My excellent podcast app Pocket Casts produces a Spotify type summary each year around this time. I spend more time these days listening to podcasts than music I think, my top 5 according to total listening time are in the comments. What are yours?
Your Podcasts of the Year
by 59 Comments
1. Word in Your Ear
Like the veteran bands they often talk about, maybe not as good as they once were, but still out there and still pretty entertaining/annoying in equal measure
2. The Chipping Forecast
Helps (but not essential) if you are interested in golf. Very humorously presented by all round commentator Andrew Cotter, each week they have a “special guest” which is always the BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter, presumably introduced as such to distance himself from commercial considerations. But the meat here is pro golfer and other main presenter Eddie Pepperell who has fallen on relatively hard times after once being ranked 32 in the world (now at 539). His eloquent and self effacing comments about the challenges of being a top level sportsman makes this one worth the entrance price.
3. The Rest is Entertainment
Two somewhat annoying people, but rather addictive
4. Scrum V
The desperate, but hopefully not terminal Welsh rugby situation, analysed in great detail
5. What is Music?
Three English blokes in their 30s discuss favourite bands in forensic detail. This was my no. 1 last year as they were featuring R.E.M. (also into 2025), they are now on the Arctic Monkeys which interests me much less, so it has slumped to 5.
The best Word in your Ear episode this year was the one where they were interviewing Jah Wobble, and the pest control officer turned up at his front door to check whether there were any mice scuttling about behind Wobble’s fridge. Hilarious.
Their REM and Radiohead episodes were excellent.
In no particular order… I tend to dip in and out of these depending on the subject/guest. Most of my listening is done while sitting in traffic on Dublin’s M50. I need light hearted distraction.
1 Word in Your Ear. I still find it worth listening in regularly. When it’s good, it’s very entertaining.
2 RLHSTP – I’ve always enjoyed Richard Herring as a stand-up and his podcast is usually worth tuning in to, especially if he has a good comedy foil.
3 Eejits of the World. They seem to have eased off recently but when Glenn Wool and Andrew Maxwell are on a roll, this has me in tears of laughter.
4 Adam Buxton’s podcast. I’ll listen in if he has a good guest. I can handle his eccentricities in small doses. (See also his friend Louis Theroux) I think I enjoyed his John Foxx interview more than any other podcast this year.
5 Athletico Mince. I still find this very funny although they don’t seem to do many episodes these days. The waiter in Slaughter’s restaurant is my absolute favourite.
6 My Time Capsule – This polite and somewhat cosy podcast can vary from absolutely fascinating to rather dull depending on the effort put in by the guests in choosing their list.
Honourable mentions to Where There’s a Will…, What Did You Do Yesterday? and Desert Island Discs.
Yeah, John Foxx was brilliant
Thanks for the tip about the Adam Buxton/John Foxx podcast, which I thoroughly enjoyed. What an interesting and entertaining chap John Foxx is. I somehow expected him to be a shy, fey chap from the home counties, rather than a plain-speaking, salt-of-the-earth Lancastrian.
Wow, What is Music had 69 episodes about R.E.M – not short episodes either – that should fill my 2026.
My most regular podcast is The Rest is History.
Ill advised with Bill Nighy is a delight.
Also dip into Adam Buxton and Richard Herring, depending on the guest.
Still miss Nothing is Real.
I started with What is Music? when they started with Manic Street Preachers, they have also done Radiohead so a lot of stuff I am interested in. They have a kind of style which is certainly not for everyone and they infuriate me at times, but the main guy, Adam, does some excellent preparation
Nothing Is Real misses you. Come to Kinsale!
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/kinsale-beatles-fest-104234512601
I mentioned this Beatles festival to Mrs. Paws this morning, before we’d even gotten out of bed. “Sounds like (the nothing is real boys) are just going out drinking with some mates for the weekend” says she. “Yeah” I replied “they’ll be talking about the Beatles. Sounds great, can I go?!”
I’m not a great podcast listener, but I have caught the occasional Word in Your Ear. The recently revived Americana UK podcast is worth a punt too, if Americana is your cup of tea.
Rewatchables – people talking about old movies.
The Town – people talking about Hollywood.
Handbrake Off – people talking about Arsenal.
Prof G Markets – people talking about business (although I am finding the host increasingly insufferable).
