The Best Educational Podcasts Of 2020–And How To Create Your Own

As listeners and podcast producers, we’re always on the hunt for shows that help us improve in some aspect of our lives. The best educational podcasts fill the void with episodes about entrepreneurship, language learning practice, and even philosophical debates.

When Craig sat down with Kevan Lee from Buffer, he didn’t plan on digging deeper into how Buffer creates their educational podcasts. But after hearing about their unique process and transition into scripted episodes, we had to know more.

This week on Audience, we’re talking about a popular podcast topic and category–educational podcasts. These podcast’s formats take many forms but one thing remains constant. The audience is there to learn something and they need actionable steps to get started.

Listen to our interview with Kevan to find out how Buffer produces their show then read on to discover 10 of the best educational podcasts out there.

Why You Should Consider An Educational Podcast Format

The best educational podcasts tackle a theme or niche topic and analyze it down to its basic points. These shows are popular because podcasts are a great way to learn new skills from experts. They also help audiences access more information about a specific interest that may be too complicated to understand via other mediums.

For example, there is a community interested in learning about how to save and invest for retirement. But it takes time to research and understand complex financial topic from articles around the internet. Instead, people listen to Money For The Rest of Us. The host, David Stein, previously managed billions of dollars and is there to guide his listeners through a variety of financial topics. His goal is to help people become more confident investors and take control of their financial futures.

For individual hosts, like David Stein, educational podcasts offer an opportunity to become an industry authority. He published a book in 2019, curates a weekly newsletter, and speaks at live events due to his podcast’s success. For aspiring podcasters, if you’re interested in educating others about a topic or skill then this podcast format is for you.

In the same vein, brands like Buffer are producing educational podcasts that weave in their products with actionable information. Buffer’s team is an expert on all things social media so they’re able teach listeners about industry best practices and how their tool can help. Brands producing educational podcasts offer more value to their customers, helping them refine a skillset along the way.

What Buffer Learned From Producing A Podcast

We weren’t shocked to hear about Buffer’s transition from an interview-based podcast to a scripted show because their written content is the pinnacle B2B of content marketing. Recording an educational podcast based off their high performing blog content sounded like a no-brainer. But it took some trial and error from them to get there.

The Science of Social Media started as an interview-style show where 3 different hosts would rotate through interviewing industry experts. But they found it was difficult to have a unique perspective in a sea of similar educational podcasts that were speaking with the same people. So they pivoted into talking about “the how” behind trending industry practices so listeners could learn h...