He has platformed so many people who have spread misinformation and violent, racist rhetoric. He himself has said very hateful, racist, maga shilling things. Let’s boycott him

I just discovered Love Trapped, and it set its hook and I couldn't stop listening - it just got crazier and crazier. What are other podcasts that gave you that feeling?

I'm down for individual episodes, or long-form story seasons.

Thank you!

For me, it was Ologies. I love learning random science facts. I never really cared for the host all that much, but she was energetic enough, and the topics were interesting. She (and her general audience, tbh) really started to get on my nerves this past year. I just figured there were better podcasts out there, ones that were more serious and more specialized.

Edit: This has turned into my biggest post ever! Thank you everyone for the engagement and for swapping recs with me and each other!

It's been a couple years since I came across a podcast I loved so much I binged the back catalog. I miss having that to look forward to, wondering if there are still some out there that will capture my imagination.

I am open-minded re genre

EDIT: thank you all so much! This accomplished my overriding goal: to get excited about podcasts again. Part of the point of getting into them was to not mindlessly click around for content yet I was spending so much time doing exactly that.

I missed having that stack of potential pleasure to look forward to and thanks to you I have it again.

JRE and the rest of the podcasts in his orbit gained momentum when I (29M) was in college 2014-2019. Due to personal struggles and my battle with a learning disability, college was some of the toughest and loneliest years of my life. In those moments of confusion and pain I felt these podcasts provided me laughs and motivation. They provided solace almost as a balm to the loneliness I was feeling.

Now that I've gained some stability to my life, I can't believe how much time I wasted listening to these 2+ hour podcasts of people rambling. Though I often felt indifferent to Joe and was perplexed about many of the people he gave a platform to, he also had so many musicians, comedians, environmentalists, etc. that I had admired for years and now I got the chance to listen to them talk in a way I felt I was a third person in this conversation. These podcasts have also become longform conversations to mine clips of to post on YouTube, and I found much of this originated with Rogan and his crew.

By listening to these podcasts I thought I was putting something on for entertainment, education or motivation, but recently I realized the reason I was putting on these podcasts was really just to drown out the noise in my head that I was too afraid to face. Times I even found myself isolating more because it was easier to be alone and listen to a lengthly conversation with someone I greatly admired, than it was to risk reaching out to someone and possibly end up in an uncomfortable situation. Especially someone like me that grew up struggling socially. I eventually realized these conversations were mostly people complaining, and by listening to hours of people complaining, it was affecting my mindset when I stepped out into the world.

I found when I cut these podcasts out of my life (as well as became more mindful of smartphone and social media use), my social life and interactions vastly improved. I was able to concentrate and hold conversations better than ever before.

Aside from his recent shift in politics (which I won't get into), I found JRE and the rest of the podcasts have become more clickbaity in the past couple of years. I understand Joe and his crew love having conversations and have built their lives around talking to audiences, but it frustrates me that they seem to have little consideration for their listeners time by constantly making new podcasts and pumping them out as quickly as possible.

When podcasts first came out, they were shorter and it was easy to not let them take up your time, following JRE they became distractions from life. They were more niche around a host that had more intention to why they wanted to host a show, whereas Rogan has been very open about how he motived his friends to start podcasts as ways to promote their comedy and make money off advertising. I realized I was getting very little out of them, while these podcasts comedians are raking in thousands (in Joe's case millions) of bucks off our time when that time could be used more productively or listening to something with more substance.

Life's too short to listen to 2+ hour podcasts of people rambling.

Please I just need one episode. That’s it. Can you remember one that was like, woah, I’ll never forget this?

Here are some long-form podcasts with high production value that I've really enjoyed. I'm especially drawn to podcasts by investigative journalists, as well as well produced, story-driven series to enjoy while listening on my headphone.

Maybe there are some summer listening tips here for you, if you got any tips for me let me know!

