The best podcasts of 2025

We're lucky to be living in a "golden age" of podcasts, said Wired. But while you can find something to listen to about "almost anything" these days, top tier shows are harder to come by. Whether you're "lazing in the bath" or doing the washing up, these are some of the best podcasts to keep you entertained.

Mistresses

For a "fun twist" on the usual two-hander history show, look no further than "Mistresses", said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. This "beautifully edited and produced" Audible series, presented by historian Dr Kate Lister and actress and all-round motormouth Jameela Jamil, digs into the hidden histories of well known "other women". Its six subjects include Wu Zhao, who became the first female emperor of China, and Madame de Montespan, dubbed the "true Queen of France" owing to her position at the court of Louis XIV. Lister and Jamil are a funny and charismatic combo: the former leads in terms of the storytelling, while Jamil interjects with jokes and questions. They are appealing and quick-witted hosts, and their podcast has "more in common with "British Scandal" than "The Rest Is History" (a compliment): you learn things while laughing at how the story is delivered".

The Wargame

Is Britain as prepared for war as it should be? Some would argue that successive governments have allowed our military capacities to wither, leaving us at risk, said Fiona Sturges in the Financial Times. Now, Deborah Haynes, the security and defence editor at Sky News, has come up with a terrific way of illuminating the implications of this: a podcast that simulates a national emergency in which Russia attacks the UK – based on the kinds of exercises that take place in Whitehall. "The Wargame" boasts an impressive cast of participants. Jack Straw reprises his role as foreign secretary; Amber Rudd returns as home secretary; former defence secretary Ben Wallace takes on the part of PM. They're joined by "assorted ex-bigwigs in law, defence and national security". The podcast is "very talky", and it can be hard to keep track of who's who. "But as a piece of propaganda for increased defence spending in the UK", it is "smart, effective, and chilling to boot. One can only hope Vladimir Putin isn't listening."

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What's My Age Again? with Katherine Ryan

One of the best podcasts of the year so far is "What's My Age Again? with Katherine Ryan", said The Guardian. In each episode, she interviews a celebrity guest about their age, their attitude to ageing and its impact on their personal or professional lives. She also gets them to take a "nifty test", which involves taking a blood sample to analyse their biological age (which, depending on how well your body is faring, can differ significantly from your chronological age). The results are then discussed with biologist Dr Nichola Conlon, who also sheds light on the science of longevity. Guests so far have included former professional footballer Jill Scott, pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor and comedian Romesh Ranganathan. "It feels low-stakes enough for casual listening, but – like most things Ryan is involved with – that initial breeziness belies its frankness", as guests open up about adoption, addiction and more.

Threshold

"Threshold" is a terrific podcast about the natural world, notable for its "exquisite and imaginative sound design", said James Marriott in The Times. Host Amy Martin explores questions such as: 'What sound does a frozen lake make on a sunny day?" (The answer, to my ears, is a "sort of squeaky, bloopy, howling noise like the ghost of a sad spaniel trapped in a tunnel".) Elsewhere, we meet the treehopper, which communicates by sending "waves of vibrations through its legs into the stems and leaves of plants", and listen to the sound of a coral reef: a static crackle of "claw clicks" made by snapping shrimp. This is a "commendably imaginative" series – and if it "gets a little precious" at times, "well, sometimes whimsy is the price you pay for interesting thoughts".

Chasing the Sound

Genuinely excellent music podcasts are "vanishingly rare", not least because securing the rights to play the music can be tricky, said Fiona Sturges in the Financial Times. Perhaps that's why "Chasing the Sound", a cracking new series by the British writer and director Kirk Flash, comprises so disappointingly few episodes. Each of the four takes a single song and uses it as a springboard for a musical – and literal – journey. The Specials' "Free Nelson Mandela" takes Flash to Soweto, to explore South African dance music. The Gipsy Kings' "Bamboléo", a slice of flamenco pop rooted in Moroccan culture, takes him to Marrakech and the scene that has sprung up there around Arabic rap. The other episodes focus on Mumbai and London. Flash is a superb host, "charismatic and full of witty asides, who uses his own musical memories to spark storytelling and discovery" while interweaving historical and geopolitical context. Encore!

