The Best Podcasts of 2024 (So Far)
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If you have a niche interest, there’s (probably) a podcast for it nowadays. I haven’t searched for it, but I guarantee there’s at least one good knitting podcast. There might even be seven! As you ease into what'll surely be a hell of a year for us all, there are plenty of shows that will make your life a little bit better.
Whether it’s improving a skill, learning a bit of history to contextualize All of This, or gaining some perspective on things you might not have thought about too deeply, there's a podcast out there for you. Heck, all you might be looking for is one that'll make you laugh enough to relax your shoulders and unclench your jaw. At the very least, they can probably hook you up with a discount on Athletic Greens or MeUndies.
I’d love to say you can use promo code BRENDAN at check out, but we’re not there yet. In the meantime, here are some of the most entertaining and educational podcasts of the year so far. Don’t forget to like and subscribe.
The Recipe
I love cooking at home, but the real pain of looking up a recipe online is that you have to wade through roughly 10,000 words to get to the part where they tell you how many cloves of garlic you need. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman’s new podcast not only gets to the heart of how they make their recipes—but the why behind each decision, too. You won't find any fanfare about how a recipe for stovetop mac and cheese reminds them of their grandparents. Instead, they discuss their cheese choices and how they got there. The Recipe is accessible to the common person who doesn’t yet have an extensive (and expensive) collection of knives, but has plenty of them saved in an online shopping cart along with a nice apron or two. The podcast is still in its very early days, too, so now’s the time to jump in and Julie & Julia your way along with them each week.
We’re Here to Help
We’re in a weird era right now where podcasters and guys dressed as lizards serve as therapists. Shows like Stavvy’s World are centered around people calling in and seeking guidance from some unlikely sources—but actually leaving with sound advice. Thankfully, comedians-actors Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds bring some levity to the self-help pod in We’re Here to Help. They impart real advice—such as telling someone in no uncertain terms to stop feeding their cat ear wax because it’s weird. The show's live-call format allows for fun back-and-forth, plus some callers get chances to follow up later on, so we can see how the advice played out.
Six Trophies
Like the abundance of comedy podcasts, their sports counterparts have the potential to be incredibly irritating. But, for my money, Shea Serrano and Jason Concepcion's Six Trophies is downright fun. They truly blend sports and pop culture—remember, Serrano has written books about movies, and both were responsible for the celebrated TV show, Primo. It’s far from the self-important, stats-heavy yell-fest of modern sports media. The generations that grew up watching Around the Horn and Pardon The Interruption often think talking about sports needs to be a heated debate. Thankfully, Serrano and Concepcion are happy to discuss which fictional basketball game from movies and TV shows they’d most like to attend. Six Trophies is a show about jocks that isn’t run by jocks. It’s just a game, after all.
Ripple
We all remember the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but how much do we actually know about it? In Ripple, Dan Leone gets on the ground (and in the water) in Louisiana and other states on the Gulf to talk to the people who have been most affected by the spill. He listens to their memories of that day and learns about how the spill's lingering effects: friends and family members lost on the rig, waterways that people depended on dying in front of their eyes. Like any great serial podcast, there are characters and motives. Even more, Leone uncovers evidence from archival interviews, which come from the likes of BP executives, government agencies, and much more.
Hard Feelings
Jennette McCurdy became a powerful voice in the mental health world after the release of her brutal memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. After showing how gifted she is at talking about heavy topics with humor and humanity, her limited series podcast, Hard Feelings, feels like catching up with a friend. It’s not a companion piece to her book. It’s not a lecture series. Hard Feelings is simply a podcast from someone who has been through certain things talking about things that you might be going through right now. It’s not preachy. It’s not flashy. It often feels like an audio blog post. You can picture McCurdy wandering around her house, mindlessly picking up objects and putting them back down, while telling a story of overcoming eating disorders, or battling with social media. It’s pretty real, which is reassuring. And rather than milk the medium for the sake of sponsorship dollars, she ends each show with a story about self-esteem and confidence.
