Note: This is a rotating list, which will be refreshed every few months with a slate of brand new history podcasts. Entries from previous lists are still kept down below–they’re still great listens for you to check out!

The best history podcasts

A History of the World in 100 objects

As historians continue to question what sources are best for understanding the past, A History of the World in 100 objects explores the potential that objects have in retracing these histories. Including a credit card, and a Russian Revolutionary Plate, host Neil MacGregor unpacks the endless possibilities of studying historical objects.

New Books in African American Studies 

Taking a highly academic approach, New Books in African American Studies is a finger on the pulse of Black academia, tracking changes and innovations in the field of African American studies. From Book reviews to interviews with respected academics, the podcast is a one-stop shop for the latest transformations in the field. 

Telling Our Twisted Histories

Exploring Native Canadian History through a new word each week, this 11-part series creates an empathetic, inclusive space for native Canadians to discuss and protect their histories. With collaboration from tribes throughout Canada, host Kaniehti:io Horn creates an important resource to decolonise our understandings of native histories. 

Our Fake History 

With so many books, articles, and history podcasts dedicated to debunking and reassessing specific histories, it has grown ever more difficult to understand what is truly real. Enter Our Fake History, a podcast that carefully and playfully tows this line between real and fake, asking important questions about truth, morality, and how we remember history today. 

School Colors

A documentary podcast based in Brooklyn, School Colors charts the discriminatory practices of America’s education system, and the continuing fight for students of colour to gain a good education against the odds. Investigating the tension between gentrification and the expansion of charter schools, School Colors focuses on the long history of education reform, and the burdens placed on Black communities historically.  

A History of Delusion 

Exploring a more niche type of history, host Daniel Freeman considers mental health through a historic lens, attempting to understand how mental illness has impacted our understanding of past figures. Similarly, Freeman also interacts with important questions around post-humous diagnosis, raising issues around the ethics of assigning mental illness to historic individuals. 

Black History for White People 

By using History as a tool to provoke and consider modern-day racial injustice, Black History for White People is a vital resource in challenging bias and encouraging compassionate conversation. The multi-ethnic collective promotes love for Black and Brown people, with these histories centring on Black joy and relishing in the exploration of Black culture. 

Gone Medieval 

While the Medieval era is constantly slandered as backward and oppressive, Gone Medieval attempts to set the record straight, diving into the nuanced and complex world of the Middle Ages. Discussing landmark events such as the Norman Conquest, as well as era-defining individuals such as Charlemagne, Dr Cat Jarman offers an important revision of our view of the Medieval World. 

Real Dictators

The role of a dictator is so often shrouded with interest and morbid curiosity. From Stalin to Mao Zedong, history buffs remain entranced and alluded by these figures. Considering this, host Paul McGann considers ideas of power and control, exploring the inner lives of some of the world’s most powerful individuals. 

Everyday Black History

So often, the histories of people of colour are defined by trauma, and struggle, with little time given to hope and the achievements of people of colour. Revising this historical attitude, Everyday Black History centres on the accomplishments of Black Americans, and the institutions fighting successfully for the advancement of people in the African Diaspora.

Most Notorious 

Featuring true-life tales of crime, criminals, tragedies and disasters, Most Notorious is dedicated to exploring the criminal underworld of time’s past. Interviewing researchers and academics dedicated to historic outlaws, the show spotlights new work from some of the most impressive scholars in the field. 

Unpacking Latin America 

Centring the research of Latin American scholars, Unpacking Latin America provides a detailed account of the nuances and discoveries of historians today. From revising ideas on Latin America’s colonial past, to discussing ideas of gender and feminism in Argentina, host Professor Vicky Murillo gives an all-encompassing view of Latin America History to date. 

You Must Remember This

A sultry, smoky look into Hollywood’s first century, You Must Remember This pushes the boundaries of podcast making, relying on a unique blend of highly researched creative non-fiction to tell tales of Hollywood’s past. Listeners should prepare for a listening experience like no other, and stay for a truly tantalizing look into the stars Hollywood forgot. 

Crossing Fences

In History today, many academics are beginning to explore new and innovative ways of understanding and interpreting historical events. A podcast that captures this best is Crossing Fences, an ambitious project collating oral histories of African-American men from across Pittsburgh. Ranging from middle-schoolers to men in their late-80s, Crossing Fences is sure to remain a key archive in understanding the Black experience, both in the present and the past. 

The Rest is History 

In attempts to debunk the Great Man of History theories, which cite men as the driving force of History, hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook attempt to detangle mystified views of historic men such as Charles I and Genghis Khan. In a historical field still struggling to come to terms with these narratives, The Rest is History provides important discussions and critiques of set ideas in history today. 

