Once upon a time, a time not so long ago, in your favourite app store, you could find a magical blue icon: the fantastical Songza creature. The one with a toothy smile and crazy eyes?
The music app was one of my favourites and I was said to see it go and morph into Google Music. While I am a general fan of the Google apps, Google Music has failed to befriend me. I think it was the fact that I am a creature of habit, and the UI has changed just enough to throw me off. I could not find my favourite playlists. And there seemed to be ads, constantly. And surprisingly to me? The ads were for podcasts.
I am a big fan of the podcasts, so the fact that Google has introduced the Songza model to podcast listening seems really cool. People love podcasts, Google loves podcasts+podcasters
My favourites?
1. Design Details
I am not a designer. Well, maybe not yet. But I do enjoy finding out about design workflow, especially when it comes to graphic design and UX/UI experience crafting. The podcast is always fun, and there will usually be a few puns and a lot of talk about design tools and those ethereal things - The Pixels.
2. Code Newbie
I started listening to this when I first started my college course on programming. It is full of inspirational stories of people getting into code, at any stage in their life and from any background you can think of. Paul Ford, the author of the incredible What Is Code story in Bloomberg, has recently been on the show, and you just shouldn’t miss that chat.
3. Welcome to Night Vale
This is a delightfully cooky … audio drama. It is …special, featuring characters like the The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home, a levitating cat and quotes such as “If you love someone, set them free. Set them free now. This is the police, and we have you surrounded.”
4. Coding Blocks
These guys know .NET, also - other things, such as best practices and what it really means to be an Intermediate or a Senior Developer. Apparently, they are still learning programming, and I am still learning from them about all the things I don’t know. Thanks, guys!
5. Serial
You cannot fail to mention a classic, can you? The gripping first Season was worse than Netflix, when it comes to binging on a good story. It is a murder mystery, and it is real life, and I am pretty sure this is the podcast that made me truly appreciate the podcast art.