Warframe Nitain Extract Farm 2021

Images Courtesy: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; WBUR & Futuro Studios; Apple Podcasts; Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Dorsum in December 2020, nosotros wrote nigh all the podcasts that were getting us through the dark days of deep pandemic life. And now that we're all vaccinated and slowly (and safely!) venturing back out into social club, you might retrieve our need for audio narratives has slowed, correct? Wrong!

If anything, our commonage appetite for all things pod has only increased in 2021. That's partly because we're living in the golden historic period of the podcast. But many of us are as well even so relying on at-dwelling house entertainment more than we used to pre-pandemic. And whether you're looking to catch upwardly on pop culture while you melt or unwind to the sounds of true crime at the stop of the twenty-four hour period, there's bound to be a podcast that fits your needs.

The following list includes podcasts that started in 2021 also equally some longer-running series that only recently defenseless our ears. The unifying theme is that in this second direct year of isolation and incertitude, these voices have all kept us in good company.

Anything for Selena

You might expect a podcast nigh Selena, the tardily Tejano music icon, to begin with the sound of her singing. But instead, host Maria Garcia invites us into the first episode with a vivid sense memory of the "cool bawdy desert odour" of creosote plants along the U.S.-Mexico border. In Anything for Selena from Futuro Studios and WBUR, Garcia offers a beautifully personal look at what Selena meant to her as a child growing up on both sides of that dividing line.

In episodes available in both Spanish and English, Garcia weaves together memoir, biography and cultural commentary to explore Selena'southward enduring importance to Latino identity. And of class, Selena's voice and music play a huge role in the story, making this both a corking listen for devoted fans as well as a take a chance to discover the "Queen of Tejano music" for the get-go time.

Conan O'Brien. Image Courtesy: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

The original idea for this series was that Conan, love late-dark talk show host, had failed to make real-life friends with his famous guests from said program. So why not invite them on to a podcast and see if true friendship could bloom? It is, of class, pretty hard to believe that Conan O'Brien has trouble making friends — specially once you lot hear what a natural interviewer and listener he is. (The nearly charming part may be the inclusion of his real-life executive assistant, Sona Movsesian, as a co-host and foil.)

The current season of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend alternates between longer interviews with famous guests and shorter episodes featuring chats with everyday people. Tune in to hear Conan conversation with everyone from John Lithgow to a skydiving instructor from Buffalo, NY. These days, when nosotros're all feeling similar we could use a friend, information technology's prissy to hear such a charismatic host making existent (and humorous) human connections.

Don't Ask Tig

Tig Notaro. Photo Courtesy: Michael Kovac/Getty Images

In that location's a reason so many of our picks characteristic comedians as hosts: We've all actually needed a good laugh this twelvemonth. And humor is especially welcome in the advice-podcast genre. Don't Ask Tig features host Tig Notaro answering listener queries, such as what to do when your canis familiaris eats a friend's expensive shoes, all with the assist of fellow comedians who serve as guest hosts.

Notaro's voice and demeanor are warm and unfailingly compassionate, and there'south a earth-weariness in her tone that pairs perfectly with the show'due south premise. She'south non an adept, just a person with a skillful sense of humor who might take some helpful communication… maybe. And that'southward more than enough for us.

Maintenance Phase

Accept yous ever scoffed at dubious health advice from Dr. Oz? Suspected that your BMI may not be the be-all, end-all measure of your health? Wondered whether and then-chosen health foods like Halo Tiptop are actually salubrious? If you're ready to plow a skeptical heart on the wellness-industrial complex, Maintenance Phase is the podcast for you.

Hosts Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes take deep dives into the evidence (or lack thereof) behind popular health, nutrition and wellness trends. They claiming weight-centric health dogma and ask questions many listeners may think they know the answers to — like "Is Being Fat Bad for You?" And while their research may exist in the weeds, they deliver their takeaways with fast-paced churr and plenty of laughs at the absurdity of information technology all.

