In today’s time, there are several ways to access different sources of information. We have our good old newspapers, radio, books, and magazines. Living in the digital age, now we also have blogs, vlogs, social media posts, and podcasts.
To enjoy a podcast, one doesn’t need to give it undivided attention. You can listen to them while driving, exercising, or doing your daily chores. Perhaps that is why podcasts have gained a lot of traction recently.
Before we dive in, let’s start with the basics—what are podcasts? Simply put, these are on-demand audio files that are made available on the internet for anyone to access from anywhere. There is no standard structure to a podcast. The host has complete freedom to explore their creativity when it comes to the topic, duration, frequency of publishing, and format.
Podcasts have been around since 2004. As of April 2021, there are over two million podcasts with more than 48 million episodes, according to Podcast Insights. The themes range from science, entertainment, sports, health, beauty to anything you can imagine.
Podcasts and Their Pros
Over the past few years, podcasts grew very popular as people have started turning to them for news, education, motivation, or plain entertainment.
There are many podcast apps to choose from, such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and Overcast. These apps allow you to subscribe to the shows that interest you and download new episodes when they are released. They come in very handy to stay updated, save time and listen to your favorite content at your convenience.
If you are one of those who still haven’t explored the world of podcasts, it’s time to get started. It’s an excellent way to gain knowledge, get inspired by people’s life stories, overcome loneliness, and generally help your mental wellbeing. While books are known to be a great companion, podcasts can be even better as you can cover more topics in less time with little to no monetary investment.
We have curated a list of the 10 best podcasts that can surely grab the attention of all you men out there.
Planet Money
Planet Money is a fun podcast produced by NPR that aims to explain economics in the simplest way possible. They use creative methods of story-telling through humor and entertaining narratives to explain complex economic issues. Each episode usually covers one topic and is around 15 to 30 minutes long.
Their first episode was released in 2008 and has since made over 1000 episodes today. Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson started the show after receiving a great response from their story on the housing crisis in the US called “The Great Pool of Money.” Planet Money has won many prestigious awards like a Peabody and an Edward R. Murrow Award for their thorough investigations of the Wells Fargo account fraud scandal.
The show has seven hosts and regularly invites guests from academia, business, or even the general public. Every week at least two episodes are released covering different economic and political topics from various parts of the world. By incorporating layman terms along with compelling and relatable plots, they manage to hold people’s attention every time.
One of their series called “The Planet Money T-Shirt” is inspired by the book “The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy” by Pietra Rivoli and got a lot of attention. It’s divided into five chapters that take you through the journey of a T-shirt. The hosts tracked the whole process from the growing of cotton to the manufacturing and to the consumer’s use. As part of their investigation, Planet Money decided to sell t-shirts on Kickstarter and track them. Now, that’s a genius idea.
The Art of Manliness
Art of Manliness is a podcast for men that shows masculinity in a positive light and helps men become a better version of themselves. It covers a wide variety of topics like health, history, culture, professional skills, life skills, art, and parenting. The founder and the show host, Brett McKay, interviews well-read and critically acclaimed authors, professionals, and experts to get their perspective on the subject and provide practical advice to the listeners. The episodes are always well researched, thought-provoking and honest.
One of their most popular episodes is “The Causes and Cures of Childhood Anxiety,” which has Kate Julian, a senior editor at The Atlantic, as a guest. They discuss the rise in anxiety, depression, and suicide amongst children and how that could affect their adult life. They also talk about the possible causes and the ways parents can help their kids overcome these problems.
Another most-listened-to segment is “Becoming a Digital Minimalist.”, It features author Cal Newport who talks about his book, “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World”. They examine how people have become captives of the digital world, why digital detox is necessary to lead a meaningful life, and what one can do to practice digital minimalism.
Art of Manliness is 700+ episodes old with its first release in 2014. The duration of every segment is between 40 to 60 minutes uploaded twice every week. While the podcast’s target audience is men, a lot of content is relevant for everyone.
Revisionist History
Revisionist History is a podcast for all who would like to go back in time and deep dive into the events that happened. It started in 2016 and is hosted by bestselling author, Malcolm Gladwell, who produces informative and engaging shows using his excellent story-telling skills. It’s mainly a narrative podcast compiling audio clips of interviews with experts and recordings of events. As of today, the podcast has five seasons with a total of 56 episodes running 30 to 50 minutes each.
The topics of the show focus more on revisiting and discussing past events, people, or ideas. The host touches on important social issues through his podcast. Let’s look at some of the best-rated episodes of Revisionist History to have a glimpse of what the podcast can offer.
“Blame Game” from Season 1, talks about the major recall of over 10 million cars by Toyota because of several accidents reported due to unintended acceleration. While Toyota gave in to the allegations and took action on the matter, Malcolm brings forward some compelling facts that make you think otherwise. According to him, these collisions were a result of the drivers’ carelessness—mere human error— which people don’t want to accept. Poor media reporting made it even more believable that the cars were at fault.
