2014 was a breakout year for podcasts.

Serial quickly became the most downloaded podcast of all time, and the podcast app became a native app on iPhones and other Apple devices for the first time in iOS 8. The number of new podcasts is exploding, and I can’t see it slowing down soon.

Podcasts are different from other media in two important ways.

They’re more personal

Podcasts are usually consumed alone, and there’s something about listening to a podcaster’s voice straight to your ear that creates a more direct connection from podcaster to listener than most other forms of media.

They don’t stop you from doing something else

Podcasts allow you to say yes to them without saying no to something else.

I listen to podcasts while driving, walking, cooking, exercising and any other solitary, fairly mindless activities. I find I look forward to driving when I know I can listen to a new podcast episode.

Why not use this otherwise wasted time to learn something new, have access to new ideas, new perspectives and world-class, successful people?

I listen to a lot of podcasts. Alongside the highly-produced shows reminiscent of public radio, there are many interview-style shows, too. There’s a lot of really interesting people out there, things to learn, experiments to try and ideas to consider.

If you’re someone who can’t find time to fit in reading, or doesn’t have the attention span to sit down and read a book, then podcasts are a great alternative.

I’ve curated the top mind-expanding interviews from some of my favourite shows into the list below. I recommend you bookmark the post, dip into the ones that pique your interest most, and keep coming back to the list for more inspiration.

These 24 episodes are full of wisdom, mastery, and practical advice.

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss is renowned for deconstructing excellence, and his podcast is a goldmine of fantastic guests. There’s something to be learned from all 64 of the episodes released so far.

1. Kevin Kelly – this is technically a three-part episode, and is one of my favourite interviews ever. Kevin and Tim discuss creativity, simplicity, purpose, writing, reading, the future, life projects, and so, so much more.

2. Josh Waitzkin – the second episode of the show. Josh Waitzkin, author of The Art of Learning (which I read recently and is fantastic), is a former US junior chess champion and world Tai Chi Push Hands champion. He’s also a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Now he spends his time coaching world-class performers in many fields and speaking about performance psychology. There’s so much in this episode, including what it takes to be the best vs great or just good, what makes the best tick, and understanding oneself to improve oneself.

3. Maria Popova – Maria’s own blog, Brain Pickings, is one of my favourite places on the internet, where she has been writing for years on living a good and meaningful life. Her own words from her blog will give you an idea of what to expect from this episode, “The core ethos behind Brain Pickings is that creativity is a combinatorial force: it’s our ability to tap into our mental pool of resources — knowledge, insight, information, inspiration, and all the fragments populating our minds — that we’ve accumulated over the years just by being present and alive and awake to the world, and to combine them in extraordinary new ways. In order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these pieces and build new ideas.”

4. Ryan Holiday – Ryan Holiday is only 27, but he’s accomplished a lot. He dropped out of college at 19 to apprentice under Robert Greene, then became Director of Marketing at American Apparel at just 21, and has also written three books. I highly recommend The Obstacle Is The Way in particular for an introduction to stoicism and how it can be applied for a better, happier life. Ryan and Tim talk about stoicism in the episode, as well as reading, productivity, decision-making and more.

5. Ed Cooke – a wonderful, rambling, practical and philosophical two-part episode with Ed Cooke, CEO and co-founder of Memrise and a ‘Memory Grandmaster’, who I first encountered in Joshua Foer’s excellent book Moonwalking With Einstein.

6. Sam Harris – Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher and author. In this episode, they discuss a wide range of topics, including meditation, spirituality and the potential therapeutic value of psychedelic drugs. Essentially, the episode is, “a discussion of the human experience, and how to optimize it without harming others.”

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher is kind of a hero of mine. He’s made money, lost money, struggled with depression, addiction and destructive thinking, and continued to pick himself up every time. He’s had great successes, great failures, and lost everything more than once. He’s also a voracious reader, excellent interviewer, and brutally honest writer. His earnestness and good-natured positivity shine through in this show and his daily show Ask Altucher with his wife Claudia.

7. Nassim Nicholas Taleb – polarising author of many books, including The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable and Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, Nassim Taleb doesn’t give many interviews. An episode packed full of insight that will change the way you think about uncertainty, security, disorder, variability, and randomness.

8. Dan Ariely – Dan Ariely researches and writes about behavioural economics, particularly about how we behave irrationally. In this episode they discuss the hidden factors that affect behaviour, how we can predict how we will behave irrationally, changing habits, and much more.

9. Dan Harris – ABC News correspondent Dan Harris talks with James about stress, anxiety, happiness and self-improvement. They discuss Dan’s own stress and burnout, his rational, objective path to mindfulness and compassion, and his book 10% Happier.

