Podcasts were becoming an increasingly regular part of my day when I wrote this article in April 2018. I often listened at moments previously reserved for music: on the train, while cleaning or during a journey. They offered a way to keep learning about subjects that interested me.
Episodes could run from a few minutes to several hours, and the range of subjects was enormous. Recommendations from other people were often the best way to find something worthwhile. So I asked colleagues to share their favourites alongside my own. The following is a snapshot of what we were listening to in 2018, rather than a list of current publishing schedules.
BNR: science, politics and technology
BNR’s podcasts appeared on several colleagues’ lists. Its selection covered subjects ranging from cryptocurrency in Cryptocast and American politics in The Donald Show to the Friday conversation of The Friday Move.
Eventive colleague Kim Camman chose Wetenschap Vandaag. She liked its short pieces of scientific information: useful ideas that were easy to take in and remember.
Progress colleague Allard preferred De Technoloog, hosted by Herbert Blankesteijn and Ben van der Burg. Technology was the main attraction, but there was also a client connection. Moneyou had recently joined an episode about the threats and opportunities that technology giants and start-ups presented to banks.
That example also showed how a podcast interview could give a company room to discuss a topic in depth. For more on that communications perspective, see our article about podcasts in a media strategy.
Tribe of Mentors: understanding people
Stella’s choice was Tim Ferriss’s Tribe of Mentors. Its conversations about mentoring and people’s experiences offered ideas for supporting and managing a team.
For Stella, PR and running an agency were fundamentally about people. Leading colleagues from a different generation required an understanding of what motivated them and what they wanted from their work. The approach she had seen in an earlier generation was not something to copy automatically.
The podcast gave her perspectives and practical questions to consider. That interest in people also connects with our reflections on relationships between colleagues.
TED Talks Daily: looking through a different lens
Many people had already encountered a TED Talk on education, business, science, technology or creativity. The audio format offered another way to hear those ideas.
Inger liked TED Talks Daily because it encouraged her to look at subjects differently. Exploring a speaker or topic could lead to an unexpected insight, whether the starting point was education, technology or something outside her usual interests.
Technology podcasts: news and its wider impact
My own choices included the BBC’s Tech Tent. One episode discussed the privacy crisis surrounding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, a major technology story at the time.
I also listened to NUtech’s discussion of the week’s technology news and NOS op 3 Tech’s coverage of gadgets, apps and wider developments. Numrush’s Rush Talk offered conversations about the impact of innovation on society.
One example was its interview with Microsoft director Ernst-Jan Stigter about innovation in education. It was a reminder that technology coverage can move beyond a product announcement to explore what a development means for people and organisations.
Ask someone what they are listening to
The simplest way to discover a different perspective may be to ask a colleague. Their interests can lead you to a subject you would never have searched for yourself. That was the starting point for this list, and it remains a useful habit for curious PR professionals.
Marieke
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