7 Amazing Podcasts for Technology Enthusiasts

#1 Darknet Diaries

This podcast is amazing. Each episode looks at a facet of IT security by exploring an incident in which it all went wrong. From a story about the malicious infiltration of the world’s largest oil supplier, to an investigation into the government backed Stuxnet virus’ unintentional release into the wild. There is even a how-it-happened guide to hacked ATMs spitting money out into the street. Each episode has interviews, analysis and a surprising amount of technical detail on cyber-attacks, infiltrations and international espionage, all while being completely enthralling and exciting.

Favorite Episode: S01E10 – Misadventures of a Nation State Actor. A government employed hacker shares stories of being directed to hack other governments, with the cost of discovery being an international war.

#2 Reply All

This is probably the most popular podcast on the list and with good reason. Reply All’s mission statement is to share stories about how people shape the internet, and how the internet shapes people. This broad proclamation fails to dignify the scope in which the podcast creates content, rarely passively reporting on events passed, but instead actively investigating and becoming a part of stories, leading to extremely satisfying conclusions.

Stories include the tracking down of a snapchat account hacker and the return of a sort-after @username to the rightful owner; investigating the source and reason behind creepy recordings left on company answering machines and an attempt to find and recover access to a bitcoin wallet.

Favorite Episode: Episode 102 & 103 – Long Distance. When host Alex receives a scam phone call while live on the air, he goes to truly extraordinary lengths to identify the scammer and uncover a hidden industry.

#3 Hackable?

Hackable is a great podcast that has the simple goal to find out if a thing is… hackable. Each episode engages security professionals to try and hack a product – from a coffee chop public Wi-Fi to the top cloud service to “stolen” laptops. The production is top notch and the stories are generally great but it doesn’t quite reach the levels of adventure found in Reply All, or have stories as interesting as Darknet Diaries. One gripe that we can’t quite get over is that sometimes it treats the audience like they’ve never used a computer before, and then an episode later swings in the other direction and assumes professional level IT knowledge.

Favorite Episode: Start at the start. S01E01 – The Evil Twin

#4 Linux Action News

This is a news podcast focusing on Linux and Open Source news stories. Unashamedly aimed at those who work in tech, the podcast covers everything from DevOps to consumer devices and everything in between. Episodes are well paced and the content is fresh and well presented. Linux is already everywhere and integration is only increasing so this podcast is recommended listening even if you work in a Windows only environment (because in no time at all it will no longer be a Windows only environment).

Favorite Episodes: This is a news podcasts so just jump in at the latest episode.

#5 TLDR

TLDR is actually from the same creators and hosts as Reply All as this was their podcast before moving onto the Gimlet network. TLDR has all of the stylings that make Reply All great, however each episode is much shorter (often under 10 minutes).

Favorite Episode: S01E01 – Something is Going to Happen in 7 Days. This is the first ever episode of TLDR but is a good one. Talk about creepy content!

#6 Security Now

Security Now is a weekly podcast that rounds up IT security news. This podcast is really only for IT professionals however the information obtained from each episode is invaluable for those everyone in technology support and development roles.

Favorite Episode: This security news podcast it not really applicable for relistens so no favorites here, however the episode titles will tell you enough to jump in on episodes of particular relevance to you.

#7 Command Line Heroes

Command Line Heroes tells the epic true tales of how developers, programmers, hackers, geeks, and open source rebels are revolutionizing the technology landscape.