The ultimate podcast list of 2024

The podcast revolution started in the pandemic and, though some genres have started to feel saturated, it has not slowed down.

Comedy

Some great news for comedy fans this year was the return, after a long gap, of the "very funny and utterly bizarre" "The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show", said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times. It proved "well worth the wait, especially if you like your comedy daft and Pythonesque". On his superb sitcom "Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones!", the comedian Milton Jones "uses audio exactly as it should be used: to create utterly bananas situations that would cost thousands to film", said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. It's "genuinely laugh-out-loud" funny.

"Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes" was a terrific 12-part series, and the perfect tonic for a winter afternoon, said James Marriott in The Times. Hislop's optimism is infectious as he explores the history of jokes in English, starting with the Anglo-Saxons. More cerebral but still "completely beguiling" was "Close Readings: On Satire" – a "fascinating" and unpretentious exploration of satire, from Erasmus and Donne to Wilde and Waugh, presented by All Souls fellows Colin Burrow and Clare Bucknell.

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Double acts

It has become a podcasting cliché to have hosts from "opposite sides of the fence creating a safe space for civil discussion", said Fiona Sturges in the FT. But the excellent "A Muslim & A Jew Go There" – with Sayeeda Warsi and David Baddiel – feels more "a necessary show of friendship and understanding" in febrile times than a last gasp of a tired formula. Most of the podcasts in the Rest Is... stable leave me a bit cold, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. But "The Rest Is Entertainment", with Richard Osman and The Guardian's Marina Hyde, is a witty, charming, well-informed treat. Another terrific celebrity two-hander is "Miss Me?", from lifelong friends Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver, which stands out for its mix of boldness and intimacy, said The Observer, and is a "complete hoot".

Society

"Things Fell Apart", Jon Ronson's acclaimed podcast about the origins of the culture wars, returned for a second season that was "even better than the first", said Eliana Dockterman in Time magazine. Its "engrossing" tales take surprising "twists and turns", and though there are warm moments, the "overall effect is chilling". Another riveting series was Dan Taberski's "Hysterical", about a psychogenic illness – involving Tourette's-like symptoms – that affected girls in upstate New York in 2011, in the largest known case of mass hysteria since the Salem witch trials. "Shell Game" is a funny but unnerving series about the perils and potential of AI, said New York Magazine. And six years on from its last outing, "Serial" returned with a superb series about Guantánamo and America's "forever war", drawing on first-hand accounts from detainees and guards.

Professor David Runciman was one of the hosts of the long-running podcast "Talking Politics". His new venture, "Past Present Future" – a broader series exploring everything from great political films to the representation of robots in 20th-century art – proved equally essential, said James Marriott in The Times, who especially enjoyed a strand on the history of "bad ideas". Similarly "intellectually inspiring" was "Democracy's Year of Peril", in which the FT's Martin Wolf and leading political thinkers discussed the future of liberal democracy.

"Afghan Star" told the "compelling story" of a popular TV talent show that launched in 2005, four years after the fall of the Taliban, said Jenny McCartney in The Spectator. The series is a vivid depiction of the suffering and resilience of ordinary Afghans. "Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust" offered an absorbing investigation into what McCartney called the "painfully intense" love affair between so many Americans and their guns. And "Cocaine Inc." was a searing look at the impact of the cocaine industry.

History

"Three Million", an exploration of the 1943 Bengal famine, was one of the most thought-provoking history podcasts I've heard in years, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times. "The Brighton Bomb", about the IRA's attack during the Tory Party conference in 1984, was "transfixing" and evocative. "Events I thought I knew all about surprised me afresh like an unfolding thriller." And "Blood on the Dance Floor", about the murder of an off-duty officer at Belfast's first gay club, was sad but "gripping", and "brilliantly produced".

"The Butterfly King", exploring the suspicious death of Boris III, the last king of Bulgaria, was a "masterclass in suspenseful sleuthing and creative storytelling", said Fiona Sturges in the FT. The "beautifully produced" "D-Day: The Tide Turns" told the story of the invasion by focusing on the people who made it possible – including airmen and medics, said The Economist. Also recommended: "The Belgrano Diary" and "History's Secret Heroes".

