Even though computer science doesn’t change too quickly, software engineering changes all the time. New libraries, languages, and architectural patterns emerge, jump the shark, and die, only to re-emerge a few years later. How’s a working engineer supposed to keep up without spending every free moment on Hacker News?
Podcasts, that’s how. Unfortunately, most podcasts are meandering monologues recorded on a laptop microphone. After a few years of avid listening, though, I’ve found a pretty good selection of shows—if you share my interests in web development, data science, and startups, you may find something you like. All these podcasts regularly produce great episodes, but I listen to the three-star shows religiously and the one-star shows only if the topic sounds appealing.
If you know of a great show that isn’t on my list, let me know—I’m always looking for something new.
General Engineering
- Software Engineering Radio ★★★
- The Changelog ★★★
- Hanselminutes ★★
- Talk Python to Me ★★
- Coder Radio ★★
- The Ship Show ★
The Web
- The Big Web Show ★★
- The Path to Performance ★★
- The Web Ahead ★ (the Web Behind sub-series was ★★★)
- JavaScript Jabber ★
Data Science and Big Data
Startups and Silicon Valley
- StartUp Podcast ★★★
- a16z ★
Podcatchers
A quick word on podcasting clients: the official podcast clients from Apple and Google are okay, but it’s worth spending a few dollars to get a top-notch third-party app. If you’re on iOS, Marco Arment’s Overcast is simply amazing.