Illuminated: The Organ Symphony

"What does your liver sound like?" Or your kidneys, lungs, heart or brain? Not the bodily squelch of fluids mixing or air pumping. But as music. What if our vital organs, and our relationship to them, were reconceived as musical notes and instruments and composed into a symphony? What might that sound like? The question might seem so eccentric as to be almost nonsensical, said Rachel Cunliffe in The New Statesman. But it's the premise for a "bizarre and brilliant" Radio 4 special titled "Illuminated: The Organ Symphony". Maia Miller-Lewis spoke to five people, each with a special relationship with a different one of the five vital organs – one participant had donated a kidney to her husband and written a novella about it; another's lungs had both collapsed within the space of two years. She then made a soundscape of their stories, which composer David Owen Norris turned into classical scores, with each organ assigned a section of the orchestra. Performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, these pieces are "eerily surreal yet emotive".

The Slow Newscast

Tortoise Media's "The Slow Newscast" is a weekly investigative podcast that has so far notched up 331 episodes (of which 175 are available to download). The show is well worth a listen, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer – and one recent episode, "Die Die DEI", had me gripped. Written and presented by Stephen Armstrong, it explores the Trump administration's "war on woke" (specifically the "diversity, equity and inclusion" agenda) by focusing on a single key player: Stephen Miller, who is the deputy chief of staff for policy and also the homeland security adviser. It's clear that Miller is "far from a nice guy"; one contributor describes him baldly as "a violently right-wing racist who is pushing a white nationalist agenda". A childhood friend recalls how Miller abruptly ended their friendship, citing the man's Latino heritage as a disqualifying factor. The disturbing truth, Armstrong reckons, is that Miller's views haven't changed a jot since then.

Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud

Sometimes the mind needs a break, said Jenny McCartney in The Spectator. "And I can't think of a better stopping-off place than the soothing, gloriously bonkers discussions" on the "Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud" podcast. The show's premise is that the fashion designer – daughter of Lucian and great-granddaughter of Sigmund – invites guests to recline (literally) on her couch and "talk over any and every aspect of their relationship to fashion". Her "mellifluous, affirming manner is much more soft soap than wire wool", but it suits the subject matter, and the concept "proves a surprisingly fruitful route into family history, personal stories and high-grade gossip". To date, the starry and "eclectic" guest list has included Nick Cave, Kate Moss, Zadie Smith, Karl Ove Knausgård, and – best value of all – Nicky Haslam.

Buried: The Last Witness

The first series of "Buried", a terrific investigative podcast made by the environmental reporters Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, was a hit last year, said Fiona Sturges in the Financial Times. For the second series, "Buried: The Last Witness", the pair have teamed up with the Welsh actor Michael Sheen, to explore the "shocking" story of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic fire-retardant chemicals that were used in everything from paint to paper, until they were banned in most countries in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Back in 2017, Sheen was scrolling the internet when he saw a reference to Douglas Gowan, a former National Farmers' Union consultant who'd become concerned about the impact of PCBs leaking from a landfill site in South Wales in the late 1960s, and spent years trying, in vain, to blow the whistle. Sheen arranged to meet Gowan, who died in 2018, and recordings of some of their conversations are included in this disturbing podcast. "There is much here that will make you gasp, not just at the human and environmental impact of PCBs, but at the brazenness of those responsible."

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Miss Me?

Celebrity-hosted podcasts are often a bit flat because "the stars involved don't do the behind-the-scenes work on their presenting, and are too cautious about their careers to do anything other than gush", said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. But "Miss Me?", by lifelong friends Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver, is not one of these. Their show is relaxed, super-honest – and "laugh-out-loud funny". Oliver, a London-based TV presenter, takes on more of the hosting role, while pop star Allen, who lives in Brooklyn, supplies "intimate and hilarious" anecdotes. (Sample: once, when a rapper she was sleeping with asked her about her liposuction scars, she was so embarrassed, she told him they were the result of a hip replacement.) It's really two shows in one: on Mondays the pair chat about what's on their minds or in the news, then on Thursdays they answer listeners' questions. "Topics arrive and are dismissed, talked around, then recalled; huge diversions are made into other areas." It’s a bit messy and a "complete hoot".

Looking for more podcast recommendations? Take your pick from our round-up of the best true crime and political shows.