Storytelling
Mortified
People read highlights from their childhood diaries in front of a crowd of strangers. Wonderfully cringeworthy.
Episode of the year: The Summer Camp Spectacular, largely for the line: “Dear Mum and Dad, I cut my penis when I flunked my canoe test …” Rowan Slaney
The Heart
Stories about friendship, love and the messy beauty of our lives.
Episode of the year: The first of the courageous four-parter from Tennessee Watson, in which she opened up about being sexually assaulted as a child. Without doubt the best listen all year. Jason Phipps
Reply All
“A podcast about the internet” that is actually an unfailingly original exploration of modern life and how to survive it.
Episode of the year: Voyage into Pizzagate, in which Reply All’s recurring feature “Yes, Yes, No” (in which Alex and PJ explain weird internet stuff to their boss) inadvertently predicts one of the biggest stories to emerge from the post-US election, post-truth news cycle. Fred McConnell
Radiolab
Now in its 14th year, Radiolab remains the gold standard of accessible documentary podcasts. This year has been no exception, with episodes on everything from Alzheimer’s to the ethical conundrums faced by defence lawyers.
Episode of the year: I Hart K-Pop, which argues that intrusive paparazzi tactics were actually a good thing for the ultra-conservative, almost militarily strict Korean pop music scene. Stuart Heritage
Heavyweight
The hilariously deadpan Jonathan Goldstein helps people deal with unfinished business, whether it is scattering your father’s ashes illegally or getting Moby to give your CDs back. Funny, touching and short. A perfect podcast.
Episode of the year: Gregor’s story explores something so relatable – the feeling of being left behind by your peers. And when those peers are Moby and the president of Estonia, it’s easy to see why insecurities might arise. RS
The Dollop
Twice a week, standup comic Dave Anthony tells Gary Reynolds the life story of one extraordinary figure in American history – such as President Andrew Jackson, who was given a giant cheese that stank out the entire White House. Informative, witty and unbearably funny. You would never learn this stuff in a classroom.
Episode of the year: Huey Long. Did you know that in the 1930s Louisiana was run under a dictatorship that essentially stood apart from the rest of the US? RS
99% Invisible
Roman Mars delves into design and architecture records to uncover the people and ideas who have shaped the world around us.
Episode of the year: Mojave Phone Booth – the story of a lone phone box in the desert and the man who became obsessed with first calling, and then visiting, it – before ultimately turning it into an internet sensation. Leah Harper
How to Be a Girl
An anonymous mum navigates the first few years after her young daughter comes out as transgender. A tender take on an under-represented reality.
Episode of the year: How to Be a Dad. The frank conversation between Dad and Mum, as they compare fears and acceptance processes, is compelling and runs counter to expectation. But equally potent is how much they sound like any old parents; scared, besotted and in awe of their child all at once. FM
Interviews
Roam Schooled
Jim Brunberg takes his twin six-year-old daughters on US roadtrips in their Winnebago to answer questions such as “What’s a lone wolf?”, interviewing people until the girls come to their own conclusions.
Episode of the year: “What’s a hippy?” in which the three meet veterans of the hippy movement who speak frankly about drugs and sex. A refreshing, beautiful listen. RS
Love + Radio
Nick van der Kolk advises you to listen to Love + Radio with headphones on and, while it often earns its explicit tag, there is little formula apart from in-depth interviews. They may be controversial, they may be seedy and they may involve taxidermy.
Episode of the year: A Girl of Ivory, featuring Davecat, who is in a bizarre three-way relationship. Hannah Verdier
The Adam Buxton podcast
The daddy of British podcasting is beloved for good reason. His pod is laced with the same creativity and nerdy attention to detail as everything he has ever done.
Episode of the year: Although he is most at home chatting to pals such as Joe Cornish and Louis Theroux, the episode with Michael Palin – whom Buxton obviously reveres – is a standout, largely for the very moving moment when they discuss the end of Graham Chapman’s life. SH
Death, Sex and Money
A podcast about “the things we think about a lot, and need to talk about more”, hosted by Anna Sale.
