Five Best Business Podcasts Of 2024

 Business podcasts may encompass one genre, but they have numerous tendrils that branch out into investing, economics, business competitiveness, entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, and leadership.

 As I've mentioned before, Ear Worthy uses a panel of people from around the U.S., from Texas to California, New Jersey to Oregon, and Alabama to New Hampshire. Also, we do not choose the low-hanging fruit of podcasts with high visibility because of marketing by their podcast network. Just because a podcast has thousands of downloads does not make it a quality, ear-worthy show.

 In no particular order, here are Ear Worthy's Five Best Business Podcasts of 2024.

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 Surfing Corporate

 What happens when two highly successful corporate executives decide to jointly tackle a monumental challenge? You get two highly talented and motivated people who have worked hard and smart their whole lives, diving headfirst into a confrontation with reality. Thankfully for listeners, the score ended up Aileen & Glenda 1 -- Reality 0.

These two former Senior VPs wanted to start and sustain an independent podcast about managing life in a corporate environment.

In September 2021, Aileen Merciel and Glenda Pacanins started the Surfing Corporate podcast. 

The podcast's elevator pitch is: "Hosted by Aileen Merciel and Glenda Pacanins, former media executives who have experienced first-hand what really goes on behind fancy corporate doors (and have a slightly evil sense of humor), this podcast aims to entertain as well as provide practical advice to employees who are currently navigating turbulent corporate waters."

The show lives up to its promise. It's engaging, has a sense of humor, describes the incongruities of corporate life, and offers solutions. 

More than 50 percent of U.S. employees are immersed in a corporate environment. Surfing Corporate can help listeners understand that unique environment and then learn how to navigate those waters.

Must-listen episodes include the two-parter about working at Amazon, can we talk politics in the workplace, and Corporate horror stories.

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 Freakonomics

 Freakonomics began as a book, which led to a blog, a documentary film, more books, and in 2010, a podcast called Freakonomics Radio.

Hosted by Stephen J. Dubner, it has become and remains one of the most popular podcasts in the world, with a reputation for storytelling that is both rigorous and entertaining.

The podcast's sub-title is: The hidden side of everything. That's the podcast's radioactivity. The show explores things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do). Some of our their popular episodes are about the economics of sleep and how to become great at just about anything, plus the true stories of rent control, minimum wage, and the gender pay gap.

Freakonomics offers listeners intelligent, thoughtful, and informative content designed to challenge your confirmation bias. 

Some of the year's best episodes challenged people's knowledge of our immigration system. Spoiler alert: people know little about the much-maligned system. A two-parter about NFL diversity hires and a multi-episode series on legalized weed.

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Slate Money

Slate Money is advertised as a  weekly roundup of the most important stories from the worlds of business, and finance, hosted by Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers. In every episode, the co-hosts cover three topics and the show with a numbers round in which each co-host throws out a number and gives it context.

The show is ten years old and still going strong. Listening to Felix Salmon talk money, business, and economics is like listening to a wine snob blabber on about wine bouquets. It's simply glorious.

Episodes to listen to this year include Mountain Dew soda, McDonald's fast food price war, and the rich people restaurant reservation crisis.

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Business Wars

Wondery advertises Business Wars like so:  In the cutthroat world of business, there’s only one rule: winner takes all. The richest companies in the world don’t get that way by playing nice."

Host David Brown hosts "let's get ready to rumble" corporate battles for dominance via re-enactments and narrative excellence.  

Each corporate slugfest usually lasts through four or five episodes. The podcast takes its time building drama and sketching villians and even some good guys.

This year, the best corporate fights included the cruise ship wars, Fox News versus CNN, and the non-meat wars between Impossible and Beyond Burger.

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Planet Money

Planet Money has been around since 2008 when it was created by Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson. Since then, there have been numerous cast changes, but the NPR-ness of the show remains constant.

The show's original DNA is still there. "Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic, and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world."

This year's topics linked to the economy are why do hospitals run out of generic drugs, those annoying lawyer ads, home title pirates, and even the history of light.

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 Honorable Mention: How To Leverage Your Podcast, Bippity Boppity Business, How I Built This, Bloomberg Businessweek, Young And Profiting