Here at Audicus, we love our podcasts: true crime, thriller, political, historical. Podcasts are an excellent and easy way to learn, laugh, and escape auditorially. You can listen to them while commuting, at work, cooking, exercising, anywhere. Podcasts can make the time fly by and keep your day interesting. While we all have our favorites, we’ve rounded up some of the best new podcasts of 2018 for your ears’ enjoyment.
Disgraceland
This pop-culture podcast is hosted by writer Jake Brennan and takes a detailed look at the most famous figures in 20th century music. Jerry Lee Lewis, Lisa Left Eye Lopes, Frank Sinatra, and more are all talking points on this show “about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly.”
If you love music and are interested in the hidden lives of iconic industry figures, this is the podcast for you.
A Very Fatal Murder
You may be able to tell from the title, but A Very Fatal Murder is a raucous combination of true crime and satire. Brought to you by The Onion, AVFM pokes fun at America’s obsession with heartland-based homicide.
The podcast’s host imitates the matter-of-fact way of speaking that true crime podcasters have affected, and with the help of supercomputer (Extremely Timely Homicide Locator) seeks to solve the murder of a teen in Nebraska. Fans of both Serial and satire will enjoy this short and silly show.
Caliphate
This juggernaut of a podcast from the New York Times deals with the realities of terrorism in the world today. Focusing on ISIS, NYT foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi attempts to answer the question “Who are we really fighting?”
The podcast begins with an interview of an ex ISIS fighter, as the host, attempts to verify his first-hand account. This series is not for the faint of heart but will capture the attention of anyone who is interested in modern geopolitics in an age of international terrorism.
The Rewatchables
Movie buffs will love this podcast, hosted on The Ringer. Hosts (often Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan) rewatch and discuss classic movies, including old films and new. Everything from “The Princess Bride” to “Get Out” to “Clueless” is rewatched and analyzed. Film trivia, best-scene debates, and pointing out plot holes abound.
If you’re looking for an excuse to rewatch a beloved movie, this podcast is made for you.
The Habitat
This Gimlet series goes inside the real 2015 experiment in which six scientists spent nearly a year simulating life on Mars. They lived in a dome on a Hawaiian volcano in order to better understand what human life might look like on Mars, as Martian colonization becomes more and more a potential reality.
The scientists painstakingly recorded their days and nights on audio journals, which have been turned into a narrative series. Fans of science and science fiction alike will love this podcast, which will have you dreaming about your own life on the Red Planet.