100 Outstanding Audio Stories of 2016

2016 has seen an explosion of true crime stories across all media, with podcasts being no exception. Radiolab’s stab at this genre had the typical unfolding mystery element that’s hard not to like, but it also took an angle that elevated it above many similar stories. The moral questions of what it means to do the right thing as a lawyer is what stuck with me the most and kept me thinking about it days later.

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

7. Velvet Ray, Better Off Dead

The Wheeler Centre

A long-form Australian series about euthanasia policy, Better Off Dead is heartbreaking, important listening. Helmed by nationally-beloved journalist Andrew Denton, who was left reeling by his own father’s painful death, it introduces us to patients, campaigners and caregivers, including “Velvet” Ray Godbold, a palliative care nurse grappling with his own terminal diagnosis.

Chosen by: Editor, The Audit

8. Do not drink: The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting

Essential listening about the Flint water crisis, making dangerously short-sighted decisions, and neglected communities.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

9. Money Tree, Criminal

When I started listening to this episode, I was so sure that I knew where it was going. It sounded interesting but not especially so. But then the story took a turn that I never expected. And then it took another one. I keep going back to the story that Axton Betz-Hamilton is telling here. It’s a story about money and family and trust and it’s like nothing I have ever heard before.

Chosen by: Sara Weber, writer of Adolescence is a marketing tool

10. Syndesmica, Random Article

Independent: May Jasper

Think Surprisingly Awesome plus investigative reporting and some theatrics, and a dash of internet culture, and you’ll get Random Article, May Jasper’s new podcast investigating — you guessed it — a random article from Wikipedia. Somehow, May manages to find a compelling story every time she hits the ‘random article’ button (she swears she’s not cheating at it).

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

11. The House, Embedded

NPR

Embedded, hosted by experienced badass reporter Kelly McEvers, epitomizes the power to create crazy compelling investigative journalism into a podcast. Each show digs deep into complex and often intense situations, from the murder capital of the world to an immigration courtroom in Georgia to a hospital in South Sudan.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

12. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Through Eleanor’s Eyes, Presidential

Washington Post

Many of us (well, maybe half of us, depending on your politics) appreciate FDR for his voice and his guidance through the Great Depression and World War II, with the calm in his Fireside Chats and sweeping policies of the New Deal. And many of appreciate Eleanor — many of us, but maybe it should be more of us. Eleanor was the conscience of FDR; she knew Japanese internment was morally and politically wrong from the start, she knew she could be more help in homeless camps than as Lady of the House, and sometimes openly opposed the President in her magazine columns. She devoted herself to kindness and activism, and in turn devoted herself to America, and to the success of FDR’s presidency.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

13. The Political Thicket, Radiolab Presents: More Perfect

The story of the Supreme Court taking on redistricting and gerrymandering was very compelling. The case of Baker vs Carr changed the way the court operated and set up our modern court, but the stress of it cost Justice Charles Whittaker his health. Every decision that is made in the highest court comes at a cost to someone. This time, it was one of its members. This is excellent storytelling.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

14. The Day After, Keepin’ It 1600

The Ringer

Keepin’ It 1600 is arguably the most popular political podcasts of the year; with sold-out shows and live videos, listeners often referred to it as ‘therapy’. They were also along the many experts who were way off about their predictions for the election results. Their day-after podcast episode is a fascinating listen — especially in contrast to prior episodes.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

15. Sandra Fluke On Her Run for State Senate, Candidate Confessional

The Huffington Post

Sandra Fluke came into public light when she testified before Democratic representatives on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when discussing whether Obama’s new health care plan violated religious freedom. For speaking up for women’s rights, Rush Limbaugh publicly called her a slut. A slut, for wanting women’s health to be accurately represented in the government. This incident, meant to push her down, instead brought her out even more, and she jumped from law student straight into politics. She also really helps support Sam Stein’s poor ego.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

16. Galileo: Stellar Soldier, Giants of History

Independent: JT Fusco

Galileo’s life is absolutely fascinating and both parts of this series are excellent, but for me,the best part of this episode is Fusco’s introduction, which lasts for nearly ten minutes. In it, he puts into our place within the cosmos and sets up the arguments that would mark Galileo’s life as great.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

17. The History of Haiti, Revolutions

Independent: Mike Duncan

The nineteenth and last episode of the Haitian Revolution series in Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast, this covers the history of newly-minted State of Haiti after its people rose up to overthrow the French-colonized Empire of Haiti. The entire arc of the Haitian Revolution is well worth a listen; Duncan is, in my opinion, the master of history podcasts. (He’s currently working his way through Simon Bolivar and the Spanish American wars of independence.)

