Podcasts I enjoyed in 2024
As I weaned myself off social media, I substituted doom scrolling for… doom listening?
Below are my reviews og the pfdcasts I enjoyed in 2024.
Oxide and Friends
By far, my favourite podcast last year was Oxide and Friends by the Oxide Computer Company. It has been so exciting to listen to the Oxide Team building such an ambitious hardware product from scratch. It takes both humility and candor to share this process transparently, qualities I hope to apply to my proffesional life. I also enjoy some of their episodes centred on social commentary - though I often find myself at odds with their bay area-centric perspective.
If you are looking for a good episode to start with, I recommend:
Acquired
Every company has a story - though some less interesting than others. Acquired is a podcast that recounts the stories behind the companies we all take for granted. The depth and detail of their analysis rivals that of business textbooks, all while delivering it in an engaging manner. A personal highlight for me was their recent coverage of Nvidia, spanning three parts with a bonus interview with Jensen Huang
If you are looking for a good episode to start with, I recommend:
Honourable Mentions
Latent Space
Latent Space is a podcast for AI engineers. For me it serves as a great way to keep up with the ever-accelerating “““AI Industry”””. At its best it can be great but it suffers from a common flaw of interview-oriented podcasts - occasionally the guests suck. The AI field particularly attracts VC-backed AI-agent-schilling grifters. However, if you skip these episodes, it’s not bad!
I don’t have any specific starting episodes to recommend. Just jump into whatever’s current.
The Lex Fridman Podcast
The Lex Fridman Podcast is great if there is an interesting guest on the show. However, much like Latent Space, it suffers from the occaisonal dry guest. Personally, I sometimes find Lex’s interview style frustrating, as he often avoids challenging guests on their more questionable or exaggerated claims.
If you are looking for a good episode to start with, I recommend: