Podcasts are how I keep up with the world. This is the app I use to listen and the shows I actually have in my rotation. No affiliate links on this page — just recommendations.
Overcast is my podcast player, and it is one of the most VoiceOver-friendly apps on my phone. Every control is properly labeled, the episode lists read cleanly, and I can run the whole thing without ever needing to see the screen. That is not an accident — it is what happens when somebody actually cares.
Overcast was built by Marco Arment, who was the CTO of Tumblr and created Instapaper before this. He is one guy, not a company, which is rare for an app this big.
He also co-hosts the Accidental Tech Podcast with John Siracusa and Casey Liss — three developers arguing about Apple, cars, and engineering for a couple hours a week. If you like the app, you will probably like the show. It is on my list below too.
iPhone and iPad only.
Marco Arment, John Siracusa, and Casey Liss on Apple, programming, and cars. Three developers who will happily spend forty minutes on one API decision.
Gruber of Daring Fireball talking Apple with a guest, usually at length. The closest thing the Apple world has to a paper of record.
Merlin Mann and John Siracusa working through how they think, why they are the way they are, and occasionally a movie. Less tech show than two-person excavation.
Kevin Roose and Casey Newton on AI and the tech industry each week. Skeptical without being sour, which is a hard balance right now.
Dan Moren, John Moltz, and Lex Friedman on Apple news. Loose, funny, and it never overstays its welcome.
The Verge's show about the story behind a single gadget, app, or website — the hits, the flops, and the ones that almost were.
Conan interviewing people he genuinely likes, with Sona and Matt riding along. The interviews are good. The digressions are better.
Tony Hinchcliffe's live show where comics get one minute on stage and then get roasted for it. Fast, mean, and often very funny.
John Roderick and Merlin Mann on the phone every week with no topic and no plan. Rambling in the best possible sense.
Ira Glass and a theme, a few acts, and some of the best-produced audio anybody makes. Still the standard after thirty years.
Erica Heilman's show out of Vermont, talking to ordinary people about their ordinary lives. Quiet, unhurried, and it will stay with you.
Survival stories told as narrative series — cave rescues, plane crashes, people who should not have made it out.
Two companies going head to head, told across a full season. Nike versus Adidas, Netflix versus Blockbuster, that kind of thing.
The New York Times, one story a day, about twenty-five minutes. It is the first thing I play most mornings.
The BBC's take on American news and politics. I like it because it comes from outside the fight — it is a room full of people watching this country rather than living inside the argument, and that distance makes it easier to hear.