The Weird and Wonderful World of 2023 Podcasts

2023 has been a year of ups and downs, with plenty of surprises along the way. From the rise of TikTok to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been no shortage of things to talk about. And what better way to stay informed and entertained than with a good podcast?

If you’re looking for some fuel to power you through your commute, to take with you on the road, or to listen to while taking care of daily tasks, there’s truly excellent podcast content to choose from.

Each episode of these 16 shows — whether about the origins of the far right, the legalization of MDMA, Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, or one of the biggest lies someone could ever tell — is a gem. History nerds, true crime buffs, and story seekers alike will find something on this list to love.

1. Ghosts in the Burbs

If you like your paranormal tales on the cozy side, pay a visit to Wellesley, Massachusetts, where Ghosts in the Burbs creator, writer, and clairaudient Liz Sower interviews her very haunted neighbors about their encounters with specters, demons, cryptids, shadow people, harbingers, and more. While getting freaked out in the presence of coffee and baked goods, Sower makes important observations on parenting and privilege, as well as the intricacies of keeping secrets in a small town — plus, what to do when your house is really, really haunted.

2. Maintenance Phase

Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes have concocted a podcast that’s exactly the right combination of factual, hilarious, and infuriating. Maintenance Phase examines wellness and diet culture in all its nefarious manifestations, including orthorexia, the anti-vax movement, and the wellness-to-QAnon pipelines. Take a tour through Aubrey’s collection of diet books, listen to Michael being thoroughly disgusted when discussing the effects of Olestra on one’s nether regions, learn more about wellness influencers than you ever wanted to, and laugh until people move away as our hosts sample celery juice. (Which tastes “like a haunted swamp,” in case you were wondering.)

3. Trump’s Trials

What exactly is going on with Donald Trump right now? Specifically, with all those criminal and civil charges? NPR’s Scott Detrow keeps us up to date with bite-sized installations of Trump’s Trials, a podcast that walks listeners through Trump’s four cases and their developments. Each episode clocks in at around 15 minutes, which includes a breakdown of the most recent news from a legal expert and an assessment of Trump’s behavior on the stand, as well as that of his children and other allies to the Trump brand. What are the implications of each case, not just for Trump, but for those his actions impacted and, since he’s also running again, for democracy? Whether you’ve already been keeping track of Trump’s legal quandaries or you’re looking to get caught up, this podcast is the one to follow.

4. Embedded: All the Only Ones

Embedded is another great documentary podcast from NPR. In its previous 15 seasons, the team has explored the opioid crisis; the ongoing impact of the 2022 Tops supermarket shooting on a Black cheer team in Buffalo, New York; police misconduct; and more. All the Only Ones is Embedded’s mini-series on the history of transgender youth in America. Host Laine Kaplan-Levenson juxtaposes stories of young trans people from the past — from the turn of the 20th century to the ’60s and ’70s — with those of current trans youth, who are striving to live full and true lives in spite of what seems daily attempts to legislate them out of existence. Kaplan-Levenson also interviews a doctor who has been helping people medically transition since the 1970s. All the Only Ones is urgent and required listening for anyone invested in what it means to live authentically.

5. Heaven Bent

Tara Jean Stevens, the host and creator of Heaven Bent, has been podcasting about the world of evangelical Christianity for four years and counting. In Season 4 of Heaven Bent, she’s taking on the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri — a group with a 24/7 prayer room that was once housed in a series of trailers. IHOPKC is more than just an organization with a demanding time commitment, though. They’re a brand targeting young people to become “forerunners,” those preparing themselves to sit alongside God in a post-Second Coming world, as well as a mysterious death to contend with — the 2012 death of 27-year-old intern Bethany Deaton. Through her own immersive research, Stevens provides us with a thorough and uniquely intimate look into the dark corners of evangelical Christianity.

6. Infamous

How do powerful people get taken down when they do something terrible? Journalists have a lot to do with it, but how does it happen? Infamous is a podcast about the journalists who take a hard look at the institutions around us and ask the questions about them most people don’t want the answers to. Hosts Vanessa Grigoriadis and Gabriel Sherman and their guests trace the origins of scandals like the fall and attempted rebranding of the Victoria’s Secret empire, the NXIVM sex cult, the Satanic Panic, and the Gwyneth Paltrow turtleneck sweate r ski trial. What did it take to crack open these cases, and what were the repercussions for being the ones who did? If you’ve always wondered who and what exists on the other side of a scandal, check out Infamous.

7. Scamanda

In 2012, Amanda Riley was diagnosed with cancer. Just ask her friends, family, or fellow members of her church. Riley documented her life on her blog (take a shot every time she uses the word “amazing”), including her ordeal with health insurance, which, she claimed, would not cover treatments for her Hodgkin’s lymphoma once it advanced to stage four. Have you already guessed where this is going? Award-winning journalist Charlie Webster reveals the story of Amanda’s audacious plan, including how she pulled people into her orbit, and how it all fell apart. It’s a terrifying, fascinating ride, and if you’re not already angry… Well, you’ve been warned.

8. Long Shadow: The Rise of the American Far Right

White nationalism doesn’t develop in isolation. Season 1 of Long Shadow covered unanswered questions about the 9/11 attacks. In Season 2, host Garrett Graff studies a series of modern-day events, including Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the January 6 riots, that have given a sense of empowerment to the far right. Check out the episode on the Oklahoma City bombing: The details of Timothy McVeigh’s radicalization are vital to understanding the far-right mindset. Consider this podcast essential listening for anyone interested in where we are at this moment in U.S. history, how we got here, and what we need to do to get out.

9. Holy Week

Hosted by journalist Vann Newkirk, this podcast from The Atlantic delves into what happened in the week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968. Newkirk looks at the collision of grief, frustration, anger, longing, and hope following King’s murder, and how it birthed a new movement. The events of that week — riots in Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City, Washington, D.C, Louisville, New York City, Wilmington, and elsewhere, along with desperate attempts by politicians to quell an uprising — have gone largely overlooked in mainstream accounts of history. Holy Week is an urgent merger of the recent past with the present realities, told through the eyes and the voices of the activists then and now.

10. Flipping the Bird: Elon vs. Twitter

How, exactly, did Elon Musk end up at the helm of Twitter? This podcast from Wondery lays out the story of the meetings, threats, stock-buying, sketchy Airbnbs, and yes, the tweets that resulted in Elon Musk having the power to determine who merits a little blue check mark. What was/is his end game, other than to “free” the social media site? As the story unfolds in real time, this look at how the takeover happened, as well as the implications of it for the everyday user, and for anyone with an opinion, is more important than ever.

11. High Strange

Payne Lindsey is primarily known as a true crime content creator, but in his latest project, he’s taking a hard turn into a different kind of controversy — UFOs. What do we think about people who sincerely believe, or are even vaguely interested, in extraterrestrials? In High Strange, Lindsey speaks with journalists, abductees, and those on a quest for contact while he attempts to get to the bottom of government denial, cover-ups, and acquiescence. All this while he tries to alleviate the stigma around our curiosity about