Our 16 Favorite Podcasts for Your Career and Money

For people focused on their careers, finances, and relationships, podcasts are the self-help books of the 21st century. They’re typically pretty short (most under an hour) and easily accessible, allowing listeners to take in episodes while driving, working out, or whipping up something for dinner.

Because we know how important career success, wealth, and personal connections are to our members, we’ve handpicked 16 podcasts that offer everything from advice on achieving business success to finance tips to lessons on how to enrich your life.

NOTE TO SELF (Career)

Host Manoush Zomorodi, former BBC and Reuters journalist, helms this weekly, enlightening “tech show about being human,” challenging us with questions about how we can maintain our humanity in a digital age.

Why We Love It: We could all use a reminder of how important it is to disconnect every once in a while. Plus, Zomorodi’s conversational style makes it an easy listen.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Why You Feel More Productive But the Economy Isn’t: Technology helps us work more productively, but, Manoush asks, if we’re more productive, why do we feel less financially secure?

What We Learned When 25,000 People Tried to Fight Information Overload: Imagine if we were able to free ourselves from information overload? That was the premise of Note to Self’s massive “Infomagical” project, which challenged people from all over the globe to become more in tune with their non-digital selves.

WTF WITH MARC MARON (Career)

Comedian Marc Maron hosts top names in show business for frank and funny discussions about their lives and careers.

Why We Love It: It puts our fascination with celebrity culture to good use, offering insights into how mega-stars, such as Lin-Manual Miranda, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, and Louis C.K. are able to navigate the tough waters of show business and achieve success.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Lin-Manuel Miranda: The creator of Broadway’s latest musical sensation “Hamilton” discusses how the collaborative skills he learned as a high school theater student continue to serve him well.

Seth Meyers: The host of Late Night with Seth Meyers talks about the need to challenge yourself by trying new things, even if you’re comfortable with where you’re at now.

FREAKONOMICS (Money)

First there was the book, then came the blog, documentary, and radio show/podcast. Journalist Stephen J. Dubner, who co-wrote Freakonomics, serves as host for this one-hour podcast that explores “the hidden side of everything.” (Co-author Steven Levitt is a frequent guest.)

Why We Love It: It challenges preconceived notions about economics, money, and everyday life with unique perspectives and intriguing facts that you’ll want to share with your friends and colleagues.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Why Are We Still Using Cash?: Cash facilitates profit-motivated crimes, such as robbery, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and tax evasion. So why not get rid of it? This episode explains why that wouldn’t be easy.

The True Story of the Gender Pay Gap: Women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men working the same job. While it appears gender discrimination is to blame, this episode reveals a more complex explanation.

RECODE, DECODE (Career)

Hosted by Recode Radio’s Executive Editor Kara Swisher, this podcast about technology tackles big ideas and how key players in the media are changing the world we live in.

Why We Love It: Top-echelon guests (including occasional celebs, such as actor/investor Ashton Kutcher) share valuable insights about their tech careers.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Stop saying “good guy” in the boardroom: As one of Silicon Valley’s few female venture capitalists, Ailene Lee, managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, shares an up-close view of tech’s gender diversity gap.

Why everyone should talk about diversity: Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO of TaskRabbit and founder of the Black Googler Network, stresses the importance of developing a company culture that embraces diversity and makes people feel welcome.

Related: Your One-Minute End-of-Year Debt Checklist (To Make 2017 Really Pay Off)

TOO EMBARRASSED TO ASK (Money)

Hosts Kara Swisher and Lauren Goode promise “no question is a bad question,” as they answer queries about technology with the goal of making it easier to use and understand.

Why We Love It: It’s fun and funny, dispensing tongue-in-cheek advice on whether you should spend your hard-earned money on the latest technological advancements.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Do you need a $700 high-tech juicer?: Spending big bucks on a juicer—even if it does connect to WiFi—may seem extravagant, but perhaps no price is too high when it comes to fitness and health.

