50 Best Independent Podcasts Of 2024-25

De: Frank Racioppi

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

There are tens of thousands of podcasts. Maybe even hundreds of thousands of them. Now that YouTube is involved, we have video podcasts. With that gift of plentitude, why would you need a book recommending 50 of the best independent podcasts of the last year?

Let's approach the answer in two ways. First, have you ever gone to the supermarket to buy a food product and discovered that there are now 30 versions of that simple product? There are 27 types of strawberry jelly. There are 14 types of peanut butter. There are endless types of yogurts. Even the milk freezer now has numerous options.

So many choices can be paralyzing! Which one should I choose? Which one is better for me?

Now, re-imagine that complex choice architecture with podcasting. Interested in sewing? There are at least 20 podcasts about sewing. There certainly could be more. This is the number of shows I could locate through online sleuthing. There are at least 23 podcasts dedicated to Corvettes. Not cars, just one car – the Corvette. Again, there could be more.
Second, let’s take a moment to discuss podcast discoverability. We’ll begin with an analogy. Have you ever entered a store searching for a specific product, only to find it missing from the shelves? You then approach a store employee and ask, “Do you have any in the back?”

The “Back,” of course, is this amorphous place where the products we desperately want are hidden. Now imagine that the “Back” is the digital location of all those superb, independent podcasts you can't find in the front of the store. That storefront includes mobile podcast apps, large podcast network ecosystems, and recommendations from legacy media that promote the same few popular podcasts to every podcast fan.

That’s why you should read this book if you are an enthusiastic podcast listener. We will allow you “into the back” so you can discover the thousands of independent (AKA indie) podcasts that the podcasting infrastructure and legacy media do not want you to find.