The History of Gay Sex

With podcast episodes entitled ‘The Sambia: The Semen Ingesting Tribe of Papau New Guinea’, the History of Gay Sex is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Charting a diverse history of gender and sexuality, this podcast demonstrates the boundless ways in which different cultures and communities have explored sex desire. 

All My Relations

Exploring elements of Native American history and culture through the lens of relationships, hosts Matika Wilbur and Desi Small Rodriguez explore expansive indigenous narratives. From decolonising sex, to understanding the truth behind Thanksgiving, All My Relations takes a compelling look at past and present cultural practices. 

Ridiculous History

While this podcast delights in finding some of the craziest stories in history, it also raises important questions about how ridicule functions to undermine some of the cruellest characters of history. In this way, hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown take care to balance humour with thoughtful consideration for the role of ridicule in History. 

The Pan-African Alliance Podcast

An all-Black organisation from across the African content and diaspora, the Pan-African Alliance Podcast focuses on education as a source of liberation. Focused on ideas of Black consciousness and reclaiming African histories, the podcast acts as a catalyst for Black empowerment, encouraging the creation of academic communities across the world. 

Radio Ambulante

Showcasing the diversity and complexity of Latin American life, Radio Ambulante is a triumph in documenting the vast cultures and communities present in Latin America, both historically and in the present. Spanning more than 20 countries, Radio Ambulante provides a unique cultural history bursting with humour and empathy, telling stories of love, migration, environment, and politics. 

As history, continues to expand out into new eras, debates and theories, history podcasts remain a vital resource to revise and reassess our history, indulging in the absurdist and extraordinary elements of an ever-expanding discipline.

1619 

A production of the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which marked 400 years since the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in America, 1619 is a meticulous dissection of the legacy of slavery in America. Host Nikole Hannah-Jones reframes America’s national narrative, placing slavery’s consequences, and the contributions of Black Americans at the center of this country’s development. Rather than placing emphasis on white settlers and colonialists, Hannah-Jones give autonomy to individual enslaved persons, and those actively fighting systems of racial oppression, addressing issues of perspective in traditional histories of slavery. 

Revolutions 

For all revolutionary History fans, there’s a special place in our hearts for host Mike Duncan, and the Revolutions podcast. Undertaking the mammoth task of covering every major revolution across each season, Duncan gives a no-holds bar account of any and all revolutionary events, unpicking the minuscule details even academics would struggle to seek out. Revolutions isn’t afraid to shy away from the difficult questions of History, either, with Duncan often debating ideas of inevitability and social progress, adding an important critical dimension to his episodes.

Telling Our Twisted Histories 

In a highly unique and meditative form, Telling our Twisted Histories reclaims Indigenous History by exploring 11 words which have been misconstrued and ‘twisted’ due to colonialization. Throughout each episode, Host Kaniehtiio Horn converses with over 70 Indigenous people from 11 Indigenous communities across Canada, sharing in both highly emotive and healing conversations.

Bad Gays 

Priding itself as being “a podcast about evil and complicated queers of History,” Bad Gays celebrates how sexuality and gender has influenced History’s most crucial characters across the moral spectrum. From problematic intellectuals, to self-proclaimed thugs and criminals, queerness can be found across all spheres of History, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look.

Read more: How Podcasts Fight Falsified History

Floodlines 

When focusing in on historic events, history podcasts often have the difficult task of presenting and dissecting events of the past, which still feel uniquely tied to the present. In Floodlines, a podcast investigating the events of Hurricane Katerina in 2005, this difficulty is demonstrated clearly, with much of the events of the past still fresh in the minds of many living in New Orleans today. With Vann R. Newkirk II hosting, Floodlines gives an unflinching account of events which uprooted the very foundations of American society, all in the course of one natural disaster. 

Not Just the Tudors

Often, the Early Modern period (referred to most often by historians as the period between 1400 – 1789) is full to bursting with Tudors. Whether its Henry VIII and his many wives, or the oft-cited tragic tale of Lady Jane Grey, Tudors have dominated the realm of popular history. Rather than straying into these typical tropes of the Early Modern World, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb provides so much needed nuance, along with an assortment of incredible academic guests.

This Land

Tracing the History of Cherokee Nation through two respective assassination attempts in 1839 and 1999, This Land documents a crucial tipping point in indigenous History to date. Hosted by Oklamhoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Rebecca Nagle discusses the fate of indigenous ownership of ancestral lands against a vast historical context, providing a measured, highly empathetic understanding of this vital History. 

