riveting readings by actor Cindy Katz. (My ambition in life is to have her read one of my pieces one day.)
*The Ezra Klein Show — Thoughtful, deep conversations between Vox Media editor-in-chief Ezra Klein and guests about news, politics, literature, or whatever rabbit hole Klein wants to go down. This recent interview with Patrick Brown, founder of the plant-based-burger startup Impossible Foods, was especially delicious.
*FlashForward — Produced by science journalist Rose Eveleth, this show explores scenarios for possible and not-so-possible futures, using short fictional introductions as an entry device. One episode from the first season, for instance, asked how life might be different if we all lost the ability to recognize faces. The show used to be called Meanwhile In the Future and used to be affiliated with Gizmodo. Starting with Season Two, Flash Forward got its new name and joined Boing Boing’s growing podcast network.
Gastropod — A bewitchingly thorough show about food from veteran journalists Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley. Each episode picks one food item or genre—say, honey or kombucha—and goes really, really deep into the science and the history of that food.
How I Built This — Guy Raz used to be the weekend host of All Things Considered, then he became the host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour. His newest program features in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and company founders such as Spanx founder Sarah Blakeley and Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher.
*HowSound —Maybe it would sound like inside baseball to people outside the world of audio creators, but this is a fantastic show exploring different ways of telling stories for radio and podcasts. It’s hosted by Rob Rosenthal, who also runs the Transom public radio workshop on Cape Cod.
Imaginary Worlds — Delightful trips into the worlds created by fantasy and sci-fi authors and filmmakers, from public radio producer Eric Molinsky. (This show and 99% Invisible are probably the biggest inspirations behind my show, Soonish.)
*In The Dark — This was an utterly gripping, 10-episode true-crime show from APM Reports, the investigative wing of Minnesota Public Radio’s American Public Media network. It’s about the abduction of sixth-grader Jacob Wetterling from a small Minnesota town in 1989, and the apparent law-enforcement incompetence that allowed his killer to roam free until just this year.
*Innovation Hub — Kara Miller hosts this stimulating show from WGBH, which features interviews with thinkers in education, science, medicine, transportation, business, and many other fields.
Inquiring Minds — From Climate Desk and Mother Jones, this is an interview show focused on science topics in the news and features interviews with science communicators.
Invisibilia — Season 2 of this great NPR show about “the invisible forces that control human behavior” was, again, all too short.
*Kind World — In short segments of five to eight minutes, this affecting show highlights true stories of random and sometimes senseless acts of kindness. Produced by WBUR’s Erika Lantz.
*Life After — From the same team at Panoply that made last year’s The Message for General Electric, this audio drama explores the idea that our digital selves, or a semblance of them, might live on after we die—and how a ruthless corporation could exploit such technology.
*The Lonely Palette — Host Tamar Avishai, a trained art historian, takes a relaxed and unconventional approach to art interpretation. Each episode focuses on a single painting and draws out its historical context, often incorporating reactions and impressions from museum visitors.
Longform — Interviews with famous authors and journalists by the guys behind the Longform reading-recommendations app and the Atavist magazine.
The Memory Palace — Host Nate Demeo reads what are, in effect, prose poems shining light on forgotten people and episodes in history. This year, as part of a residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Demeo has posted a series of shows about works at the Met.
The New Yorker Radio Hour — Co-produced by The New Yorker and WNYC and hosted by The New Yorker editor David Remnick, this variety show is exactly what you’d think The New Yorker would sound like, if it were a radio show.
Note to Self — A funny, engaging, highly relatable show about technology and our personal lives, from WNYC’s Manoush Zomorodi. Among other strengths, the show frequently offers great strategies for coping with digital overload.
NPR Politics Podcast —I was addicted to this show during election season. It’s an informal conversation between a rotating selection of NPR’s political reporters, who were just as wrong as everyone else about Trump’s chances, but continue to offer useful insights into our slowly unfolding national car wreck.
On Being — Krista Tippett’s trademark deep interviews with thinkers, artists, and scientists who can help shed light on spirituality and “the big questions of meaning.”
On the Media — Can’t-miss weekly show from WNYC rounding up the latest hijinks on the part of the mainstream press or the people they’re trying to cover.
*OutsideIn — A fantastic longform narrative storytelling podcast (my favorite type) reported and hosted by Sam Evans Brown of New Hampshire Public Radio. It’s about anything and everything related to the outdoors. One recent episode delved into the surprising soil biodiversity found in the island of a New Hampshire traffic circle.
*Planet Money — This one isn’t really new, as I’ve been listening for years, but I forgot to put it on last year’s list. It explains the complex workings of the economy in plain language.
*The Pub — More inside baseball. This is the podcast companion to Current, the professional magazine of the public media world; it focuses on the challenges besetting public radio and TV stations and their staffs. What makes it fun and listenable is its irreverent, energetic host, former WBUR reporter Adam Ragusea.
*Radio Open Source with Christopher Lydon — The podcast version of an independent weekly show broadcast by WBUR, featuring talks with expert guests about arts, ideas, and politics. Lydon was the world’s first podcaster in 2003.
Radiolab — The epitome of the highly produced, sonically sophisticated storytelling show, with an emphasis on science. This year Radiolab spun off an excellent podcast miniseries about the Supreme Court, More Perfect.
Reply All — A mostly fun, occasionally sad and disturbing show from Gimlet about the bizarre situations people get into with help from the Internet.
*Revisionist History — A podcast featuring Malcolm Gladwell pursuing highly Gladwellian analyses of episodes from history that Gladwell thinks need to be reconsidered. I’ve soured on his books, so I wasn’t expecting much from this show, but I was completely drawn in. One prescient pre-election show asked why democratic countries seem to feel so free to demean women leaders.
*Reveal — An investigative show co-produced by PRX and the Center for Investigative Reporting and hosted by the mesmerizing Al Letson. Recent episodes have examined white nationalism, election fraud, and the treatment of LGBTQ people in Russia.
*The Run-Up —Political reporter Michael Barbaro hosts this thoughtful, literate, sometimes funny New York Times podcast about politics.
*Scene on Radio — Produced by John Biewen, an instructor at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, this show features some of Biewen’s work as well as the best work by the Center’s students. CDS is the Sorbonne of radio, so the show is good.
*Science Vs. — A thoroughly entertaining and provocative show from Gimlet and Australian host/producer Wendy Zukerman that deploys the best science to destroy
