What good technology podcasts are out there?

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1644

  •  08-06-2019
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Question

Yes, Podcasts, those nice little Audiobooks I can listen to on the way to work. With the current amount of Podcasts, it's like searching a needle in a haystack, except that the haystack happens to be the Internet and is filled with too many of these "Hot new Gadgets" stuff :(

Now, even though I am mainly a .NET developer nowadays, maybe anyone knows some good Podcasts from people regarding the whole software lifecycle? Unit Testing, Continous Integration, Documentation, Deployment...

So - what are you guys and gals listening to?

Please note that the categorizations are somewhat subjective and may not be 100% accurate as many podcasts cover several areas. Categorization is made against what is considered the "main" area.

General Software Engineering / Productivity

.NET / Visual Studio / Microsoft

jQuery

Java / Groovy

Ruby / Rails

Web Design / JavaScript / Ajax

Unix / Linux / Mac / iPhone

System Administration, Security or Infrastructure

General Tech / Business

Other / Misc. / Podcast Networks

No correct solution

OTHER TIPS

I like

General Software

Dot Net

Productivity

This one's not specifically about development, but Security Now from Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte is an excellent discussion of security issues. I think it's a must-listen for just about any computer user who's concerned about security, and especially for web developers who are responsible both for the security of their site and at least partially responsible for their users' security.

I love FLOSS Weekly. Another Twit Podcast where Leo and Randal Schwartz interview open source geeks. My favorite was their interview with Dan Ingalls (Smalltalk/Squeak fame). I also enjoyed their interview of Richard Hipp (SQLite).

Am I going to be downmodded for suggesting that the Stack Overflow podcast is hilariously bad as a podcast? Anywho, you can find it, and a number of not-bad podcasts at itconversations.com.

As this question asked for a "good" rather than "exhaustive" list, then this is obviously just my opinion. My opinion bounces between .NET and Java and just geek. And obvious omissions would reflect my opinion on "good". (Ahem, DNR.)

The rest of these are easily found by doing a podcast search in iTunes, or just googling (I'll do some repeating here to condense the list):

  • Buzz Out Loud (General Consumer Tech, Daily)
  • This Week in Tech (aka TWiT. Weekly Consumer Tech.)
  • The Java Posse (Weekly.)
  • Google Developer Podcast (which went long fallow, but seems to be coming back, possible renamed as the Google Code Review. Schedule uncertain, technologies vary.)
  • Hanselminutes (Usually, but not always, .NET-related)
  • MacBreak Weekly (The Mac version of TWiT)
  • Polymorphic Podcast (All .NET, usually ASP.NET)
  • Pixel8ed (All .NET, focused on UI. Same guy who does Polymorphic Podcast)
  • tech5 (Consumer Tech. Mostly a fun waste of 5 minutes because Dvorak is so... Spolsky.)

In the Stack Overflow podcast SE-radio was mentioned. It's pretty in depth.

Also if you are an aspiring JavaScript developer, the Douglas Crockford "The JavaScript Programming Language" and "Advanced JavaScript" talks on YUI Developer Theatre are excellent. There are a few other gems on the podcast too.

I listen to the javaposse regularly, they cover mostly Java, but not solely.

  • JavaPosse If you want to hear all that you (n)ever wanted to know about closures (7/2010 - This is actually a good podcast, but now it's all you (n)ever wanted to know about apple & android)
  • .NET Rocks For when you want to hear the billionth interview about databinding controls in the trenches during the transition from VB6 to VB.NET
  • Stack Overflow You really do want to hear a guy who doesn't know C debate a guy who pretends to have invented it, or something, or maybe just listen for spoilers to wallee
  • Security Now! You want to listen to someone who thinks he's the most ingenious security architect in the world, because he writes EVERYTHING IN ASSEMBLER (no, I'm not kidding), while overlooking the obvious solutions to problems that have existed for years. Please don't listen to this thinking it's good
  • Yahoo! Dev Network - I haven't seen a lot of good stuff here, but Crockford's talks on advanced JavaScript are wonderful

Suggestion: If you post each of your recommended podcasts as a separate answer then people can vote for your "answer".