The Rest Is Politics: Leading – people talk about politics. Find the main podcast quite annoying (and the US version completely pointless) but if they have an interesting guest and let them talk this can be good.
60 songs that explain the 90s – person talking about (90s) music.
I try not to listen to podcasts too much. I don’t think they’re generally all that insightful and they take up too much headspace.
THE REWATCHABLES is quite a discovery.
Not to mention the whole RINGER MOVIES world
looks extremely interesting.
This one about ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is guested by Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio. What’s not to like?
Thanks, BINGO.
The Titanic episode of Rewatchables is well worth checking out, very funny indeed.
Apropos of nothing, this week’s 60 songs (on Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah) contains one of the greatest descriptions of music I have ever heard; that Michael Bolton “sings like he’s trying to bench press the song, with the listener as the nervous spotter”. 😂
My vote goes to the Rockonteurs. While I’m not particularly interested in some of the guests’ music, Guy and Gary always seem to get interesting stories out of whoever they interview, which means they’re usually worth a listen.
I like hearing people who’ve been there, done that being enthusiastic about their line of work or people they’ve encountered along the way, and this podcast usually has plenty of that. (Although maybe that’s one reason why Macca doesn’t turn up on things like this – perhaps he thinks he’s told enough stories by now.)
Although David Coverdale’s various appearances will always be among the best episodes, the latest one, with Lewis McLeod from Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, was a definite highlight. I wasn’t sure about why an impressionist/actor would be on a music podcast (and, to be fair, neither was he at the start), but it was audio gold.
His impressions of Paul, Elton, etc., were terrific, and he also does an excellent D. Coverdale, among many others. If nothing else, it was worth it to hear Gary’s quip when Lewis turned into David Gilmour (“Guy has just stood to attention!”), and the story about Tony James’ exasperation at John Lydon’s persona as Mr. Angry: “You’re not going to do *the voice* during dinner, are you?”
Very funny all round, and by the end Lewis sounded genuinely touched to have been asked on. Lovely stuff.
Also a big fan of Rockonteurs, surprised they didn’t appear in my Top 5, but they don’t have episodes every week throughout the year, where as most of my top 5 do. This list is purely statistically driven
I think it’s great but I suggested it should be renamed “Gary tries to get the guest to talk about Bowie”. Then corrects them when they get details wrong in the story.
There is a recent addition to The Rest Is stable which is The Rest Is Science with the always wonderful Hannah Fry & Michael Stevens (Vsauce). It already has me hooked & the first few episodes have been excellent.
Other than this my current picks are;
The News Meeting
3 journalists arguing to an editor why the story they are pitching should lead the news. A must listen for anyone who devours the news
Media Confidential
A pod with Alan Rusbridger & Lionel Barber – every episode is fascinating & always a calm sensible look at the media landscape (although the episode which involved an argument between Lionel & the author Micheal Lewis was quite a listen!)
Strangers On A Bench
A weekly listen involving the host chatting to a stranger on a bench for 30 mins or so. Strangely uplifiting
The Rest Is Entertainment
I think I am the only listener who likes both of the hosts. I think they are a great pairing & enjoy both points of view.
Cheat Sheet
A nice daily 10 minute podcast with a precis of the days news. I do this one & The Smart Seven, but think this will usurp the latter
Rockonteurs
As above – always good value
What Did You Do Yesterday
Depends on the guest, but David O Doherty is always very funny & the Ross Noble is one of my all time favourite episodes of a podcast (see also Ten Feet Under with Perry Fenwick)
The Price Of Music
Steve Lamacq & Stuart Dredge discussing the music business – always good
Sodajerker On Songwriting
Like Rockonteurs – it doesn’t matter who the guest is, it is always a good listen & impeccably researched every time!
The Rest Is Football
Although I wish it would stop becoming the Micah Richards show – christ he has some self belief!
The Rest Is Politics (+ leading)
Always worth a listen
1. What did you do yesterday
2. The Bugle
3. Adam Buxton
4. Word in your ear
5. RHLSTP
This doesn’t surprise me as I have ben bingeing what did you do yesterday over the past few months, having come to it a little late. I do rather enjoy it and I do wonder what I’m going to do when I run out of episodes and start to have to listen to it twice a week as it drops. Probably go back to listening to music or some such.
This list is just from pocket casts and doesn’t include the podcasts that I have listened to on BBC Sounds, obviously.
RHLSTP?
Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre podcast
Oh!