No Accounting for Taste
In No Accounting for Taste, comedians Shane Torres and Kyle Kinane (along with producer Charlene Conley) discuss different things that are largely derided in the world (Insane Clown Posse, water parks, ranch dressing, astrology, etc.) and try to find a silver lining in each one. Sometimes, it’s easy—neither host needed a ton of convincing that the ICP crowd was a well-meaning group of superfans. Other times, not so much, such as the Greek life episode where Conley went into the racist actions of her southern college’s fraternities. Still, they try to get back on track with each one and find some sort of bright side, even if it takes a call from a listener. Now, we’re not fully back to that '90s vibe of hating everything to seem cool, but as nu metal and center parts return to fashion, it’s important to stave off that toxic retro trait with a little bit of positivity.
Keys to the Kingdom
Even though I've never been to any Disney property, I can relate to the mouse's employees. My first job was wearing costumes of PBS characters when my dad was in charge of events for a PBS affiliate. It's probably why I enjoy listening to Matt Gourley and Amanda Lund—a married couple who not only used to work at Disney resorts in various capacities (RC trash can! Various Princesses!), but also met and fell in love there.
In Keys to the Kingdom, they reveal what Disneyfied life is like behind the curtain. They interview former and current employees to show just how deep the level of commitment is from Disney’s point of view, talk to members of roving Disney "gangs," and introduce people who sneak family members' ashes into the park for one last ride. Just when you think you’re sold on the idea that Disney is a deeply weird place, they swing it back in the other direction and tell stories of the human connections that are made there—often with children. I have to admit that I felt a sense of the magic, even as a Disney-cynical adult.
A Game of No Halves
Honestly, one of the most entertaining sports podcasts right now is one about a soccer team that doesn’t even exist. Well, that’s not entirely true—it just exists in the mind of English broadcasting legend Bob Harris. In A Game of No Halves, Harris and his son, Miles, go deep on "North London FC"—the team Bob created and played out season upon season in his mind. He borrows real-life players from across the globe, plus as his sons and their friends. He "signs" exceptionally tall neighbors to serve as Peter Crouch-esque strikers, as well as stunt performers he’s met in real life.
No, Harris doesn’t always tell these people they’re part of a decades-spanning soccer dynasty. He also goes into his own rules for this bizarre experiment—which he typically plays out in his head as he kicks around a toy soccer ball in the living room after a few glasses of wine and a joint while his kids are asleep. Above all, the podcast is simply a fun listen between father and son, who reminisce over childhood friends and laugh about a dad’s goofy, yet harmless hobby.
Tosh Show
In an era where every comedian has a podcast, Daniel Tosh’s makes it clear he has no interest in talking to other comedians about comedy. He doesn’t even want to talk to celebrities. Tosh wants to talk to his wife’s gynecologist, or his womanizing French surfing buddy, or a girl who claims she can communicate with animals after looking at a photo of them. I’ll be honest: I rolled my eyes when I saw yet another comedian with a podcast, but Tosh Show quickly turned into appointment listening for me.
This is the same sarcastic, faux-egotistical Tosh that millennials connected with on the long-running Tosh.0—but in a very bare-bones package. Now, he’s just talking to people and genuinely enjoying himself. In a landscape where podcasters strive to create something that sounds like hilarious people having a relaxed and hilarious conversation, Tosh actually pulls it off off by bringing in people he’s already friends with, or is actually interested in, rather than just inviting people with something to plug.
Flightless Bird
By now, Dax Shepherd’s podcasting empire is one of the format’s great global powers. His “Armchair Umbrella” corporation has spawned a few spinoff podcasts—some including himself, some featuring his Armchair Expert co-host Monica Padman, and one helmed by New Zealand investigative journalist David Farrier. He has a knack for getting himself in uncomfortable positions and reporting on them. Farrier's situation right now? He's a New Zealander stranded in the U.S. as a result of COVID, faced with a new culture to understand. Each week, the host dives into an aspect of American culture that feels especially foreign or fascinating to him. Some are grand in scale, like football and healthcare, and others a bit more granular, like shower curtains and pinball. Each episode goes far beyond his surface-level interest, though, usually unearthing some unknown conspiracy or strange connection to government initiatives. Sometimes, it takes an outsider to teach us about the things we’ve taken for granted.
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