The best podcasts of the year by genre: from comedy to well-being
Whether you’re out for a run or doing the washing-up, these podcasts will keep you entertained
For some years, people have been complaining that the podcast market is over-saturated, but more are coming out all the time – and some are well worth seeking out. Here is a selection of the best from the past 12 months.
Comedy
Rather like the work of “probably the greatest comic writer” who ever lived, “The World of Wodehouse” is a “ray of sunshine”, said The Guardian. Hosted by Alexander Armstrong, it includes “laugh-out-loud readings of his sparkling prose”; and invites well-known fans – Stephen Fry, Lynne Truss – to share “the joy the author has brought to their lives”.
Having already conquered comedy, television and film, the actress Amy Poehler emerged as the year’s breakout podcast star, said Francis Agustin on BBC Culture. On “Good Hang with Amy Poehler”, she chats with famous guests (Michelle Obama, Ariana Grande), deploying her “signature humour and infectious laugh to disarm her guests”.
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Steve Coogan’s comic creation Alan Partridge originated on Radio 4 in 1991 – and the format that suits Partridge best today is arguably podcasting, said Fiona Sturges in the Financial Times. The new series of “From the Oasthouse” finds him in a range of “deliciously random” set-ups, from orienteering in Suffolk to getting stuck in the glazed vestibule of his assistant Lynn’s house.
Interviews
My big podcasting discovery this year was “Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth”, said Matthew Syed in The Sunday Times. The episode with Gary Oldman is extraordinary, and Brandreth proves an “interviewer of genius, nudging his guests, coaxing them, almost sashaying through the conversation of their lives”.
On “Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud”, the designer invites famous guests (Nick Cave, Zadie Smith) to “recline on her couch” and talk about their relationship to fashion. It’s a warm, soothing show, said Jenny McCartney in The Spectator – and the concept “proves a surprisingly fruitful route into family history, personal stories and high- grade gossip”. Also recommended: “Dream Space”, hosted by Gemma Cairney, about artists and making art.
Society
“Lucky Boy” tells the story of a 14-year-old “misfit” schoolboy and his secret lover – a 27-year-old teacher at his London school. The series offers a powerful exploration of a difficult subject by looking at the life of one victim, said Jude Rogers in The Observer – and it’s handled by reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou with great “sensitivity”.
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Radio 4’s “Human Intelligence”, from the novelist Naomi Alderman, is a “seminal” piece of audio, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer – 50 episodes of 15 minutes, each dedicated to a single thinker, from Socrates to Michael Faraday.
Another great podcast about big ideas is “Plain English with Derek Thompson”, said James Marriott in The Times – a dull title but a thrilling listen. Focused on science, from “super-ageing” to how smartphones are changing our personalities, Thompson’s series is an “oasis of intelligent thought” amid podcasting’s “hot air and egotistical blather”.
Two superb new podcasts this year offered fresh insights into the pressing issues of war, peace and global security. “The Crisis Room” is a current-affairs show from Global that’s “refreshingly serious” and “seriously good”, said The Times; its hosts are Mark Urban, Amber Rudd and Marc Polymeropoulos, formerly of the CIA.
“The Wargame”, with Deborah Haynes of Sky News, is a powerful and gripping examination of Britain’s readiness for war, said the FT. Based on the real-life Whitehall drills, the series simulates a national emergency in which Russia attacks the UK, with ex-politicians Jack Straw, Ben Wallace and Amber Rudd (again) all part of the (fictional) government.
“The Rest is Classified” features ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey and the former BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera exchanging real-life spy stories, said Gareth McLean in Radio Times. What “Rest Is...” will Gary Lineker’s company come up with next? Perhaps a podcast about sleep: “The Rest is Rest”.
History
“Hidden Histories with Nova Reid” is a riveting Audible series, said The New York Times, which foregrounds the untold stories of black women.
Also from Audible is “Mistresses”, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer, a “beautifully edited and produced” six-parter about the lives of “other women” through history.
“Instant Classics”, with Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins, is like a “free weekly Oxford tutorial from two eccentric dons”.
A gripping story featuring “hidden documents and mysterious visitors”, “The House at Number 48” tells the “fascinating” story of an English man who discovers that his late father was the scion of wealthy Jewish industrialists who fled Berlin in 1939, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times.
Released to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, “The Second Map” is about the war in the Pacific. Host Kavita Puri made the acclaimed “Three Million” about the Bengal famine of 1943, and this podcast is similarly “revelatory”. Also recommended: “The Copernic Affair”.
