With all the unforgettable stories conveyed through podcasts, it’s clear the art form is still innovating. Styles range from elaborately produced audio dramas to relaxed, freewheeling conversations. If you're on the hunt for new favourites, this year’s crop offers high-quality production, fascinating topics and talent, and a range of content for everyone. Whether you’re a casual listener who wants a show to dip in and out of, or you're looking for a fully immersive storytelling experience, you can’t go wrong with one of 2025’s best podcasts.
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Alex Walker was once Canada’s most famous and most wanted con artist. An unassuming man who worked in finance, he pulled off a series of scams so daring and unbelievable that it’s impressive, frankly, that he evaded capture for so long. After his luck ran out in Canada, Walker relocated to southwest England to hide. The local police managed to piece together who he was, but the story doesn’t end there. This is an excellent listen for history buffs and scam-obsessed true crime listeners.
Go deep with some of today's most powerful people on The Unusual Suspects podcast, hosted by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell and producer/writer/actor Kenya Barris. This unscripted, unfiltered interview show explores the unconventional journeys and motivations behind figures like director Ava DuVernay, basketball star Sue Bird, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel. Listen to find inspiration for your own success and forward-thinking perspectives on today's hottest topics.
CBC’s Unreserved is an essential space for Indigenous voices and cultures, hosted by Cree journalist Rosanna Deerchild, who hails from the community of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation. Utilizing her reporting skills to great effect, Deerchild knits a shared story unlike any other. This podcast is both heartfelt and healing, enriching necessary conversations on Indigenous justice, history, and identity. Featuring insightful interviews with vital figures from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, Unreserved is a courageous, wholehearted podcast to add to your queue.
In a twist that proves truth is stranger than fiction, Deb finds out she has a sister she never knew about—a truth that came to light after her father’s death. As the two women connect and try to learn more about why they were kept separate, they uncover their father’s connection to Home Children, a child migration program that was largely hidden from British and Canadian citizens, even until the 1980s. This is an essential podcast for understanding the human toll of a long-ignored history that affected thousands of families.
This new podcast analyzes finances through a surprisingly fascinating new frontier: everyday people describing how they use their money over the course of a week. It's relatable and surprisingly emotional. Plus, there's the added voyeuristic entertainment of pondering how another household spends its money—and the reflection that comes with it, helping people to consider their own finances. Host Courtney Harrell puts the guests at ease as they cover the many common challenges facing people today, such as the cost of childcare, retirement planning, and making money as a working creative.
In her charming, insightful new podcast, IMO, America's former First Lady Michelle Obama joins her older brother Craig Robinson to interview fascinating guests and answer listener questions about everyday life. With funny sibling banter, inspirational advice, and nuanced conversations about wide-ranging topics, IMO offers the perfect combination of entertainment and opportunities for self-reflection.
If you're reading this list, it's fair to guess you're an audiobook fan. There's no better place to get audiobook recommendations (and a peek inside the narrator's booth!) than the new This Is Audible podcast, hosted by Audible Editors Katie O’Connor and Kat Johnson. In their warm, enthusiastic voices, Katie and Kat share recommendations for audiobooks they love, reflect on classics, interview industry experts, and provide insights into how our favourite listens are made. The hosts' love of audiobooks is infectious—before long, your to-be-listened-to list will grow longer than ever.
Falling in love can be messy. When you fall in love with an AI companion, that mess is on a whole other level. Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire, hosts of the true crime podcast RedHanded, explore the fast-growing AI companion industry through the story of Travis, a married man who thought he found his digital true love in Lily Rose. When Lily Rose's responses to Travis changed abruptly, it was his first hint at the emotional manipulation being carried out by the mysterious Russian developer who created her.
If you’re not a culturista, do you even know culture? Comedians and actors Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang serve as pop culture consultants on this hilarious podcast frequented by superstar guests. This year, the show’s beloved Culture Awards debuted as a televised show on Bravo, bringing them to a wider audience than ever. Las Culturistas is always good for a laugh, and now is the time to join the bandwagon as the hosts prepare to celebrate 10 years of the podcast in 2026.
Kate Downey is exhausted from trying to get doctors to diagnose or explain her excruciating period cramps. As a self-described "nerd," she's willing to do the research herself, interviewing experts and diving into everything from TikTok scams to the microbiome to help herself and other period sufferers navigate patient advocacy, birth control, and more. Anyone who experiences periods will empathize, and chronically ill people, people used to getting dismissed at the doctor's office, or just anyone interested in the health of people with uteruses will learn a lot from her discoveries.
Canadian journalist Scaachi Koul hosts this engaging podcast about the new era of weight loss driven by medication developed for people with diabetes. Koul investigates the rise of GLP-1 drugs, better known by their brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro. Koul also includes a touching conversation with her mother, threaded throughout the episodes, where they discuss how they feel about weight loss. Though this podcast mostly focuses on the side effects of GLP-1s, it also explores how the drugs are being studied to treat addiction and how the body-positivity movement persists through this new era.
We've all encountered digital scams. But what's going on behind those fishy pop-ups and texts about your extended car warranty? Host Denise Chan tells the shocking story of a scam factory in Southeast Asia, revealing that the person scamming you might have been scammed into a dangerous situation themselves, and their only option is to scam their way back out. It's a wild tale that will change the way you look at these ubiquitous hoaxes.
WTF has run for 16 years, but in 2025 the interview-style podcast finally came to a close. With his characteristic insight, humour, and inquisitiveness, host Marc Maron spent his final season interviewing some of his best guests ever, from Christopher Guest to Jeremy Allen White to Judd Apatow, all building to a final episode featuring former US President Barack Obama. If you haven't checked out WTF yet, now is the time to dive in: There's a fantastic library of episodes to catch up on, and the final season is particularly compelling.
Reporting live from the climate crisis, host Zach Goldbaum unveils the dark secrets, crimes, and environmental abuses destroying our planet. You'll hear a variety of gripping tales, from a missing Montana coal mine executive to the mob behind a New York City private-waste-management company to the mysterious massacre of gorillas in the Congo. Goldbaum balances informative journalism with engaging storytelling to showcase what's at stake when our planet goes unprotected.
Former host of Invisibilia Yowei Shaw embarked on a new podcast project this year. For each episode, Shaw finds someone with a problem, whether it’s getting dumped, being unable to find joy, asking for money, or something else. Shaw then finds a proxy to represent the problem: a stand-in for an ex-girlfriend, a psychologist to talk things out, or someone to guide you on how to ask for what you need. It’s an excellent concept for helping people who are overwhelmed to feel less alone.
