You can listen to podcasts while traveling, walking the dog, doing the dishes or to just simply take a break from home office. You can learn new things from them in small chunks, in an entertaining way and without looking at a screen – whether you’re just a beginner yet or already a seasoned pro in your area.
But let’s clarify first: what is a podcast? A podcast is an audio programme, just like a radio talk broadcast, but you can subscribe to it on your smartphone and listen to the episodes whenever you like. Sometimes a one-man show, often a dialogue, where one or more hosts and sometimes guests discuss a topic. Podcasts come in shorter or longer episodes (from about 5 to 90 minutes), and are published regularly, like every week or month.
You can listen to podcasts on podcast apps, but you can find a lot on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube, too. Popular podcast apps include player.fm, podbay, spreaker and podbean. When choosing your app or platform, look at the menu of podcasts offered. We like player.fm because it’s free and it features a lot of podcasts related to software development.
We’ve collected our favourite podcasts about software development and IT management for your inspiration. Some of them are now archived, another few are on a break, but most of them are active, broadcasting new episodes regularly. We suggest you browse all episodes anyway since you can learn a lot from the older ones, too.
Check out our favourites and enjoy!
Tune into tech: Podcasts for developers
1. Hanselminutes
URL: hanselminutes.com
Frequency: weekly
Length: 30 to 45 min
Host: Scott Hanselman, a programmer, teacher, and speaker
Scott Hanselman invites a guest ot each episode to talk about his or her professional field. Most of the episodes are about information technology related fields. All episodes are insightful, entertaining and masterfully edited. He takes time to thoroughly prepare for each interview and leads the discussion with deep and well-targeted questions. There are a lot of super interesting episodes among the more than 800.
Recommended sample: SOLID Principles with Uncle Bob – Robert C. Martin
2. Developer Tea
URL: spec.fm/podcasts/developer-tea
Frequency: 2 to 3 episodes per week
Length: 10 to 20 min
Host: Jonathan Cutrell, a “programmer, podcaster, pilot, and inconsistent alliteration maker”
The purpose of the programme is to discuss questions relevant to developers in short episodes, that you can listen to during a tea break. The brief discussions are straight to the point and usually give very useful tips.
Recommended sample: Friday Refill: Focusing On Mastery Will Not Limit Your Options
3. Coding Blocks
URL: codingblocks.net
Frequency: 1 episode in every 3 to 4 weeks
Length: 90 to 120+ min
Hosts: Allen Underwood, Joe Zack and Michael Outlaw, “a few guys who’ve been professional programmers for years”
This podcast is not for beginners. The hosts discuss narrow topics of software development with unusual depth and detail. We especially liked their series about design patterns and clean code. Warning! Deep water, only for swimmers!
Recommended sample: Clean Code – Comments Are Lies
4. MS Dev Show
URL: msdevshow.com
Frequency: weekly
Length: 60 to 90 min
Hosts: Carl Schweitzer and Jason Young, Microsoft software engineers
The hosts talk to guests about – obviously – mostly MS tech related topics. highly recommended for .NET developers and everyone interested about what’s new around Redmond. A very entertaining programme.
Recommended sample: Git and Bots with Sarah Sexton
5. Soft Skills Engineering
URL: softskills.audio
Frequency: weekly
Length: 20 to 30 min
Hosts: Dave Smith and Jamison Dance, software engineers
This podcast helps software developers level up their engineering skills beyond writing code. Topics discussed by the hosts include HR topics like pay raises, hiring and firing developers, technical leadership, learning new technologies, code review etiquette and much more. The hosts are super funny, and they’ll also teach you something new every week.
Recommended sample: Episode 213: Interviewing your future boss and screwed by private equity
6. The .NET Core Podcast
URL: dotnetcore.show
Frequency: weekly
Length: about 1 hour (older episodes: 10 min)
Host: Jamie Taylor, a .NET developer, small business owner, consultant, and community builder
This podcast is devoted solely to Microsoft’s .NET technologies, the latest news on what you can build with it, and what the community are building. The podcast is created by the host, Jamie Taylor with contributions from developers in the .NET community. It’s also recommended to listeners who are new to development or MS technologies. Each technology is introduced via examples of the applications and system that have been built with those technologies.