In Our Time 

A much beloved staple of BBC programming, and now available worldwide, In Our Time has hosted a multitude of academics across its 23 year span, covering narratives and historical phenomenon from across the world. National treasure, and host of In Our Time, Melvyn Bragg is a consistent tour-de-force of knowledge, actively keeping pace with experts in the field.

The Humanity Archive 

Brimming with passion and unflinching honesty, host Jermaine Fowler is uncompromising in his retelling of history, focusing in on the histories which often fall outside the usual curriculum. Focusing on subjects such as the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Mali Empire, Fowler spans a wide range of historical subjects and individuals, making for an impressively diverse catalogue of episodes.

Tides of History 

In charting history’s vast and distinctive impact today, there are a myriad of questions still to be asked, and a multitude of threads tying us back to inventions and innovations of the past. In tides of History, host Patrick Wyman follows these instances of invention and innovation in an attempt to understand the true origins of our modern society. Using imaginative forms of analysis and introspection, Patrick Wyman allows us to truly consider the way History has shaped our lives. 

Historically Black 

Using objects to uncover hidden narratives of Black History, Historically Black brings stories to life through audio files and interview discussions of lived experiences, and inter-generational understandings of History. Featuring guests such as Issa Rae and Roxane Gay, Historically Black provides a unique take in uncovering unseen histories.

You’re Wrong About

Full of witticisms and quick comebacks, You’re Wrong About is the podcast for those with a love of high and low culture History. Unpacking both historic and contemporary cultural phenomenon, host Sarah Marshall and guests (including long-time co-host Michael Hobbes) attempt to redress some of the most common misconceptions about cultural history today.

School Colors 

A podcast that utilizes the form’s ability to hyper-focus on specific history is School Colors. Immersing itself in the interplay between race, politics and power, School Colors depicts the history of the American education system across generations of parents, educators and students fighting for education reform in Black neighborhoods across Brooklyn, New York.

Ancient History Fangirl

For those who had a borderline unhealthy obsession with Ancient civilizations in their childhood, Ancient History Fangirl is for you. Geeking (Editor’s note: Greeking?) out together over topics such as ancient sexuality and Greek Gods, hosts Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy are living out their own historical obsessions, with smart quips and hilarious chemistry between the two.

Noire Histoir 

Describing itself as a podcast dedicated to “Black History and Literature from a noir perspective,” Noir Histoir prides itself on celebrating Black culture in all its many forms. Spanning various histories and locations, Noir Histoir dismisses the assumption that Black History can only be celebrated during Black History Month, encouraging year-long appreciation of these rich histories.

You’re Dead to Me

Providing his signature child-like joy and enthusiasm for History, Greg Jenner hosts You’re Dead to Me, a podcast for ‘people that don’t like History…or just forgot to learn any at school’. Reinvigorating History takes from comedic talents such as Phil Wang, and intellectual know-how from the likes of Peter Frankopan, You’re Dead to Me never fails to deliver on quality history knowledge. 

This Place 

Honoring the sacrifice and resistance of Indigenous communities in Canada, This Place recounters over 150 years of Indigenous History. Focusing on heroes, triumphs and traditions of native peoples, This Place works to shape national narratives of identity in a bid to learn, share and heal from the wounds of the past. 

Noble Blood

For a podcast overflowing with drama, intrigue and scandal, look no further than Noble Blood. A deep-dive across the world’s most controversial and complex monarchies, host Dana Schwarz recounts in vivid detail the weird and wacky eccentricities of past royalty. 

Code Switch 

Charting the effects of racial inequality and discrimination through a variety of communities, histories and political spheres, Code Switch never shies away from the most difficult conversations about our shared histories. Hosted by Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby, Code Switch combines rigorous research and lived experiences to provide full scope in understanding the lives of marginalized communities.

One from the Vaults 

Bringing you “all the dirt, gossip and glamour from trans history,” One from the Vaults is an essential exploration of a field of history just waiting to be explored. Discussing trans icons such as Marsha P. Johnson, and the concept of “passing,” One from the Vaults represents a key change in representation across popular historical narratives. 

With history podcasts acting as a key access to new understandings of the past, this genre promises to continually expand and explore on the plethora of podcasts already available.

The Lonely Palette

The Lonely Palette’s goal is to bring art down out of the ivory tower and empower listeners to ask questions and feel confident in commenting on artwork, especially the ones found in museums. Tamar Avishai has done beautiful work here, with every episode opening with recordings of her asking museum-goers their thoughts on the artwork in question. That kind of opening is a cue to listeners that this art history for them and about them, and not just accessible to academics, as further shown by Avishai’s excellent historical rundowns on artists and their work.

