Great podcast episode recommendation thread

[Eng12345]

I've been listening to a lot of pods lately here's a few episodes I found particularly interesting

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2025 by Eng12345

[Eng12345]

[winjitsu]

Fun little podcast on the history of Christmas and Santa Claus

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/319-heist-of-st-nicolas-the-medieval-mafia-who/id1639561921?i=1000742327068

 

In short: can thank the Dutch and the Norse God Odin

Edited December 26, 2025 by winjitsu

[Spekulatius]

Handmaiden of the Apocalypse from Dan Carlin (Hardcore history). A really good podcast episode with Annie Jacobsen who wrote a book on this topic.

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dan-carlins-hardcore-history-addendum/id1326393257?i=1000651502148

[Xerxes]

I highly recommend this episode. The guest knows his stuff 

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/war-on-the-rocks/id682478916?i=1000745052060

 

[nwoodman]

Perhaps slightly off topic, but I’ve found this set of videos genuinely insightful from a health perspective. They’re science-based and cut through a lot of the hysteria and noise that surrounds modern health advice,  especially from "influencers".

 

While the videos cover a wide range of topics (with some overlap and repetition), the core message is clear: many health problems are driven by chronic physiological stress rather than single “bad” habits. Dr Alex Wibberly's interest in the subject stems from repeatedly seeing the same patterns recur in real-world clinical settings. What appeals to me is the holistic way he approaches health, rather than searching for silver bullets. The advice consistently focuses on the what and why, before getting to the how.  The take-home is that modern lifestyles keep us in a constant state of threat - poor sleep, irregular eating, stress, alcohol, ultra-processed food, etc. - which disrupts hormones, blood sugar regulation, recovery, and mental health.

 

The encouraging part is that the low-hanging fruit is very simple and compounds over time (every value investor’s friend): regular sleep, real food, enough fibre, daylight, a walk after dinner, and reducing unnecessary stressors. When those basics are in place, the body often starts to regulate itself remarkably well.  They may sound like motherhood statements, but the explanations are grounded, technical, and refreshingly free of hype.

 

While not pre-diabetic, I’ve been doing a bit of personal experimentation with a CGM and was surprised by how small, mundane changes can make a big difference to blood sugar stability. It does make you reflect on how much of the “health industry” is focused on managing symptoms rather than encouraging a handful of simple, low-cost behavioural changes. The comments are also worth reading; they’re mostly thoughtful and measured.  I also like the headline banner on his YouTube splash page: "How not to die" 

 

 

[whiskybravo]

5 hours ago, nwoodman said:

Perhaps slightly off topic, but I’ve found this set of videos genuinely insightful from a health perspective. They’re science-based and cut through a lot of the hysteria and noise that surrounds modern health advice,  especially from "influencers".

 

While the videos cover a wide range of topics (with some overlap and repetition), the core message is clear: many health problems are driven by chronic physiological stress rather than single “bad” habits. Dr Alex Wibberly's interest in the subject stems from repeatedly seeing the same patterns recur in real-world clinical settings. What appeals to me is the holistic way he approaches health, rather than searching for silver bullets. The advice consistently focuses on the what and why, before getting to the how.  The take-home is that modern lifestyles keep us in a constant state of threat - poor sleep, irregular eating, stress, alcohol, ultra-processed food, etc. - which disrupts hormones, blood sugar regulation, recovery, and mental health.

 

The encouraging part is that the low-hanging fruit is very simple and compounds over time (every value investor’s friend): regular sleep, real food, enough fibre, daylight, a walk after dinner, and reducing unnecessary stressors. When those basics are in place, the body often starts to regulate itself remarkably well.  They may sound like motherhood statements, but the explanations are grounded, technical, and refreshingly free of hype.

 

While not pre-diabetic, I’ve been doing a bit of personal experimentation with a CGM and was surprised by how small, mundane changes can make a big difference to blood sugar stability. It does make you reflect on how much of the “health industry” is focused on managing symptoms rather than encouraging a handful of simple, low-cost behavioural changes. The comments are also worth reading; they’re mostly thoughtful and measured.  I also like the headline banner on his YouTube splash page: "How not to die" 

 

 

Thank you @nwoodman  Maybe slightly off topic yes, but addressing your health positively by following these simple common sense measures should be thought of as rule # 1 in one’s life.  With rule #2 don’t forget rule #1.  
 

