S-Town
A spiritual successor to NPR’s breakout Serial, S-Town proved that you didn’t need journalistic integrity, morals, facts, or even any sort of coherent story to craft a moderately received podcast.
Pod Save America
Required listening for the Resistance, the Pod Save America family of podcasts has inspired thousands of listeners to go out into their own communities and profit off one of the worst times in American history.
Caliphate
The investigative podcast from The New York Times delighted hardcore jihadists as well those dipping their toes into the waters of ISIS fandom for the first time
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Honest-to-goodness sports talk from the relatable perspective of an unspeakably wealthy media mogul.
The Daily:
This podcast from The New York Times shows what can be done with nothing more than a small team of dedicated reporters, a couple of microphones, and limitless financial support from your parent company.
StarTalk
The major highlight of this year’s episodes was when Neil DeGrasse Tyson landed an exclusive sit-down interview with the Canis Major constellation.
The Joe Rogan Experience:
How about you open up your mind for once, you fucking zealot? I bet you were ready jump down our throats the second you saw this. He’s just asking questions, man, what the hell is wrong with that?
A Very Fatal Murder
Rising above the noise of this decade’s podcast boom, this flaghsip podcast by the creators of The Onion soared above the rest as the best and only show to focus on a genre some have begun to refer to as “true crime.”