8 Podcasts to Boost Your Business Savvy

Podcasts offer free, entertaining opportunities to supplement your business education outside the classroom through lessons from real-life experiences, thought-provoking perspectives, and the latest news and updates on what’s happening in the business world. Ranging from five minutes to an hour long, podcasts can make any length of spare time constructive, whether on your commute to class, working out, or making dinner.

You can stream and download podcasts from a variety of locations, including the podcast app on your phone or directly through the podcast website.

Here are eight podcasts that business students of all levels and disciplines should listen to:

1. StartUp

This popular podcast gives listeners the inside scoop on what it’s really like to start a business, in a documentary format. The first season of the podcast focuses on StartUp’s parent company, Gimlet Media. Now in season 7, episodes feature entrepreneurs and their stories on building real businesses. Business stories featured in StartUp are diverse, including a coffee roaster using beans grown in an active war zone in Yemen and a socially responsible chocolate company founder who talks about the struggles of balancing entrepreneurship and family.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for StartUp wherever you stream your podcasts.

2. Planet Money

Produced by multimedia news organization and radio program producer NPR, Planet Money is self-described as a show in which you’d say to a friend, “Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.” Planet Money seeks to explain the complexities of world economy in a fun and entertaining way. Taking what can be a daunting topic, Planet Money breaks down economic workings to reveal the processes that shape the market by telling engaging investigative stories that often make you forget you’re basically receiving a finance lesson.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for Planet Money wherever you stream your podcasts.

3. Stoic Meditations

While stoicism isn’t normally thought of as a business practice, the practice of seeing the world as it is and pursuing self-improvement through wisdom, temperance, justice, and courage can be an asset when developing yourself as a business leader. The podcast Stoic Meditations takes a look at quotations from Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers and provides a brief reflection, with each episode lasting no more than three to four minutes. When you’re in the need for a quick motivational boost, Stoic Meditations is the perfect show to leave you feeling inspired.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for Stoic Meditations wherever you stream your podcasts.

4. The $100 MBA Show

The $100 MBA Show is almost exactly what it sounds like, all the information you might expect to get in an expensive MBA program, condensed into free, no- nonsense episodes. From topics like “How to Choose the Perfect Launch Partners” to “How to Stay Focused with Large Projects,” The $100 MBA Show features Omar Zenhom, an experienced educator who shares business lessons he finds most important and brings industry’s top experts on the air to share valuable insights —without promotions or lengthy backstories. The podcast focuses on helping answer real-life questions, featuring Q&As from listeners every Wednesday.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for The $100 MBA Show wherever you stream your podcasts.

5. Brave, Not Perfect

CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani, hosts Brave, Not Perfect, a relatively new podcast that features leaders and change-makers from diverse backgrounds and industries. After running for political office twice, and failing, Suajani was led to launch her organization and found herself enlightened by the idea that perhaps the way to change the world is to show bravery in trying, not in seeking perfection. Brave, Not Perfect shares the stories of others whose belief in bravery over perfection has led to success.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for Brave, Not Perfect wherever you stream your podcasts.

6. 5 Minute Project Management Podcast

In contrast to in-classroom courses that can feel lengthy, Ricardo Vargas’s 5 Minute Project Management Podcast takes topics on project management, career planning, effective team building, and risk management and condenses them into quick, practical episodes lasting merely five minutes. With more than 400 episodes recorded since 2007, there are plenty of titles that are valuable to building leadership skills.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for 5 Minute Project Management Podcast wherever you stream your podcasts.

7. Examining Ethics

Today, ethics is a staple in business education. Business schools are embedding ethics, corporate social responsibility, and responsible management lessons into their curriculum to ensure that their graduates, the world’s future business leaders, are equipped with the tools they need to make responsible decisions. The goal of Examining Ethics is to help listeners use critical thinking to respond to everyday ethical questions. The podcast combines professional interviews and individuals’ personal stories to create discussion about ethics in the world around us.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for Examining Ethics wherever you stream your podcasts.

8. Tiny Leaps, Big Changes

Focused on actions you can take today that result in big changes for you in the future, Tiny Leaps, Big Changes is a self-improvement podcast that can help listeners develop themselves into their best selves. The journey to pursuing your business education is an intense and busy one. While working toward your goal of becoming a successful business leader, the mission to better yourself as a person should continue. Tiny Leaps, Big Changes is a great reminder that everything doesn’t need to be accomplished at once; small changes can lead to big accomplishments.

Subscribe on iTunes or search for Tiny Leaps, Big Changes wherever you stream your podcasts.

Whether you have 15 minutes to eat your lunch or an hour to commute to your internship, podcasts can fill your time with useful and entertaining information. What is your favorite podcast that enhances your business education? Tell us on Twitter: @AACSBschools.