Arts & music

Between 1972 and 1976, Stevie Wonder released five albums that turned him into a pop colossus, said Eliana Dockterman in Time. "The Wonder of Stevie", made by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Wesley Morris, was a "joyful celebration" of the period. "Legend: The Joni Mitchell Story", narrated by the American singer Jesca Hoop, was an "engrossingly moving" biographical overview of the great singer-songwriter, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times. Fans should also check out "The Road to Joni", a more freewheeling affair exploring her influence on Americana artists.

Jake Shears' music and chat podcast "Queer the Music: Jake Shears on the Songs That Changed Lives" is a warm-hearted "triumph", said The Guardian. "Blame it on the Fame: Milli Vanilli" offers an absorbing account of the "fake" pop group created by Boney M producer Frank Farian, exploring wider questions of blackness, exploitation and cancel culture. And "Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?" is a "belly-achingly funny" look at what has been dubbed "pop culture's biggest conspiracy theory".

Well-being

Podcasts aimed at self- improvement are, for "this grouchy listener, frequently irritating", said Fiona Sturges in the FT. "Self Help", presented by artist and writer Scottee, is emphatically "not one of those". It's a "delightful" and "warmly intimate" series in which the listener joins Scottee on walks around Scotland while he delivers "compelling monologues" on what he calls "a life spent clinically mad".

"Untold: The Retreat", a superb series from the FT's Madison Marriage, explores the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana, said GQ. It presents evidence that this can be highly dangerous if taken to excess, and includes harrowing accounts of hallucinations, psychosis, and worse.

"How Do You Cope? ...with Elis and John" is a warm and insightful series in which well-known guests open up about the mental health challenges they have overcome, said Hannah Verdier in The Guardian. Esther Perel's relationship-therapy podcast "Where Shall We Begin?" returned with the mini-series "The Arc of Love", on which Perel is "stricter than ever", said The Times – and "weirdly, unerringly, terrifyingly right" about her patients. Also recommended: "School of Rock Bottom", Oliver Mason's absorbing and often moving interview podcast about addiction and recovery.

True crime

Released late last year, but still winning accolades in 2024, was "Ghost Story". Tristan Redman's gripping series starts with a story about a haunted bedroom, said Vanessa Thorpe in The Observer, but soon becomes less about the supernatural than that other "age-old source of drama – family secrets".

Podcasting has become, said James Marriott in The Times, "almost dementedly preoccupied" with scammers, catfishers and the like. But even if you think you've had your fill, he urged listeners to try two outstanding series. "The Pirate of Prague", about the Czech-born financial fraudster Viktor Kožený, is an astonishing story told with wit and brio. And "Kill List" is ghoulishly gripping about a site on the dark web where people solicit contract killings. "Seeking house to be burned down with occupants inside. No survivors," runs a typical order, offering a fee of a few thousand dollars. The twist, as journalist Carl Miller related in The Times, is that the website is a scam, conning the homicidal.

"To Catch a Scorpion" was a rare true-crime podcast that actually led to the arrest of its "scumbag" protagonist, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. Barzan Majeed (aka Scorpion) was the kingpin of a cross-Channel people- smuggling operation; the podcast is a "riveting" account of the BBC's successful quest to track him down.

Miscellany

"What Did You Do Yesterday?", from broadcaster Max Rushden and comedian David O'Doherty, is "delightful", said James Marriott in The Times. It seems that when you get "really funny people" to talk about seemingly mundane topics, you end up with an illuminating guide to "the different textures of people's lives".

In "Strangers on a Bench", Tom Rosenthal interviews people he sees sitting on benches; the results are "moving and true". "Subcultures often make for podcast gold," said The Economist. That applies to the best sports podcast of the year, "Broomgate", about a scandal in the world of curling. It was a joy to welcome back Kirsty Young, said Chris Bennion in The Daily Telegraph. In the excellent "Young Again", she probes famous people about the advice they'd give their younger selves. And it was very sad to bid farewell to Michael Mosley, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times; his series "Just One Thing" has changed many lives, and he will be "greatly missed".