10 Tech Podcasts You Should Listen To
Listening to podcasts is an amazing way to refresh your mind, become more informed, and improve your vocabulary and communication skills.
Whether you’re doing chores, going on a hike, or just relaxing after a long day, English For IT has you covered with these 10 tech podcast suggestions.
The podcasts we picked satisfy 3 important criteria:
- educational (meaning that you’ll be improving both industry-specific knowledge and English skills),
- entertaining (they must be fun to listen to),
- engaging (you will want to listen to them regularly)
For each of these podcasts, we will be providing a brief overview along with examples of useful vocabulary you can expect to learn while listening to them.
*If you need suggestions for YouTube videos to watch, we have an article on that too! Feel free to check it out.
Let’s dive into this!
1. How I built this
How I Built This is a podcast about entrepreneurship and business leadership. Each episode dives into a story of a founder on their path to building a successful business.
This podcast is for anyone eager to dive into the startup mindset and learn about the challenges, creativity, and innovation of both established and emerging brands.
Examples of useful vocabulary (taken from this episode):
I just have this hunch — I have a strong feeling or intuition
Have a full plan in place — have a plan established or organized
If I start [one restaurant], that’s not going to move the needle — That’s not going to cause a significant or noticeable change.
2. Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod
A casual banter between two technology enthusiasts, this podcast is a treasure trove for people passionate about hardware, software, business, product design, and modern life in general.
Plus, it is great for language learners as each episode dives into a brand-new topic so you end up learning interesting vocabulary from a variety of areas.
Here is an example (taken from this episode):
You had a $9 surge protector plugged into your expensive TV? — an electrical device designed to protect electronic devices from spikes in voltage.
Boy, it was janky — unreliable or functioning poorly
That ties into what I’m talking about here — That connects / relates to what I’m talking about.
3. Power Skills for Success
A podcast by English For IT’s truly Anna Gandrabura. Anna interviews executives, founders, entrepreneurs, and career coaches in an attempt to pick their bright minds on what it takes to be successful and happy in both career and life. Give it a listen!
4. Darknet Diaries
As the name suggests, this podcast delves into the murky world of spyware, cyber security, and hacking. The discussions are largely technical but still understandable to even an average listener.
Here are a few expressions you can learn from this podcast (taken from this episode):
The output of the program was bouncing all over — The output was unstable
With Assembly you have some really basic and rudimentary stuff — you have some really basic and fundamental stuff
You can decipher any program — You can interpret or understand any program.
5. The Pitch
The Pitch is a podcast where real founders pitch real investors for real money. It offers listeners a great opportunity to be a fly on the wall in a meeting room where businesses are built and connections are made.
And of course, there is a ton of useful business vocabulary you can learn (examples from this episode):
We skew 95% female — the demographic comprises 95% females.
How do you go to market? — How do you bring a product or service to its intended customers?
We used influencer marketing — We collaborated with influencers to promote our products.
6. Honest HR
Honest HR is a podcast for people managers, HR professionals, and team leads offering insight into how to grow and improve companies. The podcast brings you relatable stories from the workplace and explores workplace culture both in and out of the office.
It’s worth noting that you don’t have to work in HR or manager to enjoy this podcast. The discussions and topics are insightful and valuable to any modern professional.
Here is an example of vocabulary you can learn from this podcast (taken from this episode):
If your work is stressing you out, you are not doing your best work — If your work makes you feel stressed
We spend most of our waking hours in the workplace — We spend most of the day in the workplace
We’re likely to develop healthy habits when we engage with the people around us — when we socialize / communicate with the people around us.
7. That Tech Show
Each episode is an interview with a founder or leader in tech telling captivating stories behind their business.
The podcast is on hold for the foreseeable future but it does have over 74 hours of great material to listen through.
Here are a few useful phrases you can learn from an episode like this one:
It comes down to asking really important questions — It is essentially about asking really important questions
This came out of nowhere — This was unexpected
She tested the waters — She carefully explored the opportunity.
8. Freakonomics Radio
Although not strictly speaking a tech podcast, Freakonomics radio is a valuable listen to anyone trying to keep up with global issues and trends (which is important if you work in a global industry like tech).
Each episode spotlights a societal issue and breaks it down from the business, management, and sometimes technical perspective.
You can also learn quite a few useful phrases (examples are taken from this episode):
The foundation for equitable access to opportunity is connectedness — The foundation for fair and unbiased access to opportunity
Transit fares can’t make up a large share of income — The fees paid for using public transportation, constitute only a small portion of an individual’s income
By the time we got to where we were going to flip the switch, we were already 60% there — By the time we were ready to start the plan, we were already 60% there.
9. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Brought to you by Mark Manson, the author of the world-famous book by the same name, the podcast features interviews with people from all walks of life. The topics range from self-help to finances and technology.
Examples of vocabulary you can learn from the podcast (like this episode):
This needs to be shouted from the rooftops — This needs to be shared and publicized as much as possible
Every form of growth in your life is going to stem from your ability to take responsibility — Every form of growth in your life is going to originate from your ability to take responsibility
My dad was never around when I was a kid — My dad was never present when I was a kid.
10. Awkward silences
This podcast is a great listen for anyone interested in building better products and services through understanding people. It explores all things “user”: user interviews, user research, and of course, user experience.
This podcast contains a lot of gems and fascinating anecdotes. For example, do you know if there is any difference between the terms “sign in” and log in” and which term is preferred by the younger generation? You can find out by listening to this episode.
Would you like to enhance your power skills (= people skills and soft skills)? Sign up for our course Power Skills For Tech.
