Best of 2023 | My Favorite Podcasts

Who’s ready for a podcast round-up? I love my podcasts so much; I have truly developed parasocial relationships with the hosts on many of my favorite shows. Last year, I included my own podcast in my round-up but I decided to take it out of the running this year—if only to leave room for one last podcast to sneak in. If you don’t know, my best friend Bri and I host The Friendship Paradox, which discusses personalities and the ways our very different personalities affect our friendship, our lives, and much more. We’ve done deep dives on personality frameworks as well as season-long explorations of things like our work lives, traveling, relationships, and more. We discuss how our personalities can impact the way we approach all of these things. We’re currently on a hiatus until the new year but give us a listen if you want!

Now, onto my favorite podcasts of 2023! I am listing these in alphabetical order:

5-4

The tagline for this show is: “A podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks.” And it has truly opened my eyes to how bad Supreme Court justices can be with their decisions. Like, they are not as smart as I thought they were? I just always thought they were these geniuses who only got to that position because they were the best of the best. HA. HAHAHAHA. Anyway, this podcast goes through some of the worst Supreme Court decisions throughout history and the three hosts (all with law backgrounds) go through the reasons why the decision was trash. They are super snarky and I love it!

Episodes every other Tuesday – curse warning on this one (LOTS of f-bombs!)

Currently Reading

I’ve been listening to this bookish podcast for such a long time, and I still love it so much. I rarely stick around for the deep dives; I just want to know what books they are reading and their thoughts about them. I even keep a list on Goodreads of Kaytee/Meredith recs so I can see how my reading taste aligns with theirs. (So far, Kaytee usually doesn’t steer me wrong with her recs, but Meredith can be hit or miss—unless it’s a thriller/mystery, and then she never misses.) It’s a fun, easy podcast to listen to and I love how delightfully bookish the hosts are!

Episodes every Monday

Faith Adjacent

I am so very glad that The Bible Binge changed its name, and it’s a perfect one for this show that talks about faith and religion from a variety of lenses. Sometimes it’s about pop culture, sometimes it’s about Bible stories, and sometimes it’s about a very specific aspect of faith. I love the light-hearted tone they take (while still being respectful) and even though I am no longer a practicing Christian and have no desire to go back to a church environment, I still find so much to love about this podcast. The main reason I love this podcast is that the hosts remind me that Christians can be kind and thoughtful and liberal. Their views may not always align with mine, but the important stuff is there and that’s what matters.

Episodes every Thursday

The Girl Next Door Podcast

Another podcast that has remained in my top-10 year after year. What’s more, this podcast inspired the idea of my own podcast because I just loved the format of the show: just two friends sitting down to chit-chat about their lives, but always with a focused topic. Kelsey and Erica, the hosts of the show, are two very different people, too, and it’s always fun to learn more about their different approaches to life. I tend to identify more with Erica while striving to be a Kelsey.

Episodes every other Wednesday

Good Christian Fun

What more can I say about this podcast that I haven’t already said? It is so firmly in my wheelhouse, as a girl who grew up with Christian pop culture and also went through a faith deconstruction journey. This podcast talks about all different kinds of Christian pop culture—music, movies, and other entertainment made by and made for Christians. Sometimes, they take their humor a bit too far but for the most part, I always find myself laughing along while I listen.

Episodes every Wednesday – curse/crude humor warning on this one

Over Under Achievers

I rarely listen to sports podcasts, even though I love sports, because I’ve yet to find podcast hosts that I like. Until Knox from The Popcast started a podcast with his best friend Jason. Yes, it’s two straight white guys talking about sports, but it works for me. I love how silly this podcast is and how informative, too. The two men often bet on sports games (hence the name Over Underachievers), which is not my thing, but they do it responsibly and it’s really funny when they bet so very wrong and have to own up to losing money. If you like sports, give it a listen!

Episodes every Monday and Friday

The Popcast

This podcast is truly my everything. Whenever I’m feeling sad and need a pick-me-up, I immediately turn on this podcast because I know it’s going to put me in a better mood. It’s a pop culture podcast, but it goes way beyond simply talking about what’s happening in pop culture. Instead, they do things like ranking the best Ryans in pop culture or doing a snake draft of fictional characters who are most definitely canceled. And please don’t miss their Flavor Town episodes where people write in about their spiciest opinions. And no, not like “Taylor Swift is overrated.” But rather, “I don’t think it should be taboo to marry your first cousin.” You know, normal stuff like that. Anyway, if there’s one podcast I want you to give a try (other than my own, of course), it’s this one.

Episodes every Wednesday

Rob Has a Podcast

This is a super niche podcast, but it’s one I can’t live without! RHAP is a podcast that discusses all sorts of reality TV, specifically Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race. I love their episode recaps and find their analysis to always be super insightful, respectful, and interesting. They have a diverse panel of hosts, so it’s not all white dudes shouting into a microphone, which I appreciate. If you love reality TV and want to get some post-episode analysis, give this a listen! (Oh, and their sister podcast Reality TV RHAP-Ups is great, too. I always turn to them for my Love Is Blind post-episode discussions!)

Episodes daily

Sarah’s Bookshelves Live

My all-time favorite bookish podcast! I really can’t get enough of Sarah, especially once I joined her Patreon community and now get numerous fun episodes every week. Her author interviews are usually great, although I don’t listen to all of them. What I really love is her episodes with book industry professionals, like literary agents and such. And her seasonal book previews are fun, too. I think her Patreon is so worth the extra money because she puts a lot of time and effort into her extra episodes, and they are always excellent.

Episodes every other Wednesday

Stuff You Should Know

I left my dear SYSK boys off my favorites list last year, but I couldn’t leave them off this year. I love this podcast so much! I learn so much from it and Josh and Chuck have become my parasocial uncles. I’m deeply invested in their lives! This is a podcast that you can listen to with your entire family (depending on the topic, of course). Every episode covers a different topic, from shipwrecks to the lives of famous people to abstract concepts like kindness. And hey, they even had an episode about parasocial relationships! How meta of them.

Episodes every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday