A recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed that less than half of Americans have ever heard of podcasts, and of those, 17 percent only listen to one show. That’s a shame, because in the wake of the success of creative standard-bearers like Serial and WTF With Marc Maron, there has been an explosion in the number of podcasts. Now, some of the best, brightest, funniest, and most fascinating voices around can only be heard on podcasts.

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

Want more? Try The Bugle With John Oliver And Andy Zaltzman and Slate’s Political Gabfest. Like The Moth? Try Mortified Can you imagine anything more humiliating than getting on stage and reading your middle school diary entries to a packed audience? It’s the stuff of nightmares, yet each week people volunteer for the opportunity to do just that for Mortified. The show is laugh-out-loud funny, touching, eye opening, and, yes, occasionally excruciating. The more stories you listen to, the more you realize it’s possible to be embarrassed on the behalf of complete strangers. The best part about the podcast, though, is realizing that your letters home from camp and the songs you wrote in sixth grade aren’t the most embarrassing items in the universe. Want more personal storytelling? Try Risk! or Story Collider.