Podcasts are radio like shows that are freely distributed on the internet. A lot of the time they’re distributed through Apple iTunes, Stitcher or other Audio Apps. Podcasts around technology aren’t new – some of them are over ten years old and have over a thousand episodes.
The podcasts I’m mentioning usually cover development and new and exciting technologies. Most of these podcasts release once or twice a week although some do release daily. I listen to podcasts primarily on my Android Phone with an application called Podcast Republic which has a free version available on the Google Play Store. I have it set to automatically download episodes as they become available.
I usually listen to about 20 hours of podcasts a week while I drive to the office or while my kids are participating in sports or while doing really simple errands. As software developers, we need to be constantly learning about new things and this is just one of the ways I try to use my time as efficiently as possible.
Please note – I am not affiliated with any of these podcasts and as of the time this has been written haven’t spoken on any either. Open to offers though. 😛
Syntax – Tasty Web Development Treats
Syntax is a really new podcast that feels really focused solely on web technologies. Wes Bos, who I’m sure you have heard of, is one of the hosts along with Scott Tolinski. Recent episodes included a discussion about JavaScript Utility libraries which uncovered a bunch of libraries I wasn’t aware of.
.Net Rocks
.Net Rocks covers a lot of really useful content that isn’t always focused on the Microsoft .NET platform – they’ve had some really great episodes about JavaScript frameworks, Web Assembly, building mobile apps, serverless computing and DevOps. The podcast has been around since the early 2000s.
Shop Talk
The Shop Talk show is a podcast primarily for front-end developers that is hosted by Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier. I’m sure you’ve heard of CSS Tricks which is a website Chris Coyier has been involved with for a very long time. Episodes are usually about an hour in length and cover a lot of really useful details.
JavaScript Jabber
JavaScript Jaabber is a weekly podcast that is unsurprisingly about JavaScript and includes discussions about front-end development, node.js (server development) and from time to time careers. Episodes are usually about an hour long and usually have a pretty good panel of contributors.
JS Party
JS Party is a podcast hosted by Mikeal Rogers, Rachel White, and Alex Sexton. A lot of the topics discussed are around the web, Node.js, and front-end frameworks. Episodes are really infrequent, but I find them to be very valuable.
Software Engineering Radio
Software Engineering Radio is a podcast that is published a few times a month and has the goal of being a lasting educational resource. All of their episodes are original content – there’s no recorded conferences or talks.
The IEEE Computing Society sponsors the show and the guests that are interviewed are usually thought leaders in their particular industry.
Software Engineering Daily
Software Engineering daily has been one of my most regularly listened to podcasts since I found out about it in early 2016. Host Jeff Meyerson is passionate about technology and clearly takes quite a bit of time to do research before interviewing each guest. Topics are really wide ranging and basically include anything related to distributed systems, devops, big data and anything else.
As you might guess – episodes are generally available daily and are usually about 60 minutes long. I usually listen to them at about 1.6x.
Developer on Fire
David Rael has hosted on the Developer on Fire podcast for a few years. Every podcast involves finding out about the guest through David asking some standard questions and trying to gather some of the things they have learned through out their career. I’ve been really inspired by some of the guests that David has had and some of the answers they have had. Episodes are usually 30 minutes to 60 minutes long and can usually be listened to a 1.5x.
Developer Tea
I have been listening to the Developer Tea podcast for a few years now. It’s advertised as a podcast for web and software developers that you can listen to in less than 10 minutes. Episodes usually cover the career of being a developer and constantly improving. Usually episodes aren’t very technical related which makes them relatively short and easy to listen to.
Episodes can usually be listened to fairly safely at 1.3x to 1.6x.
Hanselminutes
Scott Hanselman hosts Hanselminutes and has hosted it for I believe 10+ years now. Hanselminutes is put out every week and usually covers a really interesting technology or technique. I feel like I learn something new almost every time I listen. Sometimes, there’s a bit of a .NET slant, but I don’t find it too be too preachy.
Scott and his guests sometimes talk fairly quickly, so episodes can’t reliably be put into a listening speed. I usually use 1.0x to 1.2x. There have been some episodes where I have been able to listen at 1.8x.
Also published on Medium.
