Top 3 Psychology Podcasts Today

07Feb08

Here are the top 3 psychology podcasts available free online, in my opinion.

http://www.shrinkrapradio.com/ and Wise Counsel , both by “Doctor Dave”, David Van Nuys, PH.D.

All In The Mind from Australia with Natasha Mitchell

Some other good ones include: “Freedomain Radio”, “A Better You with Coach Caroline”, Ed Beckham PH.D.’s “Psychology Podcast”, “The Positive Mind with Armand DiMele”, and “The Jung Podcast” (if you like Jung).

Many of these, including my top 3 are interview series, where the podcaster interviews some of the brightest bulbs in the psychology storeroom. Sure, there are plenty of podcasts by individuals which are good (Freedomain Radio, though take it with a grain of salt, and the Jung Podcast to mention 2), but they never compare to the interview series. If you listen to 100 episodes of Shrink Rap Radio, you’ll have at least 100 different perspectives on modern psychological theory and practice, from the top minds in the field.

In my opinion, this is the best way to get a rounded understanding of psychology. Pair these podcasts with a couple courses in learning how to do science, critical thinking, and research methods, and couple that with 2 or 3 internships and you’d be better equipped to do psychology than someone coming out of a masters or PHD program. But I wouldn’t know, because I have not done a Masters or PHD in Psychology.

As someone with training in science and critical thinking already, the podcasts are the perfect extension of knowledge into a relatively new field for me (its not biology or computer science, so its relatively new to me). If you don’t already have a firm grasp of these things, the podcasts will still give you a laymans understanding of the depth and breadth of psychology. A few hours of Wise Counsel and you’ll quickly see that there is a lot of disagreement, politicking, and competition within psychology. Its an ever-changing field. That is important to learn as early as possible in any field of science. Never accept someone saying “This is how it is” about a particular approach to psychology, because there are at least 10 people with differing and equally valuable theories that are not accounted for by such simplistic statements.

I hope the links are useful to someone. I’ve listened to about 30 other psych podcasts, including lecture series from Berkeley and MIT. If you want to recommend one to me, or ask for a review, please post a comment!

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