30 Podcast Suggestions
April 28, 2021I can’t remember when exactly I started listening to podcasts, or which podcast got me deep in this rabbit hole of audio entertainment, but I know I haven’t stopped ever since I started. I’m one of those people who is likely to start a conversation with “I was listening to a podcast the other day…”, followed by a random fact or psychological thought experiment that often takes more time to explain the context and even more energy for the other party to process the information than necessary. Nevertheless, I love listening to strangers have interesting discussions! Here are some podcasts I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed. Some are still on my current rotation of podcasts! The list of 30 podcast suggestions is organized alphabetically, with each attributed to a category I felt to be most appropriate.
Creativity
- History and stories about architecture and design, Roman Mars started Radiotopia network for independent podcasters, there’s a lot of great podcasts mentioned here from the same network
- Beautifully produced series on the history of fashion from 99% Invisible, each episode links and builds on the other, it is recommended to listen to the 2 mini-series chronologically
- A fun and energetic podcast by illustrator Andy J. Pizza on how to cultivate a thriving, sustainable and creative practice
- The Futur is also a Youtube channel with a vow to teach 1 billion creatives how to run their creative business and make money, each episode is an interview with someone in the industry. Chris is a phenomenal interviewer, & lots of wisdom can be extracted from both the podcast and Youtube
Educational
- 10/10 recommend this is a must-listen in my opinion, American-centric discussions and interviews on politics and race
- Important stories from the perspectives of incarcerated people in San Quentin, California
- Co-hosts Earlonne was released after 21 years of incarceration!
- Part of Radiotopia
- Topics in science that lead to wonder for the curious minds, beautiful sound-mixing
- Hosted by Malcom Gladwell about the little-known or overlooked stories in history
- Hosted by author Stephen Dubner and research psychologist Angela Duckworth where they discuss questions that listeners submit
- Two hosts Chunk and Josh explain about different science and history related subject matter with lots of banter and tangents, some are a miss for me but when it’s a hit it’s really funny and chill!
- I also went to their live show in 2019 and they’re as charismatic and hilarious in person as they are in my earphones
- They have a really dedicated community on Facebook who facilitates Secret Santa Gift Exchanges between listeners every year
Internet/ Media/ Culture
- 10/10 recommend this is also a must-listen!! I didn’t know anything about Selena (not Gomez) and this really opened my eyes to her influence in pop culture and what we know about society today today
- A podcast about the importance of friendships! Not in the superficial, inferior-to-romance way but in a deep connection I-love-you-like-I-love-my-family way
- They sometimes interview successful and influential
- I’d say this is a good mash-up between The Cut and Reply All in that it questions the significance of cultural impact on the world today
- Episodes based on stories, mysteries, discussions, ideas, and relationships from Reddit
- Recently aired a special 5 part-series about mind control experiments called “Madness”, victims are still demanding justice today
- A podcast with lots of banter between two hosts that investigates niche tech-y internet mysteries
- Proceed with your own comfort as stories about Gimlet’s own work environment was revealed in early 2021, after Reply All aired a mini-series on Bon Appetit, a summary of timeline can be viewed here
- A weekly audio podcast that explores culture, fashion, politics and more. I only started listening to this because Avery Trufelman, the host of Articles of Interests from 99% Invisible moved there, fantastic storytelling as usual
- Same hosts as Reply All (proceed with caution due to recent controversy), where one asks the other, a Scaredy Cat, to watch classic scary movies. They then chat about it with a different guest every episode
- As a reformed Scaredy Cat I appreciate listening to how the plot unfolds without having to watch them myself.
- Four friends trying to solve pop culture mysteries that are unsearchable on the internet in a chill, conversational manner
Investigative
- About a cold case, unsolved murder of four victims and discussions about genetic privacy
- To be quite honest, I listened to this a while ago and can’t remember the details of the case
- Two cases that investigate the shortfalls of different departments in the legal and justice systems that shaped notable cases
- Both series are fantastic!
- I remember listening to this during my thesis year. Personally, I loved Season 3 the most compared to Season 1, even though I know Season 1 was ground-breaking at the time. I listened to season 2 but I think a lot of the terminologies and realities of the situation were lost on me
- I then binged S-Town right after, which was a short reporting with 7 episodes with a memorable song that’d loop in your head for days to come
- Would only recommend Season 1, a gripping story that is sometimes frustrating and angering
Storytelling
- Hosted by Phoebe Judge, whose voice may either be really soothing for you or puts you right to sleep. Stories about different “criminals”, a broad definition of people with interesting stories
- I also went to a live show in 2019 and really enjoyed listening to their insights on where they find their stories!
- Part of Radiotopia
- Informal interviews with inanimate objects as improv comedy
- I especially love them because they lace real random facts with the interviews like $100 bill smelling like maple syrup myth or truth tune in to find out
- Part of Radiotopia
- The host interviews different subjects from all walks of life
- Start with this episode, which later inspired this short film, a masterpiece
- It migrated to a paid subscription-based network Luminary so new episodes come out much slower than it did previously, but all the seasons prior should still be available on all streaming platforms!
- A podcast about the serenity of the night; all the adventures, heartbreak, love; tears
- Accompanied me on a lot of sleepless nights working on my thesis
- A classic, mystery thriller audio fiction about a missing plane
- From Criminal’s Phoebe Judge, with stories about love
- Part of Radiotopia
- Live story-telling events based on a theme, some are heart-breaking, others courageous, most of which remind us that we all have extraordinary stories to tell everyday
- Audio fiction, lots of cool, immersive sound mixing with original stories from science fiction to drama to mystery to romance
- Part of Radiotopia