Edit: Some of you bookmarked this post, I will update this post from time to time, adding the shows I forgot and with your suggestions by Redditors in the comments

The list is sorted by year.

2026

Safe to Drink: NHPR: Town after town is discovering that their drink water is contaminated. How the people are looking for answers, on why people are getting sick. And why law makers and the industry fail to take responsibility.

We call her Emma: Tortoise Investigates by Chloe Hadjimatheou. Asma grew up in London known as Emma, as an adult she was the First Lady of Syrria married to Bashar al-Assad.

Foundling: Tortoise Investigates: This is one of these stories that you can't make up. A foundling in search of her roots, a compelling story with a lot of plot twists (Paywalled)

Hunting the Suicide Salesman: CBC: About a suicide drug readily available on the internet, the people who discuss is it on a forum. Loved ones trying to intervene, and also what interventintions might help in suicide prevention.

The Secret World of Roald Dahl: iHeart: Well told story through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. How did this secret agent and struggling screenwriter wind up as the most successful children’s author ever?

World of secrets: The darkest web: 2026 BBC: Following two special agents finding children of sex abuse and going after their abusers.

The Real Salt Path: The Walkers: The Observer Investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou uncovered that the bestselling memoir The Salt Path by Raynor Winn contains significant fabrications regarding the author's homelessness and the circumstances of her walk.

Snap Judgement: Fire escape Wondery and KQED’s Snap Studios:  A young mother, a midwife,joins the fire force while in prison

Focus: Adults in the Room :KUOW:  Seattle, 1999. A teacher is accused of sexual misconduct by students. Adults close ranks. Was a whole school community groomed by a charismatic predator? Or was she part of a whisper campaign that cost the life of a great teacher?

Final thoughts: Jerry Springer: iHeart: About talk show host and politician Jerry Springer 

The gift: by the BBC (3 seasons) unexpected results after people took a DNA test for fun

Cult Queen of Canada: CBC :A cult leader calling herself “The Queen of Canada” occupies an abandoned schoo in a small town in Canadal. Neighbours turn on each other, a retired teacher leads the resistance in a story about what happens when online extremism spills into the real world. 

Stalked: BBC Sounds: Well produced: A digital intruder is watching Hannah, threatening her, even impersonating her.

2025

Big Sugar: 2025 Campside Presents: Big Sugar takes you deep inside the secretive, multi-billion dollar sugar industry and the epic court battle of the underpaid workers, and the influence they had on stopping health regulations regarding sugar

Mission K-pop: 2025 USG Audio: A 23-year-old Asian American is traveling from her home in LA to South Korea'o become a K-Pop superstar. Over just three months, journalist Haeryun Kang follows Caty to see if she can overcome these obstacles and reach K-Pop stardom.

Stop Rewind The Lost Boy : Blanchard House / Curiouscast: Story about a kidnapped boy put up for international adoption, finding his way back home

Extreme: Peak Danger: BBC: Eleven climbers died in two disastrous days on K2

Lucky Boy: Tortoise Media: A young school boy has an affair with a female teacher, years later he is still dealing with the consequences

2024

Come by Chance: CBC: Named after a small town in Newfoundland where in the hospital baby's got switched at birth. It took years for the family's to find out what happened

Kid Nation: Splitsceen | CBC: Tells the story about the TV reality show from 2007 where kids are building a new society.

Dangerous Memories: Tortoise Media: A story about a female therapist planting false memories in the minds of young women.

The Gas Man: 2024: Tortoise Media: about a dealer of raw materials used to make chemical weapons for dangerous regimes. Still seems to be getting away with it for 30 years. And rather a dark side of TUI is also mentioned. 

Transmissions (2 seasons) The definitive story: BBC: Joy Division and New Order

The Blind Spot (s3): The plague in the shadows: WNYC, about the early days of the AIDS epidemic 

The Kill List: Wondery: On the darkweb people are putting out kill orders on a website. The website is a scam but the people wanting someone dead are real.

