So you’re just starting to get into podcasts? Well, welcome to the most comprehensive and exciting forum for the ancient arts of storytelling and conversation. Anything that can be put into words or sounds can be made into a podcast. That fact can be both thrilling and overwhelming for newbies, but the team at Podcast App is here to make sure your experience is all thrills. From classic public radio broadcasts to indie one-mic-in-a-garage shows that went viral, this list has a little something for anyone looking to dive deeper into the world of podcasts.
This American Life
There’s not an award in broadcast journalism that This American Life hasn’t won. It’s been on the air since 1995, and despite having already produced over 700 episodes, the team keeps finding more and more interesting stones to uncover. So what’s it about? Well, exactly what it claims: American life, in all its diverse and idiosyncratic splendor. Each week, radio legend Ira Glass and his crew of some of the country’s best journalists unspool a long thread of delightfully weird characters and stories from all walks of American life. If it were fiction, you wouldn’t believe it.
Radiolab
Radiolab’s mission, using investigative journalism to answer deep questions about modern life, is similar to that of This American Life. But in addition to zooming in on bizarre, one-in-a-billion stories, Radiolab also zooms out to a more grandiose, universal perspective. Hosts Jad Abumrad, Lulu Miller, and Latif Nasser keep us guessing with the wildest array of topics from science, law, history, and art to explore and explain our world’s biggest mysteries and quirkiest curiosities. Plus, you can always count on the very best sound and music editing in the business.
99% Invisible
The last titanic radio-show-turned-podcast on our list, 99% Invisible has released more than 430 episodes. It still claims to be a show about architecture and design, but that, as Christopher Borrelli of the Chicago Tribune wrote, “is like saying Moby Dick is a novel about whales.” The real subject of the show is sight. What do you see that another person doesn’t? Was it designed that way, and why? 99% Invisible will have you looking at the world in ways you never would have thought to look. Host Roman Mars is regularly included in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business for his work on the show.
Believe Her
The latest true crime podcast everyone’s talking about is Believe Her, from Lemonada Media. It starts with a statement of the facts: In September 2017, Nikki Addimando, a young mom of two, shot her partner of nine years and was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for murder despite her claims that she was acting in self-defense. Then everything gets turned upside down. Fans of true crime will love the complexity and brutal reality of Addimando’s story, while newcomers will be rapt by the stunning details and characters. The genre has come a long way since Serial.
SmartLess
Although it seems on the surface like a traditional round table interview show, SmartLess, hosted by Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes, is actually a lot more than that. The key wrinkle is that only one of the hosts knows who each show’s guest will be. At the beginning of the episode, they introduce their secret celebrity guest to the other two hosts, and the banter ensues. It’s hilarious, impromptu, and often heart-warming. With the podcast world now saturated with well-written and carefully edited shows, it’s nice to hear an organic, unstructured conversation every once in a while.
Stuff You Should Know
Imagine sitting next to two regular-looking guys at a dinner party. You expect the conversation to putter along, but they turn out to be the most knowledgeable people you’ve ever met, on a dizzying array of subjects. That’s the vibe of Stuff You Should Know, one of the most popular podcasts ever made despite loose (to put it mildly) themes and structure. Your witty surprise dinner guests, Josh and Clark, take you on one adventure after another, through endless caverns of random and fascinating trivia knowledge, from the life of Cleopatra to left-handedness to royalty to fractals.
Super Soul
Like her books, her movies, and pretty much everything she touches, the podcast from talk-show megastar Oprah Winfrey does not disappoint. Oprah’s Super Soul takes on a wide variety of subjects, ultimately getting at what it means to be your best self through a combination of carefully selected interviews and ruminations on life, culture, and spirituality. Every talk is hand-picked by Oprah herself, so you can think of Super Soul as the Best of Oprah Winfrey and her countless inspiring guests.
Revolutions
Sure, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History may have captured the hearts of history buffs worldwide, but Revolutions has captured their minds. If you have any interest in history, you’ll love host Mike Duncan’s sharp, riveting, organized chronicles of the great revolutions that shaped history. They have all the twists and tension of a Hollywood blockbuster without sacrificing the complexity of the political scene and setting. You’ll feel like you’re right there searching for the best path in every situation from Paris in 1789 to Petrograd in 1917. If you’re more into ancient history, Mike Duncan’s History of Rome is fantastic too.
Philosophize This!
Have you been meaning to examine your existence but just don’t have the time? That’s a joke (mostly) but it does capture the tone of this phenomenal introduction to the history of philosophy by Stephen West. Stephen has sorted over two millennia of philosophical ideas into neat, fun, comprehensible episodes and loaded them up with dry humor. His mission is to both brighten your day and make sure you leave each episode knowing a little more than you did before.
Hidden Brain
Beginning as a segment on NPR’s Morning Edition, our editors’ top pick, Hidden Brain, has evolved into its own hour-long show featuring top-tier scientists and superb audio editing. Hidden Brain’s host, Shankar Vedantam, uses cutting-edge science to uncover the psychological patterns lurking in our minds, making us a little smarter and a little freer in the process. The podcast has won numerous awards, including a Webby, a Kavli Science Journalism Award, and an Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Social Media.