Crime. Culture. Race. Art. Science. Sports. Business. Tech. Nature. Food.
This year’s list of essential episodes showcases the breadth of great 2020 podcasts across genres. I’ve (mostly) avoided episodes from narrative series, and I’ve limited episodes to one per show. A few podcasters and friends of the newsletter also contributed picks.
You’ll notice several music-related episodes. I love the inventive, vibrant work being done by podcasters in the space. So much so that I’ll be spinning off a newsletter focused on music-related podcasts in 2021. Subscribe here.
Now scroll on for some of the best podcast episodes of 2020, presented in order of release date.
“Closing Time,” Song Exploder
January 15
Dan Wilson, the artist behind Semisonic’s massive hit, breaks down the tune and shares the heart-wrenching personal experiences that inspired it. You’ll never hear the song the same way again.
The Case of the Missing Hit, Reply All
March 5
P.J. Vogt investigates the plight of Tyler Gillett, a man haunted by a song he remembers vividly from more than 20 years ago. The problem: The song doesn’t seem to exist.
To figure out whether it really exists Vogt talks to rock critics and therapists, and takes a cross-country trip to re-create the song from Gillett’s memory.
Facebook Terms of Service, Ts&Zzz
March 31
Scott Elchison’s sleep podcast consists of him reading the most boring text on the internet, in this case Facebook’s Terms of Service. Clever, with some much-needed levity.
Wonderland, Rabbit Hole
April 16
Pick by Melanie Wynne
In the opening episode of a six-part podcast series, New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose attempts to answer the question: “What is the internet doing to us?”
Roose traces Caleb Cain’s YouTube viewing history of more than four years, which encompasses more than 12,000 videos, showing how YouTube’s algorithm shaped what Cain saw — and how he saw the world.
Roose elaborates to Fast Company: “So it felt like there was this huge, looming question in my mind. If I were to try to explain the entire internet, how it works, how it pushes and pulls people, could we actually do that in audio format? And could that draw together these threads I’d been tugging on for the last few years? So we just decided to try.”
The Natural Experiment, 99% Invisible
May 5
Scientists around the world discuss the unique scientific opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic has provided.
Says Michelle Fournet, acoustic ecologist at Cornell University, of her studies of whales and other sea life in Glacier Bay, Alaska: “This is the first time in human history that we’ve been able to listen to truly quiet behavior.”
Remembering Lynn Shelton, WTF with Marc Maron
May 18
Marc Maron’s “creative collaborator and romantic partner” Lynn Shelton died two days before this episode was released. It’s a raw, intimate and heartbreaking tribute to her and their love.
Genie Chance and the Great Alaska Earthquake, The Daily
May 22
Pick by Sarah Bowen Shea, host of the Another Mother Runner podcast
The New York Times pod, featuring author Jon Mooallem, looks back to the 1964 Alaska quake and the woman whose “voice that held the state together.”
You’ll Never Walk Alone and Jerzy Dudek, The Anthropocene Reviewed
May 28
John Green finds solace during the COVID-19 pandemic in unknown but sure-to-be-wonderful future events.
Green arrives at this optimistic spot via a life-affirming review of goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek’s performance in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, where his spectacular late-game saves helped Liverpool win the title.
Green beautifully ties the moment together with Liverpool’s adopted anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
What Science Says About Police, Pod Save the People
June 9
DeRay Mckesson talks to John Rappaport, a law professor and research scholar at the University of Chicago who studies criminal procedures in the justice system. Posted during the high-tension moment after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, this episode takes a sober, scientific look at police behavior.
Why Now, White People? Code Switch
June 16
Apple Podcasts’ Show of the Year was the touchstone podcast in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. This episode explores why.
Specifically, Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby ask some “very fired-up white people” about why they’re now interested in a podcast about race, and why they’re reading books about race and protesting on the streets in unprecedented numbers.
“Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen),” Switched on Pop
June 23
Charlie Harding leads a 52-minute deep dive into the unlikely success of the 1999 hit song with an unusual provenance. He talks to the main people responsible for the song — Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann — as he unpacks “one of the internet’s first conspiracy theories that turned into Billboard’s greatest outlier.”
Hedwig’s Lost Van Gogh, Revisionist History
June 25
Malcolm Gladwell’s pod explores “the long journey of a Van Gogh still life — and what it says about the real value of the things we treasure.”
White Fra-chili-ty, Home Cooking
July 8
Pick by Andy Murdock, co-founder of The Statesider
Hrishikesh Hirway and Samin Nosrat return for episode five of a four-part miniseries they’d launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The joy of their reunion — and their loving camaraderie — marks a 2020 bright spot. Andy warns this one could make you cry-laugh.
The Karen, Decoder Ring
July 13
Pick by Melanie Wynne
The Karen phenomenon had a moment in 2020, and Decoder Ring’s Willa Paskin covered it and put it in historical context as well as anyone in Podland.
Optimism, The Cut
August 19
Avery Trufelman makes her much-anticipated debut as host of The Cut, and she looks back at the beginning of the pandemic when many of us were optimistic we might “learn Spanish or bake bread or read ‘War and Peace’ or get into beekeeping.” She goes on to explore what it really means to be an optimist in 2020.
Druid Like Me, Into the Zone
September 3
The first episode of Hari Kunzru’s “podcast about opposites, and how borders are never as clear as we think” descends on Stonehenge and investigates “the gray zone between being a native and a migrant.”
Curtis Flowers, In the Dark
October 14
Sarah Bowen Shea, host of the Another Mother Runner podcast
Curtis Flowers “endured six trials for the same crime and survived nearly two decades on death row at the infamous Mississippi State Penitentiary,” and In the Dark chronicled his story and the case against him that fell apart.
In this episode, he sits for an in-person interview with Madeleine Baran, revealing what it feels like to be released from prison after almost 20 years.
Vivian, Heavyweight
October 15
Twenty-five years after her uncle died of AIDS, Vivian attempts to track down the man who cared for him during his last days.
‘Waiter, There’s a Fly in Our Bubble,’ Still Processing
October 29
Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris manage to find some optimism in 2020, chronicling “moments that point us beyond the present, to be our best and greatest selves.”
Jeff Tweedy’s Songwriting Masterclass, Broken Record
December 1
The leader of Wilco and the author of “How to Write One Song” just wants to help everyone make something. It’s a shot of inspiration for creators.
Any Episode of Any Podcast Featuring Anthony Fauci
From Pardon My Take in March to Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction last week, he was all over Podland this year. We needed him.
Thanks to everyone for subscribing and reading This Week in Podcasts this year. Make sure you subscribe to Another Mother Runner and The Statesider, too!