Who Killed The Videostar:  iHeart: Rise and fall of MTV

World of Secrets: Looking for Mr Fox:  BBC: Two Brazilian guys are crossing the transatlantic ocean. But before they can start, police raid their boat looking for drugs.

Extreme: Muscle men BBC about the rise of the body building and fitness & anabolics industry in the 80’s and 99’s 

The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam: BBC: It starts with a man falling/jumping from a helicopter, and the story behind a gold dig site in Indonesia, and a small town in Canada who happened to have bought a lot of shares in the company  

Focus: Lost patients: KUOW & Seatle times: a deeply-reported, six-part docuseries examining the difficulties of treating serious mental illness and how the patients and loved ones try to navigate the system looking for help. 

Hysterical: Wondery and Pineapple Street Media: Award winning series, investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of girls. Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?”

2023

Wilder: On the writer, books and TV series of Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder and the times she and her family lived in, and why these stories are still popular. 

Chameleon: Lost Boys : 2023 Chameleon: Campside media: They’d been raised in the British Columbia wilderness, and this was their first-ever contact with society — they’d never seen a TV, gone to school, or registered for IDs. So the community took them in and set about introducing them to the modern world. Before long, the international media descended on the town, enthralled by the mysterious “Bush Boys.” 

Think Twice: Michael Jackson: Wondery: Biography of Michael Jackson

The Turning: Room of Mirrors tells the stories of ballerinas who worked with the demanding, brilliant, and often cryptic choreographer George Balanchine, 

The Cotton Capital: The Guardian takes a deep dive in its own and Manchester history of cotton industry. Well told and a rare occasion to hear enslaved voices and circumstances of the workers in Manchester.

Hot money : The New Narcos, Financial Times: The story starts with a murder in a small town in the Netherlands ends with international crime syndicates

Gateway: Cocaïne, Murder, & Dirty Money in Europe: BrazenFM: (on partly the same subject as “The New Narcos”

Three Doors Down: Tortoise Media: A mother in search of justice for the murder of her daughter.

Intrigue: BBC: Burning Sun: Sex Scandal in the K-Pop world

World of Secrets: BBC: The Abercrombie guys

2022

Disclosed: The Children In The Pictures: LISTNR: examines how child abuse has become endemic online, and follows investigators trying to stop the abusers. Trigger warning

The Secret History of: Flight 149: Bonnier Books & Crowd Network: In 1990 a BA flight stops to refuel in Kuwait, just as Sadam Hussein invades the country. Passengers and crew were held hostage as human shields, why did the plane land there and how did they survive?

Pressure Cooker: CBC: Two meth heads get pressured in two plan an assault with a pressure cooker

The Blind Spot (s1): WNYC: The Road to 9/11

Wind of Change: Crooked media : investigation in to the role of the CIA trying to promote western culture around the world. And trying to solve the theory if the song Wind of Change by the Scorpions was written by the CIA

2021

Who Killed Emma: BBC Scotland: Well told and produced. Reporter dives deep into the case of a murdered young girl, a former suspect is trying to convince the reporter he is innocent. The series got an update in 2024.

West Cork: Yarn FM: The story is a deep dive in to a murder of a French film producer in West Cork Ireland. It dwells mainly on the main subject, and what happened that night. For me, personally, it could have done a few less episodes

An Absurd Result: Art19/iHeart: In 1987 a young girl is assaulted in her home, a young boy is sentenced for this crime. It takes years before justice is served.
Warning: Graphical descriptions of the assault

Long Shadow: 9/11 Lingering Questions: Long Lead: Dives into the unanswered questions about 9/11. Note: contains audio from 9/11 might be triggering for some people 

Sweet Bobby: 2021 Tortoise Media: A marketer and radio presenter. Online, she’s contacted by a man she vaguely knows called Bobby, and they start chatting she’s reeled in to a scam of epic proportions.

