Podcasts are a great way to pass the time during a long commute, while exercising, cleaning, or any number of everyday activities. Why not use them to enrich your business brain? Podcasts can enhance your professional growth and allow you to consume new business information in a casual setting.

Author Trent Hamm recommends several business podcasts in this article for the OPEN Forum. Among his favorites are:

• Automate My Small Business: Offers advice on techniques for automating specific aspects of small businesses, from routine marketing requests to office management tasks.
• Marketplace: A re-airing of the Marketplace radio program from American Public Media.
• Wall Street Journal: The WSJ offers a variety of daily and weekly podcasts, as well as video podcasts.

The Small Business Trends website also compiles an annual list of the 100 top business podcasts. The winners are grouped into categories such as "Leadership and Management", "Marketing and Sales", and "Tax and Finance". You can browse the entire list of podcasts here.

And each month, Modern Distribution Management (MDM) and the Manufacturers Alliance (MAPI) team up to provide an Economic Update podcast that gives the latest economic information from leading economists.