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Ask HN: Favorite Podcast Episodes of 2023?
122 points by hnu0847 on Dec 27, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 78 comments
What were your favorite podcast episodes released in 2023?

Hardcore History: Twilight of the Æsir Parts I and II [1][2] were good.

[1] https://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-69-twilight-of-the-aesir/

[2] https://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-70-twilight-of-the-aesir-ii/




SBF on Odd Lots describing yield farming [1]. For context, this was before the FTX meltdown or any allegations about Alameda using FTX customer funds. Was honestly stunning to hear someone unintentionally explaining their business as a ponzi scheme.

[1] - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sam-bankman-fried-and-...


This podcast episode blew a hole in my understanding of reality. First because of how plainly SBF explained crpyto as a ponzi with his "magic box" example, and then six months later when he was exposed for fraud.


>Was honestly stunning to hear someone unintentionally explaining their business as a ponzi scheme.

Technically he was describing tokens for a hypothetical dapp that had questionable/unproven value, whereas the business he ran (FTX) and the associated tokens (FTT) were straightforwardly profitable, but went bankrupt due to bad investments/trades.

Also the interviewer (Matt Levine) came away with a totally different conclusion from that interview:

>People on Twitter now are like “he admitted that FTX is a Ponzi!” but of course that’s not true. He conceded a certain validity to my claim that some crypto businesses — not his — are Ponzis. He is just in the business of trading their tokens.

>In fact, I came away from that conversation bullish on FTX and Bankman-Fried. My view was, and is, that if you talk to a crypto exchange operator and he is like “crypto is changing the world, your old-fashioned economics are just FUD, HODL,” then that’s bad. A wild-eyed crypto true believer is not the person to operate an exchange. The person you want operating an exchange is a clear-eyed trader. You want someone whose basic attitude to financial assets is, like, “if someone wants to buy and someone wants to sell, I will put them together and collect a fee.” You want someone whose perspective is driven by markets, not ideology, who cares about risk, not futurism. A certain cynicism about the products he is trading is probably healthy.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-11-10/ftx-is...


This was my take as well, and I dont know how people who listened to the interview get it so wrong.

He basically described how you can make transaction fees or arbitrage fees on others engaging in speculation.

A very dumbed down example would how the post office can make legitimate income on postage while someone else operates a Ponzi by mail schemes. Or for that matter, brokerages take commissions when people trade meme stocks and unprofitable companies every day.


A great episode, but not released in 2023


Correct. With his verdict coming out this year, it was fresh on my mind and definitely worth a listen for those who have not.


- "Review" of "Programming as theory building" paper by Peter Naur (of BNF fame): https://overcast.fm/+JrqaObyhE/. The idea that the code is actually a physical manifestation of an _idea_ was so mind-blowing to me. Goes on to explain why team churn is bad for the software, why re-writes happen, how software dies.

- Non-human Biologics, UFO Encounters, and Mexico’s Alien Bodies https://overcast.fm/+WO2ETzarQ/ -- a conversation with one of the navy pilots that testified before congress about UAP. crazy stuff.

- Data-Backed Answers to Personal Finance Controversies: https://overcast.fm/+0OUMIFTyg A few interesting tidbits bits like: "Only one and seven retirees ends up running down the principal" and "Average transaction costs are 6% and average appreciation is. 6% so you need to be in a home for 10 years" before you flip.


Acquired's overview of Costco is a pleasant 3 hours https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/costco


Thank you for this wonderful recommendation! As a Costco fan, I'm really enjoying this episode.


I'm a big fan of listening to Oxide and Friends [1] on my commute. Two of my favorites this year were "On Silicon Valley Bank with Eric Vishria" [1] and "DTrace at 20" [2]. The SVB episode in particular was super interesting to hear from their perspective.

[1] https://oxide.computer/podcasts/oxide-and-friends/1255721

[2] https://oxide.computer/podcasts/oxide-and-friends/1503057


Thank you for the kind words! Glad that you liked the SVB episode; that's a personal favorite of mine too. Eric -- like many of the best VCs, in my experience -- carries a low profile, so I was really happy that he agreed to join us to offer his perspective.


- Scott Aaronson: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Math / Theories of Everything https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/scott-aaronson-the-gre...

- Marc Andreessen: Future of the Internet, Technology, and AI / Lex Fridman Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/386-marc-andreessen-fu...

- Solo: The Crisis in Physics / Sean Carroll's Mindscape https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/solo-the-crisis-in-phy...