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

18. The Gettysburg Address: Short and Sweet, Stuff You Should Know

How Stuff Works

Hosts Chuck and Josh have amazing chemistry throughout the hundreds of episodes they have done together. There is something about their banter and the way they approach topics that helps me actually recall something weeks later (which is unusual for my terrible memory). I’ll always remember the way they describe Lincoln’s voice and how strongly they drive home how much a game changer this speech was for American political rhetoric.

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

19. Paul Cezanne’s “Fruit and Jug on a Table,” The Lonely Palette

Independent: Tamar Avishai

The Lonely Palette is one of my most delightful discoveries of 2016 and I could have picked any of the episodes. I just love the way Tamar bring art to life by describing the artists and their lives surrounding the artwork that they make. This is a relatively simple painting with an excellent story around it.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

20. Below, from Above, The Memory Palace

Done it again, Nate DiMeo has: a powerful, rich, and poetic account of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. This episode started while I was cleaning up my kitchen, thinking about my headache, worrying about the rest of the day, and then I slowed down, and stopped, and listened to the beautiful and terrible description of the labor our country was built upon. I had only goosebumps & gratitude by the end.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

21. Bastille Day, The Land of Desire

Independent: Diana Stegall

This is perhaps the best first episode of a podcast that I have ever heard. It helps highlight the conditions in France and Europe that led to the French War, how important bread is to the French, the impact of volcanos on the weather of the world and how all of these fit together to create chaos and political mayhem.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

22. The Secret History of Nauru, Radio National

If you’re not from Australia, you’ve probably never heard of Nauru (except perhaps on a This American Life story a few years ago). I highly recommend this episode as a quick history of the mega-complicated island.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

23. The Duel, History on Fire

Dark Myths: Daniele Bolelli

The story of the Hamilton/Burr duel has fascinated me since I learned about it in that Got Milk commercial. But the story of the two men is so much more complicated and interesting than that little bit of trivia. Bolelli dives deep into both men’s lives and gives us all of their flaws and cracks. This is one of his best episodes.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

24. Other Americans, Death, Sex, & Money

Anna Sale is a gift to the world. With the 2016 show United States of Anxiety, Sale takes part in a call-in special asking Americans to call in with what they would like other Americans to know about him/her/them. This election was very painful for me, and this episode was soothing, heartfelt, and sincere.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

25. Numbers, The Memory Palace

This is one of the most evocative pieces of audio that I have ever heard. It took me to a place that I have never been, the Vietnam War Draft of 1968. The uncertainty of the night, the fate of those men whose birthdays were chosen, gave my heart a jolt and I was a little worried that my birthday was going to be called next.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

26. The Question of Black Identity, Historically Black

APM Reports and The Washington Post

In 2016, we’ve seen a number of museums release their own podcasts aimed at bringing listeners a different or deeper view of the exhibits found within their walls. Although it was inspired by the new National Museum of African American of History and Culture on the National Mall, Historically Black, has a grander mission: to tell the stories of people whose history was — by circumstance — largely undocumented. In this episode, narrated by writer Roxane Gay, they explore the complicated question of black identity through conversations with four women.

Chosen by: Ashley, writer at Bello Collective

27. Kirsty’s Close Encounters, Close Encounters

Guardian Audio

Alix Fox is the older, wiser friend you could have really done with during your awkward teenage years. Close Encounters, her podcast for The Guardian (2016 has really been their year in terms of UK audio) sends the message that sex is silly, strange and really worth talking about. No episode highlights that last point better than the one about Kirsty — a woman afflicted by vaginismus, a painful condition that means her vagina clamps shut like a vice whenever penetration is attempted. Her story of the doctor who tells her, aged 30, to “try using lube” shocks, while her attempts to buy a vaginismus dilator set is touching and almost funny (“like Russian doll dildos!” exclaims Fox, giggling). Fox highlights just how ridiculous — and in some cases damaging — British prudishness can be.