Art, literature and music
I’m usually an “Austen refusenik”, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer – but I fell hard for Audible’s starry, and beautifully produced, dramatisation of “Pride and Prejudice”. It is “so well done, so delightful, that I gobbled up the entire series in a couple of days”.
“Waldy and Bendy’s Adventures in Art” is a “joyful and inspiring” series that combines news from the art world with discussion of great paintings, said James Marriott in The Times. This year saw it back from a long break, and presenters Waldemar Januszczak and Bendor Grosvenor are as brilliant as ever.
Truly great music podcasts are “rare”, said Fiona Sturges in the FT; this year two stood out. The four episodes of “Chasing the Sound”, hosted by Kirk Flash, each take a single song as the springboard for a musical, and literal, journey. “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man” is an “epic portrait” of the musician who pioneered Afrobeat: “even after 12 episodes, I didn’t want it to end”. Also recommended for music lovers: “Talk ’90s to Me” (hosted by Miranda Sawyer); and “Illuminated – The Organ Symphony”.
Well-being
Finding parenting tough going? You’re not alone, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times. Two podcasts I enjoyed on that theme this year were the award-winning “Teenagers Untangled”, and “How Not to Screw Up Your Kids”. In the former, the journalist and parenting coach Rachel Richards takes a practical, non-judgemental approach; I was especially “grateful for a segment on festival tips, straight from the mouths of teenagers”. In the latter (running since 2021), the British psychologist Dr Maryhan Munt offers calm, clear, advice about everything from sibling rivalry to tech management to divorce.
A “splendid” new show from the BBC was “What’s Up Docs?”, said The Times, hosted by Chris and Xand van Tulleken. The identical twin medics are “relaxed, chatty and scientifically rigorous” – and bring welcome sanity to the “increasingly deranged conversation” about “wellness”.
Perhaps the only podcast to actually demand blood from its guests – in order to establish their cellular “biological age” – is “What’s My Age Again?”, with Katherine Ryan. As is so often the case with the Canadian comedian, the surface breeziness belies real frankness and insight, said The Guardian. Biologist Dr Nichola Conlon helps explore the science of longevity, while guests open up about addiction, adoption and more.
True crime
An odd thing happened early this year, said Nicholas Quah on Vulture. Several outlets, including Wired and Wondery, produced series about “scam compounds” in Southeast Asia – giant, prison-like complexes where victims of human-traffickers are forced to work as internet scammers. “Scam Inc.”, from The Economist, is the best of the bunch, combining a sweeping scope with impressive access.
It is an extraordinary series, agreed James Marriott in The Times – as is Luke Jones’ engrossing and “quietly horrifying” “The Pitcairn Trials”, about the long history of child sexual abuse in one of “the most unusual communities in the world”.
For a lighter listen, try “The Golden Toilet Heist”, a “splendidly light-hearted caper” from the BBC’s “Crime Next Door” series. Presenter Clodagh Stenson brings verve and humour to an absurd and “irreducibly British” tale.
The Boston Globe’s “gripping” “Snitch City”, about police informants in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is a “remarkable piece of reporting”, said Fiona Sturges in the FT – a multilayered story of police “drunk on power, informants hung out to dry and officials closing ranks to protect their own”.
Closer to home, the BBC’s “Operation Seal Bay”, about Pembrokeshire fishermen who stumbled across suspicious activity on a remote beach, is a thoroughly enjoyable “crime caper”.
Science, nature and more
“The World, the Universe and Us” is New Scientist’s recently revamped podcast, said The Times. By producing this “amiable weekly canter through the latest science news” for non-experts, the mag has done a “great public service”.
“Threshold” is a charming show about the natural world, notable for its “exquisite and imaginative sound design”. Host Amy Martin explores questions such as: “What sound does a frozen lake make on a sunny day?” Answer: a “sort of squeaky, bloopy, howling noise like the ghost of a sad spaniel trapped in a tunnel”.
“The Water Road”, from ex-BBC newsreader Adam Porter, is a joy, said the FT – soothing and sedate. The bite-size instalments are a “terrific showcase for the sounds of canal life” – from his narrowboat’s gentle chug to the quacking of passing ducks.
Another quirky gem is “Windows”, in which Londoners talk about the view from their window. It’s “warmly meditative”, and the sound design “is truly lovely”.
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