ICONography

Host Charles Gustine creates beautiful audio about historical icons and their presence in our modern-day world. Each season focuses on one particular place and the icons that are strongly associated with the area, with season one discussing England and season two focusing on New England. And that means, for instance, an episode on Paddington and an episode on witches and witch hunts. Gustine digs deep into those icons that we all know and around which much of modern understanding revolves.

The Marble Garden

Sawyer Westbrook’s podcast centers itself on people, specifically, the people found in cemeteries and the stories that can be discovered through cemetery tombstones. The atmosphere in this podcast is found in the hushed, reverent tones of Westbrook’s telling of someone’s history. These episodes are intimate, personal, and tender even when covering the history of cemeteries themselves, and are written as though watching salient moments of their lives as they unfold.

Undiscovered

Undiscovered covers the history of science and scientific discoveries, and the ways that scientific progress moved forward (or didn’t). The two hosts, Annie Minoff and Elah Feder, are stellar storytellers and interviewers, keeping the story moving and within a doable time frame. Minoff and Feder make sure listeners are all on the same page, and some of these stories are really wild; it includes great snippets of interviews, recorded audio, and most importantly, all the nuance necessary when tackling science and when they don’t have an answer.

Burst Your Bubble

I love in-depth, critical analyses of our pop culture history, especially media that’s considered foundational in its particular genre or medium. Morgan Jaffe, creator and host of Burst Your Bubble, comes from a deeply-researched perspective to media literacy and criticism to dissect specific topics within entertainment media. The episodes dedicate a chunk of their time to playing clips as examples, and Jaffe sharply points out how many things that we consider to be “in the past” are current issues we are actively working to change.

The Dirt

Anna and Amber of The Dirt talk about archaeology and anthropology with adorable rapport and hilarious commentary, as well as complete and detailed information. In about 45 minutes, they track a particular subject through ancient history, like the position of cats in ancient cultures or different kinds of curses. Anna and Amber break down myths, misconceptions, and misunderstandings with nuance and care and usually, a lot of puns.

Toasted Sister

When considering the history of food, Toasted Sister is a must-listen, as it weaves together the history of Indigenous food cultures and the stories of current Native chefs, historians, journalists, and more people. These interviews are about how they work with traditional dishes and Native ingredients to show that this is more than a pop culture fad, but also deal with the long histories of food sovereignty, cultural appropriation, and heritage. Creator and host Andi Murphy is a superb interviewer who has focused in on Native and Indigenous food histories and memories, how they work with them and incorporate them into their lives in the present day, and why we need to keep talking about it.

Echoes of India: A History Podcast

Echoes of India discusses ancient India in incredibly scored and soundscaped immersiveness. Anirudh Kanisetti does amazing work as the host, having scripted a clear plotline for each episode, going above and beyond when he describes a battle to the sounds of a raging war in the background or bringing on voice actors to read lines from various translated records, like a Sanskrit drama and Buddhist debates. Kanisetti expertly sets the mood and scene and, as a specialist in geopolitics, has the necessary understanding of how these threads of history have remained influential.

Spirits

One of the best mythology and urban legends history podcasts out there, Spirits is a conversational podcast that covers all kinds of myths, legends, and ancient lore. Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin have an endearing relationship, full of goofs, boozy drinks, and intricate education on the place mythology has in our daily lives, institutions, and structural oppression. Their long-running show has included a popular ongoing miniseries called Your Urban Legends, where listeners submit local urban legends from their areas, and episodes featuring various popular guests, such as Paul Bae and Adal Rifai.

Clear and Present Danger

Hosted by Jacob Mchangama, founder of human rights think tank Justitia, this podcast discusses the history of free speech as an evolving world concept. These episodes are hour-long deep dives, starting in ancient Athens and Rome. Mchangama is an excellent historical guide, clear and precise, and with the right sense of drama when needed even though the episode has a practical focus rather than a theological or philosophical one. Interspersed throughout are expert opinion episodes, where Mchangama’s talent at guiding questions leads to a vibrant, insightful talk on a particular aspect of free speech.

Hollywood in Color

People of color are left out of history lessons and books everywhere, and Hollywood in Color aims to rectify that gap. With three seasons under her belt, creator and host Diana Martínez does amazing work at the intersection of race, gender, and feminism in Hollywood. Martínez is a wonderful storyteller, which makes for an engaging, often jaw-dropping listen, touching on cultural icons that were shaped and later erased by Hollywood and cultural memory. And she always keeps it fresh every season, from the intertwined paths of Las Reinas de Los Angeles in season one to the life of Hattie McDaniel to the the history of musicians and their Hollywood movies.

The post 20 History Podcasts to Kick the Dust off the Past appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.