Episode of the year: We’re Not Going to Have Karl Again. The heartbreaking story of Karl Towndrow, who died at almost four months old on his first day in daycare, as told by his parents. LH
Hello Internet
An Australian and an American living in the UK have in-depth debates and banter that is actually amusing. And they are always well informed on topics, whether serious (electoral systems) or silly (the sticks that plug takeaway coffee lids). Their day jobs as educational YouTubers must help.
Episode of the year: A Classic Episode, which is just that. The two bicker over flag design and dissatisfying tech, before launching in to some satisfyingly objective Brexit talk. FM
WTF With Marc Maron
Even Marc Maron’s failed interviews, such as the one Jerry Lewis abandoned half an hour in, are meatier than most. Peerless.
Episode of the year: Billy Crystal, who drops the schmaltz and fires out one world-class anecdote after another. SH
Fiction
Homecoming
One of the most high-profile launches of the year. The big-name stars – David Schwimmer, Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac – ensure there is no cringey radio-drama acting. Heidi (Keener) is a caseworker in a government facility helping soldiers with PTSD back into the community.
Episode of the year: The first episode is a scene-setter, and features Schwimmer having a most unRoss-like meltdown at the airport. LH
The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified
Adventure, intrigue and cat videos. The silly drama of this kids pod will keep listeners of all ages hooked. It is filled with drama on the high seas, brainwashing bad guys, trips to Siberia – and the mysterious Scary Dangerous Jungle Island.
Episode of the year: It’s Breakfast Time, America. It’s hard not to root for an intrepid girl reporter going up against a villain armed with cat videos. Will hard-nosed journalism prevail over viral content? Melissa Locker
The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air)
And the prize for most surreal podcast of the year goes to … Neutral Milk Hotel’s Julian Koster and his oddball offering set in a variety show at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Listen in order, because you will be confused enough as it is.
Episode of the year: Start with the addictive first episode, in which Julian the janitor sets the scene. HV
Darkest Night
This horror anthology podcast follows the top-secret Project Cyclops, where researchers “uncover the secrets of the dead”. But we are including it for one reason – it is recorded in binaural sound. After 10 minutes of the noises and voices coming at you from all angles, you will be so disoriented you may walk into a lamppost. Fully immersive.
Episode of the year: Horns Limo Service has stomach-turning sound effects and brilliantly blunt forensic pathologist chat: “Head almost completely crushed.” FM
The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel
Students are disappearing from HG Wells middle school and only Mars Patel and his friends seem to notice. With no adults willing to help, it is up to Mars to investigate. This adventurous kids podcast, reminiscent of old-time radio dramas, is gripping listening for young and old.
Episode of the year: The Gift, in which a mysterious message shows up from halfway around the world. ML
Discussion
Another Round
Calling out racism, quaffing cocktails and spilling sharp one-liners: Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton bring consistent podcast joy. No matter the subject, from healthy eating to tickling Whitney Houston, the tipsy pair tackle it with humour.
Episode of the year: Oh, The Racism!, in which Nigatu and Clayton bond with Insecure’s Issa Rae over karaoke and lipstick. HV
The Guilty Feminist
If you are the kind of feminist who secretly sings along to Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines, then Sofie Hagen and Deborah Frances-White understand your pain. The “I’m a feminist but …” intro brings confessions and laughs each week. Sample: “I’m a feminist, but I realise that my own dreams have the same men-to-women ratio as most British panel shows.”
Episode of the year: Not Having Kids switches from funny to beautifully sad and back again in style. HV
Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People
A podcast with two rules: a nameless stranger will phone up comic Chris Gethard and talk about anything they like, and he can’t hang up on them. So far, callers have discussed homelessness, the fact that they just discovered they are married to a child molester, and which animal they would be happiest to be eaten by.
