Like many tech folk I spend a lot of time reading and consuming information online. What consistently surprises me is discovering a new source of news only to find it has been in going for a years and I’m late to the party.
With this post I want to share some of the gems I’ve found and maybe introduce you to some new news sources that are not on your radar. Here goes, this is what I’m currently reading and listening to:
Newsletters 📰
- Exponential View. My favourite read of the week. Azeem Azhar’s succinct and insightful round up of the most important developments in technology, AI and business.
- Benedict’s Newsletter. A smart arse’s smart arse, Benedict Evans delivers a whip sharp take on the week’s tech developments, often through the lens of mobile and VC.
- Inside AI. One of the strongest of the inside.com newsletters. Talla CEO Rob May. provides a round up of the latest happenings in AI and ML.
Podcasts 🎧
- Exponent.fm. My top find for 2018. Ben Thompson of Stratechary and James Allworth of Clay Christensen association consistently create one the best podcasts I’ve listened to. Each show dissects the strategic history and implications of a recent event in the tech news.
- This Week in Startups. I’ve been a listener since episode 1 and this podcast has aged very well. No BS interviews with founders and an occasional news round table.
- A16Z. A dense, VC centric podcast from one of the most influential VCs of the 21st century. Covers a wide range of topics, almost always a good listen. My one gripe is that they seem to edit out all the pauses and speed things up by 10%, making it a hard listen if you’re doing anything else.
- This Week in Tech. The Grand Dame of podcasting. Leo Laporte covers the week’s tech news often with a focus on consumer and soon-to-be mass market products.
- Indie Hackers. Since it’s acquisition by Strip, Indie Hackers has gone from simple blog to media property and community. The podcast is a major part of this and some great interviews with bootstrappers.
- Page 94 (Private Eye). With the UK press is in a truly sorry state, The Eye is one of the few institutions that does vital investigative journalism that exposes the corruption and ineptitude of local and national government.
Blogs 💻
- Stratechery From Ben Thompson of the Exponent podcast, this covers similar themes but in an in depth, written format. Required reading for anyone that wants to understand the evolution of technology, business and work.
- First Round Review Whenever someone mentions content marketing, I always think of FRR. High quality, in depth articles providing great advice for startups.
Aggregators and the web 🕸
- Hacker News. A veritable minefield of information. Like most HN readers, I think I should spend less time there.
- Reddit. One of the few places where you can find high quality conversations between strangers. r/UKPolitics, r/UKPersonalFinance and location based sub-reddits are particularly good.
- Indie Hackers. Why bother get-big-or-die-trying VC backed startup when you could create a indie business that throws of oodles of cash each month? More people are asking that question each day and Indie Hackers is the place to discuss.
- The Guardian. As with most the UK press, this is (at least) 75% tosh but I find it a good way to get an non tech / free market / capitalist take on the world.
- FT.com. I’m not going to lie, I don’t have a subscription and mostly I just read the headlines or do the “Google headline” thing. For reliable journalism about big issues, it can’t be beat.
Print 📄
- The Economist. A hangover from post graduate degree days, I still subscribe to the Economist. There’s a lot to be said for consuming “slow news” on a weekly rhythm over 140 characters of Breaking News multiple times per day.
- Private Eye. Relentlessly exposing cockups, misadventure and all out corruption, The Eye should be given national treasure status.
- FT Weekend. If you can ignore the luxury watch, yacht and premium matchmaking services then the FT Weekend is a great read, a good mix of news, arts and interest pieces.
- Monocle. I think the idea of reading Monocle is more enticing than the actual act of reading it. Despite some light-weight articles it can still provide inspiration around design and quality of life.
Finishing up
So there we go, that’s mostly what I’m reading and listening to at the moment. I’d love to hear your recommendations and favourites in the comments below 👇🏻
Image credit: Roman Kraft