Can I shamelessly plug the podcasts I started this year?

Co-hosting and producing Best Album For, where we choose the best album for highly relatable, real-life situations — like decompressing after a long day, elevating a backyard party, impressing the car next to you at a stop light, missing someone you love, or running from zombies.

And producing Leadershit, a podcast about the social responsibility of business leaders—and how they can avoid stepping in it.

An old podcast I binged in October/Nov was Blowback Season 1 that went over the lead up to the Iraq war. Comparing how the US media was covering that build-up to the coverage after the 10/7 attacks in Israel was pretty interesting.

This may only be of interest to those in the field of psychology, but Ordinary Unhappiness (an off-shoot of Parapraxis Magazine) is utterly delightful. In a recent episode, the hosts interviewed Steven Thrasher about his book, The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

A bit late to the party, but I discovered Ologies this year, which is an incredible piece of science communication on a whole heap of topics. The host has the same knack as Louis Theroux in quickly connecting with people and asking the right questions to get out what's in their head

I'm enjoying Rob Reiner and Soledad O'Brien's Who Killed JFK so far, because it lays out the CIA plot more clearly and plainly than anyone else seems to ever have done. The whole thing sends chills up my spine.

This was the year I discovered Old Gods of Appalachia and I binged the entire thing. It's fantastic Southern Gothic Lovecraft-ian drama, if you like that kind of thing.

I never get tired of recommending The Kraken Busters by Keith Pille. It’s a one-man show, a meticulously researched alternative history of the US-Sea Monsters conflict of the late 1940s and early 1950s. (The second season covers the North Atlantic resurgence in the 1980s.) It has touches of humour - how can you not have a sense of humour when describing how the US military approaches dealing with giant squid - but overall it’s a reflective exploration of naval manoeuvres and politics and things that might have been.

I don’t remember where I first came across it, and it’s an outlier from my normal podcast diet, but the first episode got me hooked and it didn’t let go.

I've been a big fan of Blocks by Neal Brennan. There have been some dud episodes - looking your way Jay Leno - but for the most part, some fascinating discussions and the format is great.

I second The 13th Step from this link.

I also like to track the Pulitzer prizes and runner ups list. A few I've listened to this year and recommend (including a few from the Pulitzer list) are investigative journalism-esque:

Ear Hustle
Esther Perrel Where Should We Begin
Chameleon: Wild Boys
White Lies
Suave
Reveal

Season 11 of Dissect was a masterpiece. Cole Cuchna’s song by song exploration of Radiohead’s In Rainbows (one of my favorite all time albums) was full of insights and close listening that gave me new ears.

I don't know if this technically came out this year or last year, but Articles of Interest's series "American Ivy" on the surprising history and enduring global influence of Ivy style was really great. Check it out especially if you have no professed interest in penny loafers, tattered khakis, and repp ties.

I second The Big Dig as an excellent series, and not only because I lived through some of the early parts of it in the South End of Boston. It's also a nice companion to Deb Chachra's new book, How Infrastructure Works. Both are extremely articulate on gnarly subjects and it's always such a relief and please to feel like you're in the hands of someone who knows their subject and can describe it well.

"About a Boy" by Julia Ioffe about the childhood and cultural milieu that created Putin. I seem to prefer finite documentary podcasts, this one is 5 episodes and fits the bill.

Oh, I have a shameless plug too: I made a show called Skyline Drive that was supposed to be a lark about astrology and the weird and funny ways it interacts with the world (baseball managers in SF using it, CNN having an astrologer on the channel in its early years, French presidents using it to decide policy in the Iraq war!), but it takes a turn when I go to see my first astrologer and he tells me my dad will fall ill… and then my dad texts me 20 minutes after to let me know a cancer has spread through his body. It made a few best of lists, including Vulture’s and Apple’s, (not the New Yorker’s though!) but it’s quirky and sweet and I think might Venn diagram with the tastes of people in this community…

This year I also loved Ghost story (so good!), Classy, You Didn’t See Nothin, the new season of The Dream and Let’s Not Be Kidding. And of course, Heavyweight and Articles of Interest…

I really liked Strike Force Five this year. I like to listen to humor / comedy podcasts while I work out (yes, I am that strange woman running down the street who suddenly laughs out loud), and the interaction between the different personalities on this one was fun. They even managed to make the commercials funny. It's also nice because it's a limited run.

It didn't come out this year, but Normal Gossip hit its stride. I also loved City of the Rails in a way because I always wanted to be the rambler on the tracks, but lack the ambition and cunning to do it, and as a primer for the 17 year old who I am afraid will do something vagabondish as they complete their senior year in May.

This very new kid-friendly podcast combines music, adventure, and fantasy: Musicland Stories.

I can highly recommend Tape Notes, a podcast exploring how great music is made, specifically from the point of view of the producer. Essential listening for any bedroom music-makers.

And to twist the question, the podcast I missed most this year was Imaginary Advice - Experiments in Audio Fiction by Ross Sutherland, which took a hiatus. It's back in 2024 and I can't wait, because I'm pretty sure it's the greatest thing I've ever heard. Superb storytelling in normally self-contained episodes, always pushing the boundaries, a genuine one-off. It's all great, but here are a few places to start:

45. S.E.I.N.F.E.L.D.

6. Episode One

17. Six House Parties (repeat)

And some multiple parters:

72. Ten Thousand Years (Part 1)
83. All Work And No Play...
70. Sex and the City: The Return (Part 1)

Armchair Expert's last half of the year with these guests:

• Gabor Maté
• Dr. Becky Kennedy
• Dan Ariely
• Robert Sapolsky
• Daniel Markovits

4 writers who are on the forefont of so many topics that are evolving and expanding with each year: addiction, trauma, raising kids, behavior, free will, determinism, and meritocracy.