Best episode of the year: I Cry When I Run. It’s infectious to hear two strangers connecting so easily. SH
Scummy Mummies
Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn are two south-east London comedians who present this very funny parenting podcast with guests. Disclaimer: I’ve appeared on it, so I know how drunk they are when they record it, and it’s amazing that it even exists.
Episode of the year: The midlife crisis special with Miranda Sawyer, purely for the anecdote that ends with Grace Jones inviting her back to her hotel room. SH
2 Dope Queens
Live standup meets intimate chat between friends as Phoebe Robinson (Broad City) and Jessica Williams (ex-Daily Show) argue about careers, racism and whether it’s OK to like Bono.
Episode of the year: How to Channel Your Inner White Lady. Or, getting better customer service by saying: “It’s unacceptable!” HV
Unorthodox
I love podcasts that make you feel as if you are listening in on a conversation you would never usually get to hear. These guys discuss weekly “news of the Jews”, as well as religious issues and secular Jewish culture, all of which I would otherwise have no insight into.
Episode of the year: Into the Woods, with a progressive-yet-conservative rabbi guest, perfectly exemplifies the lively conversations about theology that Unorthodox does best. FM
Call Your Girlfriend
Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman’s “podcast for long-distance besties everywhere” celebrates the therapeutic power of a catchup. From the fake body positivity of Meghan Trainor’s All About That Bass to Fleabag and “free boobin’”, little is off-limits.
Episode of the year: The detailed deconstruction of Taylor Swift v Kanye West in Make America Smell Great Again. HV
RuPaul What’s the Tee?
The natural pairing of RuPaul and Michelle Visage is camp, opinionated and hilarious. Drag Race gossip, life lessons and beauty tips keep coming, along with celebrity guests.
Episode of the year: Graham Norton’s enthusiastic guide to Eurovision and Conchita Wurst’s success is a gem. HV
Sooo Many White Guys
One half of 2 Dope Queens, Phoebe Robinson, nails a chatshow that turns the tables on white-guy privilege in the podcast zone. Her Ryan Seacrest impression may not cut it, but her humour and chat with “people who are killing it who are not just straight up white dudes” certainly does.
Episode of the year: The end of season special with token white man Mike Birbiglia – and so much warmth. HV
True crime
They Walk Among Us
Proof that a podcast recorded in your bedroom really can become a hit. A mysterious husband and wife obsessed with true crime tell the stories of chilling cases, from Canoe Man John Darwin to the murder of Sadie Hartley.
Episode of the year: The disappearance of Shannon Matthews is an outstanding piece of storytelling. HV
Crimetown
The creators of HBO documentary The Jinx turn their attention to corruption in American cities. The show starts with young prosecutor Buddy Cianci, who takes on the local crime family in Providence, Rhode Island. But as his political ambitions grow, he ends up in bed with the mob. A gripping series that weaves brutal crimes and dirty politics with good humour.
Episode of the year: The Making of a Mayor. When Cianci decides to run for office, the cut-throat world of party politics makes him question everything. ML
In the Dark
Twenty-seven years ago, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was biking home from the video store in his Minnesota hometown when he was kidnapped at gunpoint by a stranger. He was never seen again. The case gripped the nation and led to the US creating a sex-offender register. This enthralling podcast retraces the criminal investigation, ending in the courtroom where a prisoner admits his involvement and Wetterling’s parents finally get answers.
Episode of the year: The One Who Got Away. The reporters look at a related crime involving a young boy that slipped through the cracks of the police investigation – with dire results. ML
My Favourite Murder
A world of horror and hilarity. Once a week, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark come together to talk about murder. One of them tells the story of a killing, while the other reacts in utter shock and outrage. It’s important to note that they are incredibly respectful, and despair at the world almost continuously. This has built up quite a following, with fan art, Etsy pages and a sell-out run of T-shirts (all profits go to charity). “Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered.”
