Top Podcasts of 2017
Here is my list of favorite podcasts from 2017. You'll find my list of favorite books here. Let me know your favorites!
THE INFORMATION'S 411 If you haven’t signed up for The Information’s newsletters, do it now. The Information is the premiere news channel for what is happening in Silicon Valley. The Information team provides excellence in journalism and breaks many of the top stories in tech. This is their podcast and SoundCloud is the best way to listen.
Hosts PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman tell stories on how “the Internet shapes people and how people shape the Internet”. I highly recommend episode #91 - when a Gimlet employees Uber account is hacked (before their hack was announced!) and episode #109 when PJ and Alex ask people if they think Facebook is listening in to serve hyper-relevant ads.
“Masters of Scale is an original podcast hosted by LinkedIn Co-Founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman showing how companies grow from zero to a gazillion.” I particularly like episode 8 - when Reid talks to Reed Hastings, the Founder and CEO of Netflix, about building culture. Also, Reid (Hoffman) is committed to a 50/50 gender balance in his guests.
This podcast initially told the story of how the founders of Gimlet Media were creating and building their own company. After season one, the podcast started branching out and telling others founders stories - which has been a bit more hit or miss. But I loved season 4 about the former founder and CEO of American Apparel and his very controversial story.
HIDDEN BRAIN (NPR) “Hidden Brain's host Shankar Vedantam reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships.” This is a great one for marketers and curious minds!
HOW I BUILT THIS WITH GUY RAZ (NPR) Curious how Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, Rent the Runway, Clif Bar, or Zumba got started? This podcast gets to the heart of the founder’s stories.
MOGUL: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF CHRIS LIGHTY (Gimlet) Mogul was a series on Gimlet in 2017 about Chris Lighty, one of hip hop’s most beloved executives and how he rose and fell in tragedy. It is an incredible story of an entrepreneur, of pop culture and hip hop, and how an industry was created.
Happy Listening! Kate