I have noticed a big change in physician’s approach to this.  My cardiologist makes it a point of importance each visit to address diet, exercise, sleep, etc asking for specifics, not just briefly addressing it in a boilerplate manner.

 

With a little motivation and discipline these changes become a part of your life.  Weight loss, better energy, improved self esteem and most importantly improved health and placing yourself in a better risk category are all achievable.

 

Anybody over 40 should be seriously thinking about all of this.  

[nwoodman]

2 hours ago, whiskybravo said:

Thank you @nwoodman  Maybe slightly off topic yes, but addressing your health positively by following these simple common sense measures should be thought of as rule # 1 in one’s life.  With rule #2 don’t forget rule #1.  
 

I have noticed a big change in physician’s approach to this.  My cardiologist makes it a point of importance each visit to address diet, exercise, sleep, etc asking for specifics, not just briefly addressing it in a boilerplate manner.

 

With a little motivation and discipline these changes become a part of your life.  Weight loss, better energy, improved self esteem and most importantly improved health and placing yourself in a better risk category are all achievable.

 

Anybody over 40 should be seriously thinking about all of this.  

Cheers @whiskybravo,  these are “value investing” no brainers for my money.  I have been fumbling around these concepts for 20-30 years.  This brought it together nicely for me.  You then have relatively low cost tech ($AUD100 for 10 days) available to directly measure lifestyle choices and it is enlightening to say the least.

[Spekulatius]

I posted about Taraban before. He provides some of the best self help advice in particular for men I have seen for free:

 

[formthirteen]

14 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

I posted about Taraban before. He provides some of the best self help advice in particular for men I have seen for free:

 

The guy is calling my late grandma a liar 

 

I prefer to listen to growth boys on Twitter telling me that my stocks are going to moon.

[Pelagic]

Enjoyed this as a contrarian take on electricity markets. If you're short on time skip to around 25:00 in. New solar construction of around 50GW a year is crushing power prices but more interestingly, all of NVIDIA's yearly production equates to around 10GW of demand and could run in Texas 24/7 for all but 40-50 hours per year (likely the handful of coldest days). Cheaper to pay manufacturing or other high electricity users to just take a couple days off on peak demand days than to go crazy building new generation to meet demand levels that only exist for a handful of days a year.
 

 

[Spekulatius]

Again another  other good one from David Giroux:

 

[[email protected]]

23 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

Again another  other good one from David Giroux:

 

yes indeed regarding the vision... but the sound quality... oups... 

[investmd]

https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/richer-wiser-happier/essential-truths-w-howard-marks-nima-shayegh-william-green/

 

All the Richer Wiser Happier podcasts have been v. good. This one stand out. 

 

Themes include: Future is a range of possibilities, Getting comfortable with uncertainties, If you don't have special expertise one likely doesn't have an edge - so stay humble, Understand the numbers but appreciate quality - you know quality when you see it...

[Ulti]

6 hours ago, investmd said:

This one stand out. 

 

Don’t know if you’ve seen or it’s been posted but I enjoyed his talk on risk.

 

 

[investmd]

4 hours ago, Ulti said:

Don’t know if you’ve seen or it’s been posted but I enjoyed his talk on risk.

 

 

Thanks for sharing. Hadn't listened to it previously.  Some takeaways: 

• risk is unquantifiable in advance or in retrospect
• possibility of loss is risk
• possibility of missing opportunities is also an important risk - risk of not taking enough risk
• risk of being forced to sell out at bottom
• as you take on more risk, the range of outcomes increases
• shouldn’t expect to make money just for taking risk and shouldn’t expect to make money without taking risk
• good investors have a superior sense for probability distributions
• do potential returns compensate for the risk in the left tail? 

[Ulti]

https://www.brookfield.com/views-news/perspectives-podcast/offense-or-defense-positioning-portfolios-todays-market
 

just out you might enjoy this