4 podcasts every STEM student should listen to

04 May 2020

Many students, especially those who’d rather learn through soundbites than Zoom sessions, are plugging into science podcasts.

If you’re currently confined to your halls or dorms due to campus lockdowns, then you’re probably searching for ways to stay motivated with your studies. And if you’re an auditory learner, rather than a visual learner, being glued to your laptop screen probably isn’t working out for you much either.

Good news then that these science podcasts — or more specifically, one for each of the STEM subjects — are here to help you take a break from the screen in a productive but still entertaining way:

Science: 60-Second Science

Take your STEM learning out of the lab with these podcasts. Source: Tony Karumba/AFP

As you probably would have guessed, 60-Second Science podcasts by the Scientific American magazine are quick snippets of information about significant real-world challenges.

Every weekday, you can tune in for reports and commentaries on the world of science, and listen to a recent podcast such as “Jane Goodall: We can learn from this pandemic,” “What’s a Narwhal’s tusk for?” and “Lung cancer screening could be easy pee-sy”.

And because they’re short and fact-driven, you can easily fit them around your study breaks or listen to them before you start your day of online lectures.

So if you have a few minutes to spare, why not listen to a few soundbites from 60-Second Science?

Technology: Mind & Machine

Are you missing your campus delivery bots? Source: Nicholas Kamm/AFP

Mind & Machine is a weekly interview show that’s hosted by August Bradley, a technology coach, consultant and speaker on frontier-tech and its impact.

August and his podcasts present you with a range of one-on-one question sessions with people at the forefront of transformational technologies and scientific research.

These interviewees hail from diverse fields such as neuroscience, computer science, psychology, bio-tech, augmented reality, as well as nutrition and fitness.

So if you want to spend some time productively, connect your mind to the audio machine and tune in on how August’s latest tech trends to your STEM studies.

Engineering: Soft Skills Engineering

Add to your engineering expertise with a few informative podcasts. Source: Sven Nackstrand/AFP

The duo behind the Soft Skills Engineering podcast is software developer Dave Smith and “code whisperer” Jamison Dance.

With many free podcasts to share, Dave and Jamison help to bring out the soft skills of engineers by discussing numerous topics such as how to get promoted and how to work in a team.

This is also quite a personable podcast as you can write in and ask a question for Jamison and Dave to discuss on their shows.

For instance, the duo recently answered this question in their podcast: “My whole team recently transitioned to working from home. How do I handle this?”

So if you need some remote working tips while studying your engineering course, tune in!

Maths: My favourite theorem

Missing your maths lessons? Source: Thierry Zoccolan / AFP

University of Florida professor and mathematician Kevin Knudson and freelance math and science writer in Salt Lake City Evelyn Lamb have produced a podcast named My Favourite Theorem.

In each episode, you’ll hear Knudson and Lamb talking with a mathematics professional about their favorite mathematical result.

And to give the podcast an engaging edge, guests are asked to pair their favorite theorem with something else, such as a dessert recommendation.

Therefore, in episode 44 with Jim Propp, a mathematician at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, a theorem was paired with a potato chip.

“I think potato chips sort of bridge the gap between continuous mathematics and discrete mathematics (…) the potato chip as an icon of continuous mathematics comes by way of Stokes’ theorem,” says Jim.

So if you want a tasty way to sum up mathematical theorems, you know where to go!