A guide to podcasts

Published 2019-6-8

My recommendations for podcasts and my app of choice.

Recently I've found that I'm being asked for (or more often I simply offer) my recommendations for podcasts. I consider myself a pod-listening pro, if such a thing exists, and justify this on the basis that my iPhone reports 18.5 hours of usage of Overcast (my podcast app of choice, more below) over the last 10 days, I listen to most podcasts at 1.5x speed, and have an unhealthy anxiety to achieve Inbox Zero with my podcast queue – those last two are likely closely linked.

I fill large parts of my day with podcasts – making a boring commute more interesting or learning about topics of interest through a low interaction but high-bandwidth medium. There's something for everyone, from serial dramas to comedy talk shows, and I think audio will continue to grow as our computing become increasingly ambient through speakers, watches, and headphones.

For future convenience and potentially wider benefit, here are my top tips for listening and some curated podcast recommendations.

There's an App for that

I've already mentioned Overcast for iOS; it's been my go-to for podcast listening since 2014 and continues to deliver the best listening experience on mobile. It's free to download with the ability to remove ads through an annual subscription. Overcast offers two key features that I couldn't listen without:

  1. Smart Speed cuts out the silences in the audio, snipping dead parts of episodes without distorting the audio.
  2. Voice Boost rebalances the audio levels to ensure the hosts voices are clear and all shows are equalised.

Other good options include the built-in iOS podcast app and Castro for iOS (free with an annual subscription).

An aside, Castro is by far one of the best designed apps available on iOS. It's playful, opinionated, and has a unique podcast queuing system.

I don't use Android regularly but have been told Pocket Casts is a top choice, also available on iOS.

With your app in hand and a few shows downloaded, there's not much more to it – get listening. However if you're like me and want both quality and quantity, then head on over to the playback settings and start to speed up your hosts. Most shows can be listened to comfortably at 1.2x to 1.4x speeds. Once you get used to this, you'll find some shows can be increased higher still and 2x speed will become your new default.

For some higher production shows, such as serial dramas, increasing the speed can start to ruin the listening experience. Apps like Overcast and Castro allow for per-podcast playback speeds, simplifying the customisation experience.

My final listening tip is to liberally use the Seek Forward controls (I've set mine to 30 seconds) to jump through uninteresting sections and, more importantly, skip any ad breaks. Chapter markers are also a very effective tool for this but not supported by all shows.

With iOS 11, Apple allowed podcast producers to create trailers and bonus episodes as well as bundle episodes into a Season – making it easier to binge.

Show Guide

I currently have approximately 90 shows within Overcast; a mixture of must-listens for every episode, down to shows that frequently have excellent guests but I regularly skip most episodes. Below is a selection of my favourites from across this spectrum.

I'll try to update this list as I find more shows I recommend to others regularly. If you have any you think I'd enjoy, I'm always interested in expanding my library – reach out below.