RHLSTP!
I think that might catch on…
Talk 90s To Me – an enjoyable dive into a wide variety of 90s popular culture. Varies a little depending on the subject and the guest, but Miranda Sawyer is a very personable host so it’s never dull. A bit like a Select magazine podcast if such a thing had existed back then.
I love a lot of those already mentioned. Some others
Top Flight Time Machine – Andy Dawson and Sam Delaney waffling on for about half an hour on random subjects. Bit of an acquired taste but very funny
Steve’s Mixtape – Steve interviews a guest who picks 10 tracks in categories laid out by Steve. Some musicians, some friends of his, some random people who wrote in
Sombero Fallout – Ian does a themed hour of music and talks between tracks. More of a radio show than a podcast. Very likeable fella
Looks Unfamiliar/Scarred For Life – mainly discussion of old telly, music and films from the 60s to the 90s
Twilight Turntable – discussion of an old album each week for an hour picked by one of the two presenters
The Villa podcast – two Irish lads talking about the Villa. Very sweary and very funny
And Jim Irvin’s podcast You’re Not On The List is great as well but he’s doesn’t do them often these days
Top of my Amazon list was Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud. He’s a strange man, but a reliably nosy interviewer.
Next was Word in Your Ear, The Rest is History, The Rest is Entertainment and, slightly to my surprise, The Secret History of Hollywood. I say surprise because I’ve only listened to the Cary Grant series this year but the episodes were immensely long.
I started that ages ago, but it was too much for me and I abandoned.
In no particular order:
Regularly
The Rest is History
The Rest is Politics US (and the UK one but more infrequently)
We Have Ways
History of Rock in 500 songs
The 11th Hour – MS NOW
FT Political Fix
New Statesman
The History of England
Private Eye – page 94
Politics Weekly from The Graun
Politics Weekly America
Rock n Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Rockonteurs
Week in Westminster
Occasionally…
Now Spinning
More or Less
The Briefing Room
The News Agents
Word in your ear
Rock’s Back Pages
The Rest is…Politics, Politics USA, Entertainment, Football
Frank Skinner Off the Radio
Page 94, the Private Eye Podcast
For cricket fans interested in an Australian view of the day’s happenings in the remaining Ashes tests, try these
The Final Word Cricket Podcast
Adam Hills and Geoff Lemon always start with one of them gicing a summary of the day’s play in 30 seconds. They then talk about the day in a sometimes frenetic fashion
Cricket et al
Gideon Haigh is one of Australia’s most astute cricket writers (they also have a Substack) and along with Peter Lalor they present a laid back gentlemanly assessment of what’s happened
1/ Word in your Ear
Sometimes brilliant sometimes really annoying but I still listen.
2/ The 42 Rugby Weekly.
All about Irish rugby.
3/ The uncharted sounds.
All about forgotten bands of the 70/80/90s.
Only the three votes for me.
Uncharted Sounds looks really interesting. Will investigate. Thanks!
I’m going to cheat a bit, because some of the companiies put out so many podcasts
1. Goalhanger – (Sherlock & Co,The Rest is Politics)
2. Global (James O’Brien, The News Agents)
3. BBC (The Archers, Any Questions, The Skewer)
4. A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
5. The David McWilliams podcast
Annoyingly, one of my favourites. Crazy Town, no longer appears on my podcast feed, and is only available via Spotify.
I think I listen to podcasts more than anything else.
Chartmusic’s output has slowed right down since the passing of Neil Kulkarni, but they’re still great listening when a new one emerges – Sarah B has really come into her own.
I’ll find myself listening to old episodes often…otherwise there’s The Rest Is History (they were just here doing a live tour, best tix a mere $300), Word In Your Ear, Goon Pod (a lot of interesting guests as they’ve expanded the remit to cover UK comedy in general), the odd Adam Buxton…usual suspects, really.
They were slow even before that, but there has only been one proper one this year, plus a little bonus stuff for Patreon subscribers.
But the amount of research and effort that goes into Chart Music is worth it. Each episode is around three and and a half hours long, so you do get your money’s worth. Plus the Hit The F**king Play Button pods to enjoy.
