Whether it is packing my suitcase, flying back and forth across the country, or walking in sub-freezing temperatures to my crashpad in Boston, I almost always have something playing in my ears. The last post was a book roundup, which included some of my favorite audiobook listens of the year, and I’m following it up with my other audio recommendations. Here are some of my favorite podcasts.

I made a similar list back in 2022 (decades ago, amirite?) but, if you haven’t before, you should check that one out, too. It has some of my favorite podcasts of all time. And if you reallllllly don’t feel like reading this post I’ll give you the TLDR. My Top 3 are Scamanda, Sold A Story, and Lemme Fix it.

Without further ado, here they are: The ten podcasts that kept me alive last year.

Tallyho!

Scams & Scandals

Be shocked and outraged, theorize along the way, binge, binge, binge.

1. Scamanda

If you listen to only one of the podcasts in this list, make it Scamanda.

Friends of mine know that I’m not one for True Crime podcasts. The pouring over details, getting to the truth of a mystery is great, but I can never turn my brain off to the fact that the subjects of these pods are people; People with families; Families that have gone through plenty of tragedy already. I know a lot of sleuths are doing good work, but I can’t help feeling icky listening to grizzly murder details for entertainment.

That being said, I love a good scam. Scams are the best of both worlds. Something is amiss. What really happened is for the podcaster to investigate and you, the audience, to decide. The best part is no one got killed—usually. Scamanda is in this category of podcasts. You will not freaking believe the story you hear, or how far it went.

This podcast tells the story of Amanda, a young, devoted mother and wife, good Christian, and an upstanding member of her community, who is dying of cancer. Or is she? Hear Amanda’s own words, and come along for the ride, see how one very convincing woman made a big name for herself. You won’t be able to quit this one.

Get it on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts

2. Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption

Don’t we love a coverup?

A drug overdose in a fancy Pasadena hotel leads to an investigation that no one but our host seems to want to dig into. At the center is the Dean of the University of Southern California’s medical school, an admired and powerful figure. It is through investigating this double life and chain of corruption, that host Paul Pringle, and his team at The LA Times, discover yet ANOTHER USC scandal—this one of George Tyndall, a USC gynecologist accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of victims during his tenure.

This podcast shines light on the dark corners of power and privilege, and gives a glimmer of hope that if people like our host, if other good journalists, continue pushing boundaries, plowing through red tape, and digging deeper, justice can eventually, finally be served.

Check out Fallen Angels on Spotify

Or on Apple Podcasts.

3. The 6 Billion Dollar Gold Scam

In 1995, a mining company called Bre-X announced it had struck gold—a lot of it—in a remote area of Indonesia. Investors wanted in, stock prices soared, and people got very, very rich. But eventually this too-good-to-be-true tale starts to unravel. Come along for the wild ride of the biggest goldmine fraud in history and one hell of a scam.

This podcast takes on questions of how much to trust the experts, how much to gamble on a “safe bet”, and how easily something—a big something—can be made of nothing. It drives home the realization that our economy, bound as it may have been once to a tangible substance (like gold), is no longer/today is not. Money, wealth, “the market” are really all illusions. Even when tied to this tangible substance.

It begs the question: What is worth more; gold, or the idea of gold? Or are they exactly the same?

Expect: Deception, mystery, lots of info about mining, Canadian accents, and death under VERY suspicious circumstances.

Listen on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts

4. The Girlfriends

Bob Bierenbaum is a great catch. An accomplished doctor who speaks several languages and spends his spare time flying his own plane. He is also a nice Jewish boy. Perfect on paper, some might say.

But something felt “off” about Bob to host Carole Fisher, his ex-girlfriend. She mentioned it to Mindy, who also dated Bob, and they mentioned it to Alayne, who also dated Bob. Each “girlfriend” had her own tale of weirdness to add to the pot, and the women became fixated on one of the biggest red flags about Bob—His missing first wife, who had disappeared in in 1985, never to be seen again.

Through the course of the podcast, these three women, “the Girlfriends” investigate what happened to Gail Katz, Bob’s first wife, all those years ago. It is an amateur sleuth podcast, and more true crime than I usually go for, but the setup was compelling and the mystery needed solving.

Listen on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts

5. Missing: The Hunt for Richard Simmons

RIP Richard Simmons.

I happened to listen to this podcast just a couple months before he died. So now I feel a bit icky about sharing it. But maybe post mortem it is a good way to understand the larger than life figure better than we did during his lifetime.

Richard Simons, throughout his fame as a weight-loss and self-love guru, still held exercise classes in a little studio in LA. Every week, loyal customers, life-long Richard Simmons fans would show up and sweat it out with the Simmins himself. Until one day, in 20??, when they showed up to find class was cancelled. It got cancelled again the next week, and eventually, when it started back up, it was under the instruction of substitutes, not Richard. Richard Simmons, who had been teaching these classes, had known some of these people for 30+ years, just stopped showing up without any word or explanation.

