You probably already know what the top podcasts are in each domain, so my hope is to give some spotlight to the up-and-comers. (These podcasts may not have started in 2021, but they are new to me this year).

Without further ado:

Best New Tech Podcasts in 2021

• Corecursive - Adam Gordon Bell: really fascinating interviews with tech OG's. Many stories that have never been told. Regularly tops Hacker News. I still have the Apple 2001 episode saved.
• Sourcegraph - Beyang Liu: In depth founder/engineer interviews from the CTO of Sourcegraph, exploring his own personal curiosity. Personal pick: David Cramer of Sentry.
• Stevey's Tech Talk - Steve Yegge: Truth bombs from our industry's best truthteller. Personal pick: Why CEOs crash and burn.
• Podrocket - LogRocket's Brian, Ben, and Kate: Interviews of the frontend ecosystem, including yours truly and yours truly! Personal pick: Kiwicopple of Supabase
• Devtools.fm - Justin Bennett and Andrew Lisowski: Interviews of the frontend ecosystem, including yours truly! Personal pick: Jason Laster of Replay.io

Best New Business/Crypto Podcasts in 2021

• Business Breakdowns by Jesse Pujji: Deeply researched breakdowns of big businesses. Personal pick: Moderna with Jason Kelly.
• The Breakdown with NLW: daily news updates on Crypto.
• Not Boring by Packy McCormick: Technically a newsletter, but still counts because he reads every essay on audio. Personal Pick: Ramp's Double Unicorn Rounds. His personal journey is also inspiring.
• Bankless podcast: entertaining updates on crypto, ETH biased but not maximalist.

Best New Creator/General Podcasts in 2021

• Creator Lab - Bilal Zaidi: Generic Interview Successful People podcast, but well executed. Personal Pick: Polina Marinova and Tim Urban and Rahul Vohra.
• Masters of Community - David Spinks: Truly one of the top 3 best resources on learning to build/manage community on the planet. Personal picks: Jon Levy and Matthew Kobach
• Talking Too Loud - Chris Savage: Great rapport and banter with Sylvie. Personal Pick: Jay Acunzo's picks of them.
• Brains - Courtland Allen and Julian Shapiro: Still new, but great discussions from two of the most thoughtful creators out there, in an interesting 4-player format. Personal pick: Sam Parr and Aella
• Not Overthinking - Abdaal Brothers: Ali Abdaal getting the piss taken out of him by his surprisingly attractive older brother is just amazing.

Context

In 2019 I published the list of podcasts I listen to, and last year I updated it with newer podcasts, so I'm continuing that tradition this year!

The big difference is that I now run a daily mixtape which clips from all the podcasts I listen to, so you get a live "best of" feed from me if you subscribe. I also run my own infrequent YouTube podcast and am a panelist on Svelte Radio.

Good But Dead

I had these podcasts lined up for my end of year lists, but they also died this year so I can't continue to recommend them. However, they have some backlogs worth digging through:

• 3 Clips when it was under Jay Acunzo - really good, inspiration for my own mixtape of podcasts
• Josh Constine's Press Club - had some good early essays on creator economy
• Under the Hood - Robinhood's CEO Vlad Tenev trying to be a podcaster was both awkward and interesting.
• Spotify: A Product Story - Spotify's CRDO telling Spotify's own hagiography was still well told. First episode on Metallica and Sean Parker is great.

Still Good

I love good picks that last! Here are some special highlights and shoutouts from my 2020 picks:

• Clublife: Tiesto is still banging out the hits for free, amazing
• Conan: Conan, Sona and gang are still hilarious and great company. Their recent live show was INCREDIBLE.
• Software Social: Michele has now pulled off a book launch (I liked it) and Colleen now has a job! It has been fun to follow along.
• Writing Excuses: Brandon Sanderson hasn't swung by in forever, but the tips have continued flowing! I liked the episode on Audiobooks and they had some good stuff on MICE and Game/Worldbuilding.