Podcasts are an excellent source of inspiration, education, and enjoyment.
Listening to a podcast is a convenient, time-efficient way to gain insights from some of the world’s most interesting characters. Putting a podcast on while you’re working through mundane tasks is also a nice way to learn valuable lessons while multi-tasking.
But finding a great podcast isn’t always easy, especially with so much choice available these days.
So, we’ve pulled together a list of recommendations that our team here at Filter are currently enjoying.
These range from podcasts which can provide motivation, support our wellbeing, and possibly even reflect our own philosophy as an agency in some cases.
We’ve organised these into categories for you, so you can scroll through and find the areas of focus that suit your interests. We hope you enjoy!
Desert Island Discs
The “desert island” question is one you’ll probably be familiar with whether you’ve heard of this podcast or not.
Each week’s guest puts themselves in the position of a “castaway” on a desert island, then discusses which eight beloved records (as well as a book and a luxury item) they’d want with them if they were stranded on a desert island.
The guests talk through their choices in relation to their personal significance, and share stories from their lives alongside their music. This podcast is a great way to discover some new songs and revisit some old forgotten favourites.
Check out Desert Island Discs here.
Nothing Much Happens; Bedtime Stories to Help You Sleep
A good night’s sleep can be hard to come by these days. That’s why we value this podcast, from yoga and meditation expert Kathryn Nicolai, as a nice way to unwind in the evenings.
If you struggle to switch your brain off at night, this is a great alternative to laying there scrolling through social media or checking emails on your phone.
Each episode tells a story which is deliberately uneventful, helping you to relax and allowing your mind to drift off. And since “nothing much happens” in the stories, you won’t mind if you fall asleep before the end.
Eddie Hearn: No Passion, No Point
Eddie Hearn is the man behind some of the biggest boxing matches in recent memory. He’s also known for being a bit of a character himself.
It’s unsurprising, then, that he’s turned his talents to the world of podcasting. Here he uses his connections in the sporting world to attract some world-famous guests, who share their inspirational stories.
Although they haven’t recorded a new episode for a while, the back-catalogue is well worth listening to for plenty of motivation from sporting legends. Notable guests include Rio Ferdinand, Sir Mo Farah, Anthony Joshua, Mark Cavendish, and Wayne Rooney.
Listen to Eddie Hearn’s podcast here.
The High Performance Podcast
This is an interesting podcast if you’re keen to understand what characteristics allow people to excel in a chosen discipline.
Each episode provides insight into the lives of a high-achieving, world-class performers, who share first-hand experiences and valuable lessons.
Not only does this podcast give anecdotal inspiration, but co-host and leading organisational psychologist, Damian Hughes, also explores the behaviours and mentalities of the guests to discover what sets them apart from their competition.
Check out The High Performance Podcast here.
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferris is a somewhat controversial figure. He’s perhaps best known as the author of The Four-Hour Work Week, in which he details a bold approach he concocted to becoming rich while only working four hours per week.
Ferris is also a successful entrepreneur and investor with plenty of stories of his own, so when he sits down to interview a podcast guest it usually makes for an interesting listening experience.
This podcast is full of eclectic guests discussing some fascinating ideas. We’d recommend giving it a try if you’re looking for motivation through a slightly different lens.
The Diary of a CEO, with Steven Bartlett
Anyone who follows Steven Bartlett on Twitter or LinkedIn will understand why he makes a fantastic podcast host.
This is a great way for anyone interested in business to gain valuable insights into the success stories of people from different backgrounds and industries.
Steven takes you behind the scenes of being a successful entrepreneur, sharing his own thoughts and experiences while interviewing his guests in an unscripted format.
You can find The Diary of a CEO here.
Small Spark Theory: A Marginal Gains Approach to New Business and Marketing
This podcast analyses the sales and marketing process, searching for small changes that can make a big impact and help you achieve better new business results.
Each episode explores a single element of new business or marketing, providing marginal tips for improvement that anyone can implement within their own companies.
Small Spark Theory is primarily aimed at listeners from agencies, which is why we find it particularly useful here at Filter. Host Lucy Mann speaks with a range of industry experts, helping you identify small flaws and inefficiencies in your agency’s own new business and marketing efforts.
Listen to Small Spark Theory here.
Lucy also provides mentoring for creative, digital, and communications agencies via her Small Spark Theory Institute, which you can find here.
How I Built This, with Guy Raz
This is an essential podcast for anyone looking for inspiration and motivation in the business world.
And considering the New York Times described Guy Raz as “one of the most popular podcasters in history” it’s unsurprising that it delivers a great listening experience.
Each episode focuses on the insightful stories behind how some of the most successful brands on the planet were built.
Check out How I Built This here.
TED Business
The TED brand needs no introduction, but its business-focused podcasts are still definitely worth a recommendation on this list.
Hosted by Modupe Akinola of Columbia Business School, TED Business looks to solve key challenges and enlighten listeners with lessons from an excellent range of weekly guests.
Not only does each episode offer intriguing ideas and insights, but they also provide practical advice for applying them in your own life or business.
WordPress | Post Status Podcasts
As a WordPress VIP agency partner, it was inevitable that at least a couple of our favourite podcasts would focus on our favourite platform.
This is actually a “four for the price of one” recommendation, as Post Status publishes four different podcasts for members of the WordPress community.
The four different areas of focus are news, analysis, discussion, and career development for WordPress professionals.
If you work with WordPress, it’s worth browsing through their back-catalogue as you’re sure to discover something you’ll find helpful.
Check out the Post Status Podcasts here.
Matt Report for WordPress | SaaS and No-Code Business
This is a podcast aimed at ambitious entrepreneurs, business leaders, freelancers, and anyone else working within the WordPress space.
Hosted by the Director of Podcaster Success at Castos, this podcast explores the intersection of business building and creativity in the digital landscape.
The Dropout
The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos, is a fascinating story. She was once labelled “the next Steve Jobs” and had become the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
The Dropout investigates what caused Elizabeth to lose everything she’d built in the blink of an eye.
If you’re interested in listening to a fascinating story unfold in weekly instalments, this podcast is well worth trying out.
The Fault Line: Dying for a Fight
This podcast explores the death of Portland-based anti-fascist Sean Kealiher in 2019, months before the uprising that would bring Portland international attention.
His homicide remains unsolved to this day, so this podcast continues to ask the compelling questions about Sean’s death that the police failed to answer.
Check out The Fault Line here.
Serial
Host Sarah Koenig investigates and unfolds a new true story, episode by episode, over the course of each season of this podcast.
We enjoy this one because it’s full of twists and turns which Sarah discovers as she goes along, just like we do, making it a unique listening experience.
Due to the format of the podcast, it requires you to keep up with each episode. So, be mindful that if you prefer to dip in and out of your podcasts this might not be ideal for you.
What Bitcoin Did
This final recommendation focuses on the crypto-currency Bitcoin, and how it has evolved over the past decade.
Hosted by Peter McCormack, this podcast features an interesting range of experts from the Bitcoin ecosystem, and provides insights into the latest market trends. From developers to investors, journalists to Bitcoin company CEOs, Peter brings you everything you need to know about this crypto-currency today.
With up to 300 episodes to get through, this is an ideal podcast for anyone interested in investing or looking to learn more about Bitcoin.
It’s so important to be continually learning and exploring new ideas in today’s business landscape, so we hope you find some of these recommendations useful.
Of course, we’re always looking for new podcasts ourselves. So, why not join the discussion by letting us know your favourite podcasts on social media?
Connect with us on LinkedIn here.
And if you prefer reading to listening, consider visiting the resources section of our website to learn more about web and app development with WordPress.
