Our team picks their top podcasts of 2021
Which new shows stayed with us the most this year?
If you know one thing about us folks at Podcast Playlist, it's probably that we listen to a tonne of podcasts in a year. Sometimes we've got our curator hats on, looking for the best new audio for our next episode. In other moments we're just listening as fans. With all that consuming it's always hard to pick a favourite podcast of the year — but every December, we challenge ourselves to do just that.
This episode we're playing the shows we kept coming back to in 2021. The ones we binged all the way through. The ones that had us constantly checking our feeds for new episodes. And you'll get to hear why we love them in our own words.
Our whole team hopped on a call with host Leah-Simone Bowen for a year-end listening party. (If you listen to our credits, you'll get to put a voice to all those names!)
Keep an eye on our website for our extended list of the Best of 2021— this episode is only the beginning!
Podcasts featured this week:
Host Leah-Simone Bowen's Pick: Storytime with Seth Rogen: "...where every week Seth asks somebody, 'Do you have a great story? And if you do, will you tell it on my podcast?' That's it. That's the concept. But the results are so much more than that."
Senior Producer Kate Evans's Pick: Aack Cast: "Cathy, the iconic and much-maligned comic strip by Cathy Guisewite, chronicled the day-to-day tribulations of its titular working woman for 35 years, met with equal praise and derision. In this podcast, Jamie Loftus (Lolita Podcast, My Year in Mensa) weaves between reporting and fiction, putting a cruelly treated cartoon everywoman in context."
Associate Producer Julian Uzielli's Pick: Do You Know Mordechai?: "Kathleen Goldhar was so happy her friend Arya had finally found someone after a bad divorce. Mordechai Horowitz seemed perfect. Smart. Rich. Creative. But like so many things that seem to be perfect - it was too good to be true."
Associate Producer Kelsey Cueva's Pick: Here Lies Me: "Middle school will bury you. Or at least that's how it feels to 13-year-old Noa—a shy and witty misfit who endures the horrors of living in an affluent New England town with a dark side. It's the first day of eighth grade, and The Olivias are already icing her out. The weird kid who calls himself God publicly proclaims his love for her and then punches the guy Noa kinda sorta (definitely doesn't!) have a crush on. Desperate to get God to leave her alone, Noa teams up with a secret club and they cook up a revenge plot to take him down.
Digital Producer Elena Hudgins Lyle's Pick: ICYMI: "Join Madison Malone Kircher and Rachelle Hampton twice a week as they gaze deep into the online abyss—and tell you what's gazing back."
Associate Producer Josh Flear's Pick: Hanging Out with Audiophiles: Join host Jamie Liddell and you'll "delve into the heady magic of creating music in a modern studio, probe the depths of production, get tech crazy with mixing tricks, studio skills and equipment."
What was your favourite podcast of the year? Email, tweet us @PodcastPlaylist, or find us on Facebook.
For more great podcasts, check out CBC's podcast portal, subscribe in Apple Podcasts.