On several occasions people have asked me which technical podcasts I have been listening to. This post gives me the opportunity to list my favorite technical podcasts without any order of preference.

For an updated podcasts list, visit Podcasts (2017 Edition).

The Java Posse

The Java Posse has been one of my favorite podcasts for years. The Java Posse crew was a dynamic "quartet" of rockstar software engineers directed by a very generous Dick Wall and composed of Tor Norbye, Carl Quinn and Chet Haase. Joe Nuxoll was also part of this great team until 2012. After ten years, the podcast celebrated its last episode at Devoxx Belgium in Antwerp on November 13th, 2014. This podcast was a high quality podcast with very valuable information mostly surrounding the Java platform. The show was also fun, and entertaining. Although our industry is evolving fast, you can go back and listen to old episodes that are still very relevant. R.I.P The Java Posse! Dick, Carl, Chet, Joe and Tor, thank you so much for dedicating your precious time for over ten years towards the production of this podcast.

Les Cast Codeurs Podcast

Les Cast Codeurs Podcast is a French copycat of The Java Posse. The topics are well organized and due to the expertise of the contributors, the discussions are mostly focused on the Java platform technologies. If you are a French speaker and your work evolves around the Java platform, I highly recommend this podcast. The well respected hosts of this podcast are: Emmanuel Bernard, Arnaud Heritier, Guillaume Laforge, Antonio Goncalves, and Vincent Massol. I appreciate the coverage of the news and technologies, auditors' contributions, and interviews. A show in 2014 driven by The Duchess was a very refreshing and great idea. I have a particular appreciation for the typical and subtle French humor Guillaume brings to the team.

FLOSS Weekly

A part of TWiT, [FLOSS Weekly]((https://twit.tv/show/floss-weekly) has nothing to do with dental hygiene: it is all about Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS). The host is Randall Schwartz, a Perl expert, and author of several books on Perl, in particular the famous Camel Book. Weekly, with different co-hosts, Randall interviews leaders of the Open Source community. Like any other podcast of the TWiT family, the quality is excellent. It is a great source of information to keep up with the ever expending open source landscape. Because I will never be invited to this podcast, here are my answers to the final questions Randall asks each guest: My favorite editor is VI, and my favorite scripting language is Python 😄

Hanselminutes

I have been a longtime listener of Hanselminutes. Scott Hanselman introduces himself as a "teacher". Indeed, I learned a lot listening to Scott's podcast over the years, and go on to discover something new each week. I'm certain that this podcast is one of the most diversified technical podcasts available on the internet due to the discussed topics, and the genuine guests that he introduces to his auditors. Although Scott's roots are from a famous company in Redmond, WA, he does not limit the podcast horizon to Microsoft territory. In addition, Scott has an excellent sense of humor. His keynote at the Fluent conference in 2014 was hilarious: JavaScript, Virtual Machines, and the Cloud. I also enjoyed the straight-to-the-point, non boring, thirty minute weekly interviews. This is an art, he even knows how to respect the time of his auditors.

Security Now

I never miss a Security Now episode. I listen to Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson religiously every week, despite the length of the podcast. If you don't listen to the show in accelerated mode - which I don't - be ready to listen for one hour and a half or even two hours. I wish it could be a little shorter. I would definitely pass on the sci-fi stories, TV shows and some other unnecessary and lengthy parts of the show. Nevertheless, the audio quality of the podcast (like any of the TWiT podcasts), the valuable security information and the level of expertise demonstrated by Steve Gibson] are worth the extra time. I enjoy this show and recommend it to anyone curious about the prolific current state of affair of the cybersecurity world.

The Haskell Cast

The Haskell Cast podcast was dedicated to the Haskell programming language. The hosts, Rein Henrichs and Chris Forno, both experts in Haskell and functional languages, interview leaders in the Haskell community: Simon Peyton Jones, Simon Marlow, Don Stewart, Michael Snoyman... In Episode 9 - Conal Elliott on FRP and Denotational Design, the guest provides some needed clarity in the domain of FRP (Functional Reactive Programming).

Mostly Erlang

Mostly Erlang was hosted by Zach Kessin, this podcast focuses on Erlang, the OTP Platform, functional languages, and related concepts. Zach interviews leaders in the Erlang community, and experts in functional programming languages in general: Joe Armstrong, creator of Erlang, Fred Herbert, author of Learn You Some Erlang for Great Good! and Erlang in Anger, Bruce Tate, author of several technical books including Seven Languages in Seven Weeks and Seven More Languages in Seven Weeks, Claus Wikstrom, creator of Mnesia, jose Valim, creator of Elixir, and many others. I highly recommended it, if you have any interest in Erlang or functional programming.

Planetary Radio

Every week I look forward to listening to the voices of Mat Kaplan, Planetary Radio host, and other staff members of The Planetary Society: Emily Lakdawalla, Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist, Bill Nye, CEO, Bruce Betts, Director of Science and Technology, and passionate guests. The news of the Mars rovers, or the wake up of Rosetta, or Pluto approach by New Horizons, bring a positive light on the future of humanity. This is particularly true when contrasted with the dark and depressive information most of the news channels are broadcasting. If you have any curiosity for space science and exploration, you may want to give Planetary Radio a listen.

The Silver Bullet Security Podcast

Gary McCraw is the CTO of Cigital, a security expert and author of several books on security, regularly interviews industry or academic leaders in security. This includes Whitfield Diffie, Barton Miller, Michael Hicks, Bruce Schneier, and many others. The podcast is concise, lasts thirty to forty minutes, and presents precise questions. The Silver Bullet Security Podcast is an excellent source of security information.

The Scalawags

Where is Dick Wall, if he is not busy with The Java Posse? He is sometimes hiding with a bunch of Scalawags! This hilarious team of Scala experts will make your day. Dick Wall teams up with Heather Miller, Daniel Spiewak, Josh Suereth, Seth Tisue and ... Daniel's cat. They wear eye patches and pirate hats, and are very funny. But don't get fooled, each member of the team is a Scala expert and more. This is a great show to listen to if you want to keep up-to-date with the Scala community, the internals and evolution of the language, the tools, and anything Scala related.

From Python Import Podcast

My favorite programming language is Python, so naturally I have been eager to find a related podcast. I have been listening to from podcast import python for a couple of years. This podcast has been unfortunately very sporadic. If you are aware of any other regular Python podcast, feel free to comment.

Inspired by Math!

Sol Lederman states that math has always been his first love. He talks about math with a passion and interviews teachers, educators, professors, and authors who also have a passion for math. Inspired by Math! is definitely inspiring.

I would love to hear from any readers who would have any recommendations on valuable scientific or technical podcasts.