15 Great Business Podcasts That'll Teach You a Thing or Two

There are more than 2 million podcasts worldwide these days, according to the folks at EarthWeb.com -- and iTunes alone hosts more than 700,000 of them. That's wonderful, since so many of them are interesting and enlightening. But it can be hard to separate signal from noise with so many out there, so here's a handy list of 15 podcasts worth checking out that are focused on the business world.

Learning about businesses can make you a better investor, as you'll have insights into what makes a successful company and how the best businesses started and grew, overcoming challenges.

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NPR's How I Built This offers conversations with those who have built various businesses. Many may be smallish ones you haven't heard of (but end up fascinating you), while others are big businesses now. For example, the Nov. 15, 2021, episode features Brian Armstrong, an entrepreneur who started Coinbase Global -- which is now a major cryptocurrency exchange, recently boasting more than 98 million verified users in more than 100 countries. A fairly well-known episode, from August 2017, featured Joe Gebbia relating how the travel-focused sharing-economy business Airbnb was born.

The Business Casual podcast, brought to you by the folks at Morning Brew, aims to deliver "the unexpected business story behind everything" via "conversations with creators, thinkers, and innovators who can tell you what it all means, and why you should care." Recent episodes bear titles such as "Rethinking Travel, Tourism and a $10 Trillion Industry" and "Who's Actually Calling the Shots in the Beauty Industry."

If you attend a business school, you'll likely cover many case studies in your classes. Cold Call is a podcast from Harvard Business School, featuring discussions of many classic case studies. Episode 171, as an example, is titled "How Etsy Found Its Purpose and Crafted a Turnaround" and features Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati discussing how the online marketplace known for handmade goods turned profitable -- while also minding its social and environmental impact.

ALSO READ: 2 Years Into the Pandemic, Here's How Etsy Has Done

Coming from NPR, Planet Money covers the economy -- and makes it more interesting than you'd expect. Recent episodes bear titles such as "A 12-year-old girl takes on the video game industry" and "The day Russia adopted the free market." The former discusses how many video games let players play free as a male character but charge to play as a female one, and the latter explores how an economic team tried to transform Russia's economy, with unexpected results.

The Masters of Data podcast describes itself this way: "We bring the human to data through conversations with the people using data to revolutionize and improve our world." A recent episode, titled "Today's Methods of Data Security and Erasure," featured WhiteCanyon Software executive Nathan Jones discussing better, more environmentally friendly methods of data erasure other than destroying drives. The business world is more and more reliant on data management, so this is an important topic to stay on top of.

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Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

The Business Wars podcast has a fun premise, taking a close look at various business rivalries in an often entertaining way. (Those who enjoy true crime podcasts may enjoy the style of this one.) Its multi-episode deep dives dig into strategies that succeeded or failed as one company, business, or industry took on another. There are, for example, seven episodes on "Crypto Wars," seven on "eBay vs. PayPal," six on "Tesla vs. Detroit," and eight on "Netflix vs. Blockbuster."

ALSO READ: Investing in Growth Stocks

The Startup podcast is a "documentary series about entrepreneurial life." It's a venerable one, too, launched in 2014, downloaded tens of millions of times, and winning several awards. It appears on multiple lists of recommended podcasts for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. It stopped recording new episodes several years ago, but there remains a wealth of valuable information to mine in its archives.

Here's how the Business Breakdowns podcast describes itself: "Business Breakdowns will dive deep into a single company with investors and operators that know it best. We believe every business has secrets and Breakdowns is here to highlight them." One recent episode, "Afterpay: Buy Now, Pay Later," features global equity and angel investor Joe Magyer discussing "how the 'Buy Now, Pay Later' model compares to traditional credit cards, how Afterpay differentiates itself from peers, and how it is set to benefit from its acquisition by Block."

The Everyday Wealth podcast is hosted by veteran commentators Soledad O'Brien and Jean Chatzky, and though it may be targeted at women, most financial matters apply to anyone. The podcast is focused more on our own personal business rather than the business world, and recent episodes can help you get a handle on topics such as health savings accounts (HSAs), I bonds, IRAs, leverage, and aging.

ALSO READ: Women and Investing: 20 Years of Research and Statistics Summarized

Earning an MBA degree is generally very costly, but The $100 MBA Show podcast is free -- and it offers a wealth of lessons on the business world. The award-winning podcast's archive features hundreds of episodes on topics such as business models, competition, pricing, finance, product development, branding, dealing with failure, and much more. There are many book recommendations and guest speakers, too.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Coming from Bloomberg, the Odd Lots podcast features Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway delving into current business topics, often with business leaders chiming in. Recent episodes bear titles such as "This Is What Sanctions Can Do to the Russian Economy," "This Is What's Next for the Future of Air Travel," "This Is How a Locked-Down Shanghai Apartment Gets Food," and "The 1906 Dredging Law That May Be Holding Back the U.S. Economy."

Motley Fool Money is a podcast produced by us at The Motley Fool, where our goal is "to make the world smarter, happier, and richer." Here's how it's described: "Join host Chris Hill and a team of Motley Fool investment analysts as they cover the day’s top business news and financial headlines, while breaking down the stock market implications for long-term, business-focused investors. Tune in on weekends for the greatest investing classes you never got the chance to take in school and perspectives from special guests helping to shape the future." Recent episodes tackled consolidation in the gaming industry, the metaverse, digital advertising, economic indicators, and the future of farming.

ALSO READ: How to Survive Your First Market Crash

The HBR IdeaCast podcast comes from the Harvard Business Review and at last count had more than 650 episodes in the bank. Hosted by senior editors Alison Beard and Curt Nickisch, it features discussions of current business topics with relevant leaders. Recent episodes include "Let's Redefine the Role of Manager," "How Political Polarization Is Changing Work," "Why Some Companies Thrived During the Pandemic," and "Find Joy in Any Job: How Do I Get My Team to Love Work?"

The Brainy Business is a podcast hosted by Melina Palmer and bills itself as "as a top source for relatable, usable advice for applying behavioral economics in business. There are no boring lectures here -- just a fun, fascinating conversation about the brain and how to better communicate with it." There are more than 200 episodes, and recent ones include "Creating Content People Can't Help but Engage With," "You Have More Influence Than You Think," and "AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics."

ALSO READ: An Introduction to Behavioral Finance

Finally, the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast, hosted by John Lee Dumas, boasts more than 3,000 episodes and more than a million listeners. It can be valuable to entrepreneurs in particular, as it features interviews with successful people offering a wealth of business wisdom. Recent episodes feature titles such as "Tax Strategies Most Entrepreneurs Miss," "Democratizing the World of Real Estate Investing," "How to Crush It with Challenges," "How Serving People First can Lead to Success in Your Business," and "Choose Scary -- That's where magic happens."

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

These are just a small handful of podcasts worth checking out. There are many, many more. If you aren't already a podcast listener, try downloading a podcasting app such as Apple Podcasts, Podcast App, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Podcast Player, Stitcher, Goodpods, or Overcast, where you can search for and find these and many other programs to listen to.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Selena Maranjian has positions in Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Block, Inc., Coinbase Global, Inc., Etsy, Netflix, and PayPal Holdings. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Airbnb, Inc., Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Block, Inc., Coinbase Global, Inc., Etsy, Netflix, PayPal Holdings, Spotify, Tesla, and Twitter. The Motley Fool recommends Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and eBay and recommends the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short July 2022 $57.50 calls on eBay, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.