Episode of the year: Where the women focus on a Hometown Murder case submitted by a fan – and there’s a cat who loves cookies. RS
Comedy
My Dad Wrote a Porno
If you don’t listen to this podcast, I guarantee you know someone who does. This is James Morton and his friends reading an erotic thriller called Belinda Blinked by Rocky Flintstone – the pen name of Morton’s father. Little by little, the hosts rip apart Morton Sr’s lumpen sex scenes, to much hilarity. Rightly a sensation.
Episode of the year: The Fitting Bit, where Belinda tries on new horse-riding equipment. You can scrub to literally any point of this episode and you’ll find something new to dry-heave about within seconds. SH
Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre podcast
This year, Richard Herring’s guest list has included David Cross, Lauren Laverne and Armando Iannucci. The podcast sprawls, twists and always brings the laughs.
Episode of the year: Herring’s post-Brexit jaunt with Vic Reeves includes tales of a trip to Barometer World and the merit of eating peas plus a Magnum as a TV snack. HV
Beef and Dairy Network podcast
“The No 1 podcast for those involved or just interested in the production of beef animals and dairy herds,” they say. In truth, this is a gorgeously absurd comedy podcast by Benjamin Partridge. Played completely straight, it offers total immersion in one man’s comedy world.
Episode of the year: Yogurt Special, which asks, “How far past its sell-by date would you eat a yoghurt?”, before pointing out that eating one passed its sell-by date can lead to paralysis and death. SH
You Made it Weird With Pete Holmes
In the course of a typical conversation with a fellow comic, you can usually rely on the ever-cheery Pete Holmes to get personal, metaphysical or both.
Episode of the year: Musical comedian and former YouTube star Bo Burnham had been on twice before, so they skipped all that and spent a full three hours demanding more of celebrity and pop culture and hashing out a new ethics for life in the digital age. Laurence Phelan
Culture and sport
Making Oprah
It is easy to forget how Oprah took a sledgehammer to daytime TV convention, but, 30 years on from her first eponymous show, this podcast tells her story. From the struggle to find guests to inspiring viewers to live their best life, Oprah (who grants a rare interview) comes across as the real deal.
Episode of the year: No Strategy, No Plan, No Formula, which takes the Oprah story from her audition tape to her regret over flaunting her weight loss in the famous “wagon of fat” incident. HV
Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
Every Harry Potter book pod-blogged as if it were holy writing. The creators pore over every word and pick the theme of each chapter, be it love, betrayal, control or shame.
Episode of the year: It has to be chapter one – The Boy Who Lived, on the theme of commitment. It will make you see the Dursleys in a whole new light. RS
Second Captains
The Irish Times’ hard-working pod puts out two football podcasts a week, plus two others focusing on everything from Gaelic football to golf to Ultimate Fighting Championship martial arts. It is all improved by a selection of almost art-house montages of strange quotes from leading sportspeople.
Episode of the year: Even for this English football fan, it was hard not be amused by quite how funny the gang found England being knocked out of the Euros by Iceland in June. Will Dean
Vintage Books podcast
A fascinating and pleasingly brief podcast in which Vintage authors discuss their work. Nigella Lawson’s miniseries, where she just talks about food she likes for quarter of an hour at a time, is a highlight.
Episode of the year: David Szalay talking about All That Man Is, as part of a thoughtful and provocative discussion of masculinity with Rebecca Asher, Juno Dawson and Rose Tremain. SH
Song Exploder
Soft-voiced composer Hrishikesh Hirway invites musicians to tell the stories behind their songs in this snappy, 15-minute pod. Iggy Pop, DJ Shadow and Carly Rae Jepsen have guested this year.
Episode of the year: MGMT’s Time to Pretend. They reveal the song was inspired by The Flaming Lips’ drums and contains a piano-based homage to Abba’s Dancing Queen. HV
You Must Remember This
The golden age of Hollywood had an almost unbearably dark underbelly, and film writer Karina Longworth tears it wide open. She spent most of the year unspooling a 17-part series on the Hollywood blacklist. But her beguiling mix of the gossipy and the scholarly was put to best use in a six-parter about one of the defining icons of cinema’s first century, Joan Crawford. Mommie Dearest ain’t the half of it.