Most (almost all) of Dan Carlin's podcasts are nothing short of excellent. Twilight of the Æsir Parts I and II are top quality.

Apart from that I used to listen to Mike Duncan's Revolutions series, even though he finished up that project in 2022.

Likewise the BBC produced an Apollo-era podcast called 13 Minute to the Moon, which was excellent, and technical enough to keep even a space nerd like me interested. Shout-out too to the Space Above Us, for technical excellence in all things Mercury to STS.

Wild card was any of the Anomalous Podcast Network's output, which seems to have stopped around May. Look for anything with Dave Clarke or Graeme Rendall in it.


A nice followup to Twilight of the Æsir is to watch "The Northman" (2022). It depicts beautifully their worldview. It does not shy away from showing their dark side too.


Second on all of Dan Carlin's podcasts. I absolutely loved his World War I series called "Blueprint for Armageddon". Even though I listened to quite a few of them while they were free, I recently bought the whole back catalog from his website and have been working through them. Absolute gem and worth every penny. For anyone not familiar, he makes the most recent episodes "free" (he does ask for a standard donation of $1 per episode, but they are not paywalled) through the standard RSS feed, and monetizes by selling the older episodes through his website. Probably the best podcast series I've ever listened to. Recommend listening to the newer free episodes, and if you like it then go through the back catalog.


My wife and I had the serendipity of discovering Dan Carlin while we were backpacking through central Europe. Listening to Blueprint for Armageddon while on a train through the German/Austrian countryside was pretty surreal. We even realized in one episode that the street we were staying on in Munich (Hohenzollernstrasse) was named after a famous German involved in WWI.


I wonder how much money he actually makes, since most of his content is initially free for most listeners. I suppose it's for people who listen but don't keep up regularly or want to listen again who pay for his content.


Funnily that series is so good that it brought me into podcast ecosystem as a whole, but I still can't relisten to it. WW1 is just too bleak and hopeless to be "enjoyed".


Lazarus Lake on Conversations with Tyler: https://open.spotify.com/episode/75PyLxu7sZa7GkZtOUI3lJ?si=E... (Lazarus Lake organizes ultramarathons. He's a legend. You don't need to be a runner to enjoy this)

Amir Srinivasan on CWT too: https://open.spotify.com/episode/496WOLb5hZmrcH7vt1OqFq?si=6... (I recall the arguing being fun, but not many of the details)

Carl Shulman on Dwarkesh: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ij1JOaafeXoqT0m6sXtBl?si=_...

(Carl thinks seriously about how to reason about AI scale-up)

Overall Dwarkesh seems like the most underrated podcast atm, with Conversations with Tyler being the best. I also enjoyed some Sean Carroll interviews.


+1 for Lazarus Lake. I do ultrarunning and also listen to Tyler’s pod. Laz doesn’t do a ton of interviews and they are almost from different planets :) Definitively the most unexpected podcast of the year for me and was great.


Can’t recommend Ezra Klien’s episodes on Israel and Palestine enough.

There is no specific episode that stands out more than the rest. But any of the content since 10/7 is really great.

I find his coverage to be very nuanced and he’s brought on a bunch of guest with a wide range of viewpoints.


The Call, Episode 809 of This American Life touched me deeply. It's an hour of radio I'll never forget.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/809/the-call


Thank you for this -- listened to this last night, and it was indeed very affecting. I have always loved This American Life (it is, in my view, the renaissance of audio narrative[0]), but I haven't listened as much in recent years -- and it's a good reminder that they (unlike many/most long-running shows!) continue to turn out terrific stuff.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8qiDhlFVCE


Three episodes that I really enjoyed (from an engineer-turned-investor's POV):

https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/palmer-luckey-inventin... (Palmer Luckey)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-conversation-with-ch... (Charlie Munger)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWqzZ3I2cY (Jeff Bezos)


+1 on Palmer Luckey and Jeff Bezos.

I listened to Palmer Luckey on Moonshot with Peter Diamandis, but I'm guessing they discussed many of the same things (VR Origins, Anduril, Meta).

It seems like we have similar interests. I'll have to check out the Charlie Munger episode.


Trueanon’s series about the Falun Gong was pretty funny: https://youtu.be/SzzQkblfF3Q?feature=shared

Didn’t know Shin Yun was so wacky and how a lot of the Chinese organ harvesting myths originated from the Falun Gong.

