There was almost no week of 2020 that didn’t present podcast creators with a series of challenges both technical and emotional, and every series was forced to solve for an onslaught of unknowns. Chatter shows of all stripes had to ask, “Am I contributing to the discourse in a meaningful way?”—a question that they might never have had to confront before. When the nation is marching in protest of police brutality, do you stick a disclaimer on your prerecorded TV recap podcast, or do you power through with the assumption that your audience comes to your series to escape? When a global pandemic forces recording studio closures, how do you account for the distance between hosts? In spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, our favorite podcasts, just like the listeners who downloaded them, somehow made it through 2020. Here, we call out some of the series that offered comfort, catharsis, and enlightenment in this most unusual year.
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Seriously, THIS is the list? Reply All gets in but not for the QAnon episode? No Wind of Change, no Chameleon? No Uncover?Why was Podmass reduced to such a nothingburger in 2020, a year that produced some amazing podcast work?
I think podcasts are particularly tricky to do a definitive best of list for. There are thousands of them across a massive range of topics and I’d bet good money even the people making this list don’t listen to the same ones.
The q episode is amazing but I feel like the missing hit was unusually satisfying for a podcast
Down the rabbit hole was good but Winds of Change wasnt that great. Kind of overhyped.
Wind of Change was definitely overhyped. I enjoyed the history, but the lack of resolution made it feel very anticlimactic.
Wind of Change ended up mostly about how the host thought he was an amazing journalist while simultaneously being amazed by things like a random person independently coming up with a conspiracy theory that could have easily been in any number of spy movies or television shows.
“Plucky reporter takes you along for the ride as (s)he covers a subject (s)he knows nothing about” is probably my least favorite genre of podcast in general.
Oh, man, I have bad news for you about journalism generally, then.
You’ll never find me on the side of “the CIA definitely didn’t do it” in any scenario, but that podcast had some serious problems.
Sorry, but if we’re talkin’ QAnon podcasts, I gotta go with TrueAnon. Never settle for second best.
I feel like these were selected for their wokeness. Nothing wrong with being woke, but that doesn’t necessarily mean greatness.One series that I loved: Boom/Bust: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia
The QAnon episode was my introduction to ReplyAll, and “Case of the Missing Hit” is the one that turned me obsessive.
That Q episode…it infuriates me that it doesn’t get mass distribution the same way that “both sides” of Q does in the press. It’s inconceivable to me that anyone who hears it could believe in any of that bullshit.
I’ve enjoyed the Bugle a lot this year. They did some funny episodes about the crappy handling of the pandemic. I like the one titled “Are we key workers?” Also for people who preferred the classic Andy Zaltzman/John Oliver iteration of the Bugle – John Oliver is the only co-host on last week’s episode.Teen Creeps has continued to nail it. There have been lots of reviews of the Point Horror books this year.I’ve also got into “Double Love”, a very funny podcast about the Sweet Valley High and “Heaving Bosoms”, which is also a very funny podcast that reviews and discusses romance novels.
EHH, wrong!
TrueAnonBlink155admit it you cowards
I liked it better when it was called Mystery Show
I don’t know all the behind the scenes drama of how Mystery Show got cancelled, allegedly for going way, way over budget, but that’s a show I sorely miss.
Every Little Thing fills a lot of that gap, though.
I would have read this but it’s a Slideshow. Nope.
Slide shows are no beuno.I’m sure AVC is tired of reading that in the comments, but we as readers are tired of seeing it.
I’m tired of the whole thing. Tired of the format. Tired of complaining about the format. Tired of the comments suggesting the workaround. Tired of the workaround. It’s a garbage slideshow, it doesn’t work properly, and it’s essentially reinventing the wheel because you think that wheels aren’t square enough.
You should definitely leave then.
I’ll sing the praises of “You’re Wrong About” all day. You can’t stop me.
Nothing is more indicative of the decline of this website than this list. I mean… my god… this is awful. Hire new people. Do something.
I really wanted to like Driving the Green Book, but it’s so formless, just a random set of thoughts each episode, with no obvious theme or narrative glue. And I am flabbergasted that Alvin Hall has won any sort of broadcasting award, as he sounds only intermittently interested in his own subject.
The show should be amazing. It’s talking about a subject that is still too little known and understood, especially in White America, and every episode at least brushes against the threats of violence and even death.
Instead it’s sleepy and seems mostly to be about Hall telling us that he, Alvin Hall, is doing this project and had dinner with his dear friend (guest voice of the episode) and heard stories about the book.
What should be compelling listening instead feels like homework, which feels like a serious disservice to the subject matter.
A few from my listening year that aren’t on this list.While it technically started in December 2019, Boomtown ended up being a fascinating look at the boom and bust of oil in Texas during a boom and right before/during the next bust.Floodlines by The Atlantic was a really good look at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and they even got a sitdown with Heckuva Job Brownie.The Heist by the Center for Public Integrity offered a really good look at the long-forgotten tax heist of 2017 and just how incredibly fucked up that process was.Make Me Smart went daily and helped keep me sane through the last few months so that’s definitely worth a nod.David Tennant Does a Podcast With is chock full of ads, but thankfully there’s some interesting conversations mixed in.And as a side note Work In Sanity is a good one if you’re new to the life of working from home. Seems to be a trend this year for some reason.
I’d add season 2 of The Sneak on top of my three faves of this year, Wind of Change, Unfinished: Short Creek and Chameleon.
they’re all word spaghetti. And i’m ok with spaghetti, but sometimes y’know, in winter or times of trouble, I go soup instead.
If “social justice trainer” is a real thing that people get paid for, we should probably just let the sun eat the planet.
CHART MUSIC
None of these are on my list. Other then old stand boys like We Hate Movies and Jay and Miles X-plain the X-Men, this year I discovered Lions Led by Donkeys and QAnon Anonymous which I both enjoy enough to give Patreon money too now.
No Your Mom’s House or Bad Friends? For shame…
I
have to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this website. I am
hoping to check out the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In
truth, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own site
now
Correctly not included: the Oh Hello P’dcast.Incorrectly not included: the new season of THIS IS BRANCHBURG
The AV Club’s silence on the continued success of Cum Town is deafening.
The q episode is amazing but I feel like the missing hit was unusually satisfying for a podcast crackintopc
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