Podcasts – radio shows you can download – are a great medium when you’re driving, in the gym, or cooking dinner.
Here is my current top four podcasts that deal with money and economics in general. For each series, I’ve picked one episode that I enjoyed a lot.
- Macro Musings, presented by David Beckworth
As the name suggests, David has a one hour conversation with a macroeconomist about his or her work. Sometimes he invites financial journalists like Izabella Kaminska. Macro Musings is the perfect podcast if you are into central banking and monetary policy. David starts each interview with the question “How did you get into economics?”
My suggestion: the interview with Claudio Borio (Bank of International Settlements), on international imbalances and the responsibility of central banks.
- Odd Lots, presented by Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway
Joe and Tracy cover an eclectic range of topics. Their guests are traders, poker players, academics or market observers. I love the chitchat between the hosts at the beginning and end of each podcast. They make it sound very natural, even though Joe is stationed in New York and Tracy is based in the United Arab Emirates. Odd Lots starts with a very, let’s say, interesting Hawaiian tune.
My suggestion: the episode with Michael Covel1, where they talk about the ‘Turtle traders’.
- Alphachat, (usually) presented by Cardiff Garcia
Alphachat is a podcast of the Financial Times. Cardiff has an in-depth conversation with authors and economists. Alphachat is not limited to economic issues. There are also conversations about cultural and scientific topics.
My suggestion: the interview with sociologist Richard Ocejo about how modern craftsmen like butchers and barbers combine traditional manual skills with people skills.
- Economics Detective Radio, presented by Garrett Petersen
Garrett interviews economists working in a diverse set of fields. Whereas David Beckworth often has senior economists on his show, Garrett gives a forum to junior researchers. Several recent episodes are about economic history. As a Canadian podcast, Economics Detective is the only non-American show2 in my list.
My suggestion: the episode with Anton Howes. Anton is a postdoc who studies the history of (British) innovation before and during the Industrial Revolution.
As I’ve noted before, North America has a much more open culture than Europe. The lack of European podcasts is a further indication of this fact. If you know of any economic podcasts (in Dutch, English, French, or German) I should try out, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter!
Update 24 July, 2017:
I have found some more interesting blogs and podcasts with an international perspective:
- A blog on monetary unions in Africa (which are much older than the Euro area!): The CFA Franc: French Monetary Imperialism in Africa
- Econreporter, a Hong Kong based website, asks macroeconomists “Where is the General Theory of the 21st century?“. The idea is similar to Macro Musings, but with transcripts of the interviews rather than a podcast.
- The little red podcast of Chinoiresie, an site on Chinese affairs (broader than just economics). I learned from episode 11 that most of the current economic elites in China descend from families that were already wealthy before the establishment of the People’s Republic.
===
I don’t have a podcast, but you can read my book: Bankers are people, too. How finance works. If you want to follow Macro Musings but you’re not an economist, my book will get you up to speed!
- Michael also has his own podcast, Trend Following Radio, for which he has interviewed an amazing number of famous guests.
- The FT is based in London, but Cardiff Garcia works in the United States.