I've been a fan of podcasts for years. It's been great to see podcasts become more mainstream and as a result more in demand in the last year or so.

A good chunk of my subscriptions have for a long time been those that talk about the ins and outs of designing for digital. The rest are a mix of economics, business, music, story-telling and that other big love of mine, food. Being International Women's Day, I thought it was as good an excuse as any to give kudos to some of my favourites that are brought to you by and/or feature interesting women in various fields.

I'm always on the hunt for new podcasts so ping me @cloudsteph if you have any suggestions.

Design

Design Life is a newcomer to my subscription list. I found out about it after tweeting my desire to find more balanced podcasts on the subject.

Wanted: decent design podcast(s) that isn’t all dudes 80% of the time.

— ⌛ Stephie Graphics ⌛ (@cloudsteph) March 2, 2016

Charli and Femke do a great job of addressing the various ins and outs of being a designer from grappling with imposter syndrome to getting new clients. Their humility and lack of Valley-vision is refreshing while and episodes are kept focused and under the 40-minute mark.

Business & The Workplace

The Broad Experience has been one of my favourite podcasts for a couple of years now delivering consistently interesting content and solid advice around the changing face of the modern workforce.

Ashley is a British-born writer and public radio reporter based in New York with a positive and pragmatic outlook. Her reason for starting the show totally clicks with me too:

"We all define success differently, and having a sane, balanced existence is important to a lot of us. But many women are ambitious, yet we don't quite reach our full potential. There are many reasons why. Often they are boiled down to one thing: babies. It's more complicated - and interesting - than that. I wanted to bring some nuance to this topic."

The Distance is a podcast by long-time project management software masters Basecamp. Wailin Wong is reporter and producer on the podcast that gives a nod to businesses who have been around a bit longer than your favourite social network. This alternative focus in a world obsessed with startups is pretty neat and the breadth of businesses covered makes for interesting listening. Episodes are under 20 minutes making for short, sweet and snappy listening.

Food

Gastropod is my most recent foodie subscription. Kind of like Good Eats in its mix of food appreciation, history and science but with two charming lady hosts, Cynthia and Nicola. Really warm and engaging and you're guaranteed to nerd out on the chemistry side of things.

Gravy is the hunger-inducing name for my other favourite foodie show that "shares stories of the changing American South through the foods we eat".

Almost documentary-style story-telling in a way, I usually pop this on while cooking due to the inevitable cravings for whatever is being discussed. Tina is your Peabody-Award-winning co-creator, host and producer – what are you waiting for?

Everything

The Women's Podcast is an Irish Times production that started in 2015. Presented by Kathy Sheridan, the show features a wide range of guests tackling a bunch of issues with particular relevance to women in Ireland today.

The tagline is 'by women, for everyone' so don't be shy, give it a spin!