5 Great Podcasts for Social Work Students

The Social Work Podcast
InSocialWork
Show About Race
Podsocs
The League of Awkward Unicorns

The field of social work is growing rapidly, and millions of students are pursuing undergraduate and advanced degrees in social work. From coaching families in interpersonal dynamics to working with clients in domestic violence shelters, social workers serve a wide array of important functions in society.

Social work is a consistently developing field, and subsequently requires ongoing and continuing education in new concepts and methods. From blogs to podcasts, a tremendous array of tools are available to help students develop their understanding of their curriculum. Here are five great podcasts for social work students.

The Social Work Podcast

This popular social work podcast is hosted by Jonathan Singer, a professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago. Presenting a wide variety of concepts in social work including psychotherapy, working with adolescents and children, and tools for assessment, the podcast discusses information relevant to social workers and others in healing professions in an easily accessible fashion, making it one of the most comprehensive academic social work podcasts available.

InSocialWork

Hosted by SUNY Buffalo’s School of Social Work, this podcast is aimed at practitioners of social work, as well as students still pursuing their undergraduate or graduate degrees in social work. The podcast features a variety of experts in the field of social work with every episode, and discusses a broad array of topics, including trauma-focused care, best practices and emerging social work trends, and human and civil rights.

Show About Race

Show About Race is a podcast especially useful for students of social work who want to focus on social justice issues. This accessible and easily-listenable podcast discusses the state of racial relations in the United States, and especially focuses on the usage of language and communication styles surrounding uncomfortable issues relating to race, culture, identity politics, systemic oppression and racism, and the concepts of white privilege and power. The podcast works to present arguments that are not simply shouting matches, but thought-provoking and powerful, to encourage listeners to dig deeper into these issues cognitively while informing themselves about their nature and place in society.

Podsocs

Hosted by the School of Social Work at Griffiths University in Australia, Podsocs is another podcast useful for students intent on addressing social justice issues and international problems. The podcast addresses a number of topics, including education, public health, international policy, gender and racial equality, climate change, and subcultures.

The League of Awkward Unicorns

Dedicated to the discussion of mental and neurological disorders and illnesses, The League of Awkward Unicorns is hosted by Alice Bradley and Deanna Zandt. Intended to be a humorous and yet in-depth discussion of issues faced by those with mental or neurological conditions, the hosts discuss a number of topics, including the public perception of mental illness, social, personal, and professional difficulties that arise from mental illness, and the experience of everyday life as well as traumatic events and their impact on mental condition.

Each of these podcasts addresses a different area of concern within social work – and each can help to inform and enhance the social work student’s area of expertise through graduation and beyond.

5 Great Podcasts for Social Work Students