Chosen by: Harriet, co-editor of On This Week’s Episode

28. Wellesley, 1969, With Her

Pineapple Street Media

Sure, maybe Hillary Clinton’s podcast was a thinly-veiled promotional piece for her campaign — it’s still good, and it’s another one of those watershed “big moments” in radio as a medium. The interviews were interesting enough on this show, but the most compelling episode was a bonus episode, Wellesley, 1969, which ran the audio of a speech Clinton gave at her college graduation.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

29. All Stars: Immigrant Stories, Another Round

BuzzFeed

Another Round is probably THE go-to podcast for black women. The way they conduct their interviews — from Hillary Clinton to Lin-Manuel Miranda — is super special because they get people to actually talk to them about the things that are important to them. One topic that comes up again and again: Immigration stories. And this episode is a collection of the best ones, from Anil Dash to Jenny Zhang. It’s a great gateway to the show and the perfect best-of.

Chosen by: Sara Weber, writer of Adolescence is a marketing tool

30. Hello, Reply All

Okay, this one is not quite an ‘interview’, but more of a collage of conversations: in this two-hour episode, hosts PJ and Alex take calls from anyone, anywhere, for 48 hours straight. What ensues is a fascinating compilation of honesty, exhaustion, and sincerity. The closing conversation summarizes the concept well: due to a glitch in the phone system, two callers are connected to each other, instead of to the Reply All hosts. The strangers share a polite conversation: one asks if her daughter can play a song for him, and the other obliges, and listens, and thanks her for the song.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

31. No Country for Brown Men, Grade Expectations

Hussein Kesvani and Rohan Banerjee

No Country for Brown Men tackles the challenges of being a British Asian today. Hosts Hussein Kesvani and Rohan Banerjee are in their mid-twenties and have defied the hopes of their parents, by becoming journalists as opposed to accountants, doctors and lawyers. In this episode they talk to guest Shiv Malik, a former Guardian investigative reporter, about the substantial difficulties facing modern millennials — we’re skint, it turns out — and whether traditional markers of success like good grades are actually useful.

Chosen by: Leaf, co-editor of On This Week’s Episode

32. The Priority Problem, The Intern

betaworks

The Intern is a podcast created by betaworks, a tech company in NYC, about — well, being an intern at betaworks. The premise was always a bit confusing, but the host, Allison Behringer, is incredibly articulate, thoughtful, and self-aware. In this episode, she asks tough questions about diversity in tech to top execs at betaworks and in the industry.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

33. What if the worst case scenario came true?, ThisIsActuallyHappening

The PermaTemp Corporation

My husband drowns out a lot of my listening, but right away I could tell this episode caught his ear. He was in bed powering down with some good old Facebook scrolling while I was brushing my teeth and listening. I saw him put the phone down and just stare at the ceiling to hear how the story ended. I climbed in bed, laid my head down on his chest, and we listened to a woman tell the story of her children, genetic diseases, and the worst case scenario.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

34. Insemination Story, Not by Accident

Wondery Network

Sophie is single mother by choice, a Australian living in Denmark, a documentary filmmaker, a professor, a daughter, and a sister, among other things. I can only imagine how many hours of tape she must have recorded — tape of her conversations, her doctor’s visits, her daughter’s babbling — to create this layered documentary that weaves together several timelines, continents, and relationships.

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

35. The Gideon and Hubcap Show, Switched on Pop

Independent

This episode is an audio-journal road trip through the Scottish highlands, which follows a summer tour with Switched On Pop’s secret side gig, a traveling musical act called The Gideon and Hubcap Show. It’s pretty much the opposite of a music festival, with friends-of-friend’s living rooms as the stage, and it could not be more charming.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

36. The Truth, Strangers

KCRW/Radiotopia

A dark, powerful story of a mother figuring out who to trust and how to protect her daughters from someone who’s supposed to protect them. Expert storytelling and editing make for a moving journey in which the truth slowly unfolds, and through the tragedies comes the story of a loving mom who’s just trying to do right by her family.

