We’ve been podcast fans for more than a decade, sharing our recent listens in newsletters, social posts, and even on our own podcast (R.I.P.). Now we’ve collected our best podcast recommendations in one post. Whether you need a bingeable true crime series for a road trip, a concise news show for your commute, or an engaging deep dive to accompany chores — you’ll find picks to fit your mood, topic, and time below.
Our list includes widely celebrated classics alongside more niche favorites that reflect our personal tastes. We’ve aimed for variety across styles and lengths so you can pick something bingeable or just a short, satisfying episode depending on how much time you have.
Our Top Podcast Recommendations
We recommend nearly 50 podcasts and have organized them into categories to make browsing easier. Some shows cross genres, but these groupings should help you find the right fit:
- Must-Listen Podcasts (the classics)
- True Crime Podcasts
- Longform Investigations
- News & Current Events
- Science & Self-Help
- Business & Money
- History
- Interviews & Personal Stories
- Fun & Games
How To Listen To A Podcast
If you’re new to podcasts: they’re audio shows you can play on demand using apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other podcast players. Many podcasts also publish video versions or short clips on social platforms.
Podcasts run the gamut from daily news and interviews to serialized true crime, narrative journalism, and fiction. Formats include single-episode stories, weekly episodes, or limited multi-part series.
We often listen in the car, while cleaning, walking the dog, or working on hands‑on tasks. Most podcasts remain free and are supported by ads or optional bonus subscriptions.
The Must-Listen Podcasts
These shows helped define podcasting and are great starting points if you want to understand why the medium is so compelling. They inspired countless other podcasts and continue to stand out for storytelling and production.
Serial
Season 1 of Serial revisits the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and the conviction of Adnan Syed. Its tight pacing and immersive storytelling made listeners stop and listen the moment new episodes dropped. The first season remains a landmark in narrative podcasting.
Dirty John
Dirty John is a true crime series with a soap‑opera intensity: a wealthy woman falls for a charismatic con man while her family slowly uncovers his past. Its dramatic arc and sharp reporting set a template for many similar shows.
S. Town
S. Town begins like a murder investigation but becomes a nuanced portrait of an eccentric man and his Alabama town. It demonstrates how a story can evolve away from sensationalism into something deeply human and surprising.
Reply All
Reply All billed itself as a “podcast about the Internet” but covered much more: investigations, explainers, and quirky experiments that brought the online world to life. Its mix of humor and curiosity made it unforgettable.
True Crime Podcasts
True crime is one of podcasting’s most bingeable categories. Here are a handful that gripped us from the first episode, each offering a different angle on crime, motive, and justice.
Scamanda
Scamanda examines how a blogger faked a cancer diagnosis and scammed followers and friends out of money. It’s a disturbing look at online influence, trust, and the consequences of deceit.
The Clearing
The Clearing follows a woman who believes her father may be responsible for a decades‑old double murder. Across its episodes, she uncovers links to other cold cases and confronts painful family truths.
Camp Swamp Road
This short series examines a road rage incident that tested South Carolina’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, using original audio and careful reporting to question who was truly at fault.
Southern Nightmare
Set in Richmond, Virginia, Southern Nightmare revisits the “South Side Strangler” cases and the early use of forensic DNA profiling, shedding light on an important chapter in criminal investigation history.
Cold
Cold’s first season investigates the disappearance of a Utah mother. The unresolved elements make it a compelling but frustrating listen that lingers after the final episode.
Valley of Shadows
This series explores the mysterious disappearance of a police deputy in the California desert, probing potential corruption, cover‑ups, and ties to local criminal activity.
Criminal
Criminal is an ongoing anthology: each episode tells a different crime story, not always murder. Its shorter, self‑contained episodes are perfect when you want a complete story in under an hour.
Longform Investigation Podcasts
Multi-episode investigative series are our favorite for deep reporting that unfolds over several episodes. They’re great when you want to binge a thorough, well-researched story about a person, institution, or issue.
The Dropout
The Dropout traces the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, showing how charisma and deception can create a massive, dangerous illusion. It’s a compact, engrossing series.
The Good Whale
The Good Whale follows the story of Keiko, the orca from Free Willy, and the complex, often heartbreaking efforts to return a captive whale to the wild. It’s an emotional look at human responsibility toward animals and conservation.
Missing Richard Simmons
This investigation explores why fitness personality Richard Simmons suddenly retreated from public life, examining fan devotion and the line between privacy and concern.
Embedded
Embedded offers short investigative series on a wide range of topics, making it an ideal middle ground between daily news and longform reporting. Episodes often illuminate lesser-known social issues or current events.
The Retrievals
The Retrievals examines alarming practices at a fertility clinic, highlighting painful patient experiences and institutional dismissals that raise broader questions about medical care and accountability.
This Blew Up
This Blew Up looks behind the scenes at Gen Z content houses and viral fame, offering a candid, sometimes cringey view of internet stardom and its effects on young creators.
News & Current Event Podcasts
For regular news updates and thoughtful explainers, these daily and weekly shows are our go-tos for staying informed during mornings, walks, or quick breaks.
