Tech podcasts I enjoy

I started listening to podcasts in the summer of 2023, and have been enjoying them while walking my dogs or exercising ever since. I have found them to be a great way to keep up-to-date with the latest trends in the tech industry, and to get perspectives on the softer side of the tech industry, such as career advice and hearing other software developers’ stories of working at other companies, both large and small.

Below are some of the podcasts I enjoy, typically on Spotify at 1.8x speed, and why I like them.

Technical podcasts

I’m primarily a .NET developer, so the technical podcasts I listen to are usually .NET or Azure focused. Here are some technical podcasts that are great for software developers and IT pros:

• Azure DevOps Podcast: This podcast is hosted by Jeffrey Palermo, and is a great way to keep up-to-date with the latest .NET and Azure features and technology. He interviews a wide range of guests, such as Microsoft employees and MVPs, .NET-related authors, and other software developers in the industry, some of which have several decades of experience.
• The PowerShell Podcast: This podcast is hosted by Andrew Pla, and features guests from the PowerShell community. This podcast is a great way to stay up-to-date with what is happening in the PowerShell world, hear from others who use PowerShell regularly, and learn about new modules and tools that can help make IT pros and developers more productive.
• .NET Rocks: This podcast is hosted by Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell, and they interview guests from the .NET community. Carl and Richard have been podcasting for over 20 years, and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the tech industry. They have interviewed many of the top names in the .NET community, and have a large back catalog of episodes that you can listen to.
• The Modern .NET Show: This podcast is hosted by Jamie Taylor, and he interviews guests from the .NET community. Jamie’s podcast is a great way to stay up-to-date with the latest .NET features and technology, and hear from others who are using .NET in their day-to-day work.

Non-technical podcasts

This is a list of non-technical podcasts that your spouse or even your kids might enjoy, where you don’t need to be a software developer or IT pro to understand what they are talking about or find it interesting:

Interesting true stories:

• Corecursive: This podcast is hosted by Adam Gordon Bell. Adam will either have a guest on the show to tell their story, or sometimes he will just tell someone’s story himself, of doing something notable in the tech industry, such as creating the JSON spec, porting Doom to a gaming console, or shadow-working on the Apple campus without them knowing or getting paid in hopes of shipping their software with the Mac OS. I really like this podcast, as it is essentially a collection of interesting true stories about people who have done something in the tech industry. The stories may have happened 50 years ago or 5 years ago, and they are all interesting and well told. It is a great way to hear stories from other software developers and get a history of what has changed over the years, and to learn about the different paths people have taken to get into the tech industry.
• Darknet Diaries: This podcast is hosted by Jack Rhysider, and is a collection of true stories about hackers, malware, and cyber security. Like the Corecursive podcast, it focuses on telling true stories, but about anything related to cyber security or the darker side of the web, such as the story of the guy who hacked the FBI, or the judge who spent months/years posing online as a terrorist in order to gain intel and alert the authorities before a terrorist plan could be executed.

Level-up your engineering soft skills:

• Soft Skills Engineering: This podcast is hosted by Dave Smith and Jamison Dance, and is a great way to get career advice and hear stories from other software developers. The hosts read questions submitted by listeners, such as how to ask for a promotion, deal with a difficult coworker, or get your voice heard in the company, and then give their advice on how to handle the situation. You can submit your own questions for them on their website.
• Developing Up: This podcast is no longer recoding new episodes, but still has a lot of great advice nonetheless. Like the Soft Skills Engineering podcast, Developing Up discusses many of the processes around being a software engineer (code reviews, pair programming, security, working remotely, career advice) that remain true over time.

Other podcasts:

• Hanselminutes: This podcast is hosted by Scott Hanselman, and features guests from the tech and other industries. Sometimes Scott’s podcasts are very technical, and other times not at all. Compared to the other podcasts on this list, I would say Scott’s podcast is a variety show, and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. Due to the nature of so many different topics, I find some episodes more interesting than others.
• Compromising Positions: This podcast is hosted by Lianne Potter and Jeff Watkins, and is all about cyber security. They typically interview a non-technical guest on their show and discuss how security could be improved in their area. I personally find this podcast hit or miss; I’ve really enjoyed some episodes, while others left me zoning out or feeling bored.

Conclusion

I plan to add to this list over time as I discover more great tech-related podcasts, so check back later for more recommendations.

For now, I hope you find this list helpful and are able to discover a new podcast that you love.

Happy listening! 🎧