Skip the whole “starting a podcast is easy, all you need is a computer and a mic” pitch. The truth is podcasting is hard and it takes considerable work to create something special. The low barrier of entry intrigue is a double-edged sword, making it harder for good podcasts to get noticed in the incessant wave of new shows coming to market every day.
Fortunately, there are podcast fanatics out there who can help curate the signal from the noise to ultimately recommend the best podcasts. I’ve worked in the DevOps space for awhile now, most notably at AppDynamics and Sumo Logic, and also run Discover Pods–a site about podcasts.
Without further adieu, here are my picks for best DevOps podcasts.
Arrested DevOps
Hosted by Joe Laha, Bridget Kromhout, Matt Stratton, Trever Hess and Jessica Kerr, Arrested DevOps is probably the most complete podcast on this list. With over 130 episodes produced, they’ve found a nice balance between giving actionable advice around key DevOps strategies, team management, tool selection and integration along with having truly interesting guests from all over the world on their podcast.
Episodes typically come out about once a month and hover around 45 minutes.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Software Defined Talk
Software Defined Talk just crossed 200 episodes, making it one of the most accomplished podcasts on this list. Hosted by the always-amusing Cote, Brandon Whichard and Matt Ray, SDT is likely the most entertaining DevOps podcast you’ll listen to as well. They focus on what’s trendy and what has staying power in the greater DevOps landscape, plus go into news and current events.
New episodes are dropped weekly on Fridays and are usually and hour to an hour and a half long. On an unrelated meta note, I appreciate how they share their technical podcast experience with their audience including changing their podcast hosting service and frustrations with some of the major players.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Masters of Data
Hosted by Ben Newton, Masters of Data is almost entirely composed of interviews with industry professionals, authors and more, around the role data plays in their lives. Though the majority of discussions are focused on data within the technology landscape, what separates MoD from others on this list is the diversity. For example, Sarah Guo from the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, talks about how she uses data to make investing decisions. John Visneski from Pokemon talks about how they use data to better ensure privacy. David Shor worked on Obama’s reelection campaign and talks about how data gave them the upper hand.
Episodes are published about once per month.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
DevOps Chat
In full disclosure, this podcast is produced by the fine folks at DevOps.com, however, it most definitely still warrants placement on the list here. By leveraging their standing within the community–and most importantly as an unbiased third-party–DevOps Chat is able to bring guests on from every vendor to provide a glimpse into how they’re tackling major DevOps issues at their company.
Episodes are released frequently, sometimes multiple times per week. They’re usually relatively short and make for a quick listen on a commute.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
The Changelog
Billed as “Conversations with the hackers, leaders and innovators of software development,” and I guess I can’t describe it any more succinctly than that. Hosts Adam Stacoviak and Jerod Santo have a good podcast rapport and produce a weekly show (typically 45 minutes to an hour long). Usually, they’re joined by guest in the greater developer community.
Interview-based podcasts in particular seem to run the gamut of quality. Most outsiders likely think they’re the easiest since you simply need to book a guest and speak into a microphone. However, they require more of the intangibles like interview rapport, research and personality to create a successful show.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Puppet Podcast (Pulling the Strings)
I typically hesitate to recommended branded podcasts of any kind, but Puppet has earned the respect and doesn’t shill in their show. The podcast mostly comprises of industry discussions in automation and config management. Their latest episode discusses the most recent State of DevOps Report and the larger trends they’re seeing in the market exemplified from the survey.
Listen: Apple Podcasts
Azure DevOps Podcast
Hosted by Microsoft MVP, Jeffrey Palermo, the Azure DevOps Podcast is an interview-based shows with both practitioners and execs specializing in .NET and Windows-focused DevOps roles. Though I don’t quite agree with the podcast description using the words “hard-hitting interviews,” Palermo is able to conduct an interesting conversation with his guests as well as provide listeners with actionable strategies on pushing out new features and monitoring them in production.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Honorable Mentions
Some of these are no longer in circulation but many of their episodes are usually around evergreen topics and are–at the very least–entertaining listens on DevOps topics:
- ThoughtWorks
- Continuous Discussions (c9d9)
- DevOps Radio
- Software Defined Interviews
- DevOps Mastery
- Software Engineering Daily
- All Things DevOps
- Real World DevOps
- Nice Work
- The Hanselminutes Podcast
- Greater Than Code
- This Developer’s Life
- DevSecOps Community
There you have it, my favorite DevOps podcasts. They’ll interview your favorite thought leaders, discuss container strategies, CI/CD and more.