Poog

Yes, it's "goop" backwards. Just Poog is then much more. Comedians Jacqueline Novak and Kate Berlant accept y'all on a meandering ride through their personal wellness journeys, with many a philosophical digression along the way. The hags, as they call themselves, are simultaneously laughing at and with the wellness industry— while, on another level, not joking at all. (They really purchase, utilise, ingest and seemingly enjoy the products they're discussing.) In The New Yorker, Rachel Syme calls it "a show about health which is, in a dazzling and purposefully deranged mode, utterly unwell."

We savour Poog as a counterpoint to wellness mythbusting. For a steadying balance of investigative rigor and experiential carelessness, try alternating episodes of Poog and Maintenance Phase. In one segment about fitness drinks with questionable claims, Novak quips, "Of class I haven't washed the enquiry — I scoff at research, not my task." Nosotros're fine with that.

Pop Civilisation Happy Hour

In brusk episodes airing five days a week, NPR'south Pop Culture Happy Hour brings you lot upwardly to speed on all the latest books, movies, music, TV shows and other buzzy bits of pop civilization. The roundtable discussions — with hosts Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Stephen Thompson and Aisha Harris, along with special guests — mix smart cultural commentary with the pure joy of friends chatting and laughing nearly pieces of entertainment they love (or hate).

And in a year when it seemed our streaming queues, playlists and bookshelves were constantly running dry, this pod provided a reliable source of new, fun things to get excited about.

Short Wave

We don't know about you, simply our attention spans have been a flake shorter this past twelvemonth. If yous love knowing about the latest scientific discoveries, but don't always have the time or patience to do the deep reading, check out NPR's Brusque Wave.

Every weekday, host Emily Kwong and expert guests break down the fascinating scientific discipline behind a recent headline or demystify a strange everyday phenomenon — all in about fifteen minutes. You'll pick up some fancy new vocab words ("parthenote" was a new one for us!), and maybe get a much-needed dose of hopefulness with your science news (see this recent burst of climate optimism from guest Jane Goodall).

StraightioLab

RadioLab this is non. In their StraightioLab podcast, hosts George Civeris and Sam Taggart (both gay comedians) "unpack the rich, multi-colored tapestry of straight civilization." And what exactly defines this rich tapestry, you ask? Well, topics include such heterosexual touchstones as hygge, miscommunication, framed movie posters, dogs, mixology and math.

Each episode features a special guest who joins the two friends in digressions that are by turns goofy (wouldn't Nasdaq and Dow Jones brand dandy Brooklyn infant names?) and sincere (run across the "High Schoolhouse" episode where Taggart discusses beingness bullied as a teen by the episode's special guest). No matter how zany the chat gets, there'south a comforting warmth at the center. As Alex McElroy writes in Vulture, "Civeris and Taggart grasp for human connectedness through the very mediums that accept made human connection and so fraught — the internet, ironic defensiveness, the fabricated intimacy of podcasts."

Through the Cracks

True law-breaking has long been a podcast staple. But the typical trope of a missing or dead girl and the hunt for her killer has long worn sparse. In Through the Cracks from WAMU and PRX, host Jonquilyn Hill redirects the searchlight away from the individual bad actor and onto the systems and institutions that failed in their duty to protect the missing child.

In 2014, eight-year-former Relisha Rudd disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C., where her family was living. But her disappearance went unnoticed — by her school, her family, the shelter and the police — for 18 days. 7 years later, Rudd is however missing. Loma questions the city'south determination that this tragedy was unavoidable, and offers a nuanced exploration of how the many adults and systems in her life immune this young Blackness girl to autumn through the cracks.

You're Expressionless to Me

Host Greg Jenner calls Yous're Dead to Me from BBC Radio 4 "a comedy podcast that takes history seriously." Each episode features 2 guests: ane historian and one comedian. And over the course of each hour-long conversation, Jenner and guests accept a deep dive into a fascinating part of history, with plenty of proficient humor in the mix.

Part of the fun of this serial is the wild range of topics. If you've ever wanted to know a flake more well-nigh the Tang Dynasty, Joan of Arc or the history of high-heeled shoes, this podcast has you covered. And if yous're preoccupied with the health scares of the final couple years, start with the episode on "Ancient Greek and Roman Medicine." Information technology may condolement you to know that while modernistic healthcare leaves plenty to be desired, at least your doctor isn't recommending electric eels for what ails you.