TIME’s best podcasts ever

TIME has published its 100 Best Podcasts of All Time. Eliana Dockterman wrote about how she chose the list - “sorting out who can conduct an insightful interview or piece together a compelling monologue”. Good news for the UK: five of the choices are from there. However, missing from the list, suggests Barrett Media is, among others, Pod Save America, and a little-known podcaster called Joseph James Rogan.

Pardon My Take from Barstool Sports wasn’t one of those chosen. They apparently, as a protest, linked to evidence that TIME hasn’t always got it right in the past. (To be fair, they were right, just not in a good way).

Podcast listening continues to grow, says Edison Research’s Podcast Consumer 2025 study, and the report contains significant data about video podcasts. Over half of the US population (aged 12+) has now watched a video podcast; 37% have watched one in the last month. Since 2015, the total time spent with podcasts has grown by an astounding 355% to 773 million hours per week.

Metricool has examined the social media strategies of the top podcasts. YouTube gets the most engagement rate; and successful podcasters don’t use many emojis. 🎤🚫😔