Personally I would prefer more shorter episodes. There was a one hour live special that was fine. I do wonder if they are running out of steam
I appreciate there is a lot of research needed, but in 2017 they did 17 episodes
A grinch writes:
“Much as I love it and savour every episode, $60* a year on Patreon as a subscriber is too much for this year’s one podcast and a few bonus things (one of the bonus things was the live episode, which already had a separate revenue stream). The norm should probably be one episode every 2 months, 6 per year. Journalists who had/have deadlines to submit work should be able to be more disciplined than this. If not, a pay-per-episode might be a better option. Probably could do with an editor too, as that is likely taking up much of the time.
The request for subscribers to vote on the top 10 normally indicates a new regular episode is on the way, but the last request came nearly 3 months ago – I presume there’ll be a new episode for Christmas, but who knows.”
*I never checked to see if the monthly $5 was still being charged after Neil’s passing (nearly 2 years ago), wanting to give them time to deal with that, but assume it was.
My monthly subscription is still being taken.
And nothing for Christmas apart from a half hearted “bonus” with Music Star annual from 75. I couldn’t get through it the last time he read from an annual. I think they should call it a day
It’s a very disappointing listen, smacks of a “will this do?” mentality, to which the answer from me is, no it will not. And yet you read some of the comments on the Patreon page where it’s accepted as some sort of great gift to the masses. And that may be the problem – a lack of constructive criticism and overwhelming tolerance for a poor level of output (and in this case, content).
Progress With Unity (the market-leading Wigan Athletic podcast)
Word in Your Ear
Off Menu
Strange Brew
Rock’s Back Pages
Rockonteurs
Bureau of Lost Culture
Sodajerker
Strong Songs
The News Agents
The Rest is Politics
Music Maps
RHLSP
Chart Music
Origin Story
The Bunker
I should add by way of individual episodes. Justin Currie, Paul Simpson and John Robb on Music Maps, John Foxx on Adam Buxton, Saiorse Monica-Jackson and Self Esteem on Off Menu, and Penny Rimbaud on Lost Culture were the best things I heard this m year.
Private Eye: Page 94 – Topical. Proper anti-establishment journalism. Some bits also to be found on YouTube.
Afropop Worldwide – Pop music from the rest of the world. Will it continue now Trump has defunded US Public Radio?
Word In Your Ear – As mentioned above, often annoying but has enough moments.
Framework Radio – Abstract/curated found sound. Very good for falling asleep to.
Welcome To Night Vale – Surreal hit-and-miss dark comedy. Intermittent.
No Such Thing As A Fish – Not sure if I like this and want to continue with it.
I just wonder how people have the time to keep up with all these, plus music, reading, family life, work (for some), outings etc. Has everyone but me been on an Afterworders’ Time Management course? 🤔
I listen when out on a walk, doing housework, driving, shopping etc etc. If Mrs. T is in, pressing PLAY makes her appear and start talking to me as if by magic.
Same here. When I’m out on a walk or those occasional mornings when I don’t want to listen to music.
It’s a very passive thing for me, walking, running, bathing, driving even working can all be accompanied by a podcast
Only two this year, and both on YouTube because it suits me better – the only place I’d listen to a podcast is on the computer anyway, and I have to look at something while listening. If I look at something else I’ll start to think about different things, and end up not actually hearing a word of the discussion. So vodcasts it is!
1. The Swiftie and the Scholar
This started not too long ago this year and is wonderfully entertaining and educational.
A retired English professor and his niece analyse and rate Taylor Swift lyrics as poetry; she sends him a lyric that he spends time with, making notes; they go through his notes very thoroughly, with added insights from her knowledge of “what it’s about”; and only afterwards does she play him the song. At the end he gets to rate the lyrics by a bunch of criteria. “Dr Uncle Jerry” as he is now known by the subscribers is rapidly becoming more and more of a swiftie, and only 23 episodes for you to binge to catch up! 😀
Highly recommend.
2. Books Unbound
Just a (mostly) book podcast where two best friends discuss their reading and buying of books to read, and this and that going on in their lives. This is not the place I go to for book recommendations, as our tastes in books don’t necessarily overlap all that much, but it’s just a nice hangout with bookish “friends”. This have been going on for years and years, I’ve been around for it for the last four or so, I’d guess.
The Elis James and John Robins pods on BBC Sounds. are excellent…but I guess it is a bit cliquey for new listeners.
1. Chart Music – The longer the better
2. Empire / Pilot (Can I count them as one?)
3. Off Menu
4. The Rest Is History
5. What The Fuck Is Going On?
In no order
WIYE.