Episode of the year: The sensational first episode of Six Degrees of Joan Crawford was about young Lucille “Billie” LeSueur, who grew up poor in Texas and Missouri in the 1900s and 1910s, determined, smart and – if scurrilous rumours are believed – in full possession from an early age of the feminine charms that would serve her well in Hollywood. LP
Athletico Mince
A football podcast for people who couldn’t give a toss about football (as well as those who can), this effort from the ever-marvellous Bob Mortimer and writer and broadcaster Andy Dawson instead offers up gloriously bizarre flights of fancy about Steve McClaren’s pet snake and Mark Lawrenson and Robson Green’s fishing expeditions. Delightful nonsense.
Episode of the year: Steve’s Restaurant Showdown, which features a surreal Scottish folk tale from Mortimer that rivals anything he’s managed as part of Reeves and Mortimer. Gwilym Mumford
The Watch
Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan were refugees from the excellent, now-defunct, Grantland. From there, they joined Grantland founder Bill Simmons’s new project, The Ringer, for this weekly roundup of giddy TV catchups and music chat.
Episode of the year: The pair’s gleeful review of Kanye West’s Life of Pablo launch event at Madison Square Garden. It combined an obvious love of the musician with an awareness of how daft the whole thing was. WD
Slate Culture Gabfest
This year wasn’t all doom and gloom. The Elena Ferrante discussion might have got a bit heated and the episode after the US election was pretty bleak, but the podosphere’s three most erudite cultural critics were otherwise model hosts, making you feel smarter and more connected in their company.
Episode of the year: The summer strut, in which Stephen, Julia and Dana let down their hair and, with the help of listeners, hashed out their annual playlist of summer songs. There are 22 hours’ worth of joyous music on the accompanying playlist. Use it to feel better about 2017. LP
History and politics
Trumpcast
Slate CEO Jacob Weisberg began Trumpcast during the Republican primaries to forensically chronicle the then-candidate’s misdeeds. His hope was that it would have run its course by the Republican convention, but here we are. Essential listening for the US’s new political dark age.
Episode of the year: Months before Russian hacking of the Democrats became a post-election boiling point, Trumpcast had on journalist Anne Applebaum to dissect Russia’s attempts to interfere in US politics. WD
The Axe Files
In his capacity as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and a CNN contributor, Obama strategist David Axelrod talks in depth to the biggest names in US (and global) politics.
Episode of the year: Axelrod’s hour with his political opposite, Karl Rove, where the two discuss the early deaths of their fathers and how it set them on their divergent political paths. WD
Revisionist History
Malcolm Gladwell takes a personal journey through past events to see if they can be reinterpreted, or new insights can be drawn. You will learn how an Elvis Costello song exposes the power of art, and how a car accident outside Chicago reveals the truth about mass delusion. A must-listen.
Episode of the year: Carlos Doesn’t Remember, the story of one scholarship student that interrogates the concept of meritocracy in the American education system. JP
Keepin’ It 1600
At a time when American politics is rapidly descending into ludicrousness, former Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor provide an oasis of reason with this insider podcast. In the runup to November’s election, 1600 offered up an unapologetically partisan take on Clinton v Trump. In the wake of the latter’s victory, it has morphed into a sobering look at the many troubling aspects of Trump’s ensuing reign.
Episode of the year: The pod recorded in the immediate aftermath of the election result, which – though gloomy – provided some necessary self-reflection about why the Democrats lost. GM
On the Media
In the days of “fake” news, Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield help to create media-savvy listeners, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the news cycle. This Peabody award-winning podcast was a voice of reason in the wild US election cycle, tempering claims from the left and right (and “alt-right”) with a steady hand and steely-eyed analysis.
Episode of the year: Normalise This! asked reporters, a linguist and a cognitive scientist for tips on how to cover a president-elect who spreads misinformation, vilifies the press and seems to promote a post-fact reality. ML
View all comments >