Recommended sample: Episode 58 – Practical Debugging for .NET Developers With Michael Shplit
7. Weekly Dev Tips
URL: weeklydevtips.com
Frequency: (almost) weekly
Length: 3 to 25 minutes
Host: Steve Smith, also known online as @ardalis, software architect and trainer
Weekly Dev Tips offers a variety of technical and career tips for software developers. Each tip is quick and to the point, describing a problem and one or more ways to solve that problem.
Recommended sample: Requirements and Change with Guest Juval Lö
Listen, learn & lead: Podcasts (not only) for tech leaders
8. The Solution Focused Podcast
URL: sfpodcast.podbean.com
Frequency: 1 episode in every 1 or 2 months
Length: cc 1 hour
Hosts: Members of the UK Association for Solution Focused Practice (UASFP)
The official podcast of the UASFP was archived last year after episode 13, but it remains a great resource for those who help others wanting to become more productive. It’s also highly recommended for coaches, mentors, leaders and other helping professionals. The episodes are providing a deep-dive introduction to solution focus brief coaching, a highly effective methodology for learning organisations focused on people and innovation.
Recommended sample: Ep 1: What Is Solution Focused Practice?
9. Bit of Optimism
URL: simonsinek.com/podcast
Frequency: (almost) weekly
Length: (mostly) 20 to 50 minutes
Host: Simon Sinek, TED speaker, visionary, author, a trained ethnographer, and “an unshakable optimist”
Simon Sinek talks with his friends about what inspires them, touching on topics around “love, life, leadership and silver linings“. He wants to make people feel secure, inspired, and fulfilled with their lives every day. Listen to an episode if you need some inspiration to uplift your mood or to make a difficult decision in your private life or as a leader.
Recommended sample: Episode 37: The Value of Failing with Suneel Gupta
10. Quick and Dirty Tips: The Public Speaker
URL: quickanddirtytips.com/public-speaker
Frequency: weekly
Length: 8 to 20 minutes
Host: Lisa B. Marshall, communications expert
This archived podcast features practical, science-based tips around leadership, psychology, and communication beyond public speaking. There are a lot of episodes about giving a talk or presentation, but others focus on workplace communication and situations, like giving feedback.
Recommended sample: 6 Constructive Ways to Give Negative Feedback
Think outside your box: Podcasts for everyone
11. Simply Focus
URL: sfontour.com/simplyfocuspodcast
Frequency: (almost) weekly
Length: cc 1 hour
Hosts: Elfie Czerny and Dominik Godat, brief coaches
This podcast is a great resource for people who want to achieve an effective focus in their life, and embrace a life in joy and ease. The hosts say that what you focus on in your daily life matters. They advise you to choose focuses that uplift, empower, and amplify useful change. Listen and learn more about the topic for your business and private life.
Recommended sample: SFP 90: Being a Progress Detective: Solution Focus in Business Settings and Conflict Management with Dr. Peter Röhrig
12. Brain Science
URL: brainsciencepodcast.com
Frequency: monthly
Length: cc 1 hour
Host: Dr. Ginger Campbell, an Emergency and Palliative Medicine physician with an interest in the brain and consciousness
Dr. Campbell and her guests share recent discoveries from the world of neuroscience in a way that anyone can enjoy. She believes that understanding how the brain works gives us insight into what makes us human. It’s also fascinating to learn from some episodes how a scientific method has unraveled a longstanding mystery. All episodes feature deep and quite complex topics, which will require your full attention.
Recommended sample: Jeff Hawkins describes a new theory of Intelligence
13. Productivity Game
URL: player.fm/series/productivity-game
Frequency: weekly
Length: 2 to 12 minutes
Host: Nathan Lozeron, an engineer, educator, and public speaker.
The host’s purpose is to help people feel productive and fulfilled at work. He finds the best books on performance and productivity, and distills them into quick, engaging, and actionable lessons. His podcast has been archived, but he still posts new videos about books on his website.
Recommended sample: GRIT by Angela Duckworth – animated core message
These are just a few of the great podcasts you can find on the internet. We suggest that you keep looking and find the ones that inspire you.
If you’re into tech or leadership, you know that you signed up for a career to be built on life-long learning. That’s why we at Codecool start by teaching our junior programmer students about how to learn and grow, and how they should own and drive their learning process.
If you want to develop yourself in tech beyond listening to podcasts, check out our courses. Our Full-Stack Development course can take you to a new, future-proof career in a year.
Until then: browse, listen, and get inspired!