
Although podcasts are not the best studying tools for college students, they can be useful sources of information for research and career decisions. Podcasters often present impressive writing ideas and concepts students can adopt in their essays. Besides, podcasts discuss current and historical topics in academia and other fields, including technology and sociocultural developments. Hence, podcasting builds a student's literary skills, confidence, and perspective development.
The best podcast topics for college students apply to the four main worldviews. The host should adopt a pragmatic discussion approach, accommodating guests' opinions. However, they should be willing to accommodate different worldviews since the guests and the listeners have varying reasoning bases and objectives. For instance, positivists adopt a deterministic approach to their quest for knowledge. They seek an objective reality, believing each argument has a specific truth you can only uncover by analyzing the available evidence. Since the possibility of revealing truthful details about a given fact is very low, these theorists analyze the evidence against hypotheses. They focus on disproving an argument instead of proving it.
Positivism is the basis of contemporary academic research. Academic researchers develop a set of hypotheses and search for evidence against them. For instance, a common hypothesis in social science may be difficult to prove due to the large number of influential factors and the size of the population. Hence, if a researcher opines that people like eating fast food, they are more likely to find a conclusive response by searching for evidence against this hypothesis. They will structure the study to analyze reasons why people dislike fast food.
Listening to podcasts helps students understand the different approaches to analyzing evidence. Particularly, podcasters are pragmatic and can accommodate different worldviews. They are willing to analyze deterministic and non-deterministic perspectives about their topics with or without evidence. However, they look for guests with opposing ideologies to keep their listeners engaged. Thus, listening to a podcast presents evidence for and against specific issues with explanations.
The best student podcasts in the United States
Revisionist History
In this podcast, Malcolm Gladwell analyzes significant events, ideas, issues, objects, and people from the past. Every episode is structured around a specific case, providing sufficient evidence about its significance. The host highlights the reasons why the subject of discussion is important to the listener. Gladwell analyzes the overlooked and misunderstood aspects of historical events and figures. The podcast is known for its coverage of underappreciated contributions by overlooked people. Since its founding in 2016, the podcast has produced tens of episodes with intriguing information and ideologies, creating unmatched thought-provoking content in a contemporary style. I used some of the ideas from this podcast to do my PowerPoint presentation about unknown and unappreciated scientific discoveries. It is perhaps one of the best podcasts for students in the United States.
TED Talks Daily
TED Talks Daily is a masterpiece produced by presentation giants TED. This organization focuses on spreading great ideas through short talk shows. It's one of the most influential organizations globally, with speeches from influential and upcoming influencers from various parts of the world. Students use concepts from TED to practice speech writing, especially about contemporary topics and controversial ideologies. The podcast is a conversational presentation of different topics on a daily show that presents various topics and sectors, including technology and science.
Discussions on TED Talk Daily adopt an engaging style of presentation where the audience is the object of the conversation and the subject is a critical issue affecting the target listeners. Hence, the show hosts experts in specific fields presenting ideas based on their knowledge and experience. It's purely a platform for sharing mainstream information about the topics. As a result, these talks are informative and educational. Although some ideologies may be controversial, the speakers justify their arguments with evidence. Thus, TED Talks Daily is the most reliable podcast for educational concepts.
Stuff You Should Know
Stuff you should know is an educational podcast by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant. It's informational and engaging, each episode focusing on a specific topic. The issue is then analyzed in-depth to widen the listener's understanding of the concepts. The hosts research the topics thoroughly before the presentation, creating a reliable source of information for further research. The podcast can also provide students with meaningful ideas for college essays.
The State of Developer Education
This podcast explores contemporary issues in software development education. It accommodates divergent views about the dynamics in this sector, including the advancement in technology and the role of changing information structures. Adam, a software developer, hosts experts in the field, analyzing trends in development. The guests explore the growing demand for expertise in the industry with advancing technology and programming languages. As a result, its target audience is contemporary developers and software engineers.
How I Built This
Guy Raz hosts successful business people on How I Built This to explore the stories behind their success. The podcast addresses the challenges entrepreneurs face in the journey to success. Raz adopts an engaging storytelling style to unearth stories behind the progressive development of world-leading brands. As a result, the show features renowned individuals and their growth from humble beginnings to greatest achievements.
Brain Science
As the name suggests, this podcast explores developments in neuroscience, technologies, and knowledge. Brain Science focuses on research and discoveries in this field by hosting neuroscientists and other experts. The guests discuss their achievements, including research findings and opinions. The objective is to provide a broader perspective of the brain's anatomy and growing body of knowledge. As a result, the podcast features contemporary and historical issues about one of the most important organs of any living organism. Particularly, it explores major issues about the brain, including free will and advancement in neuroimaging. The experts expound on their understanding of recent findings and their implications on the current body of language and brain science.
Freakonomics
Freakonomics is the best podcast for college students pursuing social sciences. It explores various topics under related disciplines, from economics to psychology. Notably, the podcast ventures deeper into the operational characteristics of social aspects of life. Based on a book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics adopts a deterministic approach to uncover hidden truths. The podcast uses data-driven storytelling to explore major topics in social science, such as the relationship between parenting styles and children's development. As a result, it is an informative source of contemporary topics for social science students, especially when writing compelling essays. Its data-driven strategy also makes the information more reliable and credible for use in academic assignments. One can adopt ideologies gained from Freakonomics to design a research topic and find reliable sources online.
College Info Geeks
College Info Geeks is typically a podcast about college life. It features success stories of college students, including entrepreneurs and other professionals. Thomas Frank explores the challenges of a college student in a bid to guide learners toward living a successful college life. The podcast focuses on specific issues affecting students, especially time management and studying. It helps learners develop study strategies and programs to improve their performance and earn better grades. Frank also explores other concepts associated with college life, including personal finance and college survival. Focusing on successful college students helps address questions about career development and life after school.
The Speechwriter Podcast
Speech writing is one of the most important skills for a college student. It can be useful in almost all academic fields and careers. In this podcast, Robert Lehrman, a successful speechwriter, explores topics about speech writing. The podcast features renowned speechwriters addressing trends and issues in the industry. The guests share their experiences and insights about specific subjects of discussion and advice aspiring writers.
They also identify target audiences for various speech writing styles and techniques, sharing the associated challenges and success stories. They also provide life hacks for industry survival with specific guidance to upcoming writers. This podcast best suits literature students, but any college student can enjoy the conversation. It's also suitable for aspiring politicians and leaders.
99% Invisible
The name of this podcast hints at its primary focus on invisible and often overlooked aspects of design that define and share the world of architecture. 99% Invisible is the best podcast for university students pursuing architecture and structural engineering courses. It explores the hidden stories about real-life objects and the related aspects of design. It uncovers ideas beneath product development in related fields. Each episode is unique and focuses on specific subjects. However, the discussions are structured around captivating design concepts.
Final thoughts
Podcasts are the future of student engagement. Presenters discuss a wide array of topics and theories, creating varying narratives about contemporary issues. In cases of historical topics, podcasters provide a modern perspective to such issues building exemplary worldviews. Some podcasts combine positivism, constructivism, advocacy, and pragmatism in their discussions, generating divergent viewpoints and expanding the context for students to explore. Podcasting is becoming pivotal in education as a source of ideas for essays and research.