Should you upgrade to the new Fitbits?: The latest wearable gadgets, with their larger displays, look like things “a court would put on you for misbehaving,” jokes Swisher. But if you want to track your biking, bench-pressing, or treadmill accomplishments, then the newest versions may be for you.

LISTEN MONEY MATTERS (Career/Money)

Andrew Fiebert, a self-described “personal finance nerd,” teams up with small business owner Thomas Frank to provide actionable advice to improve listeners’ financial lives and careers.

Why We Love It: With a millennial-minded perspective, this podcast lives up to its tagline, “Not your father’s boring money show.”

Our Favorite Episodes:

How To Prioritize Your Financial Goals: Everyone has multiple financial goals, such as reducing student debt while saving for a down payment on a home. In this episode, Fiebert and Frank advise on how to determine goals for the short term (this month), medium term (3-6 months), and long term (1-2 years).

Getting Focused: Do More of What Matters: Staying focused can be tough when you have a lot of ideas for getting ahead. The hosts describe their strategies for staying on track when various projects demand your attention.

PLANET MONEY (Money)

It’s a big, big world, and money is a huge part of it. Planet Money offers interesting stories under the theme of “The Economy Explained.”

Why We Love It: It’s like a travelogue about money that broadens our understanding and perspective of our personal finances and the economy.

Our Favorite Episodes:

How To Get a Country To Trust Its Banks (Episode 463): This episode takes us to Myanmar, where the citizenry’s distrust of the banking system was the biggest obstacle to acceptance of the country’s first ATM.

DIY Finance (Episode 466): Not everybody is part of the formal banking system. This episode explores informal savings clubs and neighborhood “bankers” who provide loans and even take deposits to help their neighbors save money.

SMART PASSIVE INCOME (Career/Money)

Pat Flynn is a successful online entrepreneur, who built the Smart Passive Income website and podcast from nothing seven years ago. Passionate and driven, he delivers advice to listeners hungry to start their own online businesses.

Why We Love It: Flynn hosts some of the world’s most successful online entrepreneurs, who offer cogent insights on making an online business thrive.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Mentors and Masterminds with Ellory Wells: Flynn talks to entrepreneur and business coach Ellory Wells about the importance of mentors, as well as the benefits of joining a “mastermind group” to harness the collective intelligence of individuals with common goals.

15 Entrepreneurs Answer: “What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting My Own Business”: High-achieving entrepreneurs provide the value of their experiences to those just getting started in biz, giving advice on the importance of defining your target customer base and overcoming timidity about asking others for advice.

Recommended: Two Entrepreneurs Share How To Start a Business While Paying Off Student Loans

STARTUP (Career)

Host Lisa Chow, whose previous gigs included serving as senior editor at FiveThirtyEight and a reporter at Planet Money, presents true stories of a new generation of entrepreneurs struggling to get their businesses off the ground.

Why We Love It: These are compelling stories that follow young entrepreneurs through the twists and turns of launching a new company.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Almost Famous: This episode follows a small, scrappy startup that begins with the idea of creating a real-life “Truman Show,” but when the original concept doesn’t work, the founders realize they have to make a change.

The Runway: Having founded a company that offers masculine clothing to the gender non-conforming, Mary Going is an inspiration to the LGBTQ community. But high demand may not be enough to keep the business afloat.

THE INVESTORS PODCAST (Money)

Preston Pysh and Stig T. Brodersen host the #1 stock investing podcast worldwide. With more than 9 million downloads on iTunes and Google, it’s clear that the masses are listening.

Why We Love It: It provides an invaluable look inside the minds of successful people and reveals how they’ve accumulated their money/wealth.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Tip103: Family Inc. With Doug McCormick: The author of Family Inc.—Using Business Principles to Maximize Your Family’s Wealth explains the benefits of viewing your family as a business.

Tip98: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg: Pysh and Brodersen rave about journalist and non-fiction author Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, which describes how adjusting your habits will help you reprogram your life.

