Now Hear This

I was first introduced to Podcasting around 2005. Apple had recently added the category to its iTunes app, and I was in need of mental stimulation during my mind numbly boring summer data entry job. I filled my hours by listening to podcasts on wine, personal finance and investing, and discovering the bounties of NPR produced content.

Somewhere along the line, probably coinciding with the rise of blogging and social media I fell off the Podcasting train. At that time, the blogosphere was sucking up all energy and it was where all the best knowledge sharing was happening. I had just started my first job in the digital marketing realm and had a lot to learn, so was frequently finding myself falling asleep at night, laptop on chest (no tablets yet!), trying to soak up as much as I could. Podcasts, to me, were old tech and no longer relevant.

Fast forward a few years, and though I had heard casual mention of Podcasts again, it probably wasn’t until the explosion of NPR’s first season of Serial that I realized that Podcasts were back again in force. Since that time, I’ve come back to Podcasts as my primary source of current news, ongoing education and entertainment. Much like blogging and social media in the late aughts, it’s where all the current energy is, and where people seem more willing to share their knowledge with others.

While I try to maintain variation in my Podcast sources, these are the fifteen I find myself coming back to the most, and the ones that help me the most in my daily digital marketing activities.

1. ADLANDIA
   Hosted by Laura Correnti (EVP at Giant Spoon) and Alexa Christon (Head of Media Innovation at GE), ADLANDIA offers an entertaining and sometimes enlightening look at the current media, innovation and advertising landscape. This podcast will also delve into the challenges faced by advertising agency professionals, like why sleep is so important for creativity.

2. The Daily
   The New York Time’s popular daily podcast covering the latest national and global news. Often filled with A+ reporting and storytelling, this is a conduit into the daily events which shaper our lives (and influence our marketing decisions).

3. HBR IdeaCast
   Harvard Business Review’s ongoing podcast is a great source for inspiration and educated takes on modern marketing and business challenges.

4. How I Built This with Guy Raz
   NPR’s startup focused podcast, where host Guy Raz takes listeners on a narrative journey recapping the rise to success of successful and visionary companies. Lots of good lessons can be found on common business challenges and how to overcome them.

5. Motley Fool’s Industry Focus & Market Foolery
   Motley Fool has a number of good podcasts, but I find these two to be the most helpful for getting a read on the current financial markets, trends, and a basic education on how business finances, how they are evaluated and judged, and what it all means.

6. Masters of Scale
   Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn) produces and hosts this podcast which attempts to tease out the elements of a successful company. Season one featured interviews with visionaries like Netflix’s Reed Hastings, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky. The podcast also explored concepts like, “The Beauty of a Bad Idea” and what the next Silicon Valley could look like. Season two kicks off soon.

7. Recode Media
   Discussions on the future of media and technology.

8. TED Radio Hour
   Also hosted by Guy Raz, NPR’s Ted Radio Hour offers a more produced look at Ted Talks, often stitching together pieces of multiple talks into a single show wrapped around a common theme or topic. Often provides important context to current trends or things to consider for our clients in the future.

9. This Week in Startups
   Hosted by angel investor Jason Calacanis, this podcast covers news, trends and ideas surrounding the digital startup ecosystem. As it has been for some time now, startups in Silicon Valley and other locals are driving business forward. Staying abreast of changes offers an opportunity for insight into the direction of the marketplace, which can be applied to marketing activities in a number of ways.

10. UnChained
    This Forbes produced podcast goes in depth into the world of Blockchain - what it is and how it will change everything from financial services to identity, healthcare and more. This burgeoning technology will likely drive significant disruption in a number of industries, so it’s important to understand what it all means.

11. VB Engage
    From VentureBeat, VB Engage is a new addition to my “must listen” category (thanks James). Hosts Stewart Rogers and Travis Wright offer informative and insightful discussions on all things digital marketing and mobile engagement.

12. What it Means
    Forrester’s podcast covering current marketing and business trends offers exactly what the title implies. Forrester’s industry experts offer their analysis and takeaways for businesses trying to make sense of the changing business landscape.

13. A16z
    A 16z is the podcast by the venture capital firm (founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz) by the same name. This podcast offers extremely interesting and engaging discussions about tech, culture trends, future prognostications.

14. Social Pros Podcast
    Convince and Convert’s regular podcast focuses on social media and content marketing trends. Social Pros can be a little to tactical at times, but worth a listen to catch up on execution level trends and valuable case studies.

15. Yeah, That’s Probably an Ad
    Adweek’s podcast covers the latest in digital marketing, tech and advertising.

These podcasts were recently added to my rotation. I’m intrigued by their potential, but haven’t listened to enough episodes to offer full judgement.

1. Angel
   Jason Calacanis interviews angel investors.

2. The A-List Podcast
   Interviews with the best of the best in Advertising about how they broke into the industry.

3. The Bad Crypto Podcast
   Another blockchain podcast, hosted by the same folks as VB Engage.

4. Deloitte’s The Change Exchange
   Focused on discussions and analysis of the trends and ideas that shape organizational change.

5. Clockwise
   Rapid-fire discussion of current tech issues.

6. The Critical Path
   Discussing success and failures within the evolving mobile computing and related spaces.

7. Decrypted
   Bloomberg’s podcast covering the global tech industry and its impact on the direction of the economy.

8. The Digiday Podcast
   Discussion on the latest trends and stories from marketing, advertising and tech.

9. Disruptor Series
   TBWA Chiat Day’s discussion on business, culture and life disruption.

10. Exponent
    Examining the effects of the tech industry on society.

11. Fearless - The Art of Creative Leadership with Charles Day

    Talks with the leaders of the world’s most disruptive companies.

12. Forrester’s CX Cast
    Covering the latest trends and developments in the customer experience space.

13. Gartner ThinkCast
    Business and IT insights from Gartner.

14. Knowledge@Wharton
    Business trends and insights from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

15. The McKinsey Podcast
    Discussions on business and management topics.

16. Odd Lots
    Bloomberg’s sort of answer to Freakonomics.

17. Problem Solvers
    Entrepreneur talks with business owners and CEOs about solutions to business challenges.

18. Recode Decode
    Kara Swisher interviews business and tech influencers.

19. The Science of Social Media
    Buffer’s podcast offering tactical social media marketing solutions.

20. Tagline
    Conversations with storytellers, culture makers and creators.

21. Thoroughly Considered
    Entrepreneurship, product design and the ups and downs of running a small business.

22. Under the Radar
    Discussions on independent app development.