The L&D Podcast Playlist

There’s no shortage of L&D content. The hard part is finding voices that sharpen your thinking instead of adding more noise.

We curated 10 podcasts and grouped them by responsibilities, because what you need to hear depends on what you’re accountable for right now. Think of these podcasts as conversation partners: they’ll challenge assumptions, give you language for stakeholder conversations, and surface ideas you can test in the flow of work.

We’re not aiming for exhaustive. These are the shows we’ve found worth revisiting and sharing with colleagues.

Learning experience design

If you design learning experiences, these podcasts will help you build learning that sticks and transfers to real work.

1. The eLearning Coach Podcast (Connie Malamed)

Best for: instructional designers, learning experience designers, and anyone improving their craft

• Why listen: Conversations grounded in real design decisions—how to apply learning science, what trade-offs to make, and what “good” looks like in practice
• Start here: Choose an episode tied to what you’re building right now (assessment, behavior change, visual design, learning analytics)
• Try this at work: After one episode, write a “design rule” you’ll test this week (e.g., more retrieval, fewer objectives, clearer practice), then update one module to reflect it
• Worth debating: Most ideas need translating into your constraints (time, tools, SME input, localization)

2. eLearning Unscripted (eLearning Industry)

Best for: L&D practitioners working across strategy, culture, and execution

• Why listen: Practitioner-led discussions that connect learning initiatives to adoption, stakeholder expectations, and measurable outcomes
• Start here: Episodes on measurement, maturity, or aligning L&D with business performance
• Try this at work: Turn one idea into a question you’ll use in your next stakeholder conversation
• Worth debating: Trends aren’t strategies—use them as input, then test against your org’s performance goals

Program architecture

If you own onboarding, academies, or role readiness, these podcasts will help you design the full journey and make it land at scale.

3. The Learning & Development Podcast (David James, 360Learning)

Best for: program owners, L&D leads, and teams building capability across functions

• Why listen: Wide-ranging conversations on what’s changing in L&D and how leading teams design programs that scale
• Start here: Episodes on onboarding, skills, leadership development, and performance-driven L&D
• Try this at work: After one episode, add one “program constraint” to your design (manager involvement, reinforcement rhythm, localization plan)
• Worth debating: What works in one operating model may not map cleanly to yours; borrow the structure, then adapt the mechanics

4. Mindtools L&D Podcast (Mindtools)

Best for: L&D generalists and leaders balancing delivery, stakeholder management, and team development

• Why listen: Thoughtful debate on workplace learning, performance, and the real trade-offs teams face
• Start here: Episodes on evidence-based practice, needs analysis, and capability building under constraint
• Try this at work: Take one debated idea and turn it into a decision rule for your team (what you’ll start doing, stop doing, and measure)
• Worth debating: It’s easy to nod along; the value comes when you force choices and change your operating cadence

Strategy and operations

If you lead L&D strategy or learning operations, these podcasts will help you prioritize in the noise, build governance that scales, and show impact in business terms.

5. The Learning Hack (John Helmer)

Best for: L&D leaders, learning tech stakeholders, and anyone tracking what’s changing in learning and AI

• Why listen: Critical, forward-looking conversations that help you separate signal from noise in learning tech
• Start here: Episodes on AI in learning, learning platforms, and what organizations should actually expect from tech
• Try this at work: After one episode, write a one-page “position” for your stakeholders: what you believe, what you’re testing, and what you’re not doing (and why)
• Worth debating: Tech discussions can over-index on possibility; keep pulling the conversation back to adoption and performance

6. The Digital Adoption Show (Whatfix)

Best for: L&D ops, enablement, transformation teams, and anyone responsible for tool adoption

• Why listen: Practical perspectives on adoption, enablement, and how change actually sticks in complex organizations
• Start here: Episodes on measuring adoption, supporting managers, and building habits in the flow of work
• Try this at work: Pick one workflow and add a single adoption lever alongside training (in-product prompt, checklist, manager script, office hours)
• Worth debating: Adoption isn’t an L&D-only problem; it works best when ops, IT, and business owners share ownership

Learning technology

If you work on L&D innovation, these podcasts will help you stay current on tools, media, and shifting expectations around learning.

7. The EdTech Podcast (Sophie Bailey)

Best for: learning leaders and learning tech practitioners watching the broader education and workplace learning ecosystem

• Why listen: Wide-angle conversations on technology, pedagogy, innovation, and the systems around learning
• Start here: Episodes on AI, digital learning design, and the future of education and workplace capability
• Try this at work: Use one episode to stress-test your roadmap: what assumptions are you making about learners, managers, and delivery constraints?
• Worth debating: “Innovation” can become theater; keep asking what will measurably change performance or reduce friction

8. Video Learning Lab (Synthesia, archive)

Best for: teams using video for L&D, enablement, internal comms, and scalable knowledge transfer

• Why listen: Practical conversations about making video learning more effective and more repeatable
• Start here: Episodes on instructional design, explainers, accessibility, and producing learning video under constraints
• Try this at work: Take one idea and apply it to a single video: tighten the outcome, reduce cognitive load, add one practice or “do this now” prompt
• Worth debating: Video isn’t automatically better; it works when designed for the medium (scenes, pacing, clarity), not as a format swap

Creative cross-training

If you want sharper storytelling and clearer communication, these podcasts are worth the detour.

9. 99% Invisible (Roman Mars)

Best for: L&D teams who want better storytelling, structure, and attention design

• Why listen: World-class narrative craft focused on design decisions people usually overlook
• Start here: Pick an episode that mirrors your learning problem (systems, behavior, environments, communication)
• Try this at work: Rewrite one lesson intro to start with a concrete story or tension before explaining the concept
• Worth debating: Great stories can still fail at transfer; pair narrative with practice and reinforcement

10. Twenty Thousand Hertz (Dallas Taylor)

Best for: anyone designing multimedia learning who wants stronger production instincts (sound, pacing, structure)

• Why listen: A masterclass in how sound and story shape attention and meaning
• Start here: Choose an episode about a familiar sound or system and notice how the story is built scene by scene
• Try this at work: Audit one learning video for pacing: remove one unnecessary sentence per scene and add one intentional pause before key information
• Worth debating: High polish doesn’t equal effective learning; production should support clarity, not overwhelm it

🎧 One last suggestion: expand your playlist beyond L&D.  Some of the most useful ideas for L&D come from outside the function. Add podcasts about your industry and AI to your rotation. Industry shows keep you close to the pressures leaders are responding to.

AI shows help you track how work is changing, so your learning strategy stays relevant. If you want a more structured view of how teams are actually using AI in L&D right now, see our AI in L&D report.

A sample listening stack:

• 1 L&D podcast for craft and operating practice
• 1 industry podcast to stay close to business context
• 1 AI podcast to understand what’s shifting in roles and workflows

After each episode, write down one implication for capability, communication, or adoption in your organization.