“The Bomber Mafia” from Season 5 is a four-part series on the bombing of Tokyo during the Second World War. The first two parts talk about the man behind the bombing, General Curtis LeMay, while Part three and four takes us through the logic and reasoning behind this cold-blooded attack.
Every episode gives the listeners a fresh perspective on old and overlooked events leaving them with something to ponder on.
WTF with Marc Maron
Marc Maron is a stand-up comedian and an author of two books. Starting from 2009, his podcast has over 1000 episodes featuring prominent personalities from actors, producers, authors, musicians to politicians. Marc has interviewed renowned celebrities like Ben Stiller, Conan O’Brien, Hunter Biden, Larry King, and Barack Obama.
Every episode starts with the comedian’s monologue before proceeding to the interview. The questions are well-researched and they touch upon the guests’ career, family, childhood, and other lesser-known facts. As Marc always makes his guests feel at home, a lot of them have used this platform to open up and discover new revelations.
The podcast can be a rollercoaster of emotions. You will find yourself laughing one minute then getting teary-eyed in the next. There are many notable episodes, too.
The one featuring Robin Williams, Episode 67, gained popularity after his death as it talked about more serious issues like depression, alcoholism, and divorce which showed a different side of the humorous actor. As this particular episode got traction, the podcast became a platform where other guests can openly talk about their personal issues.
One of the recent episodes, the 1189th, also connected with the listeners. It features Mandy Patinkin, the actor known for his roles in The Princess Bride and Homeland. Mandy and Marc discuss life, love, insecurities, death, and realities that deeply relate. WTF with Marc Maron will surely make a man confront his repressed emotions.
Science Vs.
A show hosted by science journalist, Wendy Zukerman, Science Vs fact-checks the claims made on different topics and verifies the host’s scientific findings. The subjects are generally controversial or currently trending.
As the world is dealing with a pandemic and a lot of unverified information is being circulated, the latest season focused on the Coronavirus has helped debunk a lot of myths. There are episodes covering topics on immune boosters, masks, vaccines, coronavirus variants, as well as facts and fears related to the virus.
The story-telling format along with apt sound effects makes this podcast both informative and entertaining. Wendy interviews a lot of scientists to get in-depth analysis of the matter and separate facts from fiction. She uses simple language to explain the scientific terms so that the listeners can follow what she wants to convey.
With 200+ episodes under their umbrella, Science Vs has touched on topics like is organic food better, what does science say about astrology, will 5G revolutionize our world, are fasting diets really helpful, will gun control lead to fewer shooting deaths, how do you treat snake bites, and the like. The episodes are released weekly and are around 15 to 40 minutes long.
The Tim Ferriss Show
The Tim Ferriss Show is a business podcast where the host, Tim Ferriss, interviews experts from diverse fields like business, sports, entertainment, travel, art, literature, and finance. The questions asked by Tim helps listeners understand the trade, tactics, and best practices along with some useful routines that they can follow.
The interviews are very detailed. That’s why every episode is almost two hours long. For example, one episode starts with Huge Jackman explaining his interesting morning routine wherein he reads the same book as his wife and mediates. Followed by an in-depth discussion on both books and mediation. The actor further talks about his routine when he is traveling or doing shows, his family life, his education, his learnings from drama school, the best decisions he has ever made, the habit of journaling and being a connoisseur of puzzles and games.
There are more than 500 episodes with guests like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Malcolm Gladwell, Maria Sharapova, Dr. Jane Goodall, Matthew McConaughey, Vitalik Buterin, George Mumford, Michael Phelps, Grant Hackett, and Jerry Seinfeld. The interviews sound more like a conversation between two friends. They are easy-going and raw with great takeaways for the audience.
The Knowledge Project
Shane Parrish the host of The Knowledge Project, started this podcast in 2015 with an aim to learn about life from other people’s experiences, master it and live a more meaningful outlook. The long format episodes run from 50 to 90 minutes with each leaving its listeners with some actionable insights. Through this interview-style podcast, Shane digs into subjects in a way that gets the most from the speakers’ discernment.
You are sure to find some interesting discussions here with successful and learned personalities such as investors, authors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and more. One of the most downloaded episodes is the one with the CEO and founder of AngelList, Naval Ravikant. He has invested in many big companies like Yammer, Uber, and Twitter. In this episode, they discuss books and the internet, Naval’s core values and his favorite mental models that help make critical decisions.
The episode with Derek Sivers is another popular one. Derek is a musician, speaker, writer, and entrepreneur who shares a lot of wisdom through this interview. He runs a music distribution platform called “CD Baby”. He talks about the platform, his fulfillments, and the one biggest mistake of his life.