Last year they did a series called The Game on California’s Synanon cult and that was really good too.

Just a warning: they’ve got some pretty edgy humor (and long rambling intros) and it’s not for everybody.


You Are Not So Smart #257 with Celeste Kidd covers her research on conceptual overlap. https://direct.mit.edu/opmi/article/doi/10.1162/opmi_a_00072... It's psychology for STEM folks.

podcast link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1a5HmrGiV6K8q9HYlhjLnm

Mindscape 229 with Nita Farahany on Ethics, Law, and Neurotechnology is a banger too. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5F2xk9MicNS7mELYoe9rt5


Age of Miracles [1] - 10 episode series on nuclear energy.

Possible: Saul Griffith on a Clean Energy Future [2] - A great intro to the argument for complete electrification.

[1] https://ageofmiracles.co/

[2] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/saul-griffith-on-a-cle...


The Freakonomics series on airlines was really great, probably my all round favourite this year.


Freakonomics is so consistently good. Dubner is one of the best interviewers out there. Great follow-up questions that force the guest to elaborate on or defend their positions. So many other interviewers in the business/econ/investing space just lob softballs.


Also worth highlighting the deep research involved in each episode and Dubner's ability to scope out different points of views from credible people.


Private jets one was good too


If it's okay when I've first listened to it in 2023 (if I enjoy a podcast, I listen to the series' previous episodes, so most of my listening is from the last few years, similar to how I don't only read books that were written this year..), provided it's still accurate/contemporary, then these are my recommendations:

English: Lingthusiasm 34: Emoji are Gesture Because Internet (can emojis be used as a language? They discuss what makes a language a language, and why sign languages are languages but "gestures" in general are not and what similarities emojis show from the latter category)

German: AstroGeo episodes "Asteroseismologie" (starquakes) and "Der Atomreaktor Oklo" (a natural nuclear reactor)

Dutch: Napleiten #16: "Stomdronken een ongeluk veroorzaken maar toch onschuldig" (legally causing a vehicle accident on public roads despite being drunk AF)


> German: AstroGeo episodes "Asteroseismologie" (starquakes) and "Der Atomreaktor Oklo" (a natural nuclear reactor)

Thanks, always looking for German podcasts! In return, check out Omega Tau: https://omegataupodcast.net/


Andrew Huberman’s “Goals Toolkit” is responsible for me finally losing some stubborn weight this year, and I plan to apply it to other things I want to achieve.

https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/goals-toolkit-how-to-set...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CrtR12PBKb0


It's Aug 2022 so a bit out of range for the OP, but his alcohol episode convinced me to really cut down on drinking, from about 2 beers (low variance/rarely drunk, just a homebrewer with a craft beer obsession) a day to a day to maximum 2 beers a week. I sleep better and lost 35 pounds in the last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS1pkKpILY


Agreed. This is an episode I have gone back to as a nice refresher into how bad alcohol is for you and a nice reminder to cut back


His episode on sleep is also excellent.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/huberman-lab/id1545953...


I haven't gone back to re-listen, but here's a selection from what I favorited in my podcast app:

- Changelog and Friends - Even the best rides come to an end (Kelsey Hightower) - https://changelog.com/friends/6

- The Changelog - What it takes to scale engineering (Rachel Potvin) - https://changelog.com/podcast/527

- Ship It - Rust efficiencies at AWS scale (Tim McNamara) - https://changelog.com/shipit/89

- Practical AI - Generative models: exploration to deployment - https://changelog.com/practicalai/240

- Soft Skills Engineering - Staying at a sinking ship and behavioral interview questions - https://softskills.audio/2023/08/14/episode-369-staying-at-a...

- Developer Tea - Career Growth Starts with Improving your Clarity - https://developertea.com/episodes/ae130e5f-239a-450c-9505-9d...

- You Are Not So Smart - Procrastination (Britt Frank) - https://youarenotsosmart.com/2023/02/06/yanss-252-why-procra...


I was blown away by Shelved by Genre [1] this year. It’s a group of 3 reading and discussing Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun series in a sort of book club format.

They’re a pretty academic lot and I’ve found their perspective on the books very rewarding as I read along. Highly recommend!

[1] http://rangedtouch.com/shelved-by-genre/


Playdate Podcast on Ratcheteer[1]

I absolutely adore Links Awakening for the Gameboy and it was a lot of fun listening to game designers talk about it and how they made their own game inspired by it. Includes a healthy dose of video game music composing and inspiration too.

