My Favorite Podcasts of 2025 ⭐

2025 was a strange year for podcasts: I added four new shows but my overall listening time was down by about 50 percent year-over-year. I chalk that up to a big lifestyle change this past year in which we spent over half our time in Mexico City, where we walk everywhere every day. But we do that together, so I can’t listen to podcasts, audiobooks, or music at that time. And since we walk so much, I don’t see any point in walking solo just so I can catch up on content.

I’ll try to review the life balance thing in 2026. But the way I listen hasn’t changed: I still use and prefer Pocket Casts, and recommend it to everyone.

❤️ Favorite bingeable podcasts

Every once in a while, I discover a podcast that I enjoy so much I want to listen to every episode. But even those come and go. I was a big fan of How Did This Get Made for several years, for example, but stopped listening a few years back. And while The Rewatchables is still a favorite, I’ve listened to all the previous episodes I would like to listen to and now just cherry–pick from the new episodes as they appear, which explains why it’s moved into the next section.

But the following three endure, in alphabetical order.

If Books Could Kill

This might be my favorite podcast overall because the hosts are consistently smart and funny and land on the correct side of big issues. It skewers and debunks so-called “airport books,” those books, often of the self-help variety, that somehow sell in the millions despite being absolutely terrible and in many cases objectively wrong. Think Freakanomics, The 4-Hour Work Week, The Secret, and similar drivel. Classic.

Made by Google

I’ve been listening to this podcast since its inception and it added a video version in the most recent season. I like the host, I like hearing from those who work on Google’s products, and I make a point to listen to (or, now, watch) every episode. (The video version is not in Pocket Casts, but it’s available on YouTube.)

Scott & Mark Learn To

I could not have been happier last year when I saw that two of my favorite people at Microsoft started this podcast. It’s still a favorite, and I look forward to each episode.

? Favorite podcasts for cherry-picked episodes

I don’t have time to listen to every single episode of every podcast I subscribe to, but I have several that are favorites depending on the topic. This is pretty much why my Pocket Casts playlists view is set to “New Releases.” You never know when the next great show is going to pop up.

Here are my favorites, in alphabetical order.

.NET Rocks

Richard Campbell and Carl Franklin are friends and two of my favorite people, and they’re terrific together on this developer-focused podcast, which may now be the longest-running podcast in history.

Hanselminutes

Scott Hanselman (of Scott & Mark Learn To fame) is a tech-focused content maker who I’ve know for decades and really enjoy. This show has been around a while, and it’s usually dev-focused or at least dev-adjacent, and it can be all over the map in a good way too.

The Rewatchables

Now that I’ve caught up on the back catalog, I just listen to the new shows that are about movies I really care about. It’s kind of hit or miss, but depending on the hosts—Boston-area sportswriter legend Bill Simmons is reliably good—it can be incredibly good. Pocket Casts tells me that my longest listening session this past year was when I listened to the Twister episode, all two hours of it, in one sitting.

Rolling Stone All Access

I love music and though I’m mixed on the hosts, I will listen in when it’s a band, musician, or related topic I really care about.

RunAsRadio

Richard Campbell’s IT-focused podcast often features people I’ve known forever from Microsoft or elsewhere in the industry, and it’s always enjoyable. Plus, I’ve been on the show several times myself, including the 1000th episode back in September.

? New podcast additions in 2025

I was interested to see that all four of the new podcasts I added this past year are tech industry related and that two of them (the first two in the list below) are Little Tech-specific.

For a Better Web. This podcast from Vivaldi is all about Little Tech and interviewing people in the industry out there trying to make our world a better place.

Inside DuckDuckGo. This one is all about DuckDuckGo, of course, and what it’s doing to provide trusted, Little Tech alternatives to Big Tech lock-in and abuse.

The OpenAI Podcast. I’m not a fan of OpenAI per se, but this podcast gives those working on its products the space to talk about what it is they’re trying to accomplish. (So it’s very much like the Made by Google podcast). The recent episode about ChatGPT Atlas and the next era of web browsing was interesting enough that I listened to it twice.

Post Games. This podcast is tied to a Substack of the same name and it’s all about video games and why they matter. The host was a co-founder of Polygon.

? My top podcasts by listening time

According to Pocket Casts, I spent the most time listening to the following podcasts in 2025, in order:

• The Rewatchables
• If Books Could Kill
• For a Better Web
• Made by Google
• Scott & Mark Learn To

? The rest

These are the other podcasts I subscribe to. Since I don’t listen to these as much as the shows noted above, it’s fair to say that I cherry-pick from them as well when I’m searching for something interesting to listen to. In alphabetical order:

• American History Tellers
• American Scandal
• Behind the Tech with Kevin Scott
• CDMX Expats
• The Earful Tower: Paris
• Maintenance Phase
• No Such Podcast
• Sync Up, a OneDrive Podcast
• Talks at Google
• That Chapter

?️ Previous year-end podcast overviews

Here are my previous few years of podcast picks: 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021.