Podcasts really seem to be having a moment lately. I have to admit, I wasn’t into them at first, but my friends at work listen to them often, and they always talk about them over the cube walls. Needing to be in-the-know (of course), I had to start listening! The hardest part about podcasts for me is just finding the time to listen. I’ve found that listening at home (instead of watching TV is a good time!) Anyway, my work friend Brittany is kind of the expert in podcasts. She helped me put together this list and gave a lot of good insight on each of the series. I have listened to some of these (not all I have to admit) but I am excited to get more and more into podcasts! See below for the 10 podcasts you should be listening to right now. Thanks Brittany!
Dirty John
Dirty John is in the “True Crime” genre of podcasts. It centers around a possible murder in Newport Beach. The main focus is on John Meehan and his relationship with Debra Newell. The podcast is about abuse, manipulation, and deceit. The story was covered on Dateline in January 2018. If you’re a Friday night Dateline viewer (like we are), this one sounds right up your alley!
Dr. Death
I just finished this one a few weeks ago and it was so good! Dr. Death is a doctor who was sentenced to life in prison for intentionally harming patients. Intentionally! The scariest thing about this story is how our health system literally failed us by allowing him to keep practicing. There is a lot of interesting legal issues in this podcast as well. I’m trying to get Tony to listen because I know he would love it!
Freakonomics
Freakonomics is based on the New York Times best-selling book Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Stephen D. Levitt. If you’re not familiar with Freakonomics, it’s basically the hidden side of everything – things you thought you knew about but actually have no idea. It’s also described as being part pop-culture and part economics. I haven’t listened to any of these, but there are quite a few in the backlog that sound interesting!
Liar City
Every episode is a different story of someone who lied or was somehow deceitful. My friend Brittany LOVES this podcast. She recommends reading the descriptions to pick the episodes, and then once you have a feel for the hosts, go back and listen to the other episodes by the hosts you like.
My Favorite Murder
The hosts (Karen and Georgia) each tell one murder story for each episode. Both Karen and Georgia are comedians so it’s a “light-hearted” murder podcast. They swear a lot and make a lot of jokes. Brittany recommends starting from the very beginning, because part of the experience is watching the show develop into what it is now. This one is not very suspenseful, but it is entertaining and is another one for anyone who really likes Dateline.
Reply All
This is Brittany’s absolute favorite podcast. It’s a “podcast about the internet” meaning that each story has it’s starting place because of the fact that the internet exists (but it’s not really about the internet). She recommended starting with episodes #64, #65, #66, and #67 (called “On The Inside”) and then go to #79, #37, #5, #29, #4, #18, #13, #74, #120, and #116.
Serial
Serial is probably the most ‘famous’ of all of the podcasts out there. It actually has a record for number of downloads (175 million) and holds a world record! It’s another ‘true crime’ type podcast, season 1 focuses on the disappearance of Hae Min Lee, and the arrest of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. Is he innocent? Is he not? This is a great one if you liked Making a Murdered.
Sexy Unique Podcast
This podcast recaps every Vanderpump Rules episodes and really goes in on each of the characters. If you are obsessed with Vanderpump Rules (like we are), this one sounds like a must! It also provides a lot of juicy gossip because the host Laura lives in LA and runs in their same crowd.
This American Life
Each week, the hosts choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories in that theme. It’s entertainment journalism that’s built around plot (at least that’s how they describe it!) Each episode of this series takes a turn you wouldn’t expect based on the description. Brittany says that it is similar to Reply All, but is not as light-hearted.
Watch What Crappens
This is podcast that I am most excited about starting. They recap every single Bravo show (my dream!) It airs fives times a week, so you can get Bravo recaps and gossip all the time! I can’t wait to start this one!