The Best Podcasts of 2021

In the early 1970s, the future of abortion in America was far from settled. Roe v. Wade would change everything, though few knew it at the time. For the seventh season of Slate’s Slow Burn, host Susan Matthews explores the path to Roe—a time when more Republicans than Democrats supported abortion rights. You’ll hear the forgotten story of the first woman ever to be convicted of manslaughter for having an abortion, the unlikely Catholic power couple who helped ignite the pro-life movement, and a rookie Supreme Court justice who got assigned the opinion of a lifetime.

On the podcast Anything for Selena, Apple Podcasts’ Show of the Year of 2021, Maria García combines rigorous reporting with impassioned storytelling to honor Selena's legacy. She also explores the indelible mark she left on Latino identity and belonging, whether it’s fatherhood, big-butt politics, and the fraught relationship with whiteness and language.

*** Named a best podcast of 2021 by Time, Vulture, Esquire and The Atlantic. *** Each Tuesday and Friday, Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the logic of markets infiltrated too many aspects of our lives? What is the future of the Republican Party? What do psychedelics teach us about consciousness? What does sci-fi understand about our present that we miss? Can our food system be just to humans and animals alike?

How did 9/11 the day become 9/11 the idea? That question drives Pineapple Street Studios and award-winning host Dan Taberski (Missing Richard Simmons, Running From COPS, The Line) to shift the focus to what happened on 9/12, and every day after that. 9/12 is a poignant, surprising, and surprisingly funny seven episode series about people who wake up on 9/12 having to navigate a new, radically altered world. A teenager gets caught up in an out-of-control conspiracy theory that he helped start. A Pakistani business owner finds hundreds of his Brooklyn neighbors are disappearing. Joke-writers at The Onion must figure out just how soon is “too soon”? 9/12 asks what it all means. We know what happened on 9/11. But what happened on 9/12 to alter our memory and our perspective forever? The series 9/12 earned three Podcast Academy Awards at the 2022 Ambies, including Podcast of the Year.

For 18 years, the Modern Love column has given New York Times readers a glimpse into the complicated love lives of real people. Since its start, the column has evolved into a TV show, three books and a podcast. Each week, host Anna Martin brings you stories and conversations about love in all its glorious permutations, dumb pitfalls and life-changing moments. New episodes every Wednesday.

Sarah is a journalist obsessed with the past. Every week she reconsiders a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination.

In the 1980s the “male exotic dancers” of Chippendales were everywhere, selling the promise of women’s liberation for the price of a few dollars in a g-string. But behind the powerful mullets, oiled pecs, and non-stop parties lies a much darker story of greed, corruption and murder. Historian Natalia Petrzela exposes one of the great, sordid, unexamined stories in American culture.

Spectacle is a series that analyzes the cultural and societal implications of your guilty pleasures. From reality TV to true crime, Spectacle simultaneously celebrates and critiques the media, people and places that define us. For advertising opportunities, contact podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. SEASON 3: This season of Spectacle delves into the history of true crime -- from the cases that shook us to our core, to its passionate audience, and what narratives and stereotypes it reinforces in our culture. From Neon Hum Media and Sony Music Entertainment. Spectacle: True Crime is available June 23rd. SEASON 2: Las Vegas It's a city that has defined popular culture. An oasis in the desert, a mirage — a playground for adults replete with casinos, showgirls, and all-you-can-eat buffets. But how did Vegas become “Sin City”? From the genesis of shotgun weddings, to film portrayals of the mob-era, to the social engineering behind mega-casinos…season 2 of Spectacle explores the fabulous, the incorrigible, Las Vegas. SEASON 1: Reality TV Reality TV is dismissed as guilty pleasure, low brow... even trash. But whether you want to admit it or not, you probably have heard of Snooki, Lisa Vanderpump or Kim Kardashian. Over the past 30 years, reality TV has become a place to see the social and political moment play out in real time -- from racial tensions on The Real World New York to gender dynamics on The Bachelor. On this season, join host Mariah Smith as she dissects the history of the genre one show at a time, revealing how it's shaped our culture and how our culture shaped it.

“Almost a perfect crime.” The hacking ring and an attempt to steal a billion dollars. Investigators blame North Korea. Pyongyang denies involvement. The story begins in Hollywood.

For at least a decade, allegations of cheating have swirled around elections in rural Bladen County, N.C. Some people in town point fingers at a Black advocacy group, the Bladen County Improvement Association, accusing it of bullying voters, tampering with ballots and stealing votes outright. These accusations have never been substantiated, but they persist. Reporter Zoe Chace went to Bladen County to investigate what’s really going on. From the makers of Serial and The New York Times, a five-part series about allegations of election fraud — and the powerful forces that fuel them.

Decoder Ring is the show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.

Debunking the junk science behind health fads, wellness scams and nonsensical nutrition advice.

Can you help find ‘The Missing?’ Hosted by journalist Pandora Sykes, The Missing looks into the cases of the long-term missing and asks you, the listener, to help. Brought to you in association with charities Locate International and Missing People, every week we explore a different case, hear original interviews with family and friends, and ask the questions that need to be answered. Where did they go? What happened to them? And does anyone listening have any information? In the UK alone, a person is reported missing every 90 seconds. In this series, we ask you to become part of the search. With your help, some of these cases could be solved. The Missing is a Podimo podcast series exclusive to Amazon Music. It is produced by What’s The Story Sounds. To learn more or if you have information on any of the cases covered in the podcast, please visit [http://TheMissingPodcast.org] (http://TheMissingPodcast.org) . All ten episodes of The Missing are available to stream now on Amazon Music.