HAPPIER WITH GRETCHEN RUBIN (Relationships)

The podcast chronicles best-selling author Gretchen Rubin’s experiments in the pursuit of happiness and good habits.

Why We Love It: Rubin’s cheery outlook is contagious as she advocates having a positive outlook to improve your career, relationships, and well-being.

Our Favorite Episodes:

A Little Happier: Don’t Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good: In this episode, Rubin describes how a pending visit from her mother has her contemplating the truthfulness of Voltaire’s famous adage.

Arianna Huffington: Gretchen chats with the Huffington Post founder about her book The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time, which describes why catching plenty of zzz’s is so important to health, productivity, and joy.

HBR IDEACAST (Career)

Harvard Business Review presents ideas from business leaders and authors in ways you’d expect—smart, insightful, and challenging the status quo.

Why We Love It: It turns preconceived notions upside down, giving us unique perspectives about careers, executive leadership, and compensation.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Asking For Advice Makes People Think You’re Smarter: Some people believe that asking for advice shows incompetence, but guests Francesca Gino and Allison Wood Brooks of the Harvard Business School explain why the opposite is true.

Your Coworkers Should Know Your Salary: Pay secrecy seems to be the norm at most companies, but David Burkus, author of Under New Management, advocates pay transparency.

THE SCHOOL OF GREATNESS (Career)

Lewis Howes, pro athlete-turned-lifestyle entrepreneur talks to exceptional people and shares inspiring messages to help listeners unlock their inner greatness.

Why We Love It: We hear the stories of accomplished people who describe how they’ve achieved success in their careers or with their personal brands.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Steve Aoki: Building a Music Empire and the Power of Giving Back: Successful DJ and businessman Steve Aoki discusses how he built his career and offers advice regarding health, team-building, and family.

Sara Blakely: SPANX CEO on Writing Your Billion Dollar Story: Sara Blakely explains how trusting her gut helped her become the youngest self-made female billionaire in America.

THE JAMES ALTUCHER SHOW (Career/Money)

James Altucher parlays his experiences as one of America’s most successful hedge fund managers into an informative podcast for entrepreneurs.

Why We Love It: In addition to learning from Altucher’s insights, listeners benefit from a stellar lineup of guests with unique perspectives on money and business success.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Episode 187: Chris Voss: Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, offers examples of negotiating tactics that work well in business.

Episode 177: Ramit Sethi: The author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich shows how you can launch a “rich life” from virtually any starting point.

INVISIBILIA (Relationships)

The podcast interweaves narrative storytelling with scientific research to explore all of the invisible things that shape human behavior—ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and emotions. NPR award-winning journalists Lulu Miller, Hanna Rosin, and Alix Spiegel co-host.

Why We Love It: It challenges many of our long-held assumptions, asking us to rethink how we view our lives and our relationships.

Our Favorite Episodes:

Flip the Script: This episode describes how “flipping the script”—doing the opposite of what our natural instincts might compel us to do—can transform a situation and lead to surprising results.

The Personality Myth: If our personalities don’t stay consistent throughout life, then what, specifically, makes us who we are?

RICHER LIFE LAB (Career/Money/Relationships)

Hosts Laura Adams and Kate Rodriguez provide new thinking about age-old concepts with the goal of enriching our lives.

Why We Love It: In addition to offering ideas for mastering the art and science of money, each episode concludes with a “lab assignment” that listeners can undertake to improve their lives, careers, and relationships.

Our Favorite Episodes:

How to Network Like the Most Successful People: This episode describes new networking techniques, such as “open networking,” which encourages listeners to build connections outside their normal spheres.

How Much Debt Is Too Much? Adams and Rodriguez reveal seven warning signs that indicate your debt is too high.

Have a listen to these inspiring podcasts and then share this playlist with your friends. And if you’re looking for more advice on improving your career, finances, and relationships in 2017, talk to members of our Career Coaching and Wealth Management teams.