The World According to Podcasts

(The following was updated on June 1, 2024)

On-demand radio would seem like a curious medium to attract the kind of attention it does. But in their simplicity, podcasts have enabled the creation of a world of content that can inform, educate and occupy the mind in a form perfectly suited to our limited attention spans and need to fill every conscious moment with engagement. 

Maybe the ubiquitous sight of commuters wearing headphones will be seen as a symptom of an isolating era in technological development or maybe students decades from now will be assigned old classics to indulge their minds with a human touch as other machines train their bodies. 

Either way, I wanted to take a moment to consider the last decade, which I have spent heavily immersed in a wide range of podcasts; from deep history to current affairs. If cumulatively available, the statistics on listening time would be quite staggering (approaching 150 full calendar days) so I will try to structure the list below assuming you aren’t looking to fill every unstructured minute for the next few years with the latest quick take. 

I fully acknowledge my interests, time restrictions and usage of the Stitcher app (now defunct), limited what I have been exposed to. A preference for scripted versus conversational content should also be quickly visible. That, however, is the beauty of the medium - unexpected gems just sit there waiting to be discovered on some idle meander or overlong flight to expose us to something wholly different.

Below, I’ve broken down my recommendations across several categories. I’ve tried to provide a link where appropriate to guide the curious listener and will endeavour to keep this list updated as new finds arise. To someone new to the format, I’d recommend starting slow, finding a narrator or subject that keeps your attention and then in a decade list them out for the world to see!

Top Tier: Worth finding the time to listen to!

• Anthropocene Reviewed: John Green reviews facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale.

• Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: The granddaddy of long-form history podcasting.

• Fall of Civilizations: A podcast that explores the collapse of different societies through history.

• Museum of Lost Objects (BBC): Tracing the histories of antiquities and landmarks that have been destroyed or looted in Iraq and Syria, India and Pakistan.

• Empire: William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the stories, personalities and events of empire over the course of history.

• Talking Politics: History of Ideas

Current affairs content you shouldn’t miss:

• Multipolarity: The Geopolitics Podcast

• Ones and Tooze: Everyone needs to be paying attention to what Adam Tooze has to say.

• Explainers from The Foreign Desk (Monocle)

• The Inquiry (BBC)

• These Times (UnHerd)

• Zeteo podcasts with Mehdi Hasan: We’re not Kidding and Two Outspoken

Other contemporary thought and analysis:

• Analysis (BBC)

• The Gray Area (Vox)

• The Sanctions Age

• Past Present Future: David Runciman’s solo project since the end of Talking Politics

• Ways to Change the World with Krishnan Guru-Murthy

• How To Academy Podcast

• Tech Tonic (FT)

• The Realignment

• The Audio Long Read (Guardian)

• Big Take Asia (Bloomberg)

• The Bugle: Long-running comedy podcast with Andy Zaltman and friends

Ongoing work that has a strong back catalog:

• The Rest is History

• Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs

• Ideas (CBC)

• The Ancients (History Hit)

• Unexplainable (Vox)

• Time to Eat the Dogs

• Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Addendum 

• The History of Byzantium

• Tides of History

• Human Circus - Journeys in the Medieval World

• Throughline

• Long Now: Seminars about Long-term Thinking

• History Unplugged

The Archives: Feeds that aren’t putting out new content but still worth a listen

• Revolutions (from Mike Duncan)

• History of Exploration

• Deep Background with Noah Feldman

• Context with Brad Harris

• Eye of the Storm Podcast

• Head on History

• From the Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham:

• Constitutional

• Presidential

• Moonrise

• History of the World in a 100 Objects

• 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (BBC)

• The Compass (BBC)

If I could only make time to listen to it:

• The History of Rome (from Mike Duncan)

• Living with the Gods (BBC)

• The Ancient World

• The Hellenistic Age Podcast

• Legacy (Wondery)

• The Dig miniseries Thawra (Jacobin Radio)

• The History of Persia

• Untold: The Retreat (FT)

• Real Dictators (Noiser)

• The Universe (Crash Course Pods)