Top 10 Limited Series Documentary Podcasts of 2018
One thing that the podcast world sorely needs is a real taxonomy of the art form. There are weekly one-off reported podcasts, dudes talking in their garage podcasts, branded content podcasts, “whenever I get around to it” interview podcasts, and the ever more popular daily news podcasts. Unfortunately everything just gets grouped under the banner of “podcast” when something like The Joe Rogan Experience couldn’t be more different from 99% Invisible. So for my year-end look back at audio content, I’m going to focus on what is perhaps my favorite and what I’ll posit is the most influential corner of the podcast world, the “Limited Series Documentary Podcast.” File it under LSDP.
In order to be eligible for my list of 10 best LSDPs, the first episode needed to premiere in 2018. They can all be dropped the same day or roll out weekly, but the full series or the season of a series (which also qualifies) must be thematically connected, complete upon the series/season’s completion, and something north of three episodes. It must be documentary in nature, meaning those admittedly sometimes awesome blurs the line of fiction podcasts do not apply. Serial is an LSDP. Reply All is not. Dirty John is an LSDP. Hardcore History is not.
With no further ado, my Top 10 Limited Series Documentary Podcasts of 2018.
10. ESPN 30 For 30: Bikram
ESPN’s 30 For 30 documentary format is the perfect fodder for podcasts and their experiment into the limited series world was a huge success. This 5-part series (plus a few obligatory bonus eps) dived deep into the seedy story of Bikram Choudhury and his tangled world of hot yoga. Not exactly true-crime and not exactly a sports story, this managed to appeal to fans of both subjects.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
9. Believed
I went into NPR and Michigan Radio’s series about Larry Nassar expecting to learn a lot about the dark underbelly of USA Gymnastics. Surprisingly the gymnastics angle was very much downplayed. Instead we got a deeply personal and often very graphic exploration of how one man hurt so many young women and the system did nothing to stop it. While this system includes large organizations like the University of Michigan and, yes, USA Gymnastics, the series is at its most hard hitting when it looks at human nature and how social norms, manipulation, and family structures let these women down.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
8. Headlong Season 2: Surviving Y2K
Former Daily Show producer Dan Taberski made a splash in 2017 with his Missing Richard Simmons podcast (now known as Headlong Season 1). He made a very smart move by converting that feed (and all its subscribers) into this years fascinating exploration of a whole bunch of totally different tales centered on Y2K and the millennium bug. It’s at times hilarious and other times deeply personal. This man is clearly a talented storyteller.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
7. The Dream
This American Life alum Jane Marie dives into the world of MLMs (aka Multi-Level Marketing, aka Pyramid Schemes) with this damning assault on the entire business format. It’s tough to listen to this and come up with any conclusion other than these companies prey on their members and even members that are successful still struggle to make that much money. Even worse, our system is set up to allow them to thrive and getting easier with more deregulation. Marie won’t be accused of unbiased reporting but her work on this is absolutely top notch.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
6. Bag Man
In a year of fantastic political podcasts, it’s crazy that Rachel Maddow’s brilliantly-produced Spiro Agnew investigation comes in all the way down at number 6.Let that not be an impediment for you to listen as this one differentiates itself from some of those other fantastic podcasts because so little of this story is well known. No surprise here, it’s all still pretty relevant.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
5. The Wilderness
2018 was a big year for Crooked Media with live tours, all kinds of new weekly shows, and even a series on HBO. But the highlight might have been Jon Favreau’s fascinating and extremely well-reported 15-part series on where the Democratic Party stands in the Trump era. The series is at its most interesting when exploring what drove those mythical creatures known as Obama>Trump voters.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
4. Caliphate
Rukmini Callimachi’s New York Times-produced series about Syria is clearly the most informative audio content on the subject. But more than that, her journey and the contact with a young man in Canada who claims to have traveled to Syria to fight for ISIS turns into an invigorating real-time international caper. No word on if this one has been optioned for a TV series or movie yet — but you gotta think that’s coming.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
3. The RFK Tapes
Zac Stuart-Pontier of Crimetown fame created this 10-parter with family friend Bill Klaber who just happens to be one of the world’s foremost experts on the Robert Kennedy assassination and outspoken proponent of a conspiracy. This podcast is immaculately produced with wonderful use of archival tape and a hell of a lot of research. Stuart-Pontier expertly takes you on roller coaster as he goes from certainty to doubt to certainty to doubt again. That’s the ride I went on and I’m still not sure what I believe.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
2. Slow Burn Season 2
Leon Neyfahk’s series on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal really is as excellent as you have heard. Slate’s reporting, storytelling, and production are all top notch. It’s a bit of a cliche to say “If you thought you knew the story before…” but that’s exactly the experience I had as each episode takes you deeper behind the scenes on just how it all went down. I’d also highly recommend joining Slate+ to hear the plus episodes which dive into the production of the series. These episodes are total candy for docu podcast nerds.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
1. Making Obama
Doesn’t thinking about Barack Obama just make you happy? Imagine how much you’ll be smiling listening to seven nearly hour-long episodes exploring exactly how this man became the candidate that stole our hearts. With fantastic hosting by WBEZ Chicago’s Jennifer White, this series really unpacks how Chicago politics affected the future president and how his ascent was far from scripted. This podcast makes no mistakes and is therefore my number one Limited Series Documentary Podcast of 2018. I might have to just go listen to it again.
Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
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1 comment
Ryland, I love the genre and style of podcast that you chose to focus your year-end rankings on. The Dream was one of my absolute favorites of 2018. It was so well done and Jane Marie perfectly walked the balance beam of being compassionate and respectful of the people who got burned by an MLM and being biting and rightfully scornful against the founders and leaders of those MLM organizations.
One suggestion I’d humbly add to your list, which I think qualifies per your parameters, is Gladiator: The Aaron Hernandez Story & Football Inc. – It was my number 1 podcast of all of 2018.
Cheers to you!
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