10. Peter Thiel – Peter Thiel is an angel investor, the first external investor in Facebook, founder of PayPal, author of Zero to One and Silicon Valley royalty. If you want to truly make a dent in the world, this episode will change the scale of your thinking.

11. Arianna Huffington – Arianna Huffington, Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post, talks with James about success, stress, sleep, multi-tasking, joy, and figuring out what really matters in life.

The Bryan Callen Show

Bryan Callen is an (amazingly well-read) actor and comedian who co-hosts a show with Hunter Maats, co-author of The Straight-A Conspiracy. They’re an excellent, insightful interviewing team with an eclectic range of interests and areas of expertise, and the show has an equally eclectic and interesting range of guests. There are plenty of great episodes, and I’ve chosen five of the best below.

12. Daniel Coyle and David Epstein – a hearty debate with the authors of The Talent Code and The Sports Gene about the interplay between nature and nurture in determining who we are. (For bonus listening, they both originally appeared solo in earlier episodes – each definitely worth listening to – here and here)

13. Katie O’Brien and Hunter Maats – the authors of The Straight-A Conspiracy discuss their book and the counterproductive myths in the current education system that sabotage and unnecessarily stress students. They discuss what they’ve learned since writing the book.

14. Joshua Foer – Joshua Foer is the author of Moonwalking with Einstein, and a somewhat unlikely US memory champion. In the episode, they discuss the events of the book, how technology is changing our relationship to knowledge, and how there’s nothing special about the brains of memory champions.

15. Russell Foster – Professor Russell Foster is a sleep researcher (he also gave a great TED talk on the subject) who was jointly responsible for the discovery of light sensitive retinal ganglion cells in our eyes that have nothing to do with vision, but help our body regulate its circadian rhythm and sleep cycle. A great discussion on all things sleep.

16. Carol Dweck – Carol Dweck is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford, most known for her work on mindset and motivation. In the episode, she speaks with Bryan and Hunter about the importance of having a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset when it comes to ability, and why praising effort is more effective than praising intelligence.

The Psychology Podcast

This is a fairly new podcast hosted by psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman. Kaufman is the director of the Imagination Institute, author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, and a Scientific American columnist. As the name might suggest, most guests on the podcast are prominent psychology researchers and authors.

17. Gabriele Oettingen – Gabriele Oettingen is a Professor of Psychology and author who researches how we think about the future, goal-setting, self-regulation and goal-realisation. She discusses the WOOP framework – a strategy for setting goals and changing habits – how daydreaming can be constructive, and more.

18. Robert Greene – Robert Greene is the author of many books, including The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery. Scott and Robert speak about social intelligence, understanding the hidden power struggles that underlie many interactions, and the ‘dark triad’ of personality: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.

19. Adam Grant – Surprise, surprise, another professor and author. Adam Grant discusses his research and his latest book, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success. They discuss introversion, friendship, dogmatism, why giving is important, and how you can tell whether you’re a giver, matcher, taker or faker.

20. Todd Kashdan – Psychologist Todd Kashdan discusses how we can harness ‘negative’ traits and emotions for happier, more successful lives. They also discuss living a good life, mindfulness, the importance of experimenting and exploring our full emotional range, and the value of preparing for the worst.

Brain Science Podcast

The Brain Science Podcast started in 2006 and is hosted by Dr Ginger Campbell, an emergency physician with a strong passion for neuroscience and the brain in general. Episodes are usually in-depth discussions with experts in neuroscience and psychology, and are intended for general listeners.

21. Temple Grandin – Temple Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science, author, activist and consultant. She’s also autistic. In this episode, she discusses the autism spectrum, the wide range of outcomes and level of function, and many of the issues faced by people on the autism spectrum.

22. John Ratey – John Ratey is a psychiatrist who researches the effect of exercise on the brain. He is the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, and in the episode, he discusses how exercise can improve brain plasticity, mental health and curb age-related cognitive decline.

23. Michael Merzenich – Professor Michael Merzenich is one of the pioneers of research into brain plasticity (among many other contributions to neuroscience). In this episode, they discuss how we can use our knowledge of how the brain can change to improve our daily lives, and also by contrast, how bad choices can lead to cognitive decline.

The Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan’s podcast has been running since 2009, and has an archive of over 600 episodes. His guests range from comedians to athletes to academics and almost everything in between, and there are plenty of excellent episodes and hundreds of hours to explore.

24. Dr Rhonda Patrick – Dr Rhonda Patrick is a PhD in biomedical science and an expert on nutritional health. She also hosts her own podcast and website, Found My Fitness, where she has an excellent series of videos explaining/debunking various aspects of health and nutrition. She has appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast three times (first and second here), for almost 9 hours total of discussion about nutrition, the brain, supplementation, science vs pseudoscience, and much more. Very highly recommended.

Feel free to share some of your favourite mind-expanding podcast interviews in the comments below.

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