Top 10 Greatest Podcasts Of All Time
The top 10 greatest podcasts of all time is a compilation of the most entertaining, informative and enlightening stories that you can find in the podcast world. Majority of them deal with real life events that have shaped, or are shaping, our societies.
Podcasts today have a way of bringing about a unique kind of education. They are usually presented by experts and investigative journalists. These ones dig deep, find privileged information, and make informed analyses to provide us with better narratives over current and historical issues. There are others that are simply here to entertain, bringing humour to our otherwise tedious commutes.
The interesting thing about podcasts is that, unlike traditional radio shows, the archives are available to the public. They are stored on the internet and you can revisit them whenever you feel like.
Here are the top 10 greatest podcasts of all time:
10. Hardcore History
Hardcore history is a podcast series presented by American political commentator, Dan Carlin. So far, the series includes 63 episodes.
Carlin was originally a radio show host, but thanks to the internet and the benefit of a wider reach, his podcasts are now available to an unlimited audience across the globe.
Carlin’s podcasts are quite lengthy, running between 3 to 6 hours on average. They cover interesting topics in history, and how they relate to the present day. The Hardore History podcasts are incisive and loaded with a lot of useful information.
If you want to stay in tune with the political twists and turns in the United States of America, then you should give this addition to the top 10 greatest podcasts of all time a listen.
Pod Save America started in 2017, and runs twice every week. It is a show that features blunt political discussions that take no prisoners. The hosts of the show include Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor. Their goal is to breakdown the prevailing political discussions and help the public understand them clearly.
Pod Save America is a podcast that can become rather addictive. Once you get hooked on it, you wouldn’t want to miss an episode.
Witness is a podcast hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC. It is a series that covers historical events, and presented by people who were actually part of those events.
The Witness podcast series is updated on a daily basis, and the episodes remain on the platform indefinitely for personal downloads. You can also subscribe to the Witness channel on iTunes, listen on Spotify or on Google Play.
The program covers all kinds of history from different parts of the world and cuts across political, religious and racial boundaries.
7. On The Media
Talk about watching the watcher, this podcast is a weekly investigation into the activities of the media. It scrutinizes the role of the media in shaping the views of the public over world events.
Each episode of On The Media runs for one hour, and the hosts of the podcast are Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone. The program is produced by WNYC and covers topics around journalism, technology, and The First Amendment.
Developed by The American Life, Serial is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig. The podcast, which started in 2014, covers the story of Hae Min Lee, an 18 year old Woodlawn High School student who was murdered in 1999.
Other seasons followed with their own unique stories and events. The second season follows the story of a soldier in Eastern Afghanistan, and season three reports on cases being tried in a Cleveland courthouse.
Serial ranked as the best podcast in 2018, during this period, it ranked number one on iTunes and retained that position for several weeks.
The Memory Palace is a monthly podcast that teaches us a bit of history, especially around events that have shaped our society. It opens up some unique narratives that provide more insight into these events, most of which are unknown to the common man on the street.
The series started in 2008, and is hosted by Nate DiMeo, who himself is a well known author and screenwriter. DiMeo’s “The Memory Palace” is widely followed and has won some significant awards within its over one-decade of existence.
In 2015, The Memory Palace was crowned the best podcast on iTunes. It was then named as a finalist in the 2016 Peabody Awards. The stories in this podcast cut across different genres, and are usually short and precise.
This is a podcast from Gimlet Media which started in 2014. Reply All covers a wide range of topics about the world as it is today. The Guardian describes Reply All as:
“A podcast about the internet’ that is actually an unfailingly original exploration of modern life and how to survive it.”
The Show is hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman, both of whom find ways to describe how the internet is changing humanity and shaping how we live our lives.
3. Lore
If you are a lover of horror and scary stories, then you should subscribe to Lore. The podcast covers selected nonfiction events that send shivers down your spine.
Lore has won a number of awards that include the following:
- iTunes Best Podcast 2015
- iTunes Best Podcast 2016
- Academy of Podcasters Best History Podcast 2016
Each episode of Lore examines something new in the scary world of dark historical tales.
This weekly podcast is also broadcast as a radio program. It is an hour long show hosted by Ira Glass and has an estimated audience of over 2.2 million people across 500 radio stations. The podcast versions are downloadable on the show’s website and other digital platforms.
Many of the stories aired on This American Life are touching, and often presented with some humour. Generally, they are stories that concern everyday people and how they live their lives in the United States.
The program has been around for over 20 years now, covering more than 680 episodes during this period.
Binge Mode is a pop culture podcast that runs on a weekly timetable. It is produced by The Ringer, and hosted by Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion.
By using depth of insight and humour, Rubin and Concepcion adopt a review-like analysis of movies, shows, films, or whatever topic is being discussed in any given episode.
Binge Mode started with their dissection of episodes of Game of Thrones. Season two, titled Binge Mode: Weekly looks at different TV series and movies, and season three focused primarily on Harry Potter. Coming full circle, the team released a fourth season this year, covering the ins and outs of the final season of Game of Thrones.
Conclusion
Podcasts are the new show spots for the listening audience. The podcast system has a huge advantage over traditional radio show platforms due to the flexibility that it offers its audiences. Most radio shows don’t have the benefit of repeated listening. Once you have missed them, they’re gone.
With podcasts, listeners can work on their own unique timetable, and it gives you the opportunity to revisit any episode at any given time. This is one of the benefits of the internet era, along with platforms like Blue Baikal offering the opportunity to find topic specific content with unbiased reviews from regular audiences.
The top 10 greatest podcasts of all time listed above covers topics that would interest any listener. They can keep you entertained, informed and educated, which explains why they are so popular. Maybe you’ve already listened to some, or maybe you are hearing about some of them for the first time. You’ll certainly find podcasts that will be of benefit to your listening pleasure.
