They discuss an algorithm I'm currently working on and some research papers on said algorithms.
If I didn't know about those research papers I now have more knowledge than I had before and can improve more than someone who didn't have said knowledge.
Replace algorithm with framework, design pattern, type of software etc...
It alone doesn't make you better just like reading a boom wouldn't make you a better software developer. Actually absorbing the information and using it to improve would.
The same can be said for every single one of the fields you mentioned.
Sharing knowledge using spoken word is no different from sharing knowledge using any other media.
Podcasts I think are quite superficial. They can only be beneficial if you are critical about what they are saying, but to be critical you need to have already made something yourself. Otherwise you are blindly learning facts like you said.
Does it though?
I don't feel like listening to podcasts is a particularly good way to build software engineering skill.
The same way listening to a podcast about art doesn't make you a better painter nor listening to a podcast about football will make you a better athlete.