The 12 Best Podcasts of 2024 (so Far)
We’re almost halfway to 2024, which means it’s a great time to take inventory of the can’t-miss podcasts released so far. Here’s a list of crime, comedy, art and culture shows that stand out from the rest and will be some of the best things you listen to this year. Let’s hope the second half of 2024 continues this momentum.
In addition to any repairs
Sophia Johnson was a pregnant newlywed when her mother-in-law was brutally murdered and her own brother testified against her, saying he saw her do it.Beyond Repair , reported with precision and heart by WBUR’s Emory Sivertson, attempts to figure out who’s lying and what really happened. This is a twisted family story that demands your full attention and will leave you questioning everything, not knowing what you really believe until the very end.
Never publish
Skip reply to everyone ? Love is 99% invisible ? Do I have news for you:Never Post , hosted by Mike Rugnetta (he wrote and hosted the PBS Digital Studios Idea Channel series on YouTube), is a podcast looking at the Internet universe through a super-powerful telescope, things big and small, giving digital world: 99% invisible processing. On the show, he covers topics such as the voice of the influencer, the ills of publishing, the emotional consequences of creating and viewing before and after posts, intentionally bad sounding content, stunt content, and much more, more, more. Rugnetta is supported by a team of reporters who form a group of brilliant and funny cultural critics who are so much fun to hang out with.
Tiny dinosaurs
Improvisers Connor Ratliff (Dead Eye , Mean Girls, Search Party and more) and James III (Black Men Can’t Jump [In Hollywood] , Astronomy Club and more) have just created a world for his improv comedy podcastTiny. Dinos , it’s so much fun that I just want to live inside it. In this world, Connor and James are scientists who brought back dinosaurs, but not normal-sized ones—that would be irresponsible. These are tiny. This world is the perfect place for some really stupid conversations as they try to keep their scientific endeavors a secret. If you need laughter, you’ll get it.
Sixteenth minute (of fame)
Jamie Loftus does some of the funniest, smartest (and weirdest) things in audio. In her new weekly series, “The Sixteenth Minute (of Fame),” she asks various internet protagonists what it’s like to be the center of our digital attention—and, more importantly, what happened when the fame faded. The film opens in two parts with Antoine Dodson of “Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife” fame.
She has a name
Tonya Mosley is an unforgettable journalist I met through her excellent series Truth Be Told . She’s back withShe Has a Name , something completely different: a true crime investigation that allows her to shed light on her own life. It all started when Tonya received a call from a nephew she never knew about about his mother, her sister Anita, who was killed during the Detroit drug epidemic in the 1980s. The two set out to heal what was broken, expose the trauma that many other families have endured, and try to once and for all give Anita the memory she deserves.
Go touch the grass
It’s a simple premise:Go Touch Grass hosts Millie and Ellie round up the internet’s news so you can stay informed without getting carried away. They are actually doing the Lord’s work by sacrificing their sanity to give us time to be in nature or do something else. Every week they invite an internet personality to interview them and cover current trends with an opportunity to put everything into context. This is more of a comedy podcast than a podcast about the internet. The show ends with hilarious segments, including the crowning “puddle of the week.” Listening will keep you entertained, give you a weekly dose of internet culture, and keep you from getting the crown yourself.
Contest
The Outstanding Young Women event (formerly known as Teen Miss America) brings high school seniors (one from each state) to Mobile, Alabama, for two weeks, competing for a $40,000 prize.“The Pageant” is a six-part reality TV-style investigation that will help you get to know the girls and understand their friendships, problems and drama. After more than 20 years of competing in the pageant for Nevada, Shima Oliai (of Dolly Parton’s “America” and “Pink Card” ) returns to share this complex story, as well as serve as a judge on the pageant itself.
Fur and hate
In 2014, a chlorine attack at the Midwest FurFest convention left 19 people hospitalized and remains unsolved. Host Nicky Wolfe’sFur and Hate looks back at a not-so-successful FBI investigation and the people who may have carried it out. The furry community is under-researched and much of it is completely ignored or ridiculed. This is a serious, respectful look at a cold case that will fill in the blanks, connect the dots, and take you to unexpected places.
Stolen
This year, Connie Walker’s Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award-winning filmStolen returned with a new season: Trouble in Sweetwater, which examines the cold case of Ella Mae Begay, a 62-year-old Navajo woman murdered in Sweetwater, Arizona . This is the story not only of what happened to Ella, but also what happened to her case – such as why it still hasn’t been solved, despite the fact that the 23-year-old admitted she may have killed her the night she disappeared. Connie has been reporting on missing and murdered Indigenous people for years, and no one does this type of reporting like she does.
Sicilian heritage
Sicilian Heritage is part murder mystery and part travelogue as host Jo Piazza returns to her roots to try to figure out once and for all how her grandmother Lorenza Marsala died. It’s a story her family has passed down for decades. Was she killed by the Black Hand? Killed for being a witch? Joe really lets you sit with a shotgun on this true crime journey with more twists and turns than a drive along the Amalfi Coast. It all started with Joe’s novel of the same name , in which the story was fictionalized, but this podcast is the real thing.
Finally! The show (about women, it’s not just a thinly veiled dreamy nightmare)
Jane Marie is best known for creating the hit show The Dream , which did a great job of shining a light on multi-level marketing before everyone and their aunt (who is now in a pyramid scheme) knew what it was. Her last isfinally! The show (“About Women Who Are More Than a Thinly Veiled Ambitious Nightmare”) puts us in the shoes of women who might be the neighbor, or you, or me—like the 83-year-old calendar girl buying a vibrator, the singer throwing fish, the crowd-pleaser at the open market, the young mother turned end-of-life care provider, or the viral TikTok owner of a plus-size boutique. Don’t pretend like you haven’t spent hours of your life peering into lighted windows at night, wanting to know what’s going on in someone else’s life. That’s why we watch reality TV. Here’s your chance to do it under the guidance of Jane Marie.
Josie’s Lonely Hearts Club
Josie’s Lonely Hearts Club is a fictional love advice show hosted by “Josie Heller” (the stage name of fictional character Joan Holzinger, voiced by real-life Rachel Music) that allows us to eavesdrop on funny, all-human interactions. between Josie and her callers, conversations with the show’s engineer Frank and Josie’s life. The fact that it’s “semi-improvised” gives it a certain springiness, and Josie (played by Joanna, played by Rachel) has an absolutely seductive voice that makes every second of the show delightful. The production is phenomenal.