1. https://podcast.play.date/episodes/s01e26/


I love Dan Carlin too, but you have to listen with a critical ear. He endorsed the standard, but very questionable, idea that the US basically had to atom bomb two Japanese cities because if we didn't they'd fight to the last grandmother.

IIRC he also endorsed the now largely discredited idea that the atom bomb attack is what caused the Japanese to surrender.


> the now largely discredited idea that the atom bomb attack is what caused the Japanese to surrender

Do you have a source for this? I just spent 10 minutes searching, and I could find nothing compelling. The closest I could find was Racing the Enemy, which argues that it was the planned Soviet invasion that pushed the Japanese to surrender. But otherwise, the story seems a lot more complex than that, and is certainly nowhere near "discredited" to suggest the atom bomb caused the Japanese to surrender.

Further reading (and these themselves contain references to even further reading):

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1505pek/was_...

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/15gsdme/i_un...

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/wwa2ie/were_...

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/cawabr/were_...


Stalin's defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria is what finally convinced them there was no way forward. That the Soviet Union actually defeated the Japanese is obviously not a popular opinion in the west.

Begin quote:

Even the second atomic bomb had not dissuaded them from continuing the war. But when reports from the Kwantung Army began to arrive, reporting significant Soviet penetration in Manchuria and the situation as “obscure,” objections to surrender were far less convincing.

The Soviets’ Manchurian Campaign, August Storm, destroyed the last vestige of Japanese military power outside Japan, and put the final nail in the coffin of those Japanese militarists who, even after suffering two atomic attacks, intended to continue the war to the death.

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-soviet-invasio...


I don't listen to his podcast, but I understand that Carlin is discredited by most serious historians in general.


Any good sources?


Trying to remember where I've read this in the past. I used to follow AskHistorians on Reddit and a quick search shows questions about him being asked quite a bit, for example here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1ppmsm/comme... (it's not all negative!). There are a ton of other threads too.


That doesn't seem to support "Carlin is discredited by most serious historians in general." Reading that comment, it sounds like I shouldn't treat Carlin as a definitive source on anything. Which seems fine? And the closest thing I can see to a specific criticism there is "oversimplification of the Roman Republic." Which I'm not even sure is a criticism. I generally expect lay history to oversimplify things.

Also... that comment was written 10 years ago.

I also follow and read r/askhistorians. I love it.


> I shouldn't treat Carlin as a definitive source on anything

Isn't this a key lesson in the study of history? There are no "definitive sources." Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources have their own biases, limitations, and cultural influences, sometimes to the point that they say more about their own lives than the history they portray. Sometimes it takes centuries for anyone to notice.

Your best hope for assembling an accurate picture of the past is to characterize how the biases you're aware of may have influenced the evidence available to you.


I agree..? Still, there is a difference between Carlin and a "real" historian. That's what I was trying to capture with pithy phrasing. I'll leave it to you to come up with the words to draw that distinction, if you think there is one at all. (And this is actually the point of contention in this thread, which I believe your comment isn't really addressing. I'd consider your comment more of a truism IMO.)


> Still, there is a difference between Carlin and a "real" historian.

You’re not wrong but that’s also something he openly reminds listeners of about 9 times per episode. I just listened to one of his early episodes and he voiced an opinion that is entirely wrong, but he couched it by basically saying “this is a crazy idea but maybe…” so I have no problem with it.


I don't see how that changes anything I've said. And I don't see how anything I've said is in conflict with that. Moreover, not all critiques of Carlin are limited to specific sections where Carlin fastidiously points out he might be wrong.

Carlin does of course remind everyone that he isn't a historian quite regularly. And that's a good thing and a good reminder. But that doesn't mean his content cannot be critiqued for accuracy.

You may consider reading my comments on this thread again. I was defending Carlin.


Like I said, that comment was by no means exclusively negative and I don't recall where I read the more critical take, but it might have been one of the other (many!) posts about Carlin on r/askhistorians.


Yeah I've read a lot of the more critical takes in r/askhistorians. They don't seem overly bad in broad strokes to me at least. And I think some of the critics may overstate their conclusions, even if I agree with their analysis.

But even with that background knowledge, I think your claim is far too strong.


The two part “Why’d I take speed for twenty years?” episode of Search Engine by PJ Vogt

Part 1: https://overcast.fm/+BBVQRWO5g8

Part 2: https://overcast.fm/+BBVQSkynRM


I didn’t realize he was back in the podcast game. How is the show overall?