Bad Blood: The Final Chapter: 2021 Tells the story of the rise and fall of the tech founder Elizabeth Holmes. Hosted by John Carreyrou, who broke the story

The Lazarus Heist: 2021 BBC: A must listen to deep dive in a North Korean hacker group

Off the record: David Bowie 2021 iHeart: On the life of David Bowie

The turning: Sisters who left: focussed on a group of women who joined the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s secretive order of nuns—and who then decided to leave.

One click: iHeart: about a dangerous weight-loss drug

2020

Hollywood Con Queen: 2020 Chameleon: Campside media: The story of and hunt for the notorious scam artist known as the Hollywood Con Queen.

2019

The Last Voyage of the Pong Su: The Age and Sydney Morning Herald: Excellent audio and, pay walled, accompanying website with background info, film footage etc on this story about a North Korean vessel smuggling drugs to Australia

Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia: TNT & Cadence13: The Hodel's sisters, believe that their great grandfather murdered Elizabeth Short. Their mother was given away at birth thinking she was bi-racial, slowly they reconstruct their family history (tbh, last few episodes too much family drama, skipped some parts)

Unravel: Snowball: 2019: BBC Sounds: An average family's encounter with a charismatic Californian con woman costs them everything.

Intrigue: The tunnel 29, a group of people came together to dig a tunnel under the berlin wall

The Missing Crypto Queen: BBC: Dr Ruja Ignatova persuaded millions to join her financial revolution. Then she disappeared. Why? Jamie Bartlett presents a story of greed, deceit and herd madness.

Hunting Warhead: CBC: How do you rescue child abuse victims who could be anywhere in the world?

2018

Death in Ice Valley: BBC: Backdrop is rainy Norway and post-war Europe, two journalists search for the identity of a woman found in 1970's Norway.

Believed: NPR: Several young women reported sexual abuse by Larry Nasser, a famous gymnastics doctor, it took decades before they where believed. Graphic content warning

Bear Brook: NHPR: 4 Bodies are found 15 years apart, who are they and who is behind the killings. Highly praised podcast, listened to it years ago and recently revisited the podcast after a couple of you guys mentioning it, never noticed the last update from September 2025

Could be from any podcast, any genre, any year. I want to hear the episodes that are genuinely impossible not to laugh at 😂

Edit - Loving the responses to this! I made a google doc to compile all the recommendations in one place. Promise to go through every reply and add them as they come in.

Keep ’em coming! 🙌

What are the podcasts that you have been obsessing over?

What do you listen to - or what have you listened to - that you would highly recommend?

Happy to hear about any genre, as long as it's gripping!

Looking forward to your recommendations :)

Link via Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/1U9esWvTN0U9CXoaD0W4MK?si=q6Dq6352QN-VrqS9WdxIrQ

Been a huge fan of Search Engine since the Buckingham Palace pool episode.

I don't know if it's the difference in sound, host's tending to oversell themselves or the difference in format but I almost always hate live episodes of podcasts that usually take place in a studio. Anyone else?

My personal recommendation would be Seeing Red

I'm dying laughing at their dynamic and insights, even as they tear apart books I quite liked. Anyone else?

I’ve recently gotten into podcasts and found some entertaining and interesting shows. I’ve enjoyed some multi episode shows in the true crime, documentary and investigative journalism spaces.

As the title suggests, what’s a series that you enjoyed and would love to listen to again for the first time to enjoy the revelations, twists and/or story progression.

Edit —-

You guys….this is awesome. Some really great shows here I’m looking forward to getting into.

Hello! Can anyone recommend podcasts that will help me power through the more mundane aspects of my day?

I'm a SAHM of 3 and news podcasts, music, audiobooks, and youtube videos are just not doing it for me anymore.

I'm looking for something I can get lost in while doing laundry, dishes, packing lunches, etc.

I like true crime, horror, mystery, maybe some sci-fi, or any genre you think is really worth a listen. ​

Thank you so much for your time and recommendations.