NPR goes back to 1970, when approximately 90 public radio stations came together to form NPR, Inc. Over the next ten years, shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition debuted, broadcasting nationally over the first nationwide radio satellite distribution network. In 2000, NPR debuted All Songs Considered, their first digital program, and just five years later entered the growing podcasting space with 17 NPR original podcasts and a broader directory of about 150 additional shows from member stations. 

Read more: Over 200 Audio Professionals Sign Anti-Racist Open Letter to Public Media

The influence NPR has had on podcasting (not to mention radio as a whole) has been instrumental. Going back to the early 2000s and the beginning of podcasting, it was NPR affiliate station WGBH that became the first station to release its daily radio programming as podcasts. Today, NPR is the most popular podcast publisher with over 175 million downloads and streams every month according to Podtrac. While this guide will only focus on programs produced by NPR, we also encourage you to explore the full NPR Podcast Directory where you can find additional shows distributed by NPR.

Fresh Air

Hosted by Terry Gross, Fresh Air is one of NPR’s most popular podcasts and consistently is one of the most downloaded podcasts globally. The show began in 1975 at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, and most episodes consist of an interview for about thirty minutes, followed by shorter segments such as film or music reviews. Guests range from presidents and Hollywood stars to authors, historians, and scientists, all of whom are greeted with the same curiosity, persistence, and analytical questioning. 

Where To Begin:

In 2004, Gross published All I Did Was Ask, where she highlighted several of her favorite interviews with guests such as Johnny Cash, James Baldwin, Chris Rock, and many more. Many interviews from before Fresh Air became a podcast have also been re-released, such as an interview with legendary musician Ray Charles (originally broadcast in 1998) and one with the prolific cooking teacher and author Julia Child (originally broadcast in 1989). With over 40 years of interviews, it is hard to pick a selection of “the best,” but Gross’ selections from the book will serve as a good initial guide. Another great resource is the Fresh Air archive, where interviews are categorized and searchable by name, topic, or year. 

In the past decade, notable interviews include a 2016 discussion with Anthony Bourdain two years before his death, and career-spanning interviews with author Toni Morrison in 2015 or actor Meryl Streep in 2012. In addition to famous guests, Fresh Air’s podcast feed is also filled with less recognizable authors, academics, and scientists discussing their work and expertise.

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Planet Money

Planet Money is NPR’s economics podcast, but don’t be scared off if you are not a fan of the subject. While some episodes do go deep into the nuts and bolts of things like the Federal Reserve or how mints work, many of the shows 1,000+ episodes are more anecdotal and less wonky. 

Several producers and hosts work on the show, with the two best known being Robert Smith and Stacey Vanek Smith, and most episodes have an entertaining, witty, and sometimes humorous flair to them. Planet Money episodes are on the shorter side, usually in the range of 15 to 30 minutes, so it is a great podcast to squeeze into a quick commute or turn on while out on an evening walk. For a complete list of our favorite episodes, read this list from 2019. 

Where To Begin: 

The Planet Money T-Shirt Project (multiple episodes from 2013) was an in-depth look at the journey of a t-shirt from start to finish, including episodes about Indonesian yarn factories, discarded clothes that get sent to Sub-Saharan Africa, and the shipping containers that bring clothing to the United States. A similar series, Planet Money Buys Oil (multiple episodes in 2016), involved buying 100 barrels of oil and following the production process from the ground to a refinery, and finally into a gas tank. Both are incredibly informative and great binge listens. 

Planet Money also does a great job analyzing and explaining pricing, such as in Why The Price of Coke Didn’t Change For 70 Years (May 19, 2019) or Why A Dead Shark Costs $12 Million (March 20, 2019). These two episodes put a fun spin on the concept of supply and demand and would be great episodes to listen to with children, or just to refuel your own curiosity in the economy. 

Another one of Planet Money’s best-known episodes is Peanuts and Cracker Jack (May 6, 2016), which is a character-filled narrative about the micro-economy of baseball stadiums. It gives a new angle to look at sports stadiums with and will make you rethink everything you know about concessions. 

Read more: Best Planet Money episodes

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Code Switch

Although it is significantly newer than some other NPR podcasts, Code Switch has developed a massive audience since its inception in 2016 and quickly became one of NPR’s most popular podcasts. The weekly episodes cover topics such as race, ethnicity, immigration, and other social issues. Produced by a team of journalists of color, including reporters Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby who host the show, Code Switch excels at answering sometimes complicated or difficult questions in an approachable and comprehensible way. 

Where To Begin: 

Many Code Switch episodes are inspired by current events, including some that continue to be especially relevant. On The Shoulders Of Giants (February 27, 2019) is presented by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei of the podcast Throughline and tells a history of Black athletes using their position and power to protest injustice throughout American history. Rather than examine more commonly discussed narratives, it focuses on three equally relevant but lesser-known narratives. The Black Table In The Big Tent (September 18, 2019) focused on the fact that just 2% of the Republican Party is black, interviewing experts and Black Republicans alike.