I've been really into comedy DnD podcasts this year, and highly recommend "Dragon Friends" ( https://thedragonfriends.com/ ), a comedy DnD podcast by Australian comedians done live, with musical accompaniment, every month. I haven't actually caught up to current though, so it doesn't quite fit the brief.

A single 2023 episode I did quite enjoy was the McElroy's live Adventure Zone in Columbus where they all play as reanimated skeletons: https://maximumfun.org/episodes/adventure-zone/the-adventure...


I’ve really been enjoying the “Safety Third” podcasts from William Osman and co - not particularly informational but very entertaining, especially given most of the guys are from a science and engineering background.

Darknet Diaries is also one I recommend - Jack is a great host and storyteller.


Darknet diaries is always interesting


https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/bryan-caplan-stop-re...

Actionable, sound advice. I class HN as being allowed.


Mel Robbins, episode 84: “Change Your Relationship With Alcohol – How to Control Your Urge to Drink” [1]

[1] https://www.melrobbins.com/podcasts/episode-84


Fear and loathing in new Jerusalem. I gave it a second listen to remember the context behind the recent events in the region. It's fantastic and very close in style to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.


https://corecursive.com/category/podcast/index.html

These are always interesting


I enjoyed the Heather Radke episode of the "You're Wrong About" podcast. They discuss the book "Butts: A Backstory", which I'm wrapping up here on the holiday break. Insightful stuff.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-most-normal-girl-i...


Steve Coast (OSM founder) on Minds behind Maps [1].

Erik Prince on Shawn Ryan show - the host is a bit cringe but Erik has very unique perspective.

My dream podcast for 2024 would be Erik Prince w/ Dwarkesh (someone a bit smarter to push back and get more insight).

[1] https://youtu.be/uB9NxbnE1i0?si=C8gU9tkmh37kStBd


The Erik Prince episode was fantastic.


Radiolab's "The Interstitium" https://radiolab.org/podcast/interstitium


"Who Owns Our Code" parts 1 and 2, by the Go Time podcast

- https://changelog.com/gotime/252

- https://changelog.com/gotime/263

Or "Examining Capitalism's chokepoints" with Cory Doctorow on the Changelog

- https://changelog.com/podcast/535

or "Modernizing packages to ESM" with Mark Eriksen

- https://changelog.com/jsparty/290


Anderson Cooper’s All There Is podcast is overall amazing, but I particularly enjoyed his conversation with Stephen Colbert


Here are two of my favorite odd lots episodes.

How banking worked before computers: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kYpe_K8PzbQ

What it takes to convert commercial buildings to residential buildings: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HNkLcD3PKyk

Sharing YouTube links because they don't have paywall free podcast pages, though the podcast is free to subscribe to (with ads).


+1 on those two Hardcore History podcasts, they were really interesting.

Joscha Bach is always an interesting guy, this was his latest appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast [0].

Edit: If we're including longform video essays, Down The Rabbit Hole made a 6 hour video on the history of Eve Online [1]. It's interesting to see how pure capitalist systems evolved and shaped the game.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8qJsk1j2zE

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCSeISYcoyI


Surprised there's not more Lex Fridman recommendations. This past year I really enjoyed his discussions with Roger Penrose, Stephen Wolfram, Sam Altman, John Carmack, Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson.. but if I had to pick one it would be either Edward Frenkel or Joscha Bach.


2023 is the year I divorced podcasts. Don't feel like I missed much.


Why did you divorce podcasts?


I just realized the idle chatter filled up my head. Using LLMs to summarize them have also made me realize how repetitive and samey the insight-based interview podcasts are. It's not accurate that I divorced podcasts fully. I listen to one or two shows a week. One is a technology podcast and the other is a film podcast, both have a group of friends.

So long story short, chemistry is all that matters to me about most podcasts don't have it.


> chemistry is all that matters to me

This. I can't listen to audio only podcasts with boring hosts.


How did you summarize them with LLM? I'm curious to try it please.


I don't know how OP does it, but here's how I'd do it:

* Generate a transcript by runing Whisper against the podcast audio file: https://github.com/openai/whisper

* Upload transcript to ChatGPT and ask it to summarize.

* Automate all the above.

EDIT: Apparently I'm not keeping up with the times. ChatGPT can directly read/transcribe mp3 files now. Step 1 I guess isn't really needed.




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