6 Podcasts That Will Leave You Feeling Smarter

I’m a big podcast listener and I’ve shared many of my favourite podcasts before, generally comedy and interview style ones, but today I wanted to share a different genre with you – podcasts that will leave you feeling smarter! These 6 podcasts will not only entertain but teach you at the same time, and it’s my new favourite genre to listen to around the home!

Podcasts That Will Leave You Feeling Smarter | I Spy Plum Pie

RadioLab

RadioLab is one of the most listened to podcasts in the world, for good reason! They describe themselves as a podcast about curiosity and they cover pretty much every topic imaginable in an incredibly entertaining and informative way. Each episode generally includes interviews with experts and people involved in the topic and the episodes vary in length from around 20 minutes to over an hour. Well worth checking out their back catalogue!

Stuff Mom Never Told You

Stuff Mom Never Told You is part of the How Stuff Works network and is hosted by two woman that are so open and lovely sounding that they make me want to be their friend! They cover all kinds of topics relating to women from both history and current day events, and despite it having an American bent I still find it an incredibly interesting and informative podcast. Some of my favourite recent episodes have covered everything from knitting to lady mechanics and infertility. I really do feel smarter whenever I listen to them!

How To Do Everything

How to do everything is an NPR podcast that answers listeners questions about life issues ranging from the sensible (how to keep your bike from being stolen) to the somewhat ridiculous (how to smuggle a live chicken) but it’s always informative! The hosts either provide the answers themselves, or consult an necessary expert and the episodes are generally around the 20 minute mark so you can learn all kinds of things while you do your housework!

Like I’m A Six-Year-Old

Like I’m a six-year-old is a podcast hosted by Australian comedian Tom Ballard but it is not a comedy podcast! Instead, each week Tom sits down with interesting people and talks to them about what they believe in, particularly around politics and social issues. He’s had some great guests including South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and Western Australian Senator Scott Ludlam, but also lots of people not directly involved in politics too. One of my favourite recent episodes was with an incredibly impressive 17 year old, Somayra Ismailjee, who talked about everything from Islamaphobia to cultural appropriation and political correctness. It’s definitely well worth a listen.

Probably Science

I started listening to Probably Science after hearing of the hosts (Matt Kirshen) on FOFOP and I’m glad I did! The premise of this podcasts is pretty simple, comedians talking about the week that was in the world of science, often with special guests to help guide them. It’s equal parts interesting and informative, and as someone who doesn’t do a whole lotta scientific reading it keeps me at least vaguely abreast of scientific advancements!

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff you should know is also part of the How Stuff Works network and teaches you about pretty much anything you could want to know about, and even things you didn’t know you wanted to learn more about! They cover everything from how El Nino works to the dark origins to fairy tales and pretty much anything imaginable in between. They have been podcasting for years so have a pretty extensive back catalogue so you can scroll through and find topics you’re particularly interested in, or do what I do and just choose at random and learn about all kinds of topics!

My New Favourite Podcast App

As a bonus piece of information, I’ve recently shifted to using Overcast as my podcast app of choice (iOS only I believe) and it’s fantastic. It’s completely free, and what I particularly love is that you can set up different playlists and allocate particular podcasts to them. I love this as I listen to certain podcasts at places like the gym and others when I’m doing things around the house, or at work, so I can separate my podcast lists to match these scenarios.

You can also set different effects for listening to certain podcasts too, such as increasing the playback speed (some I listen to on 1.15 or 1.25 speed) or remove silences from the playback which really improves the listening experience. If you’re currently using the standard podcast app I recommend you check out Overcast!

There we have it, my top 6 podcasts that will leave you feeling smarter! I’d love to hear your suggestions too!

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8 Comments on 6 Podcasts That Will Leave You Feeling Smarter

  1. Jess
    March 26, 2016 at 11:45 am (9 years ago)

    This is fantastic, I have never heard of any of these. I haven’t really got into the podcast trend lately, but I should!

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      March 29, 2016 at 3:54 pm (9 years ago)

      I hope you find some new favourites in this bunch!

      Reply
  2. Bel
    March 26, 2016 at 2:41 pm (9 years ago)

    I’m wih jess, have never heard any of these and can’t wait to delve in when we return from our Easter break (a four hour drive!)

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      March 29, 2016 at 3:55 pm (9 years ago)

      Glad I could highlight some new listens for you, I hope you enjoy them!

      Reply
  3. Shannon@ my2morrows
    March 26, 2016 at 7:28 pm (9 years ago)

    Awesome Liz. I’m all about podcasts lately and loving learning something new. I’ve heard of stuff you should know and do the same random selection thing that you do. I learnt about the goat problem on the Galapagos islands the other day. Haha! I’m also loving interview series lately… conversations with Richard folder, no filter with mia freedman and Osher Gunsberg to name a couple. Xx

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      March 29, 2016 at 3:57 pm (9 years ago)

      Osher’s podcast is fantastic isn’t it! If you haven’t heard his recent chat on the Wilosophy podcast then I definitely recommend checking that out too.

      Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      March 29, 2016 at 3:57 pm (9 years ago)

      I hope you enjoy them!

      Reply

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