Other Code Switch stories take on unexplored topics relating to race in pop culture, current events, or history. One especially fascinating episode was is Dora’s Lasting Magic (August 14, 2019), which looks at how children’s cartoon character Dora The Explorer helped lead to a new wave of multicultural television programming for kids in the United States. Code Switch also has interviews with a long list of diverse talents, such as Master of None creator Alan Yang and Blackish star Yara Shahidi. The Ask Code Switch episodes are another entertaining series, tackling listener questions and providing thoughtful answers in a way that is both educational and judgment-free. 

Read more: Podcasts to Prepare Your Kids and Teens for the Future

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Hidden Brain

Essentially the Planet Money of psychology, Hidden Brain is a quick, quirky, and sometimes humorous show hosted by journalist Shankar Vedantam. In Vedantam’s own words, in the show, he “reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships.” The podcast consists of interviews, quizzes and games, and narrative story-telling on a wide range of topics that typically evolve out of a single, simple question. 

Like many other NPR podcasts, the information presented is incredibly well-researched and answers big questions, but is presented in a way that is approachable and appropriate for a wide range of audiences. 

Where To Begin: 

Many of the best Hidden Brain episodes are those where Vedantam and his guests aim to tackle common psychology questions with a new lens. For example, The Ostrich Effect (August 6, 2018) looks at a concept some listeners may already be familiar with but introduces new anecdotes and examples to keep the discussion fresh. Another episode, What’s Not On The Test (May 13, 2019), does the same thing with the concept of school testing, going in-depth to provide concrete examples proving and disproving common theories about academic testing. 

An episode that steers a bit away from the usual format is Lonely Hearts (November 3, 2015), where Vedantam takes a more narrative approach to the psychology of love. The episode originally aired on This American Life, in a show called “The Heart Wants What it Wants,” which gives a bit of insight into the style and mood. Vedantam weaves psychology and science into the flow of the episode, but it ultimately feels more like a personal essay than academic research. 

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Invisibilia

Perhaps NPR’s most out-of-the-box podcast in its subject matter and structure, Invisibilia premiered in 2015 to explore “the invisible forces that shape human behavior.” The show’s first season quickly gained attention, largely in part to excerpts occasionally being included within other NPR podcasts, such as All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Invisibilia and it’s hosts Alix Spiegel and Hanna Rosin were hugely influential on a new wave of podcasts that emerged in the late 2010s in tone and style, and the show remains one of NPR podcasts’ most engaging listens. 

Where To Begin: 

Invisibilia’s typical structure is to start with a narrative story and then let it lead into a broader discussion of the key question, which keeps the complex topics relatable and easier to grasp. For example, one newer episode from Season Six (White v. White?, April 3, 2020) addresses the concept of race as a social construct by opening the story of a man running for City Council who’s opponent alleges he is a white man pretending to be black. 

With about 30 episodes released, listening to Invisibilia from the beginning is very possible and although it is not serialized, starting with Season One may be a good idea. If you start from the beginning, Invisibilia’s debut was The Secret History of Thoughts (January 9, 2015), which examines negative thought, authenticity, and the subconscious mind. The second episode of the first season, Fearless (January 16, 2015) begins with the story of a woman who cannot feel fear before diving into the science of common fears such as snakes and roller coasters. 

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Tiny Desk Concerts – Audio 

Music fans looking for an in-depth discussion should certainly check out All Songs Considered, but if you just want the tunes without the talk, look no further than the Tiny Desk Concerts audio podcast. While you may have seen some of these live shows on the NPR website or YouTube, listening to the podcast version is a real treat and allows you to explore back through over 300 past performances. 

Where To Begin:

Everyone from Taylor Swift, Lizzo, and Coldplay to The Roots, Mac Miller, and The Blue Man Group have stopped by NPR’s studios to play a Tiny Desk Concert. We highly recommend a subscription to the audio feed to relive your favorite performances of the past or discover a new favorite act. 

Music fans will all advocate for their own personal favorites, but a few Tiny Desk Concerts have stood out over the past few years. T-Pain’s 2014 appearance at the Tiny Desk not only established him as an incredibly talented musician and vocalist, but also ushered in a new wave of hip hop, rap, and R&B acts visiting the NPR studios. The most popular Tiny Desk Concert on YouTube is with Anderson .Paak and his cool, charismatic performance without a doubt won him more than a few new fans. Of course, you miss the visuals with the audio podcast version, but with these two artists and several others, simply taking in the sounds is just as sweet.  

