My Favorite Podcasts of 2022
- Jaimee LaTorra
- Jan 2, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 4, 2023
For the past 5-6 years, I've spent hours of each day listening to podcasts. They started as a replacement for the morning routine of listening to NPR on the radio in my car (when I was walking into work instead), and now accompany me for pretty much any activity. Walking Enzo, doing monotonous tasks at work, running (RIP to my ability to run), embroidering, cooking, plant-tending, and other chores are all done to the soundtrack of smooth voices and transition music.
I'm constantly discovering new podcasts, and I thought it would be fun to compile a list of my favorites for 2022. Some I've been listening to for years, while others were pleasant new discoveries.
My Favorite Episodes of 2022
For the TLDR, here are my all-up favorite episodes for the year. I picked ones that really stuck with me even months later:
The Dyatlov Pass Incident, You're Wrong About
Dan, Heavyweight
The Ballad of Mount Doogie Dowler, Storytime with Seth Rogen
Queer and Questioning, Call Your Girlfriend
Emily Runs a Marathon, Shortwave
Why is everyone getting food allergies?, Unexplainable
Fat Camps, Maintenance Phase
Serena William's Final Run, The Daily
My Favorite Podcasts for the Year
I first found this podcast early in 2020 lockdown and almost immediately began recommending it to anyone who would listen. It dives deep into people or events that were misrepresented or misunderstood in the past.
I was pretty devastated when co-host Michael Hobbes left the podcast at the end of 2021 to pursue other endeavors. I still think he and Sarah Marshall (the now-solo host) had the perfect balance of banter, humility, humor and attention to detail. I fell off listening when Sarah first started introducing a rotation of guest hosts, but I've found myself sucked in again -- despite the slight change in format.
The back catalog of episodes is incredible, so I feel obligated to list some of them, but I'll include a few of my favorites specifically from this year.
Past Favorites: Princess Diana (the series that got me hooked in the first place), The OJ Simpson Trial (still not wrapped up!), D.C. Snipers (serial killers I knew nothing about, but the story is riveting), Kitty Genovese, Cancel Culture, McDonald's Hot Coffee Case
This Year's Favorites: The Dyatlov Pass Incident w/ Blair Braverman, Survival in the Andes (all of the episodes with Blair Braverman are EXCELLENT), The Donner Party w/ Chelsey Webber-Smith, Martha Stewart w/ Sarah Archer, Your Abortion Stories, Beanie Babies w/ Jamie Loftus and How Email Took Over the World w/ Anne Helen Peterson.
I have historically loved any podcast hosted by Michael Hobbes, but Maintenance Phase is made even better by co-host Aubrey Gordon. They definitely feed off of each other, and Gordon's over-the-top reactions are hilarious and infectious, even when they're talking about heavy subjects. Her book from last year continues to make me re-examine my interactions with the world as a straight size person, and really highlighted the stigma (and my own internalized judgement) against fat people. This podcast, which dives deep into any health or nutrition related topic, has done the same.
Favorite episodes: Fat Camps (absolutely heart wrenching), The Body Mass Index (a scam), Illness Influencer Belle Gibson, Rachel Hollis, Goop, Jordan Peterson (who I lived in blissful ignorance of until this year, and now seem to hear about often)
One of my all-time favorite podcasts. Host Jonathan Goldstein helps individuals explore pivotal moments from their past, and in some case get back in touch with people they haven't spoken to in decades. This pod has a back catalog that is absolutely wonderful; this season was a bit tamer/had fewer shockers than previous seasons, but there were still standout episodes that tugged at my heartstrings.
Favorite episodes: #46 Dan (the best this year IMO), #47 Frederick J Brown (a cool tale of a painting found on a street corner), #45 Sgt John Kapphahn (both hilarious and touching)
Though I kind of hate the theme music for this podcast, I absolutely love everything else about it. It's hosted by Seth Rogen, but he largely lets his guests do the talking. The premise is exactly what the title sounds like: each episode is a mini audio documentary with stories that are humorous, unbelievable, relatable and unexpected. I can't wait for more episodes!
Favorite episodes: The Ballad of Mount Doogie Dowler (absolutely blew my mind), Gambas (hilarious, especially if you've ever traveled with a partner), Hey Me!
Shorter form true crime with two hosts (Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi) covering deception of all types -- from wellness to financial to bizarrely literary scams. It explores the tactics people use gain influence (and subsequently money and fame) and it covers mostly scams I had never heard about before. The banter between hosts can feel a little forced at times, but it's fairly light and very entertaining.
Favorite episodes: Brazil's Supermom, The Hollywood Ponzi Scheme and The Book Bandit.
I can't say I was ever a fan of Conan's late night show, but his interview podcast is delightful. He has amazing comedic timing, and his co-hosts Matt Gourley and Sona Movsessian provide thoroughly hilarious banter (so much so that I enjoy their "Summer S'mores" episodes without celebrity guests). I've been listening to this podcast for a few years, so the list below only includes more recent episodes.
Favorite episodes: Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Steven Yeun, Jack White
One thing I discovered about myself this year (largely through some of the YWA episodes mentioned above) is that I LOVE a good survival story. I found this podcast somewhat late in the year, but I love the format and the tales of resiliency.
Favorite episodes: Thai Cave Rescue (I knew about this story already, but this provided even more incredible detail), Crash in a Volcano.
