“The medium of podcasting and the personal nature of it, the relationship you build with your listeners and the relationship they have with you – they could be just sitting there, chuckling and listening… there’s nothing like that.”
Marc Maron, Podcaster
Last week I shared a list of some of my favorite books this year. Since podcasting has become an important channel for information sharing and learning, I thought I’d update the list of my favorite podcasts in health care and technology (and other topics) for your consideration. But first, some current stats on the popularity of podcasts in general.
Insider Intelligence reports that there are currently over two million active podcasts worldwide. The average podcast consumer spends 7 hours weekly listening to podcasts. Projections show that by 2028, podcasting will be a $94.88 billion industry. Podcast listeners will account for 20.3% of all internet users in 2022. That’s 424.2 million people who listen to podcasts worldwide. The number of podcast listeners in the US is expected to reach 138.6 Million by 2024. Most podcasts get around 141 downloads in the first month. Podcast stats from Edison Research found that most people listen to podcasts for educational purposes, 71% do so for entertainment, 60% want to keep abreast with news, and 51% said they find them relaxing. On the flip side, it’s equally vital to know why people don’t tune in to podcasts. 75% of non-listeners said podcasts are just not for them, 51% say they provide content they can find elsewhere, while 49% said they consume a lot of phone data.
Research from The Infinite Dial shows that 90% of podcast listeners prefer listening to podcasts at home. 59% of people listen to podcasts while doing household tasks. 52% listen while driving, 50% while cooking, and around 37% of people consume podcasts when commuting. Podcasts are a medium for listeners to enjoy “passively” in the background.
So, with so many options, how do you select ones to listen to regularly? My first criteria are the credentials of the host. I want respected professionals in the field, not someone doing this as a sideline. Second, I look at the quality of the guests on the podcast. Can the host attract excellent guests in every episode? Finally, I look at the topics being discussed. Are they interesting? Do they add credible information to the conversation, or are they simply a rehashing of what’s already out there? So, with those as my guideposts, here are my favorite podcasts for 2022 (Click on the titles for links to subscribe):
Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT
Becker’s Healthcare offers a suite of niche podcasts from every area of the healthcare industry landscape. I especially like their series on digital health and IT. They cover the topic well with interviews with industry leaders, leading companies, and corporate investors to give listeners a broad perspective on new developments and growth opportunities.
Direct questions, real answers. On with Kara Swisher is where “Silicon Valley’s most feared and well-liked journalist” gets to the heart of what makes influential people tick. Kara makes sense of tech, business, and politics through tough conversations with the newsmakers who matter. So why do they show up? “Smart people,” says Kara, “like difficult questions.” I included two podcasts with Kara in last year’s list. She’s changed affiliations since then and is now a contributor to NY Magazine. With that change comes this new podcast series. Next to Walt Mossberg, Kara’s the best interviewer in the technology industry.
Passionate Pioneers with Mike Biselli
Passionate Pioneers with Mike Biselli, a nationally ranked healthcare and innovation podcast and a member of the Health Podcast Network, highlights the innovators, the game changers, and the pioneers who are deeply passionate and relentless in valiantly solving the problems our healthcare industry is facing.
A Second Opinion: Rethinking American Health with Senator Bill Frist, M.D.
Senator Bill Frist is no stranger to American health and healthcare. He is an accomplished heart and lung transplant surgeon, as well as a two-term United States Senator representing Tennessee. Now he is using his influence to connect with leaders and innovators to bring awareness and understanding to more than just healthcare but health in general. His mission is to substantially improve health and healthcare in communities across America through education and engagement at the nexus of policy, medicine, and innovation. The podcast addresses challenging healthcare issues of today from three distinct vantage points: policy, medicine, and innovation.
The Big Unlock: Healthcare Digital Transformation Podcast
Paddy Padmanabhan is an award-winning business leader and trusted C-suite Advisor with a proven history of success guiding digital transformation and growth strategies across the healthcare and technology sectors. He has worked in various leadership roles at globally recognized firms such as Accenture, GE, and Wipro, where he built sizeable global technology businesses and spearheaded strategic growth initiatives. Featuring C-suite executives from the healthcare and technology sectors, Paddy discusses how they are driving digital health innovation and leveraging emerging healthcare technologies to create improved patient experiences.
The Next Big Idea is a weekly series of in-depth interviews with the world’s leading thinkers. Rufus Griscom — along with curators Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink, lead conversations that might change the way you see the world. This podcast forces you out of your comfort zone and stretches your thinking on any number of topics, from neurodiversity to humor to the art of persuasion.
Healthcare IT News from Mobihealth News
The world of technology and healthcare is changing in new and novel ways. John Lynn and Colin Hung discuss the latest healthcare and Health IT News meshed together in new ways which help generate ideas and new perspectives. Part of the HIMSScast series, this is a biweekly podcast that covers the latest news in healthcare IT in a fun way.
A Sherpa’s Guide To Innovation
Are you looking to understand better and apply innovation theories, methods, and tools? Do you need to think about your business or industry differently? Join the Sherpas as they conduct spirited conversations and tell compelling stories to guide you along your innovation expedition. Atrium Health’s Ben Tingey, Jay Gerhart, Ann Somers Hogg, and Will Behrmann lead the listeners through the resources, processes, and priorities these successful disruptors deploy.
OK, this isn’t a technology or healthcare-related podcast. All About Agatha is a podcast all about, well, Agatha. Agatha Christie, of course. The Queen of Crime, a real-life Dame of the British Empire and author of sixty-six mystery novels that spanned the Twentieth Century, defining a genre. Thousands of Agatha Christie enthusiasts across the globe have downloaded the podcast for what one listener described as a “joyfully geeky” take on the Queen of Crime’s expansive canon. Today, the podcast averages just under 100,000 downloads a month, with most of its listeners in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Germany, and Scandinavia. If you are a Christie fan, as I am, you’ll find this podcast a delight. If you’d like to get the entire story behind the podcast, here’s a great article that the LA Times did on the series.
So, those are my top nine podcasts for the year. I hope you find one or more of them interesting and informative. If you have a favorite healthcare or tech podcast that I’ve missed, drop a comment below and let me know what you’re listening to these days. Thanks for reading!
[…] And remember that these are additions to the podcasts I’ve recommended before. You can find those here and here. […]