If you’re interested in an even more diverse set of podcasts from 2018, see picks at the halfway mark of the year from Eric Silver, Wil Williams, Ma’ayan Plaut, Arielle Nissenblatt, and myself — the best podcasts of 2018 (so far).

Alright, enough blabber. Here were my best podcasts of 2018 in no discernable order.

1. Caliphate

Holy crap. I started my Caliphate binge during a 3-hour drive from Austin to Dallas. I honestly can’t remember a quicker trip. Caliphate, produced by The New York Times, follows journalist Rukmini Callimachi as she reports on ISIS and the fall of Mosul. Expertly researched, Callimachi gives adequate context and interviews a former ISIS member to give further insight into their initial appeal, recruiting, and organization.

Caliphate is a 10-episode story with each episode hovering around the 30-minute mark.

2. Binge Mode: Harry Potter

A little less heavy than Caliphate, but arguably denser, the Binge Mode team of Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion strike a happy nerd cord with their deep dives into the Harry Potter series. I’ve written about my love for Binge Mode before (here and here), but it’s honestly one of my favorite podcasts — whether they tackle Game of Thrones or Harry Potter. As co-hosts, Rubin and Concepcion have an unrivaled rapport combined with sharp, sometimes dirty humor and extensive knowledge of the series and wider canon.

Binge Mode isn’t the podcast for a quick binge. As of this writing, the Harry Potter version of the feed has 63 episodes with most having over a 1.5-hour runtime. If you call yourself a Potterhead, you can’t miss it.

3. Articles of Interest

99% Invisible‘s Avery Trufelman produced a 6-part series that exemplifies what I enjoy about podcasts. Each episode goes into a different piece of clothing to analyze its history and the events that shaped it to be what we now think about it. For instance, how did Hawaiian shirts lead to “casual Friday”, or how did blue jeans become and remain such a ubiquitous article of clothing? Each episode is around 30 minutes and while thematically linked, can be listened to separately.

4. The Bright Sessions

I’ll be the first to admit, I had zero interest in audio drama podcasts. I don’t know why, I just never bothered to listen to any. However, we’re fortunate enough to have audio drama conoussier, Wil Williams, write for Discover Pods and she gave me a curated audio drama starter kit. For a comic book fan, The Bright Sessions comparisons to The X-Men are easy to make, but still don’t quite do it justice. The Bright Sessions follows therapist to the extraordinary, Dr. Bright, as she navigates complex relationships, coming of age challenges, and a sinister government corporation.

The Bright Sessions wrapped up their core story in June, but they’re still producing special individual episodes following new patients and creator, Lauren Shippen, has deals in place to adapt the story into other formats. Read our feature on Shippen here.  

5. 30 for 30 Bikram

As you’ll likely pick up from this list, I listen to podcasts for a few reasons: to be informed, to learn about something new, and to be entertained. These interests tend to lead to vastly different podcast choices — which I consider a good thing. ESPN’s 30 for 30 is a podcast I’ve subscribed to since day one. I’ve always been a fan of the documentary series and highly anticipated the podcast version of episodic audio documentaries.

However, the podcast took a mini departure from their winning format with the serialized Bikram season. They expanded their story to a 5-part series detailing the rise of popular fitness regime, Bikram Yoga and its horrific founder, Bikram Choudhury.

Read my full review of 30 for 30 Bikram here.

6. Endless Thread

I was initially apprehensive about a podcast using Reddit as their foundation. It seemed like a short-lived pseudo-branded podcast destined to live in mediocrity. But once again, I was wrong. The Reddit x WBUR collab has been a delightful new podcast for 2018. Reddit, as it turns out, is a nearly endless supply of stories and ideation for a quality podcast to build off of. From diving into Ken Bone’s fifteen minutes of fame, to analyzing the Mattress Firm potential conspiracy, to a story of strangers going great lengths to do a favor, and many other tangents, Endless Thread combines WBUR’s talent for good radio and Reddit’s already proven focus group of what people find interesting.

7. Dissect

I wrote about Dissect, the deep dive podcast analyzing specific hip hop albums, after host Cole Cuchna wrapped up the season on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Since then, the podcast and host were gobbled up by Spotify and Cuchna has completed two seasons on Frank Ocean and Lauryn Hill.

Cuchna’s penchant for choosing albums that happen to near and dear to my heart is unfathomable (pssst Cole, Yeezus next, thanks). Dissect does a great job of providing context into the events that led to the album creation, analyzing and discussing the significance of the lyrics, and breaking apart the beat production so even us layman can understand.

