In a recent episode of The Twenty Minute VC, Benchmark General Partner Peter Fenton said "the most interesting area for intellectual enrichment today is not books, although there are great books, but rather podcasts."
I completely agree podcasts are an amazing source of intellectual enrichment (and entertainment). I would also suggest supplementing podcasts with audiobooks. Why just choose one or the other when you can have both? The greatest advantage of the audio method of content delivery is exactly what Peter Fenton talks about in that interview - you can jump in and out of podcasts (and audiobooks) during short bursts of time when you don't have the ability to open a book and read.
My number one listening opportunity is while driving. I commute 2+ hours a day and I can knock out an audiobook a week in addition to keeping up with at least 10-15 of my favorite podcast episodes. I also listen when I'm doing dishes, rocking my baby to sleep, at the gym, and whenever I'm waiting in line for something.
Here are some of my favorites from the past few months:
I completely agree podcasts are an amazing source of intellectual enrichment (and entertainment). I would also suggest supplementing podcasts with audiobooks. Why just choose one or the other when you can have both? The greatest advantage of the audio method of content delivery is exactly what Peter Fenton talks about in that interview - you can jump in and out of podcasts (and audiobooks) during short bursts of time when you don't have the ability to open a book and read.
My number one listening opportunity is while driving. I commute 2+ hours a day and I can knock out an audiobook a week in addition to keeping up with at least 10-15 of my favorite podcast episodes. I also listen when I'm doing dishes, rocking my baby to sleep, at the gym, and whenever I'm waiting in line for something.
Here are some of my favorites from the past few months:
Podcasts
The 20 Minute VC: Peter Fenton Great episode with Benchmark GP Peter Fenton. Goes into how Peter Fenton got into venture capital and his thoughts on several aspects of the business. Big fan of both Peter Fenton and the host Harry Stebbings. |
The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency Nick Szabo A great breakdown and history of cryptocurrency, co-hosted by Naval Ravikant (founder, CEO AngelList). Highly relevant given the recent volatility in Bitcoin and Ether. |
Noah Kagan Presents Great new podcast by Noah Kagan, who is probably best know for being an early Facebook employee as well as being the founder of Sumo.com. Focused on productivity and entrepreneurship through a series of great interviews. |
NPR's How I Built This Such a great podcast that interviews the founders of very successful businesses. I highly recommend the Melissa & Doug episode from Dec 2016 and how they built their massive toy company. Their story is a great example of how the path of entrepreneurship is never a straight line and can take some funny twists and turns. |
Congratulations with Chris D'elia Super funny podcast with stand up comedian Chris D'elia. Not really about any topic in particular, but his ramblings are hilarious and I keep catching myself saying his signature phrases to people who have no idea what I'm talking about. |
Audiobooks
American Assassin - Mitch Rapp Series (Book 1, sort of) I saw the trailer for a movie based on this book and immediately went to go read the book before the movie came out because I knew the movie version could not be anywhere close to as good as the book probably is. And I was right. I may not even watch the movie when it comes out because the trailer now makes me cringe at how many things they are screwing up. Despite this, I will link the video below. There are 16 books in this series and this is the first book in the plot's chronological order. However, this is not the first book the original author Vince Flynn wrote. That is my next pick. |
Transfer of Power - Mitch Rapp Series (Book 3, sort of) While this is technically book 3 in the chronology of the plot, this was actually the first book Vince Flynn wrote back in 1999. Such a great story, as were both books 1 and 2. HOWEVER - WARNING - the audiobook author is not the same as in American Assassin, George Guidall. George is great. But this narrator is terrible. The reviews on Audible.com really go after him and his mispronunciations of military terms such as 50 cal Barrett sniper rifle. Despite the terrible narration, I think this one is still worth a listen. I'm currently trying to push my way through book 4, but its really really tough. What's even worse is that book 5 apparently has an even worse narrator, as if that's even possible. I may just skip to book 6 when George Guidall begins narrating again. |
Expeditionary Force - Columbus Day (Book 1) A sci-fi series narrated by the best narrator in the biz, R.C. Bray. I will listen to pretty much anything this guy reads out loud, and I'm definitely not the only one. R.C. Bray has a huge cult following in the audiobook world. It took me a bit longer to really get into this story, but once I finished it, I was quick to get the second book in the series. Great sci-fi story about interplanetary relations between humans and the far superior aliens, with a wise-cracking funny artificial intelligence for good humor. |
Expeditionary Force - SpecOps (Book 2) Second book in the series, once again narrated by R.C. Bray. I enjoyed this one far more than the first due to the familiarity with the characters and story. I'm currently listening to Book 3, which was recently released. Thankfully R.C. Bray is narrating it too. |
Contagious - Why Things Catch On I read this to supplement my current personal endeavor to create viral videos. It builds on a previous book I mentioned, Made to Stick. I didn't enjoy this one as much, but I thought it was still quite helpful to frame the concepts of online virality. |