Best Miscellaneous Podcasts
99% Invisible (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Even if you’ve never cared about design or how the material world around us is put together, this weekly series will help you find the fascinating in the everyday.
Anna Faris Is Unqualified (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Not-so-great relationship advice from completely unqualified Hollywood types.
Atlanta Monster (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Revisiting a forgotten chapter in American crime, this podcast explores a series of child killings that terrified the city of Atlanta. It’s a labyrinthine experience, with no dead ends, but no answers either.
Bear Brook (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
In 1985, a barrel containing human remains was discovered in Bear Brook State Park. Fifteen years later, a second barrel of remains is found a stone’s throw away. This podcast covers the case in exhaustive and heart-breaking detail and examines a new investigative technique for cracking cold cases. A recent update completes the story, identifying the victims who were unnamed for decades.
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Official Bio: In Hardcore History the very unconventional Dan Carlin takes his ‘Martian,’ outside-the-box way of thinking and applies it to the past. Was Alexander the Great as bad a person as Adolf Hitler? What would Apaches with modern weapons be like? Will our modern civilization ever fall like civilizations from past eras?
Dear Sugars (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
This podcast from the New York Times and WBUR dives into the concept of empathy. Hosts Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond take questions from listeners during each episode.
Hurdle (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Hurdle covers stories of overcoming obstacles and embracing a healthier, more fulfilled life along the way.
In the Dark (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
In the Dark is similar to Missing and Murdered (see below) in that it follows a 1989 cold case murder. But this particular case, that of 11-year-old Minnesota boy Jacob Wetterling, was solved as this podcast was coming together. If you think that will make for an anti-climactic listen, you’re wrong. In the Dark is as much about how local authorities bungled the investigation into this high-profile case as it is about the crime itself.
Last Seen (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
The costliest art heist in history wasn’t at a famous European museum or at the secluded estate of an eccentric collector. It happened in the sleepy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Thirteen works were taken, worth an estimated $500 billion, and have never been recovered. This podcast explores the crime, the museum, and the lost masterpieces.
Missing and Murdered (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
In the wake of Serial’s success, a number of true-crime podcasts have cropped up, with journalists investigating decades-old cold cases. A notable entry in this genre is CBC’s investigation into Alberta Williams, a young Indigenous woman murdered in British Columbia in 1989. In this eight-part podcast, CBC’s Connie Walker talks to law enforcement, Alberta’s family and friends, and suspects in the case to try to get a handle on what really happened that night almost 30 years ago.
No Such Thing as a Fish (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
You won’t find facts presented like this anywhere else: Four QI researchers (aka “The QI Elves”) present their favorite discoveries of the week. The Large Hadron Collider was once turned off for a short period of time because a piece of baguette was found in the machinery, for instance. The hilarious broadcasts range from 30 to 50 minutes, while the team members riff off each other, expand on various facts, and lose themselves in fascinating tangents.
Risk (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Sort of like a cross between This American Life and The Moth, but usually a lot more risqué. It’s people telling true stories, but the ‘risk’ element is that these are the sort of stories people usually wouldn’t dare share in public.
Serial (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
An episodic investigation into a real-life crime. The first season was an engrossing investigation into a 15-year-old murder near Baltimore. The second season is a look into accused deserter Bowe Bergdahl (it’s not as good, but season three might return to the show’s roots.)
StartUp (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
Another This American Life alum starts a new podcast, following his attempt to create a tech startup that will allow anyone in the world to easily make a podcast. It’s a little meta, but very interesting, because Alex Blumberg comes off like a normal shlub with an idea, so it feels like something anyone could go through—if they worked for years at NPR, of course.
The Dollop Podcast (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
The Dollop is a darkly funny (and often profane) history podcast where veteran podcaster and comedian Dave Anthony reads a twisted story of America’s past to his friend, Gareth Reynolds, who has no idea what the story is about. Previous subjects include America’s disability-shaming ‘ugly laws’ and San Francisco’s 40-foot-tall ‘spite fence.’
Unexplained (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
This podcast smartly and calmly explores events and stories that defy explanation. Don’t listen for solutions or exposés, just unusual stories recounted soberly by a calm British man.
Welcome to Night Vale (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)
A fictional podcast about the desert town of Night Vale somewhere in the southwest. In the guise of a radio newscast, the narrator peppers banal local townie announcements with surreal, paranormal events that show that there’s something not quite right here.
