7 Podcasts We Can’t Stop Listening To

If you haven’t already heard several emphatic appeals that you absolutely have to listen to this, let ours be the first. Part true crime, part exposé on the failings of the health-care system, this investigative series from the network behind Dirty John follows a Texas surgeon who left every patient in his wake injured, paralyzed or worse.

The rumors are a-flying in this fiction podcast, a “comedic soap opera” that invites you to eavesdrop on three friends as they dish about their suburban neighbors (and the secrets/affairs/meth labs they may or may not have). If that sounds like a TV show you’d watch, trust us—it’s just as addictive in audio form.

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The podcast that launched a thousand podcasts is back with a third season, this one a deep dive into the Cleveland justice center. Sarah Koenig and Co. spent a year in courtrooms, documenting all manner of cases in an attempt to shed light on how the criminal justice system really works. There have only been two episodes so far, but we’re already hooked.

Our favorite design podcast, 99% Invisible (which recently blew our mind with its episode about straws), is launching a new miniseries dedicated to clothing. Subjects include children's clothing, plaid and why pockets are so much rarer on women’s clothing than men’s. (They had us at pockets.)

In the era of side hustles and social media influencers, this podcast from a former This American Life producer feels especially apt: It explores the world of pyramid schemes and other get-rich-quick scenarios. Based on early reviews, it sounds almost… too good to be true. (Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves.)

OK, it’s not all murder and scams. In this kooky “self-improvement show,” guests share something they wish they were better at—and the hosts devise bizarre ways to help them achieve said goals, to hilarious and heartwarming effect.

The creators of the popular Criminal podcast surprised everyone when they turned their attention to a more romantic but no less fascinating topic. But don’t expect sappy; the first season (which debuted on Valentine’s Day) included such stories as a couple who kept their romance a secret for decades and a novelist who wrote more than a hundred books about her first love. New episodes are due out this fall.