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These days, the now firmly established medium of podcasting is defined less by thinky narrative storytellers than by attention-seeking personalities flexing their gifts of the gab. An ever-expanding universe of chat and interview programs routinely take over your feeds with newsworthy moments and big, buzzy guests. Here, we’ve assembled a non-exhaustive snapshot of the most influential talkers — in various genres — working today.
The Joe Rogan Experience
Widely considered the biggest podcast in the world, The Joe Rogan Experience set the template for the lengthy and discursive chat-cast. Rogan has generated numerous viral moments in its 15-year tenure, but few episodes left an impression as lasting as Elon Musk toking up behind a mic in 2018.
Lex Fridman Podcast
There’s a clear right-wing bent to the MIT researcher Fridman’s guest bookings: Jared Kushner, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Tucker Carlson alongside academics and occasional celebrities. Its biggest moment is perhaps the 2022 episode with Ye (né Kanye West), whose statements about the Holocaust would sink him deeper into cancellation.
This Past Weekend With Theo Von
In many ways a direct descendant of Joe Rogan, it’s hosted by a stand-up comic. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a guest on the show back in September; the week after that, the rapper Sexyy Red appeared on the pod and argued that Donald Trump should be back in office.
Call Her Daddy
After acrimoniously splitting from her co-host, Sofia Franklyn, in 2020 and Barstool Sports in ’21, Alex Cooper has turned Call Her Daddy into a premier talk show. Zayn Malik gave his first interview in six years on the pod, Megan Fox addressed plastic-surgery rumors, and Ariana Madix made an appearance shortly after Vanderpump Rules’s “Scandoval” season.
Cancelled With Tana Mongeau
Perhaps the YouTuber who most successfully parlayed her social-media fame into a popular podcast, Mongeau and co-host Brooke Schofield mostly dish on their lives, but the duo are starting to get into celebrity interviews. In April, Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO popped by to talk about their marriage.
Not Skinny But Not Fat
Amanda Hirsch gained a huge following on both Instagram and this podcast with her pop-culture commentary. Now, she has started to attract celebrity guests. Kim Kardashian came on the pod in 2022, Kristen Stewart was on in March to talk about her favorite reality shows, and Drake Bell stopped by in April to discuss the Nickelodeon revelations on Quiet on Set.
Chicks in the Office
Part of the Barstool universe, this punchy chat-cast hosted by Francesca Mariano and Ria Ciuffo typically focuses on reality-TV recaps and other pop-culture drama. But the hosts also do interviews, including ones with Jessica Alba and JoJo Siwa.
WTF With Marc Maron
The OG of “comedians interviewing comedians,” Marc Maron has transitioned into a general talk-show host and a staple for anybody peddling a new project. WTF, with over 1,500 episodes to date, has featured notables from Mavis Staples to Lorne Michaels to (jointly) Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.
SmartLess
Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes started SmartLess during the pandemic, and today it’s a tentpole podcast for famous people looking to be interviewed by other famous people. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden went on in the spring to try to shore up excitement among Democrats for the election.
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
This is the central pillar of O’Brien’s post–late-night career. He pals around with stars, artists, and fellow comedians including Rob Lowe, David Spade, Goldie Hawn, and Jordan Peele. Tom Hanks went on during the pandemic to discuss his experience recovering from COVID.
Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard
Together with co-host Monica Padman, Shepard engages guests in long conversations that draw from his background as a recovering addict and sexual-abuse survivor. That vulnerability nudges fellow celebrities to open up, as Bradley Cooper did in February when he talked about struggling to immediately connect with his daughter when she was born, but Shepard has also attracted controversy, e.g., when he made Jonathan Van Ness cry while talking about trans rights.
The Viall Files
What is life after The Bachelor? For Nick Viall, you become a reality-TV elder statesman with a podcast that mixes reality-show recaps, relationship advice, and blockbuster celebrity interviews. It’s where RHOSLC breakout Monica Garcia announced her pregnancy and where Vanderpump villain Tom Sandoval went to defend his image.