A paranormal cold case re-investigated through a thrilling blend of drama and documentary. The true story of one of Britain's strangest hauntings, with Dafne Keen and Toby Jones.

The creators of Welcome to Night Vale Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink believe the only bad writing is not writing. Start With This is a podcast gone creativity playground designed to put your ideas in motion. Each episode centers around a writing topic. Then they give listeners two short assignments: something to consume and something to create. Make something—anything. Then make something else.

A monthly conversation about books and ideas on NTS Radio hosted by friends Carrie Plitt, a literary agent, and Octavia Bright, a writer and academic. Each show features an author interview, book recommendations, lively discussion and a little music too, all built around a related theme - anything from the novella to race to masculinity. Listen live on NTS Radio www.nts.live

Movies! Music! Celebrities embarrassing themselves! KEEP IT has it all. Each week, Ira Madison III and Louis Virtel are joined by comedians, journalists, actors, musicians, activists, politicians and more to discuss the latest ways pop culture and entertainment are intersecting with politics and society. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

Rhyme and punishment go hand in hand in America. Louder Than A Riot reveals the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. From Bobby Shmurda to Nipsey Hussle, each episode explores an artist's story to examine a different aspect of the criminal justice system that disproportionately impacts Black America. Hosted by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden, this podcast is invested in power from all angles — the power the music industry wields over artists, the power of institutional forces that marginalize communities of color, the power of the prison industrial complex and the power dynamics deep-rooted in the rap game.

Greg James and Bella Mackie learn a fascinating and fun lesson from one of Britain's most inspiring teachers.

Aack! Cathy, the iconic and much-maligned comic strip by Cathy Guisewite, chronicled the day-to-day tribulations of its titular working woman for 35 years, met with equal praise and derision. In this podcast, Jamie Loftus (Lolita Podcast, My Year in Mensa) weaves between reporting and fiction, putting a cruelly treated cartoon everywoman in context.

BOOKS ∙ WORKSHOPS ∙ PODCAST

Quiz Quiz Bang Bang is a weekly pub trivia practice podcast. For three weeks out of the month it is straight questions and answers as read by the hosts Annie and David Flora. Once a month we invite friends to join us for a live game of quiz bang trivia to add the humor, thought processes and fun. The show’s format is 4 rounds of 4 questions each with a quick-fire Bang Bang Round after Round 2. After Round 4, a final Big Bang round caps off the show with 3 questions, the answers of which are hints to one final question. Scoring would work as follows: Rds 1-4: 10 pts/correct answer; Bang Bang: 2 pts./correct answer; Final 3: no pts for the clue questions; wager up to your point total for the final question.

At the dawn of the 1980s, the world was moving faster, the media was growing bigger, and greed was finally good. For the NBA, it was a chance to finally step into the spotlight. But all that wealth and stardom came at a deep cost. This is the story of how basketball reflected a moment when Reagan’s America doubled down on some of its core values: selfishness, violence, and racism -- and the players who paid the price. Hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) and produced by HyperObject Industries and Three Uncanny Four Death at the Wing is part of The Binge - a new channel on apple podcasts. Subscribe to The Binge to unlock all episodes of this show, ad-free, right now. Your subscription also unlocks the entire network of podcasts on The Binge with a brand new story dropping every month - that’s all episodes, all at once, all ad-free. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Death at the Wing show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.

"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. New episodes on Mondays for free. Listen 1-week early and to all episodes ad-free with Wondery+ or Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

1 phone call. 1 hour. No names. No holds barred. Thats the premise behind Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, hosted by comedian Chris Gethard (the Chris Gethard Show, Broad City, This American Life, and one of Time Outs 10 best comedians of 2015). Every week, Chris opens the phone line to one anonymous caller, and he cant hang up first, no matter what. From shocking confessions and family secrets to philosophical discussions and shameless self-promotion, anything can and will happen! Theme song by Shellshag.

Jessie Ware hosts a podcast about food, family and the beautiful art of having a chat, direct from her very own dinner table. With a little bit of help from her chef extraordinaire mum Lennie, each week guests from the worlds of music, culture and politics drop by for a bite and a bit of a natter. Oversharing guaranteed. Produced by Alice Williams Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Author and journalist Shon Faye talks with LGBTQ+ trailblazers who have something important, interesting or enlightening to say about what it means to be queer in the world today. Through these conversations, Call Me Mother aims to deepen our understanding of queer experiences through the life stories of the elders who have lived through it before us – and show that all of us, queer or not, belong to a much broader history. Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

10 Things That Scare Me is a tiny podcast about our biggest fears. In each episode, one person talks. Alone in a room. It could be anyone. It could be you. It’s someone driven by fears that keep them up at night, that define their lives, and inform their choices. This is a podcast about them, about you, about us, and the world we inhabit together. New episodes every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Ear Hustle brings you the daily realities of life inside prison shared by those living it, and stories from the outside, post-incarceration. The podcast is a partnership between Nigel Poor, a Bay Area visual artist, and Earlonne Woods, formerly incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and was co-founded with former San Quentin resident Antwan Williams. The Ear Hustle team works in the San Francisco Bay Area, both in San Quentin State Prison’s media lab and from offices on the outside, to produce stories that are sometimes difficult, often funny and always honest. Episodes offer a nuanced view of people involved with the American prison system and those reintegrating into society after serving time.

When 8-year-old Relisha Rudd disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. in 2014, nobody noticed. By the time authorities formally declared Relisha “missing,” 18 days had passed since she’d been spotted at school or the shelter where her family lived. Seven years later, Relisha has never been found. Through the Cracks investigates gaps in our society and the people who fall through them, and in this first season, host Jonquilyn Hill asks if Relisha’s disappearance was, as the city later claimed, unpreventable. From WAMU and PRX.