My favourite podcasts: What I listen to regularly

Podcasts are part of my daily routine: while travelling, exercising or whenever I deliberately want some time away from a screen. I am not looking for shows whose every episode I dutifully work through. I much prefer putting together my own programme of sound analysis, intelligent conversations and, occasionally, a good argument.

This is therefore not an objective ranking. These are simply the podcasts I return to regularly – some twice a week, others only when a subject particularly interests me.

Business, tech & startups

Doppelgänger Tech Talk

Philipp Glöckler and Philipp Klöckner, better known as Pip, discuss the most important developments in technology, startups and markets twice a week. I particularly value Pip’s analytical perspective: business models, numbers and strategies are not merely repeated, but taken apart and put into context.

Deffner & Zschäpitz

The weekly argument between WELT business journalists Dietmar Deffner and Holger Zschäpitz. It is at its most informative and entertaining when they disagree – and occasionally get rather loud.

Alles auf Aktien

WELT’s daily stock market podcast puts market developments into context and presents investment ideas. A compact overview when you want to know what is moving the markets.

Burn Rate

The weekly podcast hosted by Swiss VCs Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi offers valuable insight into the Swiss startup scene. Their unvarnished analysis of recent transactions is particularly worth listening to. Rather than reproducing celebratory press releases, they research, criticise and put the deals into context.

OMR Podcast

The classic. Philipp Westermeyer interviews fascinating people from business, technology and sometimes entertainment. He also asks questions that others do not dare to ask. I do not listen to every episode, but selectively choose the conversations that interest me.

Kassenzone

Alexander Graf’s e-commerce podcast. I never miss the monthly conversations with Florian Heinemann. Anyone who wants to understand how retail and the platform economy are changing will find substance here rather than generic trend terminology.

Exchanges

Exciting Commerce’s e-commerce podcast. I particularly enjoy the episodes about e-commerce in China because they cover developments that often reach the German-language debate much later.

Current affairs & general knowledge

Streitkräfte und Strategien

The background podcast on the war in Ukraine. Highly recommended because it covers Russia’s war of aggression calmly, soberly and with considerable expertise.

UKW – Unsere kleine Welt

Tim Pritlove spends several hours talking to one guest about a current topic. His conversations about Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are particularly worth hearing. The episodes are long, sometimes very long – but worth the time.

Servus. Grüezi. Hallo.

DIE ZEIT’s podcast for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Every episode discusses one current and one timeless subject from the perspective of the three Alpine countries. Always informed, usually entertaining and occasionally a little too fond of thigh-slapping humour. I still never miss an episode.

Kalenderblatt

Every day, it tells a story from history that happened on that date. Often interesting, sometimes surprising and occasionally a little too sarcastic.

Firewall

DER SPIEGEL’s background podcast about cyberattacks on companies, public authorities and other systems. Not every episode interests me equally; I simply pick the topics I want to explore more deeply.

Alles Geschichte

ARD’s history podcast. I certainly do not listen to every episode, but I almost always learn something new from the ones I choose.

Weltspiegel Podcast

The podcast accompanying the ARD television programme. Every week, it discusses one international topic with correspondents on the ground. This perspective from within the country is precisely what makes the format valuable.

Kurz gesagt: Italien

Anyone interested in Italy gets plenty of explanation and background from Sebastian Heinrich on a single topic at a time. Unfortunately, new episodes appear only very rarely.

Holger ruft an

Übermedien’s short interview podcast picks up one current media topic at a time. Compact, focused and a useful addition to ongoing media coverage.

Medien – Cross und Quer

The media podcast from Saarländischer Rundfunk. At times, it argues a little too strongly from the perspective of public-service broadcasting for my taste. Even so, individual episodes are highly interesting and provide insight into current debates in the media industry.

Which podcasts are missing from my list? Recommendations are always welcome – my backlog is clearly not long enough yet.