Podcasts have increasingly become a favourite form of entertainment for audiences around the world. Many podcasts take the form of relaxed topics and content, while others are dedicated to topics around sports and fitness. Yet others focus on topical societal issues and politics. However, popular culture podcasts take on the form of entertainment and lifestyle topics and content, and are usually a favourite of many podcast listeners. For that reason, we’ve compiled some very interesting pop-culture podcasts audiences are loving which we believe will be worth your while if you give them a listen.
This podcast is hosted by the trio of Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton, and produced by writer Megan Ganz. Besides the regular hosts, there’s an occasional feature from Kaitlin Olsen. The Always Sunny Podcast was launched in late 2021 as a spin-off of the long-running comedy show–It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Podcast’s structure follows an episode-by-episode experience of the hosts writing, editing, and acting experiences in the comedy programme. In July 2023, the hosts of the podcast announced a halt in production due to the writers strike that hit Hollywood and aired old episodes for the rest of the year. But it appears new content will be returning to the podcast soon. The podcast is very popular due to the type of content it airs including topics surrounding near-brawls, and street pranks and games.
The Talking Sopranos podcast follows the same program format of The Always Sunny. The podcast features The Sopranos actors Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) and Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) talking about each episode of Sopranos. This they do by divulging stories, trivia, and funny details of behind the scenes of the tv show during taping. This award-winning podcast (it won the 2021 Webby Awards) features content from cast members including Edie Falco, Lorraine Braco, Steve Buscemi, casting agents, cinematographers, and costume designers of the Sopranos.
Small Beans podcast is hosted by Michael Swaim and director Abe Epperson. The podcast is also a network headed by an ex-alumni of cracked.com, a comedy website. The podcast network has various podcasts including those with regular content-creator guests like Katy Stoll, Cody Johnston, and Maggie Mae Fish, amongst others. Michael Swaim’s style is a mix of profound introspective conversations, frequent childish humor and silly anecdotes are some of the highlights of the podcast. Some of their podcast shows include Kings of King—a show that examines all the movies by the acclaimed author and movie maker, Stephen King, while the network’s flagship show Frame Rate is a collection of arthouse feature films including comedies. Others include 1Upmanship—a podcast that debates on video games and the gaming culture, Shooting Threes, and Directorship Theatre—which is dedicated to analysing the stylistic choices of filmmakers and their behind-the-scenes obligations.
If you’re obsessed with entertainment, then The Watch hosted by Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan is a sure bet. These popular culture critics have been in the business of podcasting since the mid 2000s starting with Grantland, a site owned by the founder of The Ringer, Bill Simmons.
The podcast is focused on discussions around entertainment, some even written and produced by them. Some of their topics range from topical industry questions and discussions around music, movies, and TV, to sports like baseball.
This weekly podcast hosted by Elamin Abdelmahmoud is a discussion around trending internet topics. The host is often joined by culture writer Amil Niazi and another co-host, Kevin Fallon, and together with a lot of humour, they discuss interesting pop culture stories and topics that matter in the world of entertainment.
Broadcast out of Kelowna, BC, and hosted primarily by Chris Truscott-Brown, and Jesse Nelson, Car Bomb is a firm favourite of many podcast listeners. The podcast broadcasts one episode in any given week and is centred around talks about anything and everything that crosses the mind of the hosts, from TV shows, to music, games, movies and pop culture topics, including the dramas surrounding certain topics.
This weekly podcast hosted by the trio of culture critics Eydol, J. Thaddeus, and Will Haze tackles different topics affecting the society, culture, and lives of people, including conspiracies, pop culture, and even controversial topics around the paranormal and occult. You should definitely give this podcast a listen if some of these topics are of interest to you.
Based in Victoria, BC and hosting 2 episodes twice weekly, the Ready to Be Petty podcast talks about topics around celebrity gossip stories, reality tv, and the latest pop culture moments. The host Torry deep dives into these interesting stories and news that audiences care about together with her special guests.
Overdue Finds podcast is based in Edmonton, Alberta, and broadcast out of the Edmonton Public Library. It is hosted by the duo of Caroline Land and Bryce Crittenden. This fantastic podcast discusses books, of course, as well as music and movies, and all other media and popular culture topics. The idea is to let audiences in on what they can learn about what they can find at libraries.
Chinenye Emezie | Assistant Editor
