‘A hell of a lot of fun!’ Your favorite podcasts of 2025 | Podcasts

Ill-advised by Bill Nighy

I stumbled throughout this podcast just a few weeks in the past and romped by the primary season briefly order. My Dad died just lately, and I usually really feel unhappy. Ill-advised has helped me really feel lighter. I’ve laughed out loud at each the questions and Bill’s dryly-delivered solutions. I really like the banned phrase portion (comparable to “pivot” and “like“, when used as fillers in sentences), while the book suggestions at the end are a perfect closer. Julie Hannaford, 59, librarian, Toronto, Canada

Fela Kuti: Fear No Man

This is an immaculately produced, in-depth exploration of the origins of Fela Kuti, his music and the impact it continues to have on West Africa and the world. A wide range of sources and archive material complete this wonderful journey through a pivotal period of Nigerian history. Pat, 38, product manager, south east London

Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky knows what it’s like to be scrutinised by the media, and she approaches these conversations with people with a level of gentleness and relatability hard to find elsewhere. I suspect many people only know Lewinsky for one thing, so it’s nice to see how she’s introducing another side of herself to both audiences and the media. Mac, 27, works in public relations, New York City

Through the Square Window

This podcast is just a hell of a lot of fun. At first, it seems to be solely about nostalgia, but presenters Graham Kibble-White and Samira Ahmed’s real focus is how we look at the world today through the lens of the past. So they speak about what we loved on TV and talked about around the proverbial water-cooler, but also about why it worked then and why it might still be relevant today. It’s cosy, but its scope is large. The hosts work really well together, and you come away from this delightful listen feeling warmly enlightened. Nick, 60, graphic novelist, UK

Wisecrack

Wisecrack had me gripped in a way that I can only compare to the first series of Serial. In many ways it has all the tropes of a run-of-the-mill true crime podcast – a narrator with skin in the game, a sleepy town with sinister secrets, incessant and repetitive adverts. But it completely subverts the genre by constantly questioning how reliable our protagonist (British comedian Edd Hedges) is, and to what extent standup comedy routines can be expected to tell the whole truth.

It explores an incident Edd talks about in one of his routines, in which his old school bully commits a terrible crime then knocks on the door of Edd’s family home in the immediate aftermath. When producer Jodi Tovay hears his set in Edinburgh, she contacts Edd, and he eventually agrees to allow her to dig deeper into exactly what happened that night.

The production is excellent throughout, with engaging interviews from lots of the key people involved, and there’s plenty of entertaining transatlantic culture-clash banter to boot. I would massively recommend it to anyone who’s getting a bit fed up with the endless celebrities talking to each other format, and looking for something a bit more substantial to accompany long car journeys or dog walks. Hywel Sedgwick, 37, charity worker, West Yorkshire

Music Is None of Our Business

This is an authentic, unapologetic and entertaining chat between two friends – Dave and Jake, both aged 60 – who share a passion for music. It’s great if you want to explore something new beyond what is promoted in mainstream media. Justyna, Derby

Realms Unknown

Alice Fraser and a weekly comedian guest talk about sci-fi/speculative fiction and fantasy, the many sub-genres (I didn’t realise I was occasionally reading “romantasy”), what’s new, previous classics to find, the place the genres get a bit ick and all of the inevitable tropes. It’s all damaged up with fast little pretend advert skits. Fraser is my favorite comic, who performs with phrases and meanings in a really faux-high-literature method. Campbell, 54, works in public well being, Melbourne, Australia

Married to the Machine

This is a really human tackle the AI revolution, with not an excessive amount of jargon, loads of clear-thinking and a beautiful sense of humour. I might suggest to anybody searching for a companion to carry your (very actual) hand by the maze of confusion. Walter, 52, TV producer, London

Harford: An Oral History

This podcast providing unusual vignettes of life in a Welsh city is bizarre and surreal, but in addition actually humorous. Niclas, 40, works for the NHS, Swansea

Joe and James Fact Up

This banter sesssion between Inbetweeners stars Joe Thomas and James Buckley is foolish, however most of all laugh-out-loud humorous! Guy, 58, nurse, Norway