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How I Built This with Guy Raz

Fans of NPR podcasts already knew Guy Raz as the host of the TED Radio Hour, and it was no surprise that his second podcast in the network quickly exploded in popularity as well. Unlike TED Radio Hour, which has complex sound design and is elaborately stylized, How I Built This is a classic interview show that keeps fans engaged simply by having interesting guests. 

The concept is very straightforward, with Raz interviewing CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs about their backgrounds, keys to success, and ultimately, how they started the companies they are best known for. Since 2016, there have been over 300 episodes of the podcast. 

Where To Begin: 

How I Built This, like Fresh Air, has a massive library of episodes and the best ones for you are likely going to be those with guests you already are curious to learn more about. However, it is sometimes the lesser-known names that prove to have the most interesting stories. For example, Beyond Meat: Ethan Brown (February 16, 2017) tells a story of environmentalism, innovation, and fierce competition in an industry that most people probably know little about. Southwest Airlines: Herb Kelleher (January 4, 2019) is an engaging listen because the late Kelleher made fewer media appearances towards the end of his life and was incredibly open with Raz about his airline’s initial struggles and key innovations. 

How I Built This does a good job of finding guests from all industries, so you’ll hear interviews with tech entrepreneurs, fashion moguls, media moguls, and more. 

Read more: the best How I Built This episodes, The Traits The Best Podcast Hosts Share

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Bonus – Up First

Clocking in at just 15 minutes per episode, the daily news NPR podcast Up First may not be comparable to some other full-length podcasts, but it certainly deserves a mention. Similar to The Daily or Crooked Media’s What A Day, Up First aims to quickly recap news you need to know and provide an overview of the three biggest stories you need to know each day. The reporting comes from award-winning journalists and unlike Morning Edition, which is significantly longer, Up First gives you a bite-sized portion of news from the same reputable team. Start Up First with the newest episode. As it is a news show, you most likely would not need to go back into the archives.

Editor’s note: An edit was made to the Code Switch section of this article on 2/22/2021 to provide more context for the “On the Shoulders of Giants” episode.

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Are you noticing your downloads and listen metrics beginning to tail off? Don’t panic, but it might be time to make a few changes to help your podcast listenership.

After several years of logarithmic growth, 2020 was witness to some rocky download numbers. While those grim statistics seem to be a blip, it got me thinking about how to deal with a declining audience.

After all, nothing good lasts forever. Well, nothing lasts forever, but that’s a different post.

So what do you do when the gravy train begins to dry up? As luck would have it, there are some tweaks you can make to your podcast that should help your listenership rebound.

If they don’t, it’s always a good idea to have an eye on your escape plan. With that, let’s jump right into how to deal with declining listenership.

Step 1: Step Back and Analyze Your Podcast’s Situation

The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one. And unless you are taking a good hard look at your show, you can’t know if you have a problem. Let alone a solvable problem.

Like I said, the pandemic gave the industry as a whole a bit of a rough go in 2020. But that’s a once in a century global pandemic. Not exactly within the locus of your control.

The first step is to determine if you have an internal problem you can address. Or, do you have an external problem you can try to ride out.

A listenership problem you can solve comes down to one of two tranches:

• Audience retention
• Audience acquisition

So then, how do we deal with those issues?

Step 2: Revisit Your Listener Avatar

Nothing stays the same. Including audiences.

Trends shift, interest wanes, and proclivities change.

People evolve. That’s true of your audience the same as it is with the content creator. A good podcast producer or producer/host checks in with their audience avatar regularly. They ensure they have a good, objective, feel for their metrics.

Scott Galloway often mentions, in passing, that his audience skews younger and male. That’s a good sign the show has an intimate understanding of their listener base.

Now is a great time to revisit your listener avatar. While you’re at it, set a recurring calendar reminder to do so at least every six months.

The folks at Digital Marketer have created an excellent episode on this subject.

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Step 3: Cultivating an Audience

Now that you have a good idea of whom you think is listening to your show, and have juxtaposed that against your actual listener base, it is time to deliver.

Revisit Familiar Content

The first place to look for content that works for your show is to look at content that has already worked. This means it’s time to unseal the archives and see what works.

While looking back at your old shows may feel stale to you as the content producer, it won’t for your listeners. You have to remember, and keep reminding yourself, that you’ve been there for every show you’ve produced. By definition, it’s going to feel intimate and familiar.

But for the audience, that isn’t the case. A new subscriber may not have heard the original episode. A longtime listener may have missed the episode because they had the kid’s carpool that day and never got back to it.

Your archives are a gold mine of engagement.

