My Favorite Podcasts, 2015 Edition 12/1/15

These are the podcasts I’m thankful for in 2015:

	The Weeds. Featuring the trio of Ezra Klein, Sarah Kliff, and Matthew Yglesias from Vox.com, The Weeds is a weekly show that discusses wonky / intricate / “weedsy” political topics like whether our measurements for poverty are wrong and how effective are calorie counts on menus for fighting obesity. The Weeds is a great antidote to more strictly political discussions like you’ll hear on my other favorite political podcast, Slate’s Political Gabfest.
	Ctrl-Walt-Delete. The Verge writers Walt Mossberg and Nilay Patel discuss tech and tech culture. I consume a lot of Apple related news and opinion sites, so it’s good to get a broader viewpoint from veteran analysts like Mossberg and Patel. It helps that they have an entertaining rapport.
	Accidental Tech Podcast. Programmers Marco Arment, Casey Liss, and John Siracusa discuss the latest technology news with a focus on Apple. Always thoughtful and funny. When I can, I try to catch their live broadcast on Wednesday nights.
	Slate’s Political Gabfest. Interesting roundtable discussion of the week's political news. I used to be addicted to cable news. This scratches the same itch, but is far less vapid and annoying.
	Sound Opinions. An hour of music news, interviews, and reviews by Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis. Sound Opinions is my primary way of finding new and interesting artists and albums.

Honorable mentions

Core Intuition. Indie developers Daniel Jalkut and Manton Reece discuss Apple and technology news with an eye towards how it effects their small businesses. Both Jalkut and Reece have great observations and it’s interesting to hear their evolving perspectives. Skip if you’re not a software developer.

Exponent. Tech pundits James Allworth and Ben Thompson dive into the business side of technology. Who’s doing well, who’s doing poorly, and who’s poised to dominate and why. Skip if business talk puts you to sleep.

Past “winners”

This is my third year writing up my favorite podcasts. If you’re curious, you can read the lists from 2014 and 2013.