Podcasts have become a popular trend within mass media. With over 900,000 podcast shows online, there’s a show talking about nearly every topic you can think of. From daily news, interviews, storytelling, comedy, and fact-of-the day podcasts, it’s safe to assume that if you’ve thought of it, there’s a podcast for it.
As a student, navigating through your classes and extracurriculars can leave very little down time to pick up a book and enhance your education. As classes move online for the rest of the semester, this downtime will add up.
This is where podcasts come in. Plugging in while you walk to campus, grab lunch, or simply ponder outside of the CUB can create educational value in your day.
Here are some of my favorite business-related podcasts, where you can listen to them, and why you should check them out:
How I Built This:
“How I Built This, with Guy Raz, dives into the stories behind some of the world’s best-known companies. “How I Built This” weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.”¹
I am an avid NPR listener. I especially enjoy listening to Tiny Desk Concerts and the Up First (daily news) podcast. I stumbled across How I Built This in 2018 when I listened to an episode on Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and the journey to becoming one of the top names in cosmetics.
This series gives listeners a perspective of the process innovators and entrepreneurs face when turning an idea into a company or creation. Most episodes are between 40-60 minutes. Here are a few episodes featuring popular innovators:
- Lyft: John Zimmer
- Canva: Melanie Perkins
- Teach For America: Wendy Kopp
You can listen to How I Built This on NPR One, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
The Journal: Wall Street Journal
“The most important stories explained through the lens of business. A podcast about money, business, and power. Hosted by Kate Linebaugh and Ryan Knutson. The Journal is a co-production from Gimlet Media and The Wall Street Journal.” ²
I enjoy listening to The Journal because it features quick business stories explained 20 minutes or less. While the stories are business-focused, they typically incorporate what’s hot in the news. For example, I just listened to the episode titled Why There’s No Toilet Paper: Answers to Your Coronavirus Questions. This addresses listeners’ questions regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Another timely episode discusses the effects on the economy that comes with working from home. Some of my favorite episodes include:
- Nike’s Vaporfly is ‘Magic.’ But is it Fair?
- When Your American Dream Gets Too Crowded
- The Tug of War Over Tesla
You can listen to The Journal: Wall Street Journal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.
The Side Hustle Show:
The Side Hustle Show is the podcast for part-time entrepreneurs who are looking for business ideas, actionable tips to start a business, and killer strategies on how to turn their side hustle dreams into a growing business.”³
I don’t plan on starting my own business, but I have absorbed a lot of tips and information from The Side Hustle Show. Host Nick Looper does a great job of explaining complex business ideas and strategies that are easy to understand as a student. I also enjoy tuning in because the length of the episodes changes from 30 minutes up to an hour. You can listen to whatever you have time for, and there are over 360 episodes! The topics vary from running online blogs and businesses, becoming a freelancer, investing tips, and saving money. Here are a few episodes I learned from:
- 325: The Million Dollar Hobby: How to Monetize What You’re Already Interested in
- 293: Local Podcasts: How to Become the Voice of Your Community—and Get Paid
- 290: Willpower 101: 8 Ways to Strengthen This Critical Success Muscle
You can listen to The Side Hustle Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.
BBC: Business Daily:
“The daily drama of money and work from the BBC.” 4
BBC’s Business Daily deep dives into the most important current events. Lately, episodes have been surrounding COVID-19 but they provide a twist that you won’t hear on the news. Regarding the pandemic, they discuss the global impacts specifically in the poorest areas of the world, what we can learn from East Asia’s response, and how the private sector can help struggling hospitals.
When there isn’t a global pandemic, you can expect typical podcast episodes to focus on topics such as crypto-currency, facial recognition software, and the global tech industry. Here are a few episodes that I found insightful:
- OK Boomer…
- Insomnia and the Smartphone
- The Products Used Again and Again and Again…
You can listen to the BBC: Business Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.
There are hundreds of business-focused podcasts waiting for you to listen to them. If you haven’t listened to podcasts before, I hope this inspires you to test the waters and find the right one for you. Daily news podcasts are a great place to start as a lot of the business podcasts are tied into current events. Some other advice: don’t just listen to business podcasts. Escape the gloom and doom during this time by picking up a comedy podcast in addition to a business one. But that’s a whole other article!
- Raz, Guy. How I Built This With Guy Raz. NPR Podcast audio, September 2, 2016. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this.
- Linebaugh, Kate, and Ryan Knutson. The Journal. WSJ Podcast audio, June 19, 2019. https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal.
- Loper, Nick. The Side Hustle Show. Podcast audio, May 13, 2013. https://www.sidehustlenation.com/side-hustle-show/.
- Saragosa, Manuela, and Ed Butler. BBC Business Daily. BBC Podcast audio, November 6, 2013. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsxs