The Blogs and Podcasts that I Currently Subscribe To (and Why)
I hope this list will help you find some new blogs and podcasts to follow. If you’ve got the time, I’d love to see a post like this on your blog. Not bullshit shout outs, or niche appropriate recommendations, but an actual look inside your Google reader. I’d also love to receive any personal recommendations you have for me.
I omitted a lot of blogs from this list. Here are the reasons I left blogs out.
Your blog hasn’t been updated in 4 weeks. Sorry to Alan Perlman, David Crandall, Adam Baker, Cody McKibben, et all! What are you guys up to?! :)
I follow you because you are my friend and you write about personal stuff or things unrelated to travel and business.
You write about awesome stuff like sex, gender politics, pure philosophy, smart drugs, or anything remotely naughty. I don’t want to bother offending people. I’ll save that stuff for the DC.
I follow your blog purely because you are a DCer or are in one of my niches.
You tweet so effectively that I haven’t bothered to pick up your RSS feed yet.
I’m on your email list and you aren’t in my reader (hey Laura Roeder and Corbett!)
You write an SEO or tech news blog. I’ve got a folder full of these that rarely get checked anymore.
The order of these blogs is the same order they show up in my Google reader. There isn’t any methodology here as far as I can see.
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Steve Pavlina – Personal Development for Smart People
WHY: The definitive personal development blog on the internet.
Paul Graham – Essays
WHY: Y-Combinator founder is the total package. Paul has few peers as an entrepreneur, investor, and essayist.
READ: “How to Make Wealth”
Ribbonfarm.com – Experiments in Refractored Perception
WHY: Venkat equips you with powerful metaphors for life and business. I often refer to his concepts in business brainstorming sessions. Ribbonfarm was my favorite blog of 2011.
READ: “The Gervais Principle: The Office According to the Office.”
The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss – 4 Hour Work Week Blog
WHY: Keepin’ tabs on the Godfather. Among entrepreneurial types, 4HWW is one of the most underrated books in talk (not in action). 4HWW changed the game forever. Take all the hype and blogsphere BS away, and it stands as one of the top 3 business books of the last 10 years.
Tynan – Life Outside the Box
WHY: Some of the best personal development achives on the web. I’ve been following Tynan’s blog for years.
Corbett Barr
WHY: A thoughtful writer posting about self-improvement and entrepreneurship.
Garaphernalia 6.0 – Gary Arnt’s Personal Blog
WHY: Gary is one of the world’s top travel bloggers. His reflections on blogging are great to read.
Jet Set Citizen – John Bardos
WHY: Interviews with regular people living their dream of world travel and location independence.
Chris Guillebeau – The Art of Non-Conformity
WHY: Chris is traveling to every single country in the world. He can write, too.
Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income Blog
WHY: Pat is setting the web 2.0 marketing standards, and our company uses a lot of his advice. Hell of a guy, too.
Seth’s Blog
WHY: You have to read it, plus it’s really good.
Fluent in 3 Months – Benny Lewis
WHY: This is exactly why I love blogs. Travel around, learn languages, write about it in interesting ways.
READ: “17 Cultural Reasons Why This European Never Wants to Live in America”
Location180 – Sean Ogle
WHY: Sean is a good friend of mine, world traveler, and a great storyteller. (We’ve got some history together…)
Chris Ducker – Virtual Business Lifestyle
WHY: Chris is a great friend, a LEGIT entrepreneur, and knows more about outsourcing in the Philippines than any other human being I’ve met (I lived in the Philippines for 1.5 years).
Salty Droid – “You Can’t Make Money Online”
WHY: Watch an online vigilante take down shady internet marketers and their “frauducts.”
Deano’s Travels
WHY: I’ve met him a couple of times on the road. Great guy and DCer.
READ: “Fighting Pandas – Trying to Get a Site Out of the Grasp of Google’s Panda”
Karol Gajda – Ridiculously Extraordinary
WHY: No BS, guy has chops. I love his auto-responder series. Sign up for it.
Ryan Holiday
WHY: Smart guy, unique perspective, great books.
READ: “Pain”
Viper Chill – Viral Marketing with Glen Allsopp
WHY: One of the leading internet marketing blogs on the webs.
Sebastian Marshall – Strategy, Philosophy, Self-Discipline, Science, Victory.
WHY: My generation’s Steve Pavlina, just fucking crazier (in a good way).
Software By Rob – Rob Walling’s Blog
WHY: Chops galore. Software, entrepreneurship, bootstrapping.
Sovereign Man – Simon Black’s Blog
WHY: Nothing else like it. Internationalization, wealth protection, expat lifestyle, and investing.
Wandering Earl
WHY: One of the web’s best personal travel blogs.
Both Sides of the Table – Mark Suster
WHY: Super sharp entrepreneurial writing from a successful venture capitalist.
Derek Sivers
WHY: Philoso-preneur.
MicoISV on a Shoestring – Kalzemues (Patio11’s Blog)
WHY: One of the best bootstrapping small biz entrepreneur blogs on the web. TONS of great detail.
READ: “Don’t Call Yourself a Programmer, and Other Career Advice”
Nerdy Nomad – Kristi Henderson
WHY: Income reports. Travel. Block and tackle make it happen via online marketing, and years of acrhives. GREAT blog.
Riding the Waves of Personal Development – Srini Rao
WHY: The host of blogger favorite BlogcastFM has his finger on the pulse of the blogosphere.
READ: “5 Ways to Give Yourself an Education that Kicks the Crap Out of the One You Got in School”
ZenHabits – Leo Babauta
WHY: The quintessential blog. I think it’s this blog that taught me how to use Google reader.
Adsense Flippers – Joe and Justin
WHY: One of the most useful internet marketing “make money online” blogs on the internet. AWESOME guys.
Joel Runyon – Blog of Impossible Things
WHY: Joel is my roll dog, or, he would be if we were in the same town.
Ben Casnocha – Entrepreneurship, Books, Current Events, Intellectual Life
WHY: Super smart entrepreneur. Sounds good eh?
READ: “The Effects of Going off the Grid and Exploring Nature”
Mike Michelini’s Personal Blog
WHY: Super cool DCer, get an inside look into the southern China co-working, ecommerce, and manufacturing scenes.
READ: “More Expat Friends Leaving China, It’s Getting Harder to Stay!”
Legal Nomads – Jodi Ettenberg
WHY: Amazing travelogue, great pics, what’s not to love?
READ: On Taking Risks, Long Term Travel and Finding Your Path in Life
Sam Harris
WHY: Smart, smart, smart.
Lifestyle Business Design – John Paul Grant and Matt Canty
WHY: Get a front row seat while two DCers try to build a business empire in Davao, Philippines.
LewisQ.com – Lewis Quartey, TMBA Alum and Ecommerce Consultant
WHY: Lewis writes great articles about life as a freelancer on the road.
READ: “Life’s a Circus”
Live Uncomforably.com – Derek Johanson
WHY: I like this guy. Wish he would write more.
Ryan Goes Abroad
WHY: Word travel, baselining, interwebs. Love it.
READ: “My Medellin Apartment: What You Can Get for $300 a Month”
Study Hacks – Cal Newport
WHY: Talent is overrated, success principles, identifying the keys to hacking academia, art, and the workplace.
Finch Blogs – “Lifestyle Design for Online Entrepreneurs”
WHY: A legit traveling affiliate marketer.
READ: “Monetizing a Blog with Premium Posts : Does it Work?”
Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site
WHY: The original gangsta travel blog.
Ophelia’s Web – Elisa Doucettte
WHY: Copywriting, lifestyle design, TMBAer. We’ll be working on some big projects together in 2012.
On the Spiral – “Exploring the Adjacent Possible”
WHY: A unique take on technology, economics, and behavior.
Niche Pursuits – Specer Haws
WHY: Highly respected make money online guys with detailed information on his site. Chops!
READ: 5 Simple Adsense Layouts That Increase Your Click-Through Rate
Nerd Fitness – Steve Kamb
WHY: Funny, useful, inspiring.
The Bulletproof Executive – Dave Asprey
WHY: Bleeding edge health and brain optimization advice.
Nate Damm
WHY: He walked across America. It’s not quite water, but it’s close.
Mr. Money Mustache
WHY: Extreme frugality and financial definition as a means to wealth. Balla!
Minimum WIFI
WHY: At the top of the page, there is a photo of a laptop, and a palm tree. “Minimum WIFI.” Not much content but I love the idea.
New Rules – Kevin Kelly
WHY: Kevin Kelly wrote my favorite book of the past 2 years, What Technology Wants. This blog drips out one of his older works.
* * *
Podcasts
The Adam Carolla Show
WHY: Funny and insightful, Adam master of improvisation and is taking on Howard Stern’s torch as the world’s best radio host.
LISTEN: “Dr. Bruce“
Start-ups For the Rest of Us
WHY: This show is so hot right now! I love listening to Rob and Mike talk shop. Bootstrapping entrepreneurial goodness.
LISTEN: “TechZing for the Rest of Us”
Foolish Adventure
WHY: Tim Conley has some serious chops in regards to content biznass, social media marketing, and membership sites. I trust what this guys says. (Oh yeah, and he’s really cool)
LISTEN: “Successfully Using the 5 Types of Membership Site Content.”
Internet Business Mastery
WHY: Internet business original gansger podcasters, 6 years and still going strong.
LISTEN: “The Biggest Mistake Every Internet Marketer Makes and How to Avoid It”
This Week in Start-ups
WHY: Chops galore. I love Jason C’s no-bullshit approach and business sensibility.
LISTEN: “Eric Ries of the Lean Start-up”
The Partially Examined Life
WHY: Wow, philosophy presented in a fun and super interesting way.
LISTEN: “Heidegger: What is Being?”
Philosophy Bites
WHY: Philosophy in bite sized chunks.
The Joe Rogan Experience
WHY: Irreverent, hyper honest and open show with great guests.
NPR: Fresh Air
WHY: Fascinating insightful interviews with interesting people.
LISTEN: “The Physics of the Future: How Will We Live in 2100?”
Jet Set Money Show
WHY: Interviews with digital nomad types.
LISTEN: Jet Set Money iTunes Feed…
BlogcastFM
WHY: Bloggers tell their stories.
LISTEN: “Using Virtual Assistants to Help Grow and Monetize Your Blog with Chris Ducker”
Freakanomics Radio
WHY: Counterintuitive takes on our society and the forces underlying it.
This American Life
WHY: Radio at it’s best. Hear fascinating stories from everyday Americans.
LISTEN: “Middle School”
Mixergy
WHY: Interviews with the web’s most successful entrepreneurs.
LISTEN: “How Questioning Basic Assumptions Made StubHub and $310 Million Dollar Company”
What am I missing? Do you have some suggestions for me? I’m looking forward to checking them out.
Cheers,
Dan