There are over 500 million podcast listeners around the world, so podcasts are a key way to disseminate – and consume – information.
And in a world where there is more information at our fingertips than ever before, working out what’s reliable versus what’s misinformation is not always as easy as it looks.
So, as a place to start, here are some podcasts that combat the mainstream narratives in a way that isn’t anti-scientific disinformation.
There are some that don’t just bust myths and lies, they help us to learn how to identify misinformation ourselves by demonstrating critical thinking, and explaining how studies and facts and news can be presented in ways that mislead us.
Others research and share history and perspectives in ways you might never have heard before.
Both types are enlightening, but you won’t feel like you’re learning, because they’re thoroughly enjoyable to listen to, too.
Maintenance Phase
Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes “debunk the junk science behind health and wellness fads”, and while doing so, they make you laugh. Hard.
Maintenance Phase has been running since 2020 and I’d especially recommend their episode on Workplace Wellness. Gordon and Hobbes always manage to make me feel like there are people out there, combatting anti-science nonsense, with panache and hilarity, and I can’t get enough of them.
If Books Could Kill
Michael Hobbes is also co-host of this podcast, which has a similar format but a different co-host. But, instead of junk science, on If Books Could Kill, Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri talk about “The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds”.
Their 4-Hour Workweek episode is especially fun, and their take on JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy (which I only listened to after finishing writing my review of it) was beautifully scathing.
Working Class History
The Working Class History podcast tells stories of people’s resistance in a way you might never have heard before.
The project “is dedicated to all those who have struggled in the past for a better world, and who continue to do so now. To help record and popularise our grassroots, people’s history, as opposed to the top-down accounts of most history books.”
The episodes on the anti-racist Asian youth movements in Bradford in the 70s and 80s was especially enlightening and a part of northern English history I had previously known little about.
Drilled
Drilled describes itself, intriguingly, as “A true-crime podcast about climate change” and, in it, journalist Amy Westervelt “investigates the various obstacles that have kept the world from adequately responding to climate change”.
The systems and corruption she exposes truly are criminal, and her work helps us to see things we may have become complacent about in a different light.
The Department of Homeland Security, the Manufactured “EcoTerrorist” Panic, and Cop City is particularly eye-opening.
Death, Sex & Money
In Death, Sex & Money, host Anna Sale “explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation”.
Like with all of these podcasts, picking a favourite episode is tough, but a stand-out for me was Leaving the Extreme Right, and a Marriage, Behind, where Sale and Micah Loewinger “talk to Tasha Adams about her decades-long marriage with Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers”.
Adams escaped the marriage and talks about rebuilding her life and reassessing her values.
Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business
Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business helps you look at the world of business, especially online business, differently. Hosts Dr. Michelle Mazur and Maggie Patterson, both online business owners, “do a deep dive into everything that’s wrong with the online business world. From scammy life coaches to sleazy sales practices to cult and MLM style tactics we talk about all of it”.
Whether you feel like you’re susceptible to online scammers or not, this podcast helps to make you aware of the latest tactics of digital marketers that can be incredibly persuasive if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Mazur and Patterson are funny as well as informative, and their episode on The Rise of the Fake Expert is a great place to start.