Up First
Up First condenses top stories into about 15 minutes each weekday, giving clear, concise context to start your day without information overload.
The Daily
The Daily provides a roughly 30‑minute deep dive into one major news story, with interviews and expert analysis that add nuance beyond headline coverage.
Consider This
Consider This offers short afternoon episodes that break down a headline in under 10 minutes — a handy update for busy afternoons and school runs.
Today, Explained
Vox’s daily explainer mixes politics, culture, and viral trends with a conversational tone that makes complex topics approachable and often entertaining.
Science & Self Help Podcasts
If you like learning in bite-sized, well-produced episodes, these science and self-help shows balance curiosity, research, and approachable hosts.
Science Versus
Science Vs tackles trending claims and debates, sifting through studies to separate what’s supported by evidence from what’s hype.
Maintenance Phase
Maintenance Phase debunks wellness and diet myths with science and cultural critique, offering laughs along the way and a healthier perspective on fads.
Life Kit
Life Kit delivers practical advice and life skills in 15–30 minute episodes — everything from finances and cooking tips to stress management and everyday health topics.
TED Radio Hour / TED Talks Daily
If you enjoy TED Talks, these feeds deliver expert ideas: one unedited short talk daily, and a longer themed compilation that explores ideas from multiple speakers.
Ologies
Ologies interviews specialists in quirky and unexpected fields, transforming obscure topics into fascinating conversations you didn’t know you needed.
Wow In The World
A science show for kids, Wow In The World uses playful storytelling, characters, and listener calls to make science engaging for younger listeners and families.
Business & Money Podcasts
These shows demystify markets, companies, and personal finance with storytelling and accessible explanations that make business topics surprisingly fun.
The Economics of Everyday Things
Short, focused episodes that reveal the surprising economics behind everyday items and industries you might not think deeply about.
How I Built This
Founders tell origin stories of well-known brands, sharing early struggles and insights that make entrepreneurship feel real and instructive.
The Journal
A daily podcast with a business slant, The Journal explores how economic forces shape current events and individual lives.
Planet Money
Planet Money explains how the economy affects everyday life through experiments, interviews, and clever reporting.
What We Spend
A voyeuristic look at individual finances where guests walk through income, expenses, and the realities behind their budgets.
Money For Couples
Couples discuss their financial struggles and receive practical, direct advice — part personal finance, part relationship counseling.
History Podcasts
These history shows bring the past to life with narrative storytelling, fresh perspectives, and context that connects history to the present.
Slow Burn
Slow Burn revisits pivotal moments — Watergate, impeachment, and other cultural flashpoints — with richly reported seasons that illuminate what we thought we already knew.
Revisionist History
Malcolm Gladwell reexamines overlooked or misunderstood stories, drawing unexpected insights from cultural history and modern life.
Dolly Parton’s America
Part biography, part cultural reflection, this series explores Dolly Parton’s life and the wider social themes she touches: class, fame, and artistic resilience.
1619
An extension of a major journalistic project, this immersive podcast examines how slavery shaped American institutions and continues to influence the present.
The Preamble
Hosted by a government educator, The Preamble offers interviews and deep dives into historical and civic topics that help make contemporary politics clearer.
Decoder Ring
Decoder Ring investigates pop culture mysteries and nostalgia — explaining why certain phenomena mattered and what they reveal about their time.
Sleepy History
A gentle, slow narration of historical stories designed to calm the mind and help listeners fall asleep while still learning something along the way.
Interviews & Personal Story Podcasts
Interview shows and personal-story formats vary widely, but these hosts consistently deliver warmth, insight, and memorable conversations.
Good Hang With Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler’s relaxed interviews feel like friendly conversations that are funny, kind, and enjoyable to listen to.
Heavyweight
A host helps guests revisit unresolved moments from their past, producing emotional, often hilarious, and always human stories.
Wild Card With Rachel Martin
Guests answer questions selected at random from a deck of cards, which often leads to candid, surprising, and revealing moments.
A Beautiful Mess Podcast
Hosted by creative sisters, this show blends crafting, home projects, personal stories, and practical tips — it feels like hanging out with friends who are also great at making things.
Fun & Games Podcasts
When you want something light, silly, or laugh-out-loud funny, these shows are our go-tos. They range from live game shows to kids’ storytelling and family-friendly comedy.
Ask Me Another
A live-recorded game show full of trivia, wordplay, and celebrity guests — entertaining to listen to and fun to play along with at home.
Grown Ups Read Things They Wrote As Kids
Recorded live, this series features adults reading their childhood writings — painfully funny and oddly relatable.
Laugh Lines
Hosts discuss parenting, marriage, aging, and life with humor and candor, balancing sincere conversations with lighthearted moments.
Story Pirates
A brilliant kids’ show that adapts stories written by children into sketches and songs — imaginative, funny, and heartwarming for families.
Last But Not Least…
We officially retired our own podcast a few years ago, but nearly 200 episodes remain available on major platforms. If you want renovation stories, downsizing tips, life hacks, and interviews with design and organizing experts, there’s a deep archive to explore.
Ah, back in the day when my beard wasn’t gray…