Top Traders Unplugged

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen has spent his career in the systematic and macro trading world, and Top Traders Unplugged is where he brings that professional network to the microphone. The show has been running since 2014 with over 900 episodes and a 4.8-star rating from nearly 600 reviews. Each week, Niels sits down with hedge fund managers, systematic traders, macro economists, and institutional allocators for conversations that go far beyond surface-level market commentary. The format rotates between several recurring series. There is a systematic investing segment focused on trend following and managed futures, a global macro series with regular contributors like Cem Karsan and Alan Dunne, and standalone interviews with some of the biggest names in quantitative and alternative investing. Episodes run about an hour, which gives guests room to actually explain their process rather than rushing through talking points. What makes this show stand apart is the caliber of guests and the depth of conversation. These are not retail investors sharing hot takes. The people on this podcast manage billions of dollars and think about markets in terms of volatility regimes, factor exposures, correlation structures, and tail risk. Niels asks pointed questions and clearly understands the material himself, so the discussions stay technical without becoming impenetrable. If you are interested in how professional traders and allocators actually think — not what they say on financial TV but how they construct portfolios, manage drawdowns, and evaluate strategy — this show is hard to beat. It skews toward systematic and macro approaches rather than stock picking, so it complements traditional value investing podcasts nicely. Fair warning: some episodes assume familiarity with concepts like carry trades, trend signals, and risk parity, so newer investors may want to build some foundation first.