5 Great Educational Podcasts

by Jennifer Muirhead (subscribe)

Podcasts are a great free source of entertainment you can enjoy while doing other things like exercise, housework or driving. Not only are they fun, but many of them are educational too. These five are just a taste of the infinite topics you can learn about any time, anywhere.


1. Sawbones



Sawbones is a weekly podcast about medicine, hosted by husband and wife team Dr Sydnee McElroy and her husband, Justin on the Maximum Fun Network. Sydnee provides the medical expertise and Justin as a layperson asks questions and messes around. The show is intended to be funny, but it's also educational as it covers strange theories and misguided attempts at cures from history as well as medical issues and hoaxes from the present day. Enjoy, and remember- don't drill a hole in your head!


2. Earth Rangers



Earth Rangers is a Canadian organisation dedicated to encouraging children to become more involved in and informed about conservation. Their new podcast is a great way for kids to learn about animals and their habitats. Presented by Earth Ranger Emma, it's a fun, relatable show pitched at kids aged 6 -12 years of age (though to be honest I also learned some things I didn't know listening to it and I'm 39).


3. The History Chicks



On the History Chicks podcast, hosts Becket Graham and Vollenweider talk about the interesting women in history, who often get overlooked in history books, or whose stories have been glossed over or are incomplete. Past episodes have featured the Italian Baroque painter Artimesia Gentileschi, Mulan (the legendary figure on whom the Disney film was based), Clara Bow, Jane Adams and many others.

The show is friendly and chatty, but the two hosts do make a sincere attempt to research their topics thoroughly and provide show notes with resources to explore further.

4. Revolutions



Revolutions is a history podcast, created by Mike Duncan, host of the popular podcast The History of Rome. In it, he talks about revolutions in history, with each season being dedicated to a different revolution (the English, American, French and Russian revolutions and so on). It's very detailed, especially the season on the French Revolution, which ran to 55 episodes, but it's presented in an easygoing style that makes it easy to keep listening.



5. Download This Show

Download This Show is an ABC podcast, hosted by Marc Fennell, co-anchor of the SBS VICELAND news and current affairs TV show The Feed. It's a weekly show that aims to keep listeners aware of the latest technology news. It covers topics like online privacy, phone number hacking, artificial intelligence and online shopping trends in a friendly, accessible way.

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Why? They're free, fun and educational

When: Any time

Where: Anywhere

Cost: Free