8. Disgraceland

I don’t typically gush over true crime podcasts unless there’s something unique or some unmatched production value. Disgraceland does have its faults — notably some exaggeration. However, there’s no denying the compelling writing and delivery of the story. Each episode tells the past crime of some musician. Stories include the alleged forced overdose of Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, drug- and sex-crazed Rick James, and of course the murder of Tupac.

Read my feature on Disgraceland creator, Jake Brennan here.

9. Slow Burn

The first anthology of Slow Burn was one of the best podcasts of 2017, chronicling the Watergate investigation and impeachment process of President Nixon. The collective podcast community was unsurprisingly excited when they revealed the Bill Clinton scandal and impeachment would be the focus of season two. It didn’t disappoint, and in many ways, surpassed the inaugural season. Host Leon Neyfakh does a masterful job of crafting historical evidence, new interviews, and forgotten context to present a well-known story in a new light.

Neyfakh surprised many when he announced his departure from Slate to start his own podcast company. Their first podcast, FIASCO, appears to follow a similar format to Slow Burn and will initially focus on the 2000 presidential election, Bush v. Gore. For their part, Slate has remained steadfast that Slow Burn will continue without Neyfakh.

10. Ars Paradoxica

Another audio drama I fell in love with (thanks again Wil! Read her full review). Ars Paradoxica tells the complicated story of time travel and clandestine government organizations. What I appreciated most, however, was their magnified attention to detail. They don’t shy away from the existential issues time travel would undoubtedly create — multiple universes, butterfly effect, and more. This unbridled focus is also readily apparent within the plot and dialogue that led to constant theorizing and speculation among the most ardent fans.

Though the main story is spread between 36 episodes, there are several bonus episodes and cast interviews that give even more insight into the story and characters.

11. Villains

Best-selling author, Shea Serrano, takes his unique humor, fanboy’ness, and honesty to create one of my favorite new podcasts. The concept of Villains is fairly simple, each week Serrano and a panel of guest hosts dive into a specific movie villain and discuss their motivations, actions, and determine if they’re redeemable. The topics and format is something The Ringer has already had success with The Rewatchables — a movie podcast.

What’s absolutely endearing about Villains is Shea’s honesty about being an amateur podcaster. In multiple episodes, Shea has added post-production audio footnotes providing meta-commentary on the podcast and his mistakes. It’s great.

12. Hi-Phi Nation

Along with Dissect, Hi-Phi Nation is another indie podcast receiving a promotion in 2018. In November, creator Barry Lam announced Hi-Phi Nation had been picked up by Slate to join their ranks. The philosophy podcast carefully blends qualitative and quantitative data to craft an immensely interesting podcast while also being extremely informative.

If you need to start with one episode, I’d recommend “The Chamber of Facts,” which details how our political beliefs are shaped by media echo chambers and what happens when the script is flipped.

13. Decoder Ring

Another new podcast from this year to crack my best of list. Slate’s Decoder Ring is billed as “cracking cultural mysteries”. This likely intentional vague descriptor really works for a podcast that’s explored topics ranging from opposing factions of a Sherlock Holmes fanfic theory to the origins and rise of the art in hotels.

Also, what I said at the top of the article about why I listen: “to be informed, to learn about something new, and to be entertained” — this podcast is a perfect 3/3. Host, Willa Paskin, does a great job acting as the audience’s proxy by asking the right questions and getting to the crucial aspects of the story.  

14. The Big Loop

Whoa, another audio drama! Audio dramas make-up 18.75% of my best of list, a stat I would not have believed had you told me a year ago. Creator and professional good human, Paul Bae, takes an episodic approach the genre. While most audio dramas tell a narrative fiction story serialized over several seasons, The Big Loop changes stories, characters, and overall format with each episode.

In the first episode, “The Studio,” Bae takes his influence from a popular Love+Radio episode, “The Living Room,” but adds a characteristic supernatural spin on the story. Arguably the best episode, however, is “Goodbye Mr. Adams,” which tells the coming-of-age story and a special lesson from a unique teacher. Briggon Snow voices the main character and does a great job encapsulating the teenage angst he brought to his character Caleb from The Bright Sessions. Combined with clever writing and intriguing stories, The Big Loop also adds custom music to provide the soundtrack for each episode.

