Fave New Podcasts in 2021
Tags: reflections, podcast
Published: 2021-12-02 07:25:13

---
title: Fave New Podcasts in 2021
published: true
description: My picks of best podcasts I found in 2021, across tech, business, and creator categories. I also pick up on best of the best from 2020.
tags: reflections, podcasts
slug: fave-podcasts-2021
canonical_url: https://www.swyx.io/fave-podcasts-2021
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6p8oue24xvuj3pczz8ms.png
---

You probably already know what the top podcasts are in each domain, so my hope is to give some spotlight to the up-and-comers. (These podcasts may not have started in 2021, but they are new to me this year).

Without further ado:

![https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6p8oue24xvuj3pczz8ms.png](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6p8oue24xvuj3pczz8ms.png)

## Best New Tech Podcasts in 2021

- **[Corecursive](https://corecursive.com/) - Adam Gordon Bell**: really fascinating interviews with tech OG's. Many stories that have never been told. Regularly tops Hacker News. I still have the [Apple 2001](https://corecursive.com/063-apple-2001/) episode saved.
- **[Sourcegraph](https://about.sourcegraph.com/podcast/) - Beyang Liu**: In depth founder/engineer interviews from the CTO of Sourcegraph, exploring his own personal curiosity. Personal pick: [David Cramer of Sentry](https://about.sourcegraph.com/podcast/david-cramer/).
- **[Stevey's Tech Talk](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZfuUWMTtMcC1DZF6HxJhqsGrBXu8Jzi7) - Steve Yegge**: Truth bombs from our industry's best truthteller. Personal pick: [Why CEOs crash and burn](https://swyx.transistor.fm/episodes/xbox-one-and-bad-execs-steve-yegge).
- **[Podrocket](https://podrocket.logrocket.com/) - LogRocket's Brian, Ben, and Kate**: Interviews of the frontend ecosystem, including [yours truly](https://podrocket.logrocket.com/swyx) and [yours truly](https://podrocket.logrocket.com/svelte)! Personal pick: [Kiwicopple of Supabase](https://podrocket.logrocket.com/9)
- **[Devtools.fm](https://devtools.fm/) - Justin Bennett and Andrew Lisowski**: Interviews of the frontend ecosystem, including [yours truly](https://devtools.fm/episode/13)! Personal pick: [Jason Laster of Replay.io](https://devtools.fm/episode/9)

## Best New Business/Crypto Podcasts in 2021

- **[Business Breakdowns](https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/business-breakdowns-colossus-MXUSbYila-6/) by Jesse Pujji**: Deeply researched breakdowns of big businesses. Personal pick: [Moderna with Jason Kelly](https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/business-breakdowns/moderna-the-software-of-life-V6FBhzbfMU3/).
- **[The Breakdown](https://www.coindesk.com/podcasts/the-breakdown-with-nlw/) with NLW**: daily news updates on Crypto.
- **[Not Boring](https://www.notboring.co/) by Packy McCormick**: Technically a newsletter, but still counts because he reads every essay on audio. Personal Pick: [Ramp's Double Unicorn Rounds](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1431486611296964611). [His personal journey](https://twitter.com/packyM/status/1379055262913466373) is also inspiring.
- **[Bankless](http://podcast.banklesshq.com/) podcast**: entertaining updates on crypto, ETH biased but not maximalist.

## Best New Creator/General Podcasts in 2021

- **[Creator Lab](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3lSc9lP47q-_Wyp3LCWbYw) - Bilal Zaidi**: Generic Interview Successful People podcast, but well executed. Personal Pick: [Polina Marinova](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1351472680415883268) and [Tim Urban](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1350824207051997192) and [Rahul Vohra](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0HJTD_eyR8&t=47s).
- **[Masters of Community](https://pod.cmxhub.com/episodes/) - David Spinks**: Truly one of the top 3 best resources on learning to build/manage community on the planet. Personal picks: [Jon Levy](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1389389360433307650) and [Matthew Kobach](https://pod.cmxhub.com/episodes/matthew-kobach-greatest-hits)
- **[Talking Too Loud](https://wistia.com/series/talking-too-loud) - Chris Savage**: Great rapport and banter with Sylvie. Personal Pick: [Jay Acunzo's picks of them](https://jayacunzo.com/3-clips?wchannelid=mkkamqxlvs&wmediaid=im2xaeptts).
- **[Brains](https://www.brainspodcast.com/) - Courtland Allen and Julian Shapiro**: Still new, but great discussions from two of the most thoughtful creators out there, in an interesting 4-player format. Personal pick: [Sam Parr and Aella](https://swyx.transistor.fm/episodes/writing-to-engage-and-writing-for-action-julian-shapiro-aella-sam-parr)
- **[Not Overthinking](https://notoverthinking.com/) - Abdaal Brothers**: Ali Abdaal getting the piss taken out of him by his surprisingly attractive older brother is just amazing.

## Context

In 2019 I published [the list of podcasts I listen to](https://www.swyx.io/fave-podcasts/), and [last year](https://www.swyx.io/fave-podcasts-2020/) I updated it with newer podcasts, so I'm continuing that tradition this year!

The big difference is that [I now run a daily mixtape](https://www.swyx.io/personal-podcasting) which clips from all the podcasts I listen to, so you get a live "best of" feed from me if you [subscribe](https://swyx.transistor.fm/). I also run my own [infrequent YouTube podcast](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH8IAbt5kqZOlrX34L93lFzOZ1k-ry_Ll) and am a panelist on [Svelte Radio](https://www.svelteradio.com/episodes). 


## Good But Dead

I had these podcasts lined up for my end of year lists, but they also died this year so I can't continue to recommend them. However, they have some backlogs worth digging through:

- [3 Clips when it was under Jay Acunzo](https://3clipspodcast.com/) - really good, inspiration for my own mixtape of podcasts
- [Josh Constine's Press Club](https://constine.substack.com/) - had some good early essays on creator economy
- [Under the Hood](https://underthehoodpod.robinhood.com/) - Robinhood's CEO Vlad Tenev trying to be a podcaster was both awkward and interesting.
- [Spotify: A Product Story](https://open.spotify.com/show/3L9tzrt0CthF6hNkxYIeSB) - Spotify's CRDO telling Spotify's own hagiography was still well told. [First episode on Metallica and Sean Parker is great](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1373816614999658499).

## Still Good

I love good picks that last! Here are some special highlights and shoutouts from [my 2020 picks](https://www.swyx.io/fave-podcasts-2020/):

- **[Clublife](https://soundcloud.com/clublifebytiesto)**: Tiesto is still banging out the hits for free, amazing
- **[Conan](https://www.earwolf.com/show/conan-obrien/)**: Conan, Sona and gang are still hilarious and great company. [Their recent live show was INCREDIBLE](https://www.earwolf.com/episode/live-with-will-arnett-at-the-wiltern-theatre/).
- **[Software Social](https://softwaresocial.dev/)**: Michele has now pulled off a book launch ([I liked it](https://twitter.com/mjwhansen/status/1437414398184808451)) and Colleen now has a job! It has been fun to follow along.
- **[Writing Excuses](https://writingexcuses.com/)**: Brandon Sanderson hasn't swung by in forever, but the tips have continued flowing! I liked the episode on [Audiobooks](https://writingexcuses.com/2020/10/25/15-43-audiobook-narration-with-bruce-d-richardson/) and they had some good stuff on MICE and Game/Worldbuilding.