The Podcast Pantheon: 101 Podcasts That Changed How We Listen—from ‘WTF’ to ‘Serial’

Vulture podcast columnist Malin helps readers navigate the vast landscape of English-language podcasts in this insightful debut guide. He deems the current moment “the Golden Age of Podcasting,” explaining that 31% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly and ad revenue has exploded in recent years to a projected $4 billion in 2025. The 101 shows Malin highlights span all the major categories, including history, pop culture, true crime, comedy, science fiction, and self-help. In each entry, Malin describes the show’s merits and history and recommends a favorite episode. For Limetown, a science fiction podcast, Malin details, without spoilers, the plot—the unsolved disappearance of 300 people from their fictional Tennessee community—and outlines how the pilot episode rapidly found an audience, reaching “the top spot on the download charts without any famous cast members to promote it.” Each section is equal parts informative and evocative; Malin conveys what makes comedy podcasts, such as Jonathan Katz’s Hey, We’re Back, funny to so many listeners, and why certain investigative series are successful, like The Last Days of August, which he says avoided cheap thrills and brought compassion and humanity to the story of a pornographic actress who died by suicide. This is an essential overview of a wildly popular medium. (Sept.)