Podcasts Which Will Improve Your Life

Today, whilst driving around, I realised that I had switched the radio off; nothing but the constant hum of the engine to fill the silence. I started thinking, and noticed that I had turned the radio off in anger and frustration when I was listening to the same song for the third time within one hour.  I’m sure we have all experienced this on the morning commute, all those annoying ads from Hampson Hughes and other insurance providers occasionally punctuated by the latest pop hit. It can get a little draining. Even if we load our iPods with our own selection of music, it tends to get repetitive. This was something I used to experience when taking long train journeys back to London from Uni, and it was around this time that I discovered Podcasts. 

I haven’t been listening to Podcasts long, but they have had a really positive effect on my life and expanding my general views. Seeing as this blog is all about expanding views and improving life experiences, I thought I should share this with you.

The Joe Rogan Experience

I first came across the Joe Rogan podcast by an inadvertent bout of marketing. Most marketers know that for anyone to take notice of a product, they have to see, hear or feel it at least seven times. This was precisely what happened to me if I’m being honest. Guess I’m one of the statistics! I’ve been a fan of mixed martial arts for a long time and anyone who is involved in this community knows who Joe Rogan is. He is essentially the commentator for the UFC as well as a comedian and a badass martial artist, but don’t be mistaken, he wasn’t the one promoting. In fact, I heard loads of fighters talking about this podcast and finally I thought I would try listening to it on my epic train journey home from Uni. I was expecting a talk show purely about martial arts but I was surprised when I heard Joe and his guests talking about everything from comedy to spirituality. The talks often have a variety of guests ranging from other comedians to highly esteemed Physicists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson. If you like to learn new things, and are interested by a wide variety of people, this is for you. These talks are awe inspiring and embody the rebellion against traditional education. This podcast really has the ability to open your mind up to new interests and is almost an alternative education. I strongly encourage all of you to check this podcast out, it could either change your life or you will hate me for it. But either way I’m willing to take the risk because that’s just how great this podcast is. I can’t even begin to suggest where to start as the library of this show is extensive and each one gets better and better. The most recent podcast have featured the likes of John McAfee, Enson Inoue, Kat Von D, and Immortal Technique to name but a few.

London Real TV

The second podcast which I’ve only recently started listening to is London Real. This is a weekly podcast which is run by two adopted Londoners: Brian Rose and Nic Gabriel. One former trader and one martial arts master: What a combination! These two guys moved to London many years ago and began this podcast in order to interact with their environment and other interesting individuals. It’s slightly shorter than the Joe Rogan Experience, but some of the topics are very similar. These guys try to keep it as an extended interview with some really great questions which allow the listener to get the best out of the conversation and keep the dialogue focussed. They’ve had some great guests such as Tim Ferris (author of the four hour work week), Graham Hancock, and Roger Gracie among others.  Similarly to the Joe Rogan Experience, they are quite diverse and eclectic in their topics. Consequently, each podcast leaves you thinking and questioning, thirsty to learn new things. More recently however, Brian has been bringing on a selection of Co-hosts which gives us, the listeners, an even better opportunity to hear different views in each episode.

Freakonomics Radio

From the authors who brought you “Freakonomics” and “Superfreakonomics”, comes this podcast. It’s included in most top ten lists for podcasts and for the right reasons too. They offer new shocking topics along the same lines of those which are discussed in the book and more, on a weekly basis. This is a podcast for all those who like to be shocked by new information and possibly enraged by what they hear. The weekly episodes try and focus around one topic per episode which is generally a current issue. For example, one of the more recent ones I enjoyed was on how to think about guns- A highly controversial topic following the Sandy Hook shootings in the USA and the anti-gun laws which Piers Morgan has been championing. In a way, this podcast is quite a nice supplement to the normal news you hear on a daily basis. It offers a more in depth and often a diverse debate surrounding the topic which can help your understanding exponentially. Again, this podcast helps expose some truths which most of us wouldn’t hear about, and offers a different perspective on the world which is key for us here at The GradStop.

TED Talks

This is probably one of the biggest and best organisations in the world for spreading new ideas and generally mind blowing information. Unfortunately, tickets to these events are notoriously expensive and often difficult for mere students and grads like us to afford. But alas, the more affordable (free) version is the podcast. It still has a lot of new ideas and awesome lectures from a variety of different innovators and thought leaders so don’t worry, you’re not being short changed. This podcast is considerably shorter as it focusses around just one lecture per podcast, much like the TED videos on YouTube. Nevertheless, it is ideal for someone who just wants to fill ten or twenty minutes and learn something new in a short period of time. The information which is expressed in these talks is amazing and can often be used to give you ideas for individual projects. So for you final year students out there who are struggling to find a dissertation topic, start listening to these talks. I personally had that experience when I was struggling to find a topic for my final year economics project. After listening to a TED podcast about oil and the way it will shape our future, I did some more research into the supply from the OPEC cartel and created a successful project around it. All in all, this is one of the most practical podcasts due to the time limits the TED speakers have, it enables you to get to the root of the information without wasting too much time.