasts which go through all the daily news within less than 10 minutes, and I think they are all pretty useless. A story needs time and nuances to be told properly, and this is exactly what Reveal does. I would have no clue why the crisis in Sri Lanka is so bad right now, if I didn't listen to this detailed story about the Rajapaksas.
ReThinking - Brené Brown on Vulnerability
My wife gave me Adam Grant's newest book, Think Again, as a Christmas present in 2021, which I really liked. And ReThinking is his new podcast which is topically very close to the arguments he made in this book and contains long-format interviews with stellar guests. The first episode with Brené Brown is, however, still one of the most profound podcast episodes I've listened thus far.