Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Spotify's Editors Pick Their Best Podcasts of the Year (So Far)

16/07/2025

Spotify's podcast editorial team is always on the hunt for shows and episodes that spark conversation, push boundaries, and keep us coming back for more. As 2025 hits its halfway mark, our editors have curated their picks for the year's standout podcasts so far-spanning celebrity-driven interviews, deep-dive investigations, true crime, comedy, and the best in film and TV commentary.

It would be impossible to overlook all the famous faces on our Best New Podcasts of 2025 (So Far)' list. From Michelle Obama's heartfelt real talk on IMO to Amy Poehler's star-studded hangouts (did we mention Kylie Kelce and the Living Single ladies also made the cut?), shows hosted by megawatt talent have definitely stepped up their game this year, said Rachel Selvin, Editorial and Audience Development Manager, Spotify. But even with all the buzz around viral celebrity moments, the old rules of podcasting still hold true: A great investigation usually equals a great show. That's why half of our picks focus on a single issue, unspooling it in all its complexity through a compassionate lens.

From breakout new series to unforgettable episodes, here's what topped our editors' lists for 2025 (so far):

Best New Podcasts of 2025 (So Far)

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Sea of Lies

IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson

Embedded: Alternate Realities

ReLiving Single

The Protocol

Tortoise Investigates: Lucky Boy

Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce

The Telepathy Tapes

The Zach Lowe Show

Redefined with Leslie and Arielle

Best Episodes of 2025 (So Far)

Therapuss with Jake Shane: Session 63: Lisa Rinna

Fresh Air: Cole Escola's Stupid' Dream Came True With Oh, Mary!'

RedHanded: Episode 396 Lord Lucan: the Vanishing Earl

Search Engine: The Dave and Buster's Anomaly

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Tina Fey

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang: We're Gonna Dance (w/ Lady Gaga)

IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson: Some Friendships Need to Go with Issa Rae

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #579 Mark Zuckerberg

SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma: This Is Cate Blanchett's Sexiest Word To Say | Uncut

Heart Starts Pounding: Horrors, Hauntings and Mysteries: 123. The Mysterious Death of Cindy James Part 1

BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime: The Haunting Murder Case of the Hammersmith Ghost

Baby, This is Keke Palmer: Usher's Confessions: Dancing With Keke and Being The Last Showman'

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce: Caitlin Clark on Life Changing' Rookie Year, Chiefs Fandom, NBA Ratings Debate and More | Ep 117

Dissect: S13E1 Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

Best True Crime of 2025 (So Far)

Sea of Lies: E1: Luck, Or Something Like It

CreepTime the Podcast: Ep. 147 Found In Her Bathtub New Year's Eve: The Murder Of Shele Covlin

Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy: Party's Over

Devil in the Desert: Cat and Mouse

Unseen: The Dollhouse Farm Murders | The Case of Dameon Huffman

Conspiracy Theories: UFOS, Occultists, Murder Schemes: The Deaths of Miguel and Manuel

What Happened to Holly Bobo?: A Scream on Swan Johnson Road

Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer: Episode 1: Isolated Incident

RedHanded: Melanie McGuire: The Suitcase Killer | #403

Funniest Episodes of 2025 (So Far)

The Comment Section with Drew Afualo: DOING BLASPHEMY Ft. Caleb Hearon | Episode 171

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Kathryn Hahn

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: E558 Katt Williams

SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma: Hasan Minhaj Wants to Cancel Birthdays

SmartLess: Amy Poehler

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang: Monstro SarahNicole (w/ Sarah Sherman)

Outlaws with TS Madison: Chappell Roan and Sasha Colby: Casting Karma Spells

So True with Caleb Hearon: Gianmarco Soresi Returns

Therapuss with Jake Shane: Session 68: Amelia Dimoldenberg

Best Movies of 2025 (So Far)

The Big Picture: Sinners' Is for the Sickos, the Cinephiles and You, with Ryan Coogler!

The Weekly Planet: 569 A Minecraft Movie

The Ringer-Verse: Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning' Reactions | The Midnight Boys

The Extra Credits: 28 Years Later' is One of the Great Horror Movies of the Decade

Movie Files: Bring Her Back (2025) Movie Review | A24

Raiders Of The Lost Podcast: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Does The Live Action Need To Exist??

Best TV of 2025 (So Far)

In Review - A Kinda Funny Film & TV Podcast: The Last of Us Season 2 FINALE Spoilercast Kinda Funny Screencast

The Prestige TV Podcast: The White Lotus' Season 3 Finale Deep Dive and Theories: A Super Cynical Season

The Reel Rejects: ANDOR SEASON 2 Episode 10, 11, & 12 FINALE Breakdown & Review!!!!

