Awesome Podcasts for Programmers
A Curated List of Podcasts for Programmers and Software Engineers
As a programmer, turning off my brain is something I am not good at. Programmers are always thinking about that latest bug that’s pestering them, an architectural redesign for their web application, or what to name a variable. Regardless of what’s on their mind, a programmer usually has a train of thought that is more than a mile long, constantly having train cars added on.
One of the ways I have found to keep this train moving, but let the steam engine cool down a bit, are technical podcasts. Technical podcasts allow me to keep a problem framed in my mind, but take a small breather and hear another’s thoughts and musings. If the podcast episode is selected carefully, it can even be used as a way to seek outside help on your problem and as a catalyst ideas. For example, if you are working on designing a database interface for an application, it might be a worthwhile exercise to listen to a podcast episode on open source databases, or a show about data engineering.
I listen to most of my podcasts on Spotify (no affiliation), and that is the source these are listed from. However, many of these can be found on alternate sources, as well as on their individual websites. I have no affiliation whatsoever with any of the podcasts mentioned below.
If there is a podcast I did not mention below that you enjoy listening to, please drop it in the comments! I love listening to new podcasts. I plan to keep this list growing into the future. Hopefully there is a podcast in here that makes your morning commute thought-provoking and entertaining.
Categories
- General Topics: This category contains podcasts that range a variety of topics. This is a great pile to choose from if you are just interested in the world of software engineering and development in general.
- Platform-Specific: Podcasts focusing on a specific cloud platform. These are great to listen to if you are starting, or working on, a project that utilizes one or more of the services they provide.
- Language-Specific: Do you enjoy a particular programming language and everything about it? Are you starting off with a programming language and want to hear more about it? These podcasts are great to listen to that are focused on specific programming languages.
- Infrastructure: The world of infrastructure people and developers is starting to become an idea of the past. More and more each day, the line between infrastructure management and development is becoming blurred. These podcasts are more focused on infrastructure and containerization, but are very beneficial for developers all the same.
- Entrepreneurial and Inspirational: Are you working on a side project or trying to start a business? Are you running a thriving business, but are looking for some fresh ideas and insight? These podcasts are more business-focused, but are still focused mainly on the technology industry.
- Data Science and Engineering: These podcasts are all about the world of data. Although not all software engineers and developers work on data-intensive applications, I can guarantee that you work with some form of data. By listening to these podcasts, you can learn about machine learning, neural networks, data pipelines, database architectures, and much much more.
General Topics
Software Engineering Radio
Software engineering radio is an awesome highly technical podcast that covers a range of topics. From services meshes to compiler design, distributed ledger technology to architectures, Software Engineering Radio has it all. Working on a project? Search a component jn your tech stack and you will more than likely find a related epsidode.
The Changelog: Software Dev & Open Source
The Changelog is a podcast where founders, leaders, and innovators in development and open source technology are interviewed about what they are working on. The hosts Adam Stacoviak and Jerod Santo describe their podcast as “polyglot,” meaning that all programming languages, platforms, and communities are welcome.
Platform-Specific
Google Cloud Platform Podcast
This podcast is focused strictly on Google Cloud technology and services, as well as how developers and companies leverage the platform. If you are working on a project and using GCP resources, or considering it, I strongly recommend giving this podcast a listen on your next drive.
AWS Podcast
https://aws.amazon.com/podcasts/aws-podcast/
My first listen to this podcast was a particular episode that went into detail about AWS Ground Station. What is that you ask? AWS Ground Station is a service that allows their customers to communicate with SATELLITES… IN SPACE. How cool is that?? Due to the plethora of services that AWS offers, you are guaranteed to always learn something new on this podcast and hear about the latest in cloud technologies and offerings. This podcast will review updates, new offerings, and tips/tricks from Amazon Web Services.
Microsoft Cloud Show
https://www.microsoftcloudshow.com/
We cannot cover the other two cloud monsters without including Azure. This show covers everything from Microsoft conferences to telemetry processing on Microsoft Azure. Platforms covered on the podcast include Azure, Office365, and SharePoint. This podcast is a mix of technical shows and non-technical, so there is a little something for everybody regardless of their technical prowess.
Language-Specific
The Python Podcast.__init__
https://www.pythonpodcast.com/
A show solely focused on the Python language, this podcast dives into language features, updates, interesting projects, and “the people who make it great.” The Python Podcast is the show for you if you hate curly braces (just joking). Join Tobias Macey as he interviews thought leaders and innovates using the Python programming language.
Go Time
Brought to you by the creators of Changelog, Go Time is all about Go. Projects, language internals, new features, and discussions with developers are all brought to the surface in this well-structured podcast about the Golang programming language. If you enjoy developing in Go, or are currently working on a project, you may find an episode that helps you solve a problem, take a new direction, or come up with a new idea. Calling all gophers!
Infrastructure
Kubernetes Podcast from Google
https://kubernetespodcast.com/
Focused on all things Kubernetes, and the projects that tie closely to it, this podcast is great for developers and infrastructure engineers alike. The show will often interview lead developers working on CNCF (cloud native computing foundation) projects or principal engineers at large companies that utilize massive clusters. This podcast is also great for individuals who aren’t familiar with the platform. Kubernetes is a complex project with many internals, but this podcast can be a great introduction to the concepts that underpin it.
Entrepreneurial and Inspirational
The Indie Hackers Podcast
https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast
The place for moonlighters, entrepreneurs, bootstrappers, and founders, Indie Hackers is the community to be a part of if you are a programmer and have that entrepreneurial spirit. This podcast is a great way to get some inspiration or to learn about the business and marketing side of software development. Courtland Allen, one of the founders of Indie Hackers, interviews founders about their business, their trials and tribulations, and what they have learned along the way.
Founders Talk: Startups & Leadership
https://changelog.com/founderstalk
A show all about founding a company, Founders Talk is brought to you by the creators of Changelog and covers the good, bad, and ugly of starting and running a company. This podcast is a a great one to listen to if you are trying to start a new software-as-service company or build the next big social network.
Data Science and Engineering
Data Engineering Podcast
https://www.dataengineeringpodcast.com/
A highly technical show hosted by the creator of the Python Podcast, Tobias Macey discusses data engineering tools and programs with the creators themselves. He asks the creators about their motivation to create the tool, the problem they are trying to solve, and what they think about the current data landscape. Tobias Macey follows a well-structured agenda with each show that is guaranteed to deliver each time.
Data Skeptic
Want to learn something about data science? Data Skeptic is a great podcast to tune into and learn about something brand new that you might not be familiar with. This podcast is an excellent way to learn about a new technique in data science, how data is impacting the world, and the latest industry trends. Data Science is a complex topic, but Data Skeptic introduces complex and bleeding edge ideas in an approachable way.
DataFramed
https://www.datacamp.com/community/podcast
DataFramed is brought to you by Data Camp, and explores data science from the perspective of problems. The podcast explores problems in industries and science that can be solved with the use of data. If you are working towards learning data science, and want to see how it can be applied, this podcast is for you.
If there is a podcast you listen to that was not included on this list, feel free to drop it below. I’d love to give it a listen!
