Essential Listening: Top 5 Podcasts for Developers in 2012
Over the years I have listened to a lot of different podcasts, some good, some bad, most mediocre. I think podcasts can be useful for discovering new ideas, challenge our perceptions and making the commute to work seem a bit shorter. The podcasts outlined below are the ones I listen to regularly and should interest most developers.
Hanselminutes
Technology talk that doesn't waste your time.
Scott Hanselman covers different technical topics, primarily from the .Net world. He is an excellent interviewer and keeps you up to date on whats moving in our industry.
hanselminutes.com/ (Updated weekly)
Build and Analyze
A weekly news and discussion show about the world of iPhone, iPad, iOS, and mobile web development.
Marco Armen is the creator of the excellent read-it-later service and App, Instapaper. This is his show and the audience get a window in to the world of independent app-developer. Different perspectives than you get from your regular enterprise employee no 1000.
This Developer's Life
Bringing a human slant to the tech industry.
Rob Connery and Scott Hanselman talk to noteworthy programmers and themselves about the many different aspects of software engineering and the effect it has on our lives as professional developers. Many interesting stories told by the people who made them happen.
thisdeveloperslife.com (Updated sporadicly)
Software Engineering Radio
Software Engineering Radio is a podcast targeted at the professional software developer. The goal is to be a lasting educational resource, not a newscast. Episodes are either tutorials on a specific topic, or an interview with a well-known character from the software engineering world.
This is the most technical podcast of the bunch. Many interesting interviews and different perspectives from around the industry.
se-radio.net (Updated every ten days)
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is a weekly Podcast talkshow discussing the latest news and topics from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims from a scientific point of view.
This is my personal favourite. No coding in this show, however you learn important skills such as critical thinking, be able to spot logical fallacies and gain a greater understanding for how we know what we know. These skills are invaluable in any profession. Is TDD worth it on a company wide scale? Has Scrum yielded more successful projects than other methodologies? Does pair programming improve code quality? Does high code coverage lead to fewer bugs in production? Do you know? How do you know?
theskepticsguide.org (Updated weekly)