ReelTok Podcast: Adolescence is One of this Decade's Most Important Shows | Ep. 133

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Forever

The Watch: Noah Wyle on the Season Finale of The Pitt' and the Show's Unexpected Success

Explore the Best of the Year (So Far) hub on Spotify to find your next favorite show or episode.
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-07-16/spotifys-editors-pick-their-be...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

28/11/2025

Brides Asks for Compassion for Our Youths

Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...

28/11/2025

4 Reasons Why Keeping Your Spotify App Updated Matters and What You Might Be Missing

It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...

28/11/2025

FCC to Vote on LPTV Rules at Dec. Public Meeting

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...

28/11/2025

Professional Fighters League Packs a Domestic, International MMA Punch (TV Sportsplay)

The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...

28/11/2025

Fubo Launches Multiview Beta on Roku

Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....

28/11/2025

WNBA Playoffs Continue: What's On This Weekend in TV Sports (Sept. 28-29)

The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....

28/11/2025

Freeze Frame: B+C Hall of Fame 2024

The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...

28/11/2025

Next Text: As DirecTV and Dish Try to Seize the Remains of the Day, Does It Even Matter?

We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...

28/11/2025

DirecTV Acquires Dish, Unifying Struggling Satellite Business

DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...

28/11/2025

B+C Hall of Fame Announces Its Class of 2025

The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...

28/11/2025

Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey that unlocks a month of free content from the home of sport

Friday 28 November 2025 Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...

28/11/2025

Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds three billion euros for the first time

Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...

28/11/2025

Changing children's lives for good: Donations for the RT Toy Show Appeal 2025 open tonight

Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...

27/11/2025

Vizrt Launches Viz One 8.1 With AI-Powered Features

LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...

27/11/2025

Prime Video Debuts AI-Powered Video Recaps

Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...

27/11/2025

Netflix's 'Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders' Marks a Grand World Premiere at IFFI Ahead of Its Global Release on 19th December

Back to All News Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...

27/11/2025

Sky unveils first look image from high-stakes action thriller Prisoner, coming 2026

Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...

27/11/2025

Sky Arts Reveals the Nations Greatest Basslines and Queen Reign Supreme

Thursday 27 November 2025 Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...

27/11/2025

Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With Our Final Season Coverage Guide

Back to All News Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...

27/11/2025

Elastic Compute for a Sustainable Media Industry

The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...

27/11/2025

Arqiva Achieves Five-Star GRESB Rating

Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...

27/11/2025

Retail Media Audits Explained: What Networks Need to Know

What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...

27/11/2025

Katie Taylor, Rachael Blackmore and Arthur Gourounlian among the guests on this week's Late Late Show

World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...

27/11/2025

Tonight on RT Prime Time, serious child protection concerns emerge over online gaming platform, Roblox

Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...

27/11/2025

The Ultimate Black Friday Deal Is Here

Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...

26/11/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Featuring NFL, NBA, and Golf

SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...

26/11/2025

Inside the Archives: Winter Is in the Air and in Our Festival Films

A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...

26/11/2025

10 Book Podcasts You Can't Miss

Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...

26/11/2025

JioStar and Nielsen Unveil Breakthrough Cross-Screen MeasurementStudy, Redefining Advertising Effectiveness in Live Sports

Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...

26/11/2025

ITN Deploys IP-Based Production Control Room

LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....

26/11/2025

YouTube TV, TelevisaUnivision End Lengthy Blackout

MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...

26/11/2025

OpenDrives Bridges the Gap Between IT and Creatives with...

OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...

26/11/2025

Disguise to Showcase Future of Event Visuals at LDI 2025

Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...

26/11/2025

HighField AI Expands Global Channel Partner Network to Ac...

HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...

26/11/2025

Mono Streaming selects PlayBox Neo to manage English Prem...

As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...

26/11/2025

Bell Centre arena in Montreal elevates fan experience wit...

Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...

26/11/2025

Vizrt launches AI-powered advances for speed and accuracy...

Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...

26/11/2025

ITN Launches Low-Latency IP Control Room Powered by Teche...

ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...

26/11/2025

Ikegami Maintains Initiative in Broadcast Systems Develop...

Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...

26/11/2025

Fubo, NBCUniversal Trade Barbs in Carriage Dispute

Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....

26/11/2025

Global Sports Rights Spending to Top $78 Billion in 2030

LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...

26/11/2025

Vubiquity Earns AWS Media & Entertainment Competency Status

LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...

26/11/2025

Comcast Pays $1.5 Million to Settle FCC Data Breach Probe

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...

26/11/2025

Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List

Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...

26/11/2025

Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on Romance Between Aristocrat and Exchange Student in London

Back to All News Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...

26/11/2025

NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator

Back to All News NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator Social Impact 26 November 2025 United States Link copied to clipboard The National Assoc...

26/11/2025

YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for Sustainability

YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025 YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...