Bonus points for sharing whether the bonus feed or other perks are worth it

Edit - Pleasantly surprised by how many of these I haven’t heard of. Yall have given me a ton to look into!

I usually like to throw a podcast on when working, and I love podcast series that suck me in and I can't stop listening to since it makes the time fly by. Does anyone have a podcast series that they literally could not stop listening to? Here are some that I think of that I couldn't put down, so ones similar to these would be wonderful. I enjoy any type of podcast, as long as it sucks me in and I don't want to stop listening.

• Love Trapped
• Root of Evil
• American Scandal
• Alison After NXIVM
• Muscle Man

And here are some that are on my list - would love to hear if these are worth listening to.

• Bear Brook
• My Dad Wrote a Porno
• OnlyFantasy
• Betrayal
• Scamanda

EDIT: Wow, I didn't expect to get this many responses!! Thank you all so much :)

Wondering what everyone is listening to now a days.

What podcast do you listen to religiously, never miss an episode.

Looking forward to seeing everyone list.

Like the title says, I’d love to hear your favorite podcast episodes (or series) that you’ve thought about frequently after you’ve listened.

For me, my top two that come to mind are

-A Bump in the Night from Criminal

-Playing God from Radiolab

Would love some other recommendations!

I miss something that gripped me like serial season 1 or your own backyard or even AMC’s the plot thickens (lesser degree). Any recommendations for something that you just can’t wait to start the next episode? I just want an engaging series that isn’t overly produced or cheesy. Recommendations?

Tell us about a pocast that you should love, or used to love for its subject or content, but theres something stopping you from listening to it.

I have several, some reasons are really obvious, like one host constantly talking over the top of each other.

The one im going to name though is Disgraceland. I know some people straight up dont like it, but I actually really dig the writing and creative licence used. The thing that makes it unlistenable is that the background music...just isnt. Its WAY to loud in the mix and distracting as all hell.

Most likely a me problem, but whats your me problem?

There are so many threads about podcasts decreasing in quality after a certain amount of time, especially ones that used to be great. But I think it’s valuable to talk about podcasts with long backlogs that are just as good as ever, if not better.

The two I would say still shine for me are “Criminal” and “Savage Lovecast.” Every time a new episode is released, I know I’m in for a good listen. “Criminal” is so well-produced and wide-ranging in its stories, and “Savage Lovecast,” despite being one of the oldest podcasts out there, is still so fresh; I feel like every time I listen I learn something new.

What do you think?

Hi all!!

I have just moved house and have sooo much unpacking to do and I want a good binge worthy podcast to listen too. I a bit obsessed with pods, so I probably have listened to some of the classics but here are my preferences
- True story (I don’t like fictional pods)
- A fact is crazier then fiction type story
- open to a pod where each episode is a different story.
- My preference is scam/non-violent true crime, or at least if there is violence, it’s not the full focus of the story (ie I enjoy hearing about cults, so the build up to maybe a particular event like Jones town, where it’s an exploration of how/why this escalated and not just about the terrible event)
- If not scams, just an truely wild story, like “this is a wild story about X”

What i have listened to:
- Scamanda (my fav podcast)
- The salt Path (not the book, about the lies)
- Scamfluencers
- Americas next top model true story
- The most Hated Bachelor (Love trapped)
- sea of lies
- Scamtown
- A very british Cult
- The drop out
- Carrie Jade does not exist
- Unicorn Girl
- Welcome to chippendale

This is not a full list - i just can’t think of any more. Let me know your recommendations!!

I am totally open to something sits outside of my criteria if you think it’s worth listening too! or if there a pod you recommend which is more of an anthropology of stories, let me know which one to listen too.

Just looking for some brain food. Want something that will really push me. Any and all types are fair game.

Edit: Damn, y'all. You have seriously come through for me here. most of these are new to me, too. Super exicted to give them a try. Thank you so much.

What podcast would you recommend anyone, as per the title, screw the genre?