One of my lifelong goals is to share knowledge with as many people as possible. In the last few years I have done so by sharing information about science, technology, history & philosophy. I have also embarked on a mission to get as many people as possible to take up reading.
I have done this by recommending highly acclaimed books on various subjects, bookstores where these books can be bought and have even gone as far as buying some of these books for numerous individuals, all in a bid to spread the love of reading & knowledge.
Recently, I was plagued by thoughts that there was a group of people I may have inadvertently left out due to my focus on books & reading as a means of sharing knowledge. This bothered me more because my personal motto when it comes to knowledge is "nobody will be left behind."
I know there are individuals who love to learn or seek for knowledge but cannot adapt to reading due to issues of free time or their own personal peculiarities. So I sat and thought and thought and thought about how I could reach these individuals and it struck me.
Why don't I look for podcasts that teach various subjects and recommend them so those who don't have time to read can benefit from them? So that's what I did. I searched through various podcasts that teach something and extracted a few to start with:
1. How To with Charles Duhigg: Charles Duhigg is the author of The Power of Habits and a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. In his podcast, he sits with experts to discuss how to learn or solve a wide variety of problems. Check it out on Apple podcasts.
2. Blind History: Hosted by Gareth Cliff and Anthony Mederer, this podcast is a crash course in getting to know some of history's greatest men and women. The podcasts which do not last longer than 15 minutes aim to deliver history lessons in bite sized chunks.
3. Revisionist History: Malcolm Gladwell hosts this podcast, and in a manner reminiscent of his cerebral and incisive manner of writing, takes listeners on a journey through the misunderstood and overlooked aspects of history in a bid to set events in the proper context.
4. Cautionary Tales: Hosted by Tim Harford, the best selling author of The Undercover Economist, this podcast brings you stories of human error, catastrophes and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight and scare you but will also make you wiser.
5. The Secret History of the Future: The Economist's Tom Standage hosts this podcast where he examines the historical precedents that can transform our understanding of modern technology as well as predict how it might evolve & the various ways in which it could shape our world.
6. Audio Book Club: This is for avid readers and non readers alike. This podcasts hosts a monthly discussion as well as heated debates of new and important books.
7. Solvable: This podcast showcases the world's most innovative thinkers and their proposed solutions to the world's most daunting problems.
8. The Next Big Idea: Hosted by Rufus Griscom and featuring thought leaders such as Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant and Daniel Pink, this podcast brings the most groundbreaking ideas that have the power to change the way you live, work and think.
9. Business Wars: Business is sometimes akin to war. With that in mind, this podcast gives you the real story of what drives some of the biggest companies in the world today, their leaders, inventors and investors.
10. Spectacular Failures: This podcast tackles some of the most spectacular business failures of all time, and what could have been done to avoid them. Some of these stories are shocking, some are funny but ultimately each story will give you a new perspective on big business.
The above are what I've been able to put together for now. As 2020 rolls along, I shall keep sharing podcasts I find that are interesting and could be beneficial. Please share the names of any podcasts you listen to that are interesting and educational.