This podcast is for everyone who is interested in being productive and an inspiration for others to make this world a better place. There are more than 100 episodes and some special ones are only available to members.
The Joshua Sigafus Podcast
Joshua Sigafus is a dating consultant and on his show, he helps men and women level up their dating game. The podcast talks about attraction, intimacy, sex, romance, and everything related to dating.
The conversational-style episodes are short, sweet, and straightforward with a duration of 10 to 25 minutes. Sigafus gives practical advice that helps both men and women get noticed by their potential dating partners organically. He even shares his personal dating experiences and stories to send the message across.
Some of the noteworthy episodes out of more than 200 episodes include Episode 60 “Looking for Love? The Alpha Mindset can help – Here’s how”. It talks about how to step into a true alpha mindset which is nothing but creating values and leveling up as a human.
Episode 141 “Be Yourself, But Be Your BEST Self” is where Sigafus talks about how it’s important to be genuine, in order to be attractive and successful. No gimmicks and manipulation are needed to be desirable. He also touches on why it’s important now and in the future to maintain your relationship.
Episode 212 “How can I Get a Popular Girl’s Attention” is when Sigafus discusses how you can grab the attention of the highest value women in your group. The answer is very simple yet always overlooked. His advice is not to try too hard with pick-up lines but build value for yourself as a man.
Impact Theory
Impact Theory is a weekly interview-style podcast. It is hosted by Tom Bilyeu who is also the co-founder of this show. The show invites eminent guests to share their success stories and tricks of the trade. They equip the audience with a cheat sheet to remain motivated and achieve their true potential.
Being an entrepreneur himself, Tom understands the business landscape and the problems that arise very well. He is also gifted with the art of asking the right questions that can extract useful information and make the interviews more impactful. But this podcast does much more than just help you with your business skills, it enhances your life skills, health, and lifestyle. The guests on the show come from all walks of life from entrepreneurs, psychotherapists, motivational speakers, athletes, authors, actors, to scientists.
The episodes are generally more than an hour long but are very engaging. The interview with the author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki, talks about how his experience in the Marine Corps prepared him to manage his business and investments. He also gives his inputs on what people need to do now to manage their wealth and be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.
The episodes featuring David Goggins and Jay Shetty are also some of the popular ones. While David talks about his willpower and how he went on to become the “toughest guy alive”, Jay takes us through his journey of becoming a monk, re-entering the world now on a mission to spread wisdom.
The School of Greatness
The School of Greatness is a business and self-development podcast which started in 2013. The host, Lewis Howes, interviews high achievers from different fields. Aside from his interviews, he hosts episodes solo, and also uploads 5-minute ones weekly. Lewis is a best-selling author, athlete, entrepreneur and a keynote speaker. His interviewing skills are top-notch and the questions he asks compels one to think beyond the obvious.
This podcast has featured many renowned personalities from their respective fields. Episodes featuring Mel Robbins talking about her life changing 5-second rule, Eric Thomas sharing his story and the key to success, and Tony Robbins discussing his secret success habits are some of the best episodes.
With over a thousand episodes, it covers various topics like business, finance, fitness, spirituality, sports, science, entertainment, literature and many more. These long-form interviews are also insightful, inspiring and thought-provoking.
Podcasts for Men
In the list above, we tried to include podcasts from different genres that we think may interest men. If you like any of them, do consider subscribing to the shows for regular updates. And if none of them resonates with you, remember there is a podcast for every type of man.
Everybody is different and so are their preferences. You are sure to find some great podcasts that we may have not tapped into. Go ahead and explore the thousands of accessible podcasts out there.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Podcasts for Men
What are the best podcasts to listen to right now?
Apart from the ones listed above, you can explore some of the trending podcasts like Always Take Notes, Gastropod, The Last Archive, Startup, and Rabbit Hole. The best podcast of course, is whatever you enjoy the most. No judgement here.
Do I pay for podcasts?
No, podcasts are free to listen to on most platforms or apps. Check out their official websites as well.
Can you watch a podcast or just listen?
Podcasts are mainly in audio form, but there are a few that are in video format too. The demand for purely audio is higher as it helps make boring tasks more productive. You can listen to them in the background while doing other day-to-day activities.
A Final Word From The Trending Man
Podcasts started with ordinary people like us who wanted to share their knowledge and thoughts with like-minded people. The ease of access and the relatable content got people hooked. With all the popularity it has gained, even celebrities have joined in and have started their own podcasts.
Big companies are investing in podcasts and using them to build a brand image, market their products, and increase their client base. Using the latest technology like Google’s AI that allows audio to be translated into different languages while keeping the original voice is sure to increase the reach of the podcasts substantially.
To put it simply, podcasts are here to stay and are for everyone regardless of your gender, age, race, or religion.