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

37. Kristy’s Great Idea, The Baby-Sitters Club Club

Independent: Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring

2016, also known as the Year of Garbage Fire, has been tough, but thankfully it made room for Baby-Sitters Club nostalgia. While this podcast does fill the two white guys with a microphone cliché, they get a pass for their rapport together, intense close literature review, hilarious segment openers, willingness to be vulnerable, and bee theories.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

38. Beneath the Bleachers of Stagg Field, Awful Grace

Independent: Robert Andersson

A brief audio poem portrait of America composed entirely of found sound — news clips, music, abrupt silences. I listened to it twice in a row, and I still wasn’t sure what it was, but was sure I would listen again.

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

39. Ghost Tape Number Ten, Here Be Monsters

Independent

Is it too literal to call this a haunting story? During the Vietnam War, the US government created a ghost army to wage psychological warfare against the pro-communist North Vietnamese.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

40. The Full-Blood Patriarchy, Witch, Please

Independent

This show is so much more than ‘two ladies chatting about Harry Potter.’ It analyzes the events of the series in ways that I’ve never thought of before. Things you’ll hear about if you listen: the full-blood patriarchy; a series called ‘Granger danger’; an analysis on fan theories like Ron Weasley = time-traveling Dumbledore; and a lot about the issues of sexism, racism, abuse, and other things you probably didn’t totally understand when you first read the Harry Potter books.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

41. A real emergency, Ear Shot

Stepping back from the macrocosm, this Earshot episode lets us become a fly on the wall in a hospital in Canberra, Australia. We follow Dr. David Caldicott, who understands the need for humor in a tense situation and the need for empathy on a daily basis.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

42. The Science of Immortality, The Adventures of Memento Mori

Independent

“Remember to die” is the tagline for The Adventures of Memento Mori, a podcast about death that’s both satirical and philosophical. This episode dives into the weird, sci-fi-but-true world of transhumanism and immortality. (Okay, we know this was technically published on December 30, 2015 — but we wrote about it in 2016, we’re counting it on this list!)

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

43. The New Telenovela, Planet Money

NPR

The story of Telemundo’s major pivot towards darker and more violent programming makes this episode worth listening to, but the bit about their hand in bringing down infamous drug lord El Chapo puts this into a whole other category of bizarre and fascinating.

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

44. The Very Quiet Foreign Girls poetry group, The Guardian Long Read

The Guardian

Kate Clanchy is a Writer in Residence at Oxford Spires Academy; a school of immigrants and refugees, where over 50 different languages grace its halls. The school recognized the need for a silence about each child’s immigration story; not to censor the experience, but to let each child a certain freedom to learn. Clanchy found a loophole to this code of silence in the poem of one student, Priya, about the things she didn’t remember and didn’t know. And so began the creation of the Very Quiet Foreign Girls poetry group (or later known as the Other Countries poetry group). This article follows the growth of young students finding their voices and their memories through poetry, and perhaps the growth of the surrounding teachers finding the voices of “new England, an English inflected with all the accents of the world, with the mass migration of the early years of the 21st century, the voices of the Very Quiet Foreign Girls.” Quite a better narrative, don’t you think, to build words instead of walls?

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

45. Promises: The Potions Master, Harry Potter and the Sacred Text

Independent

The biggest book of the summer was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and script for the new Harry Potter play. Most of us took it as an opportunity to dive down memory lane and spend a weekend pretending we were still just kids reading the new Harry Potter book — but podcasts like Harry Potter and the Sacred Text have been keeping the Harry Potter fandom alive all along. This one reads Harry Potter ‘as if it were sacred’ — almost like a bible study. This episode on promises is one of their best.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

46. Charlie’s Conundrum, Sleepover

CBC

The entire concept of Sleepover is a delight: producer Sook-Yin Lee brings together four strangers to meet overnight in a hotel, and solve each other’s problems. What comes next is a lovely display of radical vulnerability, openness, and empathy.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

47. Hard Knock Life, Radiolab

I’ll be the first on to jump on a lady beetle’s back
but it’s hard out here and I’m not playin’
The human beings hear me and then they get to sprayin’
They think that I’m the devil so they get to fumigatin’
They don’t understand that I’m only procreatin’

Song lyrics about beetle romance and Hamilton — radio shows making silly songs about odd topics is absolutely a trend this year, and we are loving it.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

48. Letters to the Dead, Memory Motel

Listening Booth Media

Memory Motel’s fourth episode, Letters to the Dead, brings us to the weird (and expensive) world of obituaries in the U.S. and in Iceland — solidifying my theory that radio + obituaries are a good match.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

