Year-End Lists

Lauren Passell: The 20 Most Essential Podcasts of 2025, as published by Lifehacker

[see also 2024 • 2023 • 2022]

The best fiction podcasts of 2025

• Two Thousand and Late
• The Harbingers

The best comedy podcasts of 2025

• Next We Have
• Text Me Back!

The best internet culture podcasts of 2025

• The Last Invention
• Suspicious Minds

The best culture podcasts of 2025

• Diabolical Lies
• Pablo Torre Finds Out

The best long form investigative podcasts of 2025

• In the Dark: Blood Relatives
• The Outlaw Ocean

The best true crime podcsts of 2025

• Beth's Dead
• Wisecrack

The best interview podcasts of 2025

• Good Hang
• Strangers on a Bench

The best personal podcasts of 2025

• Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy
• Alternate Realities

The best independent podcasts of 2025

• Cramped
• Debt Heads

The best podcast series of 2025

• Clotheshorse: I'm With the Brand
• Camp Swamp Road