In your downtime before and after the office, expand your mind by listening to podcasts. From technology, to science and current affairs, WIRED picks its favourite podcasts right now.
Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics fame has launched a new podcast, Tell Me Something I Don't Know. Sort of like a games show, the live audience says something they don't know and a panel of celebrities and experts interrogate the guest presenter about the "IDK". If you live in Manhattan, New York, you can attend the live tapings of the show and see how it all works.
Freakonomics
Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People
Every week, comedian Chris Gethard opens the phone line to one anonymous caller and he can't hang up first, no matter what the subject is. This is Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, full of shocking confessions and philosophical discussions. A recent episode saw Gethard talking about the current state of policing in the US with a small town police officer.The Skylines Podcast
Every two weeks, Jonn Elledge, Stephanie Boland and guests talk about the politics and workings of major cities, and test the contention that maps are a great topic for radio. The Skylines Podcast tackles everything from Psychosomatic Diarrhoea, Belgian boy scouts and the weirdest transport systems around.Available on iTunes
Sound Matters
Sound Matters is a series of podcasts looking at – and listening to – the sounds of the world around us. It looks at how we listen to sounds, the stories we tell about them, and the ideas, inventions, discoveries, possibilities and ideas around sound. The podcast is written and produced by Tim Hinman, with B&O PLAY and previous episodes have discussed how sound affects memory and zombie music.Available on Soundcloud and iTunes
The Anthill
The Anthill is a new podcast from The Conversation and seeks to unearth the most interesting research from the world of academia. Each episode revolves around a different theme, from time, to the success of underdogs and the power of a reboot.Available on iTunes
The Secret History of Hollywood
Created by a chef in his spare time, Adam Roche’s The Secret History of Hollywood is a podcast that looks at just that. Each show revolves around a topic of Roche’s choosing, such as the McCarthyism "witch trials" after World War 2, and they are often longer than a usual podcast episode due to the sheer amount of detail Roche includes. However, the length is not a bad thing and merely allows the listener to become absorbed in the golden age of movie history.Available on iTunes
UKTV
A Stab in the Dark
UKTV has launched a new, six-part podcast series called A Stab in the Dark. Hosted by the award-winning crime novelist Mark Billingham, the podcast looks into the worlds of crime fiction and TV crime drama and will see Billingham joined by different guests from the genre.Available on Acast and iTunes
Wittertainment
An absolute must for budding film fans and critics, Wittertainment sees Mark Kermode join Simon Mayo every Friday to give his verdict on the week's movies. The pair is also regularly joined by actors and directors and recent guests have included Ron Howard, Gemma Arterton and Renee Zellwegger.Available on iTunes, Google Play Music and Windows Phone
TED Radio Hour
Don’t have the time to watch all those TEDx talks your friends keep sending you? Listen to them instead with the TED Radio Hour from NPR, presented by Guy Raz. Recent episodes include exploring how Big Data will reshape the world and why we lie.Available on iTunes, Google Play Music and Stitcher
Criminal