3 Best Podcasts Out There (Trust Me)
I love podcasts. I'm especially drawn to three types: sprawling long-form interviews that feel like private conversations you weren't meant to hear; history deep-dives that drop you into the battlefields and backrooms where history actually happens; and true crime so bizarre and mind-blowing, it's hard to believe it really happened to someone not that different from you.
The three podcasts I'm sharing today don't fit any of these categories. They're something else entirely.
Each is built around a single brilliantly human host and one big idea: that real people's lives, memories, regrets, unanswered questions, and wild turns of fate make for the most riveting stories of all. Each show is smart, moving, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, and always worth your time.
Heavyweight (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
The most original podcast concept ever. Period.
Jonathan Goldstein helps people confront unresolved regrets and unanswered questions from their past. Heavyweight is part documentary, part therapy, part detective story with detours through awkward reunions, buried trauma, and the occasional absurd road trip.
Goldstein is masterful. Deeply funny, wildly humane, sneakily profound. Like a therapist with a time machine.
Things Fell Apart (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
Jon Ronson is a national treasure.
In this gripping series, Ronson investigates the bizarre, forgotten origin stories behind today's culture wars. Rather than recycle familiar pundits or tired headlines, Ronson finds the real people at the heart of these divisions, tracing strange threads across 50+ years of social history.
Meticulously reported, surprisingly moving, often jaw-dropping, Ronson makes the chaos of our present times make sense (or at least feel human again).
Search Engine (Apple Podcasts | Spotify)
PJ Vogt is a gifted storyteller with an infectious laugh. One of the best podcast hosts in the game.
Each episode starts with a single question — something relevant, random, odd, or quietly profound — and then Vogt goes digging for the answer. What makes Search Engine so good is how he does it: curious, self-effacing, funny, and always genuinely invested in getting to the truth.
I’d love to hear about your favorite podcasts. I’ll be adding a comments or reply feature to this blog this week. Can’t wait to hear what you’re enjoying.