49. Fed Ex Flight 705, The Dollop

Independent

THIS. STORY. IS. BONKERS.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

50. Wait, You’re Into [Insert Kink] Too?!, Note to Self

WNYC

Public radio gets sexy: a collaboration with Kaitlin Prest of The Heart about an app for pushing the boundaries in the bedroom.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

51. The Single Straight Guy Focus Group, Why Oh Why

Panoply

Why Oh Why used to be an independent podcast that went on hiatus and is now back with Panoply. When I heard that it was back, I couldn’t contain my joy and that joy lasted when listening to the first episode. The concept is simple: ten single straight guys, half in a studio in D.C., the other half in a studio in Brooklyn. They talk about their dating philosophies. Which might be boring, if it weren’t for host Andrea Silenzi who brings so much wonderfulness to this situation that you’ll barely believe it.

Chosen by: Sara Weber, writer of Adolescence is a marketing tool

52. A Girl of Ivory, Love+Radio

Here’s the story of a polyamorous relationship between two married Americans and their Russian girlfriend — or is it? In true Love+Radio fashion, this story bends and twists as new information unfolds, revealing that what seems like a straightforward (if multifaceted) relationship is not at all what it seems.

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

53. The Big Man Can’t Shoot, Revisionist History

Panoply

Malcolm Gladwell’s strength is in taking inexplicable human behavior and breaking it down in interesting ways. In this case it’s the idea of thresholds and what it takes for you to be willing to do something. Gladwell explores this by asking why basketball players don’t do the granny shot at the foul line when it’s clearly more effective and why the one person who did do it simply didn’t care what people thought.

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

54. The Personality Myth, Invisibilia

NPR

My favorite thing about Invisibilia is that it sometimes completely blows up how you think the world works. Discovering you subscribe to outdated ideas can be exhilarating if you are open minded, but when it involves core beliefs about yourself-like that personality is a real thing that is stable-all bets are off. Only give this a listen if you don’t mind a little existential panic (um, not that that happened to me).

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

55. Hobo Norm, Being a Better Man

Independent: All Herigstad

I really like this podcast. Alf Herigstad has led a strange and interesting life and this story of how he, as a boy, helped a homeless man, is an excellent piece of storytelling and is indicative of what you find in the podcast in general.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

56. The foul reign of the biological clock by Moira Weigel, The Guardian Long Read

The Guardian Audio

The concept of a biological clock, mostly used when referring to either a woman’s aging eggs or a woman’s desire/pressure to have children pressing down on her, feels ageless and inherent. But actually, the concept was invented, and invented recently: because women entered the workforce.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

57. The Magic Bureaucrat, The Uncertain Hour

Minnesota Public Radio

Among this year’s deep dives is comes an exploration of the much-maligned but little-understood American welfare system. Who actually benefits from this government money?

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

58. Debatable, Radiolab

WNYC

The story of when one debate team challenges the entire culture of debate — and how it relates to race, privilege, and power. The speech at the end is one of the most passionate, 🔥 speeches we’ve ever heard.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

59. Tell Me I’m Fat, This American Life

PRX/Chicago Public Media

Let me come out like Lindy West does: I’m fat. And I just don’t hear fatness spoken about, especially beyond a general great message of self-love and body positivity. I finally heard myself on the radio. I wrote a note to friends & family to listen, and felt like I finally publicly acknowledged an aspect of myself, like I was stepping into my body fully and completely for better or for worse.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

60. Trapped on the Turnpike, Us & Them

For this episode, host Trey Kay started recording his own experience trapped in his car for 27 hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with hundreds of other cars. The entire time he was stuck without much information, water, food, or any hope help would come soon, he could see cars moving smoothly on the other side of the barrier. Us and them. This is also just a really great example of how badly things can go even though our modern sensibilities tell us we wouldn’t ever get stuck for 27 hours on a highway here.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

61. Inside DCF, Rumble Strip Vermont

Independent

The Department of Children and Families in Vermont has been an incredibly tense place the last few years, with increasing burdens and threats placed on caseworkers. It came to a head in August 2015 with the murder of caseworker Lara Sobel by a mother who had lost custody to her child. Erica Heilman takes her compassion and questions to caseworkers inside DCF to see what it