Step Up Your Social Engagement Game

There’s a misconception in podcasting that it’s a lonely endeavor. That a podcast is single person creating. Or a podcast is a few people having a conversation into a microphone while pressing the record button. Send that creation off into the interwebs and BAM!

The reality is that a successful podcast is a social one. A successful podcast is a conversation with the audience. Only one person is talking, but there’s a back and forth that needs to happen.

The most cost-efficient way to get those wheels turning is social media.

It can take some time to set up, but you aren’t starting from scratch. All that work you did on your listener avatar should give you a good idea where your audience is hanging out. Choose the platform that makes the most sense for your show. 

Invite your listeners and guests to engage with each other there.

If you’re able to facilitate legitimate networking, your show provides extraordinary value.

Step 4: Audience Acquisition

If your audience hasn’t reached critical mass, or your listener attrition is too high, you are going to have to focus on marketing.

Hub and Spoke Approach

Your podcast is your main focus, right? The goal is to get new years tuned in to your audio. The unfortunate reality is that not everyone who hears your podcast is going to come to it by way of an algorithm.

That may have worked early on when there were a few thousand podcasts. But the past few years’ exponential industry growth has changed that. There are a million podcasts now. A million.

That’s a lot of noise to cut through.

Think of your podcast as the hub of a wheel. And around that wheel are spokes. Each of those spokes is a marketing channel to get new years to your show.

Then you’ll want to focus on what’s most effective.

Blogging

If you haven’t considered a blog for your show, you should. As a broadcaster, you might not feel like a writer, but considering the fact that you’ve got the bulk of the content already created, it is hard to pass that up.

While a broad swath of the population has listened to a podcast, it’s nowhere near how many people read blogs.

If you don’t want to write the blog yourself, you can post a transcription, or hire a service to translate your audio into a proper written format.

Brett McKay’s Art of Manliness podcast started out as a blog way back in 2008. Ancient really. Brett and Kate have kept blogging at the heart of their brand, and each podcast produced is tightly interwoven with their blog.

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Video

There’s no question that video consumption is going to continue to rise. And, like blogging, there’s more fish in that sea to catch.

Filming your show can boost your engagement numbers significantly. Potential listeners might discover your show when watching YouTube in their flat. They might end up downloading some audio shows to take with them on their commute.

Video is particularly useful for interview formats, and the technology is baked right into your phone.

I actually stumbled upon NPR’s Code Switch podcast not through any podcast aggregator, but on YouTube while doing “Karen” meme research. Now I’m hooked. It just goes to show that you don’t even need to film the show so much as just have a YouTube presence.

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Guest Interviews

Take your message to someone else’s audience. I’ve covered this before, but being a guest on another podcaster’s show is a phenomenal way to get in front of potential listeners.

Not only are you getting more content out there, you’re getting promotional help. It’s tough to go wrong being a guest on another show.

Step 5: Winding Up

Every once in a while, declining listener numbers means that a show is coming to an end. Nothing lasts forever after all.

A show that ends intentionally leaves you, as the content creator, with several opportunities.

Remember that million podcast number? Estimates vary, but there are nowhere near a million podcasts actively producing content.

Set a Wind Down Schedule

Let your audience know that you aren’t going to be producing new content for this show. Let them know what is next for you and where they can support your new venture.

Treat your listeners with respect and as part of the show. A significant portion of your core listeners will follow and support your endeavor.

Ezra Kline’s departure was well done. He spent a few weeks recording intros for shows from the archive. Shows that were of particular interest around the time the show was ending. It put a nice little bow on the whole project before it transitioned to become “Vox Conversations.”

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A Note on Podfading

Podfading refers to pulling a disappearing act. As if the show was cancelled, midstream, without warning.

While this does happen and it can feel like a reasonable response to a dwindling audience, try to avoid it.

Your content lives on. It’s not beamed out into space never to be heard from like some pedestrian radio broadcast. What happens if someone stumbles upon your show three years from now and decides to binge it?

You want to leave them with some expectations and a calling card to find your current work. It’s also a reason to set up affiliate/referral links that you control. That way you can point them wherever you’d like into perpetuity.

Conclusion

Declining listener numbers are something every Podcaster will experience at some point. When it happens, it’s critical that you don’t panic.

Take a big step back and figure out where the water that’s sinking your show is rushing in. And do so early enough that when you plug the leak, you have enough float to bail yourself out.

Look at your numbers, look at your avatars, and make a plan.

And remember, sometimes, that plan is to move on. That’s okay too.

Have a new show you’ve been producing? Let us know on twitter (@discover_pods & @jamesjgriffin) and you can count on at least one new download.

The post 5 Ways To Deal With An Unexpected Drop In Podcast Listenership appeared first on Discover the Best Podcasts | Discover Pods.