7 Learning and Development Podcasts to Listen to in 2025

HR Industry Insights

8 minutes

October 27, 2025

Written by Yağmur Erge

Work is moving fast, and if you’re in HR or L&D, it can feel like there’s always something new to deal with. New tools keep coming, employee expectations change, and priorities shift.

One of the easiest ways to stay in the loop? Podcasts. They’re free, you can listen anywhere, and they mix fresh ideas with real stories from people actually doing the work.

A few podcasts are standing out this year. Whether it’s to shake up how you think about strategy, get the scoop on learning science, or just grab some fresh inspiration, these shows are worth keeping an ear out for.

Here are seven L&D podcasts to check out this year. ✨

Why Podcasts Matter for HR & L&D Professionals

Podcasts offer several unique advantages for those in HR and L&D 📌:

They enable learning in small increments. On commutes, during breaks, or in between meetings, you can absorb useful ideas without needing a large, uninterrupted block of time.

They bring voices from outside your immediate context. HR and L&D challenges aren’t the same everywhere: different industries, countries, and company sizes all have their own ways of doing things. Podcasts give you a chance to see how others tackle similar problems.

They allow experience sharing. Unlike dry reports or white papers, you can get stories about what worked, what didn’t, experiments people tried, and the lessons they learned along the way.

They help surface new research, tools, and practices. Whether it’s neuroscience, AI, performance measurement, or learning tech, many hosts interview experts working at the cutting edge.

They build community and mindset. Instead of just running training, you start seeing how you can influence culture, support leaders, and make things happen in a bigger way.

Here are seven podcasts to keep an ear on in 2025.

7 Learning and Development Podcasts to Listen to in 2025

1. The Learning & Development Podcast (David James)

David James from 360Learning hosts The Learning & Development Podcast every couple of weeks, and it’s all about the things actually shaping L&D right now.

He pulls from his own experience in big organizations and chats with guests from around the world, sharing insights that feel practical and relatable. Episodes often explore strategy, digital learning, performance, metrics, culture, and organizational effectiveness.

One recent example is where John Helmer (of The Learning Hack) interviews David about the L&D Maturity Model, pushing the conversation from what maturity frameworks are, to how they can be practically used to drive change.

Why it’s worth listening: strong mix of strategic depth, current relevance, and examples. If you want to understand what’s trending in L&D 2025, this one is high on the list.

2. The Learning Hack Podcast (John Helmer)

The Learning Hack, hosted by John Helmer, digs into the future of learning: from new technologies and research to the policies and trends shaping the way we develop people.

Episodes frequently ask hard questions: How will AI change L&D? What are the new levers for transformation? How can we balance scientific rigour with agility? For example, the episode “Will AI Wipe Out L&D?” with Robert Guidi examines both promise and risk.

What makes this podcast particularly valuable in 2025 is its forward-looking stance. If you want to stretch your thinking, see the implications of what is emerging now, and consider how to prepare your function for disruption, The Learning Hack delivers.

3. Learning Uncut (Michelle Ockers + others)

Learning Uncut, led by Michelle Ockers, is one of the most grounded podcasts in the L&D space because of its focus on real stories. Episodes are rich with case studies: what worked, what didn’t, what was learned.

The show covers a wide range: leadership development, instructional design, learning strategies, change management, organisational culture, remote/virtual learning, and more. It doesn’t shy away from budget constraints, resistance, messy real world trade-offs.

Why you should tune in: if you want to take wisdom from peers and avoid repeating common mistakes, Learning Uncutis incredibly useful. It’s pragmatic. It grounds theory in practice.

4. The Mind Tools L&D Podcast (Ross Garner, Ross Dickie, etc.)

Since about 2016, The Mind Tools L&D Podcast has delivered weekly episodes that combine insight, humor, and practical relevance. Hosts Ross Garner, Ross Dickie, Gemma Towersey and others bring in authors, practitioners, researchers, and occasionally, innovators in neighbouring fields.