Unlocking Us With Brené Brown
Brown’s expansive motivational media empire spans books, TED Talks, television work, and, of course, podcasts — in particular Unlocking Us, where she conducts long conversations with guests on thorny emotional subjects, such as the author David Kessler on grief and the futurist Amy Webb on coping with unnerving change.
Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Louis-Dreyfus seeks life lessons in interviews with famous women over the age of 70, Patti Smith, Ruth Reichl, and Diane von Furstenberg among them. Jane Fonda, now in her 80s, was the inaugural guest of the show, where she reflected on feelings about her body in light of her past as an aerobics pioneer.
We Can Do Hard Things
The author Glennon Doyle, together with her wife, the retired soccer star Abby Wambach, and her sister, the advocate Amanda Doyle, talk through tough subjects like death, sickness, and divorce. Kamala Harris went on in January to share her experience hearing about the end of Roe v. Wade.
Huberman Lab
Stanford credentials and technical wonkishness have turned Andrew Huberman into one of the world’s biggest pop scientists weighing in on the human body. Even Reese Witherspoon publicly cites his advice. However, questions have been raised (including by this magazine) about his character and the accuracy of his information.
On Purpose With Jay Shetty
There’s no shortage of self-help types moonlighting as podcasters, but only one has officiated at J.Lo and Ben’s (second) wedding. The pod has featured everybody from Michelle Obama to Kim Kardashian to Will Smith, all drawn to Shetty’s discussions of personal-betterment strategies.
The Diary of a CEO With Steven Bartlett
Bartlett, an investor on Dragons’ Den (i.e., British Shark Tank), started this show as a self-helpish space for entrepreneurs to talk about how hard it is to be an entrepreneur. It’s since evolved into more of a grab-bag talk show with scientists, business influencers, and celebs like Thierry Henry and Maisie Williams.
The Tim Ferriss Show
The productivity author of The 4-Hour Workweek fame interviews entrepreneurs, athletes, scientists, and others to gain insight into squeezing more out of one’s time. Major guests on the show have included Arnold Schwarzenegger, the late Madeleine Albright, Mark Zuckerberg, and Rich Paul, the sports superagent.
Drink Champs
N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s booze-filled hangouts are now recognized as a living record for hip-hop nostalgia. Benzino cried about his beef with Eminem when he appeared in February. Eric Adams stopped by in May to affirm his self-declared rep as the “hip-hop mayor.”
The Joe Budden Podcast
Once a charting rapper in the early aughts, Budden has carved out a second life as a prominent hip-hop podcaster. He banters with rotating co-hosts about the goings-on in the music world. There’s plenty of associated mess: In 2021, Budden fired his co-hosts Rory and Mal in a financial dispute; they went on to start a rival pod.
Million Dollaz Worth of Game
The Philadelphia hardcore rapper Gillie Da Kid and social-media personality Wallo267 host this show, which regularly features A-listers such as Alicia Keys, Cardi B, and Sixers star Tyrese Maxey. In February, Latto’s appearance fueled further speculation about a feud with Ice Spice.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Launched shortly after his ouster from ESPN, Simmons’s eponymous show is now a massive podcast that doubles as the anchor for The Ringer, which Spotify acquired in 2020. Built upon a hefty diet of sports recaps, pop-culture chats, and celebrity interviews, this is a clear instance when the host is the draw — as opposed to the guests themselves.
Club Shay Shay
Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe left Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed last year to focus on his podcast, and the bet is working out. He has delivered a reliable pipeline of head-turning guests and viral moments from Amanda Seales chastising Sharpe for claiming her mother was white to Shaquille O’Neal dropping a diss track on Instagram after Sharpe insulted him.
New Heights With Jason and Travis Kelce
This is arguably the hottest podcast on the planet right now. A good deal of this has to do, of course, with Travis Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift. While sports fans gather for hours of wonky NFL-game recaps, trade analysis, and brotherly banter, Swifties everywhere are willing to wade through all that in search of incremental updates on the relationship.
All the Smoke
Former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson offer up extended interviews doubling as career retrospectives with other professional athletes and sports-media personalities. Two-time NBA champion Rajon Rondo announced his retirement on the show during an appearance in early April.
