Podcasts, 2025 Edition
Since moving 45 minutes north of Austin in 2020, I drive at least 90 minutes every work-day. Some days (especially if it’s raining), that can total 2 hours. This year mark’s Amazon’s return to 5 Days per week in-office so that will be 10 hours a week on the road, 50 or so weeks a year.
To maintain sanity, I did two things:
- I traded-in my 2018 Honda Civic 6MT for a fancy toyota (A used Lexus ES300h). Let’s be honest: It’s a couch on wheels and a quiet place to be for those 90 minutes. Look for details on that coming later.
- I’ve gotten very acquainted with podcasts and audiobooks.
I’ve loved podcasts for a long time. Here’s my list from 2012 They’re the soundtrack to me doing things: Yardwork, ranchwork, driving, travel. In general they ease the loneliness that is modern life–Someone’s voice in your ear, helping you learn or laugh.
So this is my current list. I use Pocketcasts on iPhone16 and I’ve been quasi-satisfied with it. I don’t really like it compared to old Overcast, but the Overcast rewrite in 2024 burned me so I switched.
| Podcast | Theme | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Accidental Tech Podcast | Technology (Mac Focused) | Every Week, John, Marco, and Casey talk about what’s in the tech news, usually in the Mac ecosystem. Aftershow is often car-related (“Neutral”). |
| Age of Napoleon | History (Napoleonic era) | Monthly, an incredible deep-dive into a sequential narrative of Napoleon’s rise to and fall from power. Currently up to 1809 and the war of the 5th Coalition |
| AWS Morning Brief | Tech (AWS focused) | Corey Quinn’s irreverant take on what my colleagues on the AWS side have done (or failed to do) in the past week or so |
| Bloomberg Hot Pursuit | Cars | Did you think you needed a car podcast from Bloomberg that often features CEOs from Ferrari and Racers from around the world? No? Well, it’s certainly a slice into how the other half (read: Finance bros) live |
| Decoder Ring Theatre | Radio Drama | Nearly dead now, but this was the entertainment I raised my kids on: The Red Panda, Blackjack Justice, and many tales of Derring-Do |
| Diary of a Cartoonist | Vlog | First of many shows from Scott Johnson on this list, this is a single-voice feed of him musing about being a podcast host, grandfather in his mid-50s, enjoyer of Salt Lake City, and general progress in life |
| Everyday Driver Car Debate | Cars | Newest of my subscriptions, weekly take on listener questions on “what should I buy”. Answers are often interesting, and the hosts’ “radio voices” impress. |
| Fall of Civilizations Podcast | History | INCREDIBLY detailed, well-produced, feature-length documentaries of the rise and fall of civilzations in history. These put most history courses to shame. |
| Film Sack | Film | Another Scott Johnson endeavor, this is a weekly film podcast where 4 friends watch and review a film (some old, some new). They have 670+ episodes in the back catalog so likely ANY film you want is there |
| NPR Fresh Air | Interview | Massive turnaroudn from 2012: This is the ONLY NPR podcast I subscribe to now. Terry Gross is still a wonderful interviewer and her guests delight. |
| History That Doesn’t Suck" | History | Sequential pass through American History. Currently up to the moment the Great Depression started. Exciting and it….doesn’t suck :D |
| It Gets Late Early: Ageism in the Workplace | Corporate Life | Tackles Ageism in the worplace. |
| It’s a Thing | Pop Culture, Tech | Discuss the latest in…well “Things”. Hosted by Molly Wood and Tom Meritt of “Buzz Out Loud” fame |
| Know a Little More | Tech | Deep Dives, again from Tom Meritt on various topics in tech |
| Martyrs And Missionaries | Christianity, History | History of various martyrs and missionaries in Christianity |
| Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown | Psychology, Celebrities | Celebrities and otehrs come on Mayim’s podcast to discuss their lives. Mayim and her cohost discuss various ways to confront life’s challenges. |
| The Sackoff Show | Celebrities, Interviews | Katee Sackoff (Batlestar Galactica, The Mandalorian) brings her irreverence to the interview format, with her friends along for the ride. I’ve been pretty impressed with the content and candor on this show |
| SKIM: The Scott and Kim Show | Another Scott Johnson joint, this is a (roughly) weekly show of scott and his wife. They discuss life and answer listener questions | |
| TFL Car Chat | Cars | Roman Micra and the rest of The Fastlane (TFL) crew chat about news in the car world, their vehicles under review, etc. |
| TFL Talkin’ Truck | Cars | André and others from the Truck side of TFL talk about the latest. |
| That One Show with Bryan Combs | Variety | My cousin’s podcast! He’s had some great episodes, including a terrific retrospective on Jackson, KY’s own Sturgill Simpson. |
Honorable mention goes to Scott Johnson’s The Morning Stream. This was my daily companion podcast since 2020, but I finally felt the need to break free midyear last year. If you’re looking for a daily podcast with humor, news, and music, these guys are (literally) in the Podcasting hall of fame.