This podcast doesn’t shy away from things like measuring impact, driving real behavior change, or figuring out how to keep people engaged. It also revisits the challenges we all bump into, like building a lasting learning culture. It never feels too academic or overcomplicated. Even the technical side is broken down in a way that actually makes sense and gives you something practical you can use at work.

That’s why it still feels relevant in 2025. It keeps the ideas fresh, ties research to what’s actually happening in workplaces, and usually leaves you with at least one thing you want to try out.

5. The Business of Learning (Michelle Eggleston Schwartz & Sarah Gallo)

The Business of Learning is run by Training Industry and hosted by Michelle Eggleston Schwartz and Sarah Gallo. The show dives into what’s actually working in corporate training and learning strategy. Episodes cover everything from employee well-being and personalized learning paths to debunking myths like “learning styles”: all while looking at how learning can really tie back to business goals.

In 2025, this podcast is especially helpful for HR and L&D professionals who want to make learning more strategic, and ensure investments in learning deliver clear value. Listening to episodes here can help you question assumptions, refine your learning programs, and make stronger cases for learning as a business lever.

6. Mind the Skills Gap (Stella Collins)

Mind the Skills Gap is hosted by Stella Collins of Stellar Labs. It digs into how to overcome the barrier between “what people know” and “what people do” in the workplace. There’s a strong emphasis on skills transfer, neuroscience, and evidence-based learning practice.

Collins brings in research, interviews practitioners, and unpacks not just the obstacles (e.g. organisational inertia, inconsistent leadership support, measurement issues) but also practical ways to design learning and organisational systems that close the gap.

In 2025, keeping teams’ skills sharp is tricky. New tech, changing roles, and everything moving so fast make it a constant challenge. This podcast helps you think more deeply about designing L&D that actually sticks and influences performance.

7. The HR L&D Podcast (Nick Day)

The HR L&D Podcast, hosted by Nick Day from JGA Recruitment, is all about turning big ideas into things you can actually use. They cover everything from leadership and engagement to inclusion and wellbeing, and how all of it ties into the bigger strategy.

Recent episodes dive into things like building a coaching culture, making workplaces more inclusive, and leading hybrid teams.

If you want to see how HR and L&D can actually work together instead of in separate silos, this one’s worth a listen. The guests usually share frameworks, stories, and practical tips that you can take straight into your own organization.

Tips to Get the Most Out of L&D Podcasts

To squeeze maximum value from these resources, here are some practices to adopt 👇:

Be selective.

Not every episode will be equally relevant. Scan titles, descriptions, recent guest lists. Pick the ones that feel useful for what you’re working on or what you want to learn.

Keep a learning journal.

After listening, you can jot down a couple of ideas you might try, something you want to question in how you do things now, and one topic you want to dig into more. It makes listening feel active instead of just background noise.

Discuss with peers.

Share episodes with colleagues. You could try starting a little podcast discussion group with your HR or L&D team. Just chatting about what you listened to can spark ideas and help figure out what might actually work in your own workplace.

Schedule listening time.

Treat podcast listening like other learning priorities. Maybe on commute, during walks, lunch breaks. Also use playback speed features or note-taking tools to optimize.

Act immediately on at least one idea.

After listening, try implementing something small (pilot, tweak, experiment). Theory is useful, but real insight comes when you test.

Be critical.

Some episodes lean heavily on trends, marketing, or high theory. Ask: Who is speaking? What evidence are they using? Are there counter-examples? What are constraints in your organisation?

Conclusion

In 2025, L&D is no longer just about developing training content. It’s about performance, impact, systems, culture, and continuous improvement. For HR and L&D professionals, podcasts are among the best tools for staying sharp.

The great thing about these podcasts is that they’re not just theory. They mix strategy with real stories and new ideas you might not stumble on otherwise. From AI and neuroscience to hybrid work and skills gaps, they cover the challenges most of us are trying to figure out right now.

You don’t have to listen to everything on this list. Just grab a couple that sound interesting and play an episode while you’re commuting, at the gym, or sipping your morning coffee. You’ll probably pick up a few ideas you actually want to try with your team.

The goal is to make learning something you actually enjoy. Little by little, it can help you think clearer, get more creative, and make a bigger impact in 2025. ⭐️