Since increasing my commute recently, I have been wanting to make my time spent driving as productive as possible. Listening to music has never really been my thing so I have been listening to audiobooks. These can be entertaining fiction or informative nonfiction but I have wanted to mix-up the reading with some technical information that can make me a better IT Professional.
Unfortunately, they do not make too many technical books into audiobooks. I assume because the material changes so quickly and some of the material does not lend itself to be read aloud. I would love to read some sysadmin books or IT certificate prep books but I have not found much. Instead, I have turned to podcasts, a medium I never really got into before. I have tried a variety of technical podcasts and unsubscribed from many for various reasons like quality and personalities. (Some well known names in the industry make horrible podcasters. I deleted those podcasts after hearing them just gloss over issues with their own arrogance of how something must work, why a change was made, or broadcasting their misinterpreting an intended change as a bug.)
The podcasts that have made it through my scrutinizing are great quality, informative, keep me up on current news, or expand my horizons to think differently and escape the filter bubble. I use the Android app Pocket Casts and it has some great features to auto-download certain episodes when on WiFi, increase playback, remove silences, and others.
The CyberWire – This is a great daily IT security news podcast that keeps it concise, covers the headlines from a variety of sources, and brings in experts from industry and academia.
RunAs Radio – A Windows-focused podcast that takes half an hour and interviews guests to talk about specific topics like DevOps, infrastructure, management, Windows Server 2016, Windows 10, and other products.
Defensive Security – Great coverage of infosec topics from the headlines with strong industry backgrounds and opinions grounded in experience.
The Journal by Kevin Rose – Deep-dive and conversational, Kevin Rose talks with other individuals about fascinating subjects and lets their interests shine. I really enjoyed the working remotely discussion with Jason Fried.
Presentable – Presentable is one of my favorite podcasts that stretches me out of my strengths. The premise behind Presentable is all about design. Technology intersecting with design to make the user interface is a deep topic. Jeff Veen discusses with other industry leaders with great information that intrigues me from my interest on the fringe to really appreciate the design. Discussions about VUIs (voice user interfaces) have been a favorite episode so far.
Tech SNAP – TechSNAP is a weekly Systems, Network, and Administration Podcast. It comes from a Linux perspective but covers the headlines and has had some great depth to explaining vulnerabilities that have been disclosed.
Daily Tech News Show – DTNS covers the daily tech headlines with Internet personalities and adds their interpretations. The show layout is nice to have some depth to the conversation.
Android Central – Android Central is a little on the fence for me. They recently changed up the personnel and it feels a little opinionated at times. I enjoy Android and I have a Nexus but I’m not in the market for a new phone each week so the deep dive in some models are more than I need. However, when I am interested in catching up on a new topic, like Android Nougat, it’s a good listen.
NPR’s Planet Money – While this isn’t really technical based, I enjoy the topics that they cover relating to finance and found their recent oil series really good.
If you have any recommendations, please send them my way.