BTW, Joel discussed this on the Stack Overflow Podcast (can't find the reference in the transcript Wiki) and suggested something like: - Post your suggested "favorite" (tech podcast, in this case) as a question: "Do you like < > podcast and tag it with "technology podcast".

The beauty of this is that we get a simple poll. Yes, it would be nice to actually have a poll but that's not yet a Stack Overflow feature.

The way I understand the question, you are asking for developer centric podcast. My personal number one is Late Night Cocoa from the Mac Developer Network followed by Mac Developer Roundtable. Although I agree that every developer should probably listen to Steve Gibson's Security Now! (with Leo Laporte's TWiT network).

For general tech stuff, check out other TWiT podcasts: This week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, MacBreack Tech (with PixelCorps), Windows Weekly and FLOSS Weekly

On a side note: relevant to some developers who think about becoming a Micro-ISV in the Apple Universe: MacSB - Mac Software Business

Brad's list is pretty good. I also listen to:

I found this on a similar discussion, I think it was at Reddit: UC Berkeley Webcast I found it most useful, since it podcasts entire classes from Berkley courses such as Operating Systems and System Programming, The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Data Structures and Programming Methodology, among others.

Almost all of my favorite podcasts have already been mentioned but not the No 1. Do yourself a favor and listen to the best podcast ever, Linux radio show - LugRadio.

If you are into web design and website creation then I recommend Boagworld and also The Rissington podcast even if you are not.

Also make sure you don't miss the dnrTV webcast show that Carl Franklin (the man behind .NET rocks) publishes. Even if it's a not a podcast and requires a more attention while watching it it's really informative and if you're into .NET and Microsoft related techniques you'll learn a lot.

I can second Jon Galloway's mention of Herding Code, and since I have absolutely nothing to do with the podcast, with nothing to gain, my opinion may be more valuable than his :-).

There are only a few there as it's relatively new, but they are jam packed with good stuff that is very relevant to today's programming paradigms and strategies.

I also love the smooth format they've got going since 4 guys all giving input on a topic can make for a very jerky conversation with all (most?) of them dialed in, but whether it's the post editing or just a good format, either way it comes across as a very comfortable listening experience to the end user. Keep it up guys!

Hope that helps, Rob G

It does not seem like this one was mentioned yet.

http://thecommandline.net/ -- "Exploring the rough edges where technology, society and public policy meet."

He does a weekly News show and a weekly topics show.

From the website, Endorsement: "Thoughtful, informative, and deep, a real plunge into the geeky end of the news-pool. There's great analysis and rumination, as well as detailed explanations of important security issues with common OSes and so on." -- Cory Doctorow

Not hardcore technology but I really enjoy Drunk and Retired. It's like you're talking to your programmer buddy mixed in with life stuff.

Besides Stack Overflow of course, here are mine.

I can't believe the size of some of these lists. With podcasts, I like to keep the list short and the quality high. As such, I tend to skip the aggregates like ITConversations et. al.

Extending on what Mike Powell has to say, I am actually a big fan of almost all of the podcasts at http://www.twit.tv. Most of the content is watered down a bit, but some of the speakers are top notch thinkers - especially on "This Week in Tech", the flagship program.

Oh - and Car Talk on NPR but those guys hardly EVER get into the SDLC!

If you started out on an 8 bit machine, don't forget your roots:
The Retrobits Podcast

A good weekly update to the Ruby on Rails world: Rails Envy.

The thestacktrace is good general programming podcast, which covers every thing from git to Scala.

If you're interested in Linux, Linux Action Show is a wonderful podcast !

It's about Linux news, distributions and softwares releases and also Linux based hardware testing (like drobo, Amazon Kindle and so on). It's very good quality and the hosts, Brian and Chris, sounds amazing.

It's my number one podcast !

Also, I've just discovered that IBM offers some developer podcasts which seems very interesting, some are from Erich Gamma by the way. Of course, it's a little bit more Java and Eclipse oriented (It's IBM).

Linux Outlaws are pretty good. They discuss GNU/Linux distros, software and IT news.

My favorite is Manager Tools. Technically it is a business podcast, but very valuable for programmers or other individual contributors working in corporate environments. Been listening for 3 years, new to StackOverflow

-- Mike

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