99% Invisible
Design aficionados and the insatiably curious alike have fallen for Roman Mars. His wildly popular, 30-to-45-minute weekly show seeks answers to questions most of us never think to ask, like “What is the origin of the ring tone?” and “How did the cul-de-sac become the symbol of the suburbs?” History, tech, infrastructure, objects, and sounds are all game for dissection—the more unexpected, the better. One surprising episode, for example, digs into the spooky saga of the Ouija board; another examines the rise of the critically loathed American McMansion. —A.H.
Song Exploder
So it turns out “Closing Time” isn’t just about last call in a bar. But you wouldn’t know that unless you heard Dan Wilson, the songwriter behind the Grammy-winning Semisonic, breaking it down for “Song Exploder” host Hrishikesh Hirway. Each 20-minute episode in Hirway’s podcast series features one musician unpacking the nuts-and-bolts of a single song: how it came together, what it meant then, and what it means today. From its debut breakdown of The Postal Service’s “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” the programming has leaned hard on millennial and Gen-X indie rock, but what’s most fun about the series is how it evolved, incorporating hip-hop (Ghostface Killah’s “The Battlefield”), pop (Carly Rae Jepsen’s “When I Needed You”), and even classical takes (Yo-Yo Ma’s “Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1 in a G Major, by J.S. Bach”). —A.H.
The Sporkful
Dan Pashman is the force behind one of the smartest and most awarded foodcasts ever recorded. (The Sporkful has swept prizes at the Beards, the Webbys, and the Saveur Awards.) Each 15- to 30-minute episode is a kitchen-sink take, anchored by a playful interview with a YouTube star (cookbook author Claire Saffitz), celebrity toque (Jamie Oliver), rising chef (Washington, D.C.’s Kwame Onwuachi), comedian (Ronny Chieng), or other grub-obsessed personality. Then, Pashman dives deep, exploring topics like the upside-down world of cannabis-infused edibles or bringing in heavyweight food-sci gurus like Serious Eats’ Kenji Lopez-Alt for comment. But he also keeps it real, contemplating important food-related questions (“Should you tip for takeout?”) and offering practical tips, like how to make airline meals more palatable. —A.H.
WTF with Marc Maron
Comedian Marc Maron has been podcasting since 2009, which makes him the Yoda of this particular audio world. Now on his 1,443rd episode, his roster of A-list guests would give any prime-time awards show a run for its money. In years past, Maron has chatted up Paul McCartney, Anjelica Huston, Hank Azaria, and Barack Obama (in his garage, no less!), but it was his April 2010 and December 2011 interviews with the late Robin Williams and the late Anthony Bourdain, respectively, that will stick with listeners for years to come. Equally humorous and darkly sobering, the men spoke frankly about the ravages of drug addiction, alcoholism, and fame. (If you want access to all of the WTF with Marc Maron episodes, you’ll have to sign up for Stitcher Premium, as only some episodes are available on Apple Podcasts.) —A.H.
This article was originally published in September 2020. It has been updated with new information.
