Best podcast episodes of all time
“Favorite podcast episode of all time?”
30 answers from 29 people · Updated Oct 12, 2026
Reply All was truly the most interesting podcast of all time. Since ended but the whole catalog is full of bangers. PJ has Search Engine but it’s not the same 😢
162
The Living Room (Love and Radio)
Listened to this ten years ago while on a road trip with friends. The story still haunts me to this day.
1
A gorgeous episode about a community responding in the best ways to a family’s tragedy. Like getting struck by lightning
2
Recordings for Someone | This American Life
this is from 2002 and Act One of this episode - “Hi Fred” (also known as “The Little Mermaid”) is still one of the best podcast moments in history.
62
How To Become Batman (Invisibilia, 2015)
A mind-bending story about parenting, empathy and the way our brains “see.” It’s been over a decade and I’m still thinking about it.
2
The Testosterone episode of This American Life.
Utterly unexpected, I think about it alllllll the time.
364
Heavyweight is my favorite podcast. I adore Jonathan Goldstein in all his hilarious, neurotic glory. I’m not sure I can really choose a favorite episode, but I REALLY love this one. If you love older folks this one is for you. Super sweet. You may need your tissues.
10
The Memory Palace Episode 109: The Year Hank Greenberg Hit 58 Home Runs
A perfectly told, tiny (10 minutes!) story featuring a piece of history I never would have discovered on my own.
Normal Gossip - “The Bro Never Dies with Josh Gondelman”
i listened to this episode the first time, then listened to it AGAIN less than 24 hours later because i couldn’t stop giggling to myself about it. a weirdly wholesome story about college bros trying to find love and sleepwalking and pretending to have asthma. everything about it is chaotic good
467
Song Exploder: Closing Time, by Semisonic
There are a lot of great episodes, but this one, with Dan Wilson (from Semisonic) breaking down the song 'Closing Time' is my favorite. It's beautiful and surprising and so much deeper than you would expect for a classic
41
The Best Radiolab Podcast Episodes of All Time
(according to me) Nitabel’s Official List of Epic Radiolab Episodes Loops (Feb 2019) Unraveling Bolero (May 2018) Colors (May 2012) The Internet Dilemma (June 2023) Juicervose (Sept 2014) Heavy Metal (Sept 2021) Playing God (April 2016) Seeing in Tongues (Oct 2014) Parasites (Sept 2009) Blame (Sept 2013) + Revising the Fault Line (June 2017) The Fellowship of the Tree Rings (July 2023) Deception (Nov 2020) Numbers (Nov 2009) Placebo (Dec 2009) Baby Blue Blood Dive (July 2020) Escape! (Feb 2012) La Mancha Screwjob (Feb 2015) All the CRISPR episodes All the Gonads episodes, but especially X & Y (June 2018) In the Dust of This Planet (Sept 2014)
6
Mystery Show, Case #5 Source Code
How tall is Jake Gyllenhaal really? I’ve played this ep for many friends over the years & everyone loves it. Playful with lots of heart, this whole six episode series is an absolute treasure.
83
The Radiolab placenta and man vs. horse episodes.
I think about them constantly. Utterly fascinating. Perfect curiosity quenchers.
2
Tell Me I’m Fat - This American Life
At this point in life, I’m very far down the road of body liberation/fat liberation, but when this podcast episode came out I was former fat kid chronic dieter and just starting to put some pieces together about my experience of having a body and about what it means to be fat in the world. Lindy West’s segment about “coming out as fat” sort of broke my brain and then the Elna Baker segment broke my heart. It my first introduction to both Lindy West and Roxane Gay (very smart people who have taught me a lot in the intervening years). It may have also been my first introduction to the idea that being fat was like not just an awful and to be avoided thing. I haven’t heard this episode in a long time and imagine it has some flaws, but it’s likely the podcast ep that has had the biggest impact on me.
131
Why didn’t we get into Berghain search engine episodes 1&2
What starts as an amazing question - why didn’t these two gay guys get in to the most exclusive club in the world - winds into a fascinating look into german history, the lasting cultural effects of the berlin wall, and what electronic music truly “is” — including the political and governmental effects of what trying to define it results in. You gotta listen to understand what I mean.
116
The YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT series on Princess Diana
Randomly the tragic story of this woman's life makes the most amazing soundtrack for deep cleaning your apartment <3
6
George Saunders on "Pancho and Lefty" and Willie Nelson
One by Willie is a podcast from Texas Monthly magazine that invites a guest to discuss one Willie Nelson song each episode. It’s six seasons in and there are many rich and generous, generative conversations. This episode with George Saunders is a critical analysis of Pancho and Lefty and it’s such nerdy, nostalgic fun.
2
Elizabeth Alexander on Design Matters with Debbie Millman
I’ve listened to this one many times. Debbie is a legendary interviewer and this conversation with poet Elizabeth Alexander about the death of her beloved husband, her life, her work, the meaning of art…I love it so much. Also Alexander’s book of prose about the same topic, the light of the world, is one of my favorite books of all time. So moving. A whole life.
2
David Whyte's 2016 OnBeing Interview
I nearly have this interview memorized word-for-word (I wish I could replicate his accent). I am not overstating the impact when I say that this conversation changed the course of my life. The permission, freedom, and invitation infused into David Whyte's poetry and philosophy woke me tf up inside of my own [probably dissociated] way of moving through the world nearly ten years ago. I'd made myself small. I'd been afraid of my own earnestness and wonder. I'd stepped into the shell of Chill Girl in order to avoid being Cringe Girl (Fun Fact: I hate the word cringe and would maybe go as far as to say I was traumatized by it.) I still quote this interview regularly — "We have so many allies in this world — like even the color blue in the sky..." — and reference it often to this day. I'll probably turn it on again for my walk this afternoon. Gawd bless you, David Whyte.
17528
The Ologies “Fearology” podcast episodes with Mary Poffenroth
From the early days of Ologies (2018), a two-parter (part 1, part 2) all about fear—what it is, what’s going on in your brain when it arrives, its relationship to stress and anxiety, the different kinds of fear, and advice on recognizing and coping with it. Much more positive and life-affirming than it may sound like it’s going to be, and Mary Poffenroth is delightful.
52
Challenger at 40: Lessons from a tragedy
56 minutes of riveting, reflective, deeply human reporting about the Challenger disaster. First-person reporting, collected over 40 years. Give these journalists all the awards.
Scriptnotes Podcast: The One with Aaron Sorkin
Engaging master class on writing for the screen from one of the best in the business
Bandsplain ~ Madonna: Part 1 With Mel Ottenberg
Part 1 of a deeeeeep dive podcast series about Madonna, covering every juicy detail from her early days living in an abandoned synagogue and playing the drums in a band to distributing educational flyers about AIDS at her shows before the government even acknowledged the epidemic. Truly fascinating listen - can't wait to dig into the subsequent parts!
82
Futuro Media’s Julio Ricardo Varela tells the story of a basketball game that Puerto Ricans will never forget, and why he thinks now, more than ever, is a crucial moment to remember it. This entire podcast series is incredible, but this episode in particular is like nothing else. You will be on the edge of your seat. You might even cheer.