The Rest is History, which was Apple’s choice for 2025.
In Our Time, which has maintained standards of excellence for a very lomg time. Bragg will be missed, but I have high hopes for its future.
Gone Medieaval – It’s part of Dan Snow’s History Hit stable, which is generally good, espec ially Not Just The Tudors. Matt Lewis, one of GM’s hosts, however, is excellent. Her knows his role is to ask questions that will allow the guests to demosntrate their knowledge and to educate the audience; he’s not the expert, and rarely seeks to demonstrate his own knowledge. I wish more hosts would be like him.
For Golden Age mystery, Caroline Crampton’s Shedunnit is well done.
And my occasional treat is The Howie Games from Australia. Mark Howard is, as I know him, the host of the excellent Fox Cricket, and so was the voice of my summer for 5 years. He interviews sports people not just about sport but life and their challenges. I don’t listen to all of them, just the ones that interest me. England fans might want to try his interview with Joe Root. He certainly cuased me to re-evaluate Mat Rogers.
I only listen to one – The Rest is History. Dominic and Tom’s knowledge / preparation for each episode or series of episodes is astounding and their repartee tremendously entertaining.
I have a few go to podcasts (the ones I enjoy so much I don’t listen to them in bed – there is a recommendation in that somewhere…).
Frank Off The Radio – Frank Skinner is witty, clever, nice but not too nice and he manages (with his skilled co-hosts) to get an interesting and amusing 40 minutes seemingly out of being wry and observant. It is pretty much a joy all of the time.
Search Engine – P J Vogt (he was 50% of Reply All – perhaps the greatest podcast ever). It took me a while to get into Search Engine. The start point for each podcast can feel quite random and, sometimes, a hard topic. But it never fails to go somewhere you were not expecting it to go and there is insight, thoughts provoked, sadness and humour in most. The Orbituary is a particularly good example.
Friday Night Comedy (R4) – The News Quiz episodes are my favourite. Andy Zaltzmann is such a good host. The Naked Week has grown on me as well – it is now very much in it’s groove.
Ill Advised – Bill Nighy is splendid in this. I’m not sure how self deprecating he is. I’m not sure how much of a caricature he is playing. He seems to be having a lot of infectious fun in being slightly grumpy. I may be solidly in the target audience demographic.
This thread has been a real ear-opener. I only listen to one podcast which probably isn’t a real podcast as it is a Swedish Radio weekly show. It is a total joy. the perfect soundtrack for my bachelor space age pad.
RENDEZVOUS WITH KRISTJAN SAAG
https://www.sverigesradio.se/rendezvous
A laid-back music mix. Latin, lounge, exotica, cool jazz, chanson – music from the 20s to the 20s.
My Finnish hippy pal on Ibiza, Leena, sent me this podcast link last week.
Irving Finkel talking about cuneiform with Lex Fridman.
Fridman is an excellent interviewer and keeps a very low profile. When you have a guest this interesting, just let them talk.
WIYE. I do wish Magic Alex would give the Hep a mute button for when he needs to cough.
We Buy Records. NSFW as one or other presenter always has a rant about the state of new vinyl pricing, or the lunatics on Discogs asking £150 for a copy of No Parlez.
The Andy Kershaw podcast. $5 per month gets two hours of prime Radio Kershaw. Unfortunately Andy broke a vertebra in his lower back in the summer, so the podcast has fallen silent.
Charity Shop Classics. Not a podcast per se, but all 530 episodes are up on Mixcloud. Now running for 14 years, the weekly show hit the 500th episode in the summer, and I started back at Episode 1 as a soundtrack to database mangling. After a shaky start as presenter James got to grips with the studio technology, it was such a great concept that by Episode 10 it was off and running. I’m currently at show 87 and some of the old AW regulars (Gavin Hogg, Simon G, Beany, MiniBreakfast, Tim the Moderator) are getting into their stride. A warning for more recent listeners: tread carefully as I started presenting (occasionally) about 18 months ago, when Gavin and Simon took a break.
The Rest is Politics USA, WIYE, The Rest is Entertainment, Here’s the Thing, Uncharted Sounds, Starnge Brew.
Some others have fallen by the wayside. Special mention for Stereo Underground, more of a radio show really, now going from strength to strength on Mix Cloud, having been cancelled by BBC Local radio.
I’d occasionally wondered what happened to Stereo Underground.