15. Everything is Alive

Probably the most unique podcast I’ve heard in quite some time, Everything Is Alive brings life and personality to inanimate everyday objects. Creator and host, Ian Chillag, has a compelling and heartfelt unscripted conversation with objects you encounter on a daily basis to understand what they’re thinking, their struggles, and to see life a little differently. Objects range from a can of cola, to a lamppost, to a subway seat, and you actually start to think about how your interactions with these objects may be construed.

16. This is Love

I wanted to leave this list with the most heartfelt, uplifting podcasts in a world too often filled with negativity. Along with Everything Is Alive, This Is Love win the award for most likely to make you sob uncontrollably. From the team that brought you episodic true crime podcast, Criminal, you’ll get weekly episodes detailing different examples of love and loving in the world.

For example, in the second episode, “Something Large and Wild,” I was blown away by how much I cared about the relationship between an avid swimmer and a whale.

The post The 16 Best Podcasts of 2018 appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

(Related reading: 11 Podcasts Guaranteed to Make You Think)

Since it’s a narrative podcast, it’s goal it for the listeners to become immersed in the story-driven content. Previous episodes have covered the morality of war and the effect on soldiers, parapsychology, and the value of fulfilling posthumous wishes.

I’ve listened to a couple episodes from season one (season two is currently in production) and can tell you it definitely lives up to its promise of providing an excellently-produced podcast that’s able to articulate complex topics into an easily comprehended format. I got a chance to talk to creator and host, Barry Lam, about how he started with the podcast, where he wants to take it, and even got nerdy with his podcast equipment. Here’s our full Q&A:

Discover Pods: What’s your tweet-length synopsis of your podcast?

Barry: A show about philosophy turning stories into ideas.

DP: Where do you record at? What’s the setup like?

Barry: Most of the interviews are with my mobile gear done in the home or office of my subjects. I set up two shotgun microphones on a tabletop plugged into a Zoom H5. For narration, I record in my home or office studio, Shure SM7Bs plugged into a Mackie ProFX8 mixer, into my Macbook onto Hindenburg Journalist Pro.

DP: How does Hi-Phi Nation differentiate itself from the other philosophy podcasts out there?

Barry: Hi-Phi Nation is a narrative, story-driven show, not an interview, group discussion, or talk show. The models are shows like Invisibilia, 99% Invisible, Revisionist History, and so on. Another way to describe it is audio documentary. It is also a seasonal show (like Netflix series) rather than a regularly produced weekly/biweekly show. Every episode has a story from the arts, law, history, or life, and transforms that story into philosophical ideas and arguments.

DP: Admittedly, I’m not all that familiar with the philosophy podcast landscape. What would you tell the uniformed people (like me) about why they should listen to Hi-Phi and what they might learn?

Barry: You should listen to Hi-Phi Nation if you are an inherently curious person who loves to learn from entertainment, and who loves thinking about how things hang together in the widest possible sense. You should also listen if you like high-quality production, documentaries, smart people talking about interesting ideas that are accessible but still sophisticated. You don’t have to know or even like philosophy, the stories will bring you in. Learn to think deeper about everything, from music, love, morality, death, and religion.

DP: What made you get into podcasts versus another channel?

Barry: Audio narratives is the most powerful way to bring big ideas into the broader culture because of the audience dedication and long-form format.

DP: How has the listener feedback been so far?

Barry: Listener and critic’s feedback has been very positive. We’ve received rave reviews from the Guardian, Huffington Post, and Slate’s Culture Gabfest, and we’re at 5-stars on iTunes.

DP: Impressive list of reviews. I get this question a lot from podcasters, how did you begin to market your podcast and what else are you doing to drive audience awareness?

Barry: I have been pitching other podcasters, journalists, and the professional organizations around philosophy to get them to listen. I have announced the show on blogs, pitched the show to journalists who review podcasts, and producers of podcasts who review podcasts.

DP: Where do you want to take your podcast from here?

Barry: I am currently in production for Season 2. Eventually I would like one of the more prominent networks to notice the quality and promise and to pick it up for production for future seasons.

DP: What advice would you give to prospective podcasters?

Barry: Just do the work. Don’t hesitate on getting started, and once you start, keep learning and taking advice, and stay curious.

DP: What are your top 5 favorite podcasts?

Barry: Love+Radio, Switched on Pop, Heavyweight, Invisibilia, HowSound

DP: Where can listeners find you?

Barry: We are on all podcatchers, you can also listen directly on the website.

• https://www.hiphination.org
• Apple Podcasts
• Soundcloud
• Stitcher
• Facebook
• Twitter

The post Podcast Spotlight: Hi-Phi Nation appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.