Best Podcasts

Explanation for “Best Podcasts”

Look, we don’t know what makes something the best. This is simply a list of podcasts that we enjoy. When at parties, we inject these ideas into conversations, when meeting strangers, we suggest that people download them. These shows improve our lives and sharing them is a gift. That’s it!

We don’t claim to have the power to deem something as intrinsically “best,” but these are the best podcasts to us.

Business and Marketing

The School of Greatness – Lewis brings excellent guests and his interviews are pointed and inspirational. Each episode is a dose of real talk from people that have accomplished something remarkable in their lives. The focus is on world class athletes, business leaders and celebrities. Since listening to this podcast, a little of that greatness has rubbed off on us. Thanks Lewis; you’re a shoe in on this best podcasts list.

Seth Godin’s Startup School – We’re Seth Godin junkies at Freedom Podcasting. This podcast is simply a repackaged version of an event he did in 2012. Earwolf has done a fantastic job of repackaging it into small, easily digestible bits of wisdom for anyone seeking to take a risk and ship something. Though the message seems focused towards the tech “start-up” world, you could use these lessons to start a lawn care business just as well. This is essential listening for entrepreneurs.

The Lifestyle Business Podcast – Dan and Ian are the quintessential digital nomads. This is the down and dirty business podcast where you’ll get ideas for standard operating procedures and the details of building that lifestyle business. The lessons we’ve learned from listening to this podcast directly help us to deliver a more professional standard to our clients. Not only is the information actionable and important, these two are hilarious and they make business more fun! It’s a quick half hour show and they publish regularly so you can listen to it religiously.

The Smart Passive Income Podcast – Pat Flynn is a treasure. Every single podcast is a dose of intelligent, actionable and incredibly humble awesomeness. Not only does he come off as the nicest guy on the planet but he gives the sort of valuable advice that changes the way you play the game. The free resources on his blog are the best around. He also has some of the best podcasting sound quality in the industry.

Freakonomics & Planet Money – Though after reading Antifragile, we’ve lost our faith in the capacity for economists to play a valuable part in decision making; we will always love these podcasts. The production is excellent and they provide rich examples on how to piece stories together. The post production of this show is of the highest quality of any show that we listen to.

The Foolish Adventure with Tim Conley – We love Tim Conley’s focus on the lifetime value of a customer. He is all about building real businesses that provide lasting value to everyone involved; who isn’t going to appreciate a mission like that? We take his lessons to heart with all our clients.

Social Triggers with Derek Halpern –  Derek’s passion for his subject (psychology and business) is vivid. Though we just started listening to this podcast recently, we highly recommend it. He has excellent guests and his show comes off professional and succinct. He does very little post production and it’s a great example of how you can have an excellent yet simple podcast.

Mixergy – Andrew Warner constantly produces the best interviews with entrepreneurs. He is a piercing interviewer who isn’t afraid to ask probing questions. This is, without a doubt one of the best podcasts if you’re interested in entrepreneurship. If you want to study excellent podcast production and blog style format, Mixergy rocks!

Comedy & Entertainment

This American Life – Ira Glass has put in the years to make this the most high quality example of audio entertainment I’ve heard. This American Life molds stories with precision and beautiful dramatic effect. If you’re looking to get started in podcasting, listen to Ira Glass and this show. This is one of the best podcasts when it comes to entertainment and drama available on iTunes.

The Joe Rogan Experience – This podcast is changing the way media works. Joe has artists, entrepreneurs, MMA fighters, comedians, controversial characters and conspiracy theorists. Dave Asprey went on the JRE and his website was flooded with orders. We couldn’t get bullet proof coffee for a month! Honey Honey went on and started selling out shows around the country. This is a symbol of the future role of a democratized media. The new media is here and it is awesome!

Redban + Internet + Powerful Joe Rogan = New Media Empire.

The Duncan Trussell Family Hour – Duncan is absolutely hilarious. The segments that he adds into his show are the most creative we’ve ever come across in the podcasting world. If you want to bust open you’re idea of what podcasting is, this show is the show for you. There are no other podcasts like it and that’s why the Duncan Trussell Family Hour makes it to the best podcasts list. At times, the focus on spiritualism and chanting make the show a bit spacey, but It’s still one of our favorites.

The Bryan Callen Show – Bryan Callen is hilarious and he always brings out the best in his guests. After each show, our book reading list grows bigger. Some episodes, he will just have his comedian friends on, others he will have Navy SEALS, MMA Fighters or international bankers. It’s never a dull moment.

Science & Technology

The Bulletproof Exec – Dave Asprey always has a way of turning the world upside down. We used to think putting salt on our food was unhealthy and eating butter was a path to heart attacks. Those days are over. We’re constantly trying to implement the suggestions in this podcast because these ideas help us to differentiate marketing from scientific exploration. Every episode is a voyage to the new frontiers of what actually causes the body to perform at it’s highest potential. Sure, it’s geeky, but this is one of the best podcasts around on bio-hacking! Recently they are putting more effort into their production quality. The content has always been fantastic!

Stuff You Should Know – Josh and Chuck are really sincere and great sounding guys. They sit down and talk about fascinating things. Despite their deep well of knowledge and the heavy research that goes into each episode, they manage to maintain a humble and exploratory feel and sound. Listen to this podcast and you will no doubt find yourself repeating a nugget of information at a dinner party at some stage or another. It makes us more informed and interested in everything around.

Stuff to Blow Your Mind – Robert and Julie have great chemistry and every episode is well researched and fascinating. The production of the show is great. If you’re listening to this show for the fist time, I recommend you go into the iTunes interface and download 2-5 episodes that have subjects that are interesting to you. If you start with stuff that you are interested in, you might get hooked and start listening to every episode.

History

Hardcore History – Dan Carlin’s passion for history gleams through in this podcast. He delves deep into history in a way that brings the listener into how he sees the times. If you want to get hooked right away, listen to the first 5 minutes of Death Throes of the Republic. Those first few minutes provide the context to enjoy learning about the Roman Empire. It’s amazing what 5 minutes can do. The dealers give drugs to junkies, Dan Carlin has given us an addiction to history. We are especially tremendous fans of his show on the Khans and of Logical Insanity. Thanks Dan. We’re a huge fan.

That’s Our Best Podcasts List

I know you like podcasts too. Think we’re leaving one out? We are constantly seeking the next Joe Rogan, Lewis Howes or Dan Carlin. If you drop us a great suggestion, we will love you forever.