This podcast is hosted by three adults who were adopted to American families as infants/children. They discuss about their experiences being Asian and adopted. Though many of their conversations are about adoption specifically, they also talk about numerous other topics (from pop culture to race to individual life experiences) through the lens of being Asian adoptees. Both of my siblings are South Korean, I really appreciated hearing from other adoptees and how their individual experiences are shaped by their adoptive families and environments.
Favorite episodes: S1 Ep 4: Race, Assimilation & Anti-Asian Hate, S1 Ep 10: Motherhood, Healing and Joy, S3 Ep 5: Are We Supposed to Adopt?
I've enjoyed all of the past seasons of this podcast, but this year season 4 about the Delivery Wars really stuck with me. It covers how the rise of third-party delivery apps changed our behavior as consumers, evolved the workforce, helped and hurt small businesses, and impacted our overall relationship with food. It explores fascinating dynamics between businesses, apps, and consumers that I had no idea existed.
One of the episodes makes the argument that our expectations for convenience at this low of a cost aren't sustainable. I thought about this as we saw mass tech layoffs at companies like DoorDash in the second half of this year and rising delivery fees.
I'd also highly recommend their past seasons covering the rise of Google, Amazon, Apple and Netflix.
I found this podcast because it's hosted by Sam Sanders, who used to host It's Been a Minute at NPR (which was also excellent). Vulture was smart to hire SS to host their flagship podcast, which covers all things pop culture.
Favorite episodes: A Portrait of the Artist as Taylor Swift, Issa Rae Controls the Narrative, The Implosion of Time's Up, We Need to Talk About Marvel, The Abortion Episode
This podcast "for long distance besties" ended in February 2022, but I still spent the year enjoying some of their older episodes (and reading their book Big Friendship, at the recommendation of my friend Shelby).
Favorite episodes: Queer & Questioning (one of my favorite eps of the year), Healing Ourselves with Friends (and Books), Making Older Friends, Lockdown Lesbian Love Story.
My true crime & investigative indulgence for the year. It covers the disappearance of Kristin Smart and the frustrating failures to hold her (very likely) murderer accountable. It has a fascinating and somewhat still-evolving ending. I listened to this on the way to ceramics class every week, and the Georgetown neighborhood (which is already industrial & dark) will probably never not make me feel creeped out now.
Ok, this is kind of cheating because I listened to this in 2021. But it was so good! And there
is a show starring Kumail Nanjiani that just came out, so it's still timely. The podcast explores the darker story of greed, corruption and murder behind the founding of Chippendales. Thanks for the recommendation, Ren!
The NPR Section
Below is where I profess my love for all NPR programming :)
While I love a good deep dive, I also love podcasts that are able to cover a fascinating topic in under 15 minutes. Short Wave does this with excellence, covering various topics (many science-related) in a digestible, often humorous way. There are sooooo many episodes that I missed a lot of them last year, so I'll probably continue to listen to past ones.
Favorite episodes: Emily Runs a Marathon, Confessions of a Math Convert, Why Do We Cry?, One Park & 24 Hours, Why the Brain Remembers Songs, Inclusion in Sex Education, James Kagambi: The 62 Year Old Who Just Summited Everest
In a similar vein, I discovered the Vox podcast Unexplainable very recently. It also explores unanswered questions in science in a relatively short run time. I particularly enjoyed their episode on allergies (in article form here). Despite having a severe allergy to peanuts for most of my life, I can't say I really understood why before listening to this.
I've somewhat slowed my listening of this podcast this year, though I picked up again during the midterms. The hosts are largely delightful, and I love feeling educated about the dynamics of US politics. I find myself mostly listening to Friday episodes these days, because they include a section at the end called "Can't Let It Go" where the hosts talk about things they can't stop thinking about from the week, politics or otherwise.
I've gotten very into NPR's pop culture podcast over the past year. It's been both a place to discover new music, movies, and TV shows, but it's also where I go where I want to hear other people talk about their reactions (it's less volatile than subreddits, though I love those too).
It's a pretty timely podcast, so I can't say I remember which episodes I liked best, but here's a look back of some of the (rotating) hosts' favorite moments of 2022.
Honorary mentions
There were some podcasts that I discovered near the end of the year, but didn't quite get to dive into enough for them to make this list. But I plan to listen to them more in the coming year!
Normal Gossip: the host relays some interesting, funny, and banal gossip to a guest. My favorite type of gossip: secondhand stories about people I don't know.
Queen of Hearts: a dating show in podcast form. I listened to a few episodes of this at the recommendation of a coworker and they were so much fun
If Books Could Kill: another Michael Hobbes pod -- this one debunks airport books (a la Freakonomics)
All Fantasy Everything: a podcast where comedians fantasy draft pop culture. Casey loves this show and we also saw a live show this year, which was delightful.
2022 was a great year for podcasts, and I can't wait for more!
Though I listened to many hours of podcasts this year, I always feel like I don't have quite enough time to get to everything I want to. I also typically like long form investigative podcasts (a la Serial) and I don't think I listened to nearly as many this past year.
A few podcasts on my list for 2023: Resistance, Behind the Bastards, Ghost Church, Land of the Giants: Facebook, The Missing Cryptoqueen, Lolita Podcast, Normal Gossip, Sent Away, Where Should We Begin, Archetypes, probably others I'm forgetting.
Please send me any and all recommendations!
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