Where had the king of jazzercise gone? And why had he turned his back on all of his loyal followers and friends? The Hunt for Richard Simmons investigates possible answers to these questions. We hear about the man’s life, his catapult to stardom, and, importantly, the deep impact he had on so many people.

Listen on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts

Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

Thought-provoking pods for smarty pants’

6. Sold A Story

Millions of kids in America can’t read or can’t read well. Sold A Story is a riveting podcast that unveils the scary reality of why that may be.

The way I was taught to read, and I’m sure many of you reading this now, was phonics. Learning sounds, learning how to sound out words, one syllable at a time. Ca-At, CAT. But about sixty years ago, a new theory was developed about how children learn to read. This theory, though flawed, caught on like wildfire. Still today, though it has been disproven time and time again, and as children become worse and worse readers (65% of US fourth graders cannot read proficiently), the Marie Clay method of teaching reading is in use in classrooms across America.

This is one of the best investigative podcasts I’ve ever listened to, but don’t just take my word for it. Sold A Story has won numerous awards including a DuPont-Columbia Award, a National Edward R. Murrow Award, Scripps Howard Awards for both audio storytelling and journalism impact, and a Peabody nomination. You will be aghast, enraged, shocked, while listening. But you will be happy to know this pod has had major impact in the teaching world since its release. Most of all, you will not be able to stop listening.

Listen to Sold a Story on Spotify

Or on Apple Podcasts

7. If Books Could Kill

Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri team up to shit on the most popular books of all time. Alright, that was dramatic, they’re not the most popular books of all time. But most of the books covered are WILDLY  popular, and often, as we find out in the pod, maybe shouldn’t be…? Airport self help books, political vendettas disguised as think pieces, and popular business books are all on the chopping block. Think Lean In, Outliers, Hillbilly Elegy, and everyone’s favorite: The Secret. (Don’t worry, there are tons more.)

Each episode, Michael and Peter meander through the books, stopping to point out faulty reasoning, explain how their flawed statistics don’t in fact prove the author’s theory AT ALL, and give insight into the real sentiment at the core of each of these books. It is the healthy dose of skepticism that these best sellers sorely needed.

It’s clever, it’s witty, it reminds you that it’s not your fault you live in a capitalist hellscape and no amount of self-improving will change that. (Also, I love everything Michael Hobbes does, so also check him out on early episodes of You’re Wrong About and Maintenance Phase.)

Listen to If Books Could Kill on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts.

8. Classy

Class disparity is something Americans are deeply afraid of acknowledging. It’s in our blood, our propaganda—“We’re all the same!”, “Equal opportunity!”, “Bootstraps!”

We like to fantasize about a melting pot of people; ethnicities and classes intermingling, everybody all mixed up in our happy, equitable stew. But we all know that class structure exists here. We know which of our classmates to be jealous of in fourth grade, because their parents buy name brand snacks and have a game room in their finished basement. We know which ones not to envy, because they’re wearing patched hand-me-down pants or because their parents’ car has duct tape on the side mirror. We don’t talk enough about class, but we instinctively know.

In Classy, host Jonathan Menjivar takes an honest and often uncomfortable look at “class” and concepts related, through interviews and anecdotes. It is at times funny, cringey, curious and honest. Menjivar had the idea for the podcast after seeing how far he’d come from his working-class roots, noting his love of fancy dinners and cashmere socks, and feeling kind of weird about it all.

If you happen to be in a better financial position than previous generations of your family, this podcast might hit you where it hurts—or scratch that itch you’ve been trying to ignore. If you’re privileged enough to have never thought much about class, maybe you should check it out, too.

Listen on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts

Episodic Palate Cleansers

These podcasts are good old fashioned fun. Go ahead, dissociate.

9. Lemme Fix It

Lemme Fix It is nostalgia in sound form—that is, if you’re a millennial. Each week on Lemme Fix It, hosts Francesca and De’Lon tackle a different piece of millennial culture, something that once was but is no more. They do a deep dive on the topic, from its origin to its heyday and eventual downfall, and then they give their “fixes” for how this thing (or person or concept) could make a comeback and be better than ever. Some notable episodes include Blockbuster Video (IYKYK), Pogs, and ‘It Shoulda Been JC’, about why N*Sync member JC Chasez’s career tanked while bandmate Justin Timberlake’s soared.

If you are a millennial, trust me on this one. It will feel like putting on your favorite JNCO jeans and cruising the mall, while rocking out to early 2000s pop. Take on the cringe of our youth in a fun way with this podcast. Warm and fuzzies activated!

Listen on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts

10. Diss and Tell

When I can’t spare a single brain cell, this is where I turn. Diss and Tell is a gossip pod that takes a deep dive into celebrity feuds. Easy, wholesome, and a nice reprieve from the horrors of daily (real) life. Hear what really happened between those Real Housewives, the straw that broke the camel’s back for Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears, or listen to some of the best disses you have ever heard in the Azelia Banks vs. Elon Musk and Grimes episode.

Gossip and bullshit are not my typical thing, but we all need to dissociate now and again. And hearing how the rich and famous muck their way through public feuds is as good a way as any.

Listen on Spotify

Or Apple Podcasts