Podcasts: The Millennial Mind Candy

If you listen to podcasts, you're probably aware that the 35 leading podcast publishers (headed up by NPR's Israel Smith) are joining forces this month to promote podcasts through a word-of-mouth campaign called #trypod (i.e., try a podcast).  If you don't listen to podcasts, let this post be your gateway to a new world of mind candy.  

I rarely do anything without having some interesting person talk into my ear.  I love podcasts because of the diversity of offerings, the constantly-improving quality, and the fact that while I might curate the genre (economics, politics, etc.), I do not curate the content.  It thus helps me, to a degree, avoid the filter bubble. 

Here are some of my favorite podcasts along with some great first listens to help you see how easy it is to get hooked.  While not every episode on every podcast is great, more likely than not you're going to hear something interesting with these.

99% Invisible. This podcast is focused on the design of things people often overlook. I always find it incredibly fascinating.  The host is named Roman Mars and his voice is as cool as his name.
 
Favorite episodes:

• Walk This Way: All about wayfinding.  I no longer look at airports the same.
• The Straight Line is a Godless Line:  This is about an architect who refused to use straight lines. Make sure you look up some of the pictures, if you listen.
• Deaf Spaces: Discusses the design decisions of spaces at Gallaudet, a university for the deaf.  I had never really thought about how space can facilitate visual communication between people before this episode.
  
  

Freakonomics. From the same guys who wrote the book.  This podcast can sometimes come off as a bit trite, but with most episodes, I usually find I learn something.   

Favorite episodes: 

• Should Tipping be Banned: Discusses the craziness that is tipping in America.
• Parking is Hell: All about how about how the concept of free parking is absurd.
• There’s No Such Thing as a Free Appetizer: It's all about the history and consequences of the free appetizer.  

Planet Money. This is an economics podcast that has a penchant for explaining difficult concepts in really interesting ways. It’s created by NPR, so you might have heard some of the stories on All Things Considered or Marketplace, but the podcast’s episodes are usually much more in depth.

Favorite episodes: 

• The Chicken Taxes:  One of my favorite episodes about how law influences behavior. 
• The Taxi King:  About a guy who bought a bunch of NYC taxi medallions and now is pretty much screwed.
• The Big Red Button:   I am fascinated with driverless cars.  I think they are going to change the world and will be ubiquitous in our lifetime. This episode is about what humans will need in order to feel comfortable using new technologies.
• What Two Pasta Factories Tell Us About the Italian Economy. Focuses on the work cultures of two different Barilla pasta factories--one in northern Italy, one in southern Italy.  Great case study on expectations and behavior.
• The History of Light. This episode pretty much explains how improvements in light from candles to kerosene to bulbs made human progress possible.  Wow.

Startup.  This podcast is about the starting of a podcast company.  It provides a very raw, often cringe-worthy look into a real startup. Season 1 is much, much better than subsequent seasons.
 
Revisionist History.  Sort of like Freakonomics, Gladwell can be a bit cheesy and preachy, but his podcasts are incredibly sticky. 
 
Favorite episodes: 

• Food Fight: The second of a three-part miniseries (the whole thing is worth listening to) on opening up college to all socioeconomic classes.  It focuses on a seemingly unlikely target: how the food each school serves in its cafeteria can improve or distort the educational system.  Good lesson on unintended consequences.
• The Lady Vanishes: Great episode on moral licensing--the idea that good deeds strengthen our positive self-image but also make us less worried about the consequences of immoral behavior, and therefore, more likely to make immoral choices. 

Invisibilia.  This podcast explores the hidden forces that influence our lives.  Can be hit or miss.

Favorite episodes:

• The Problem with the Solution: Mindblowing episode on one Belgium’s town approach to care of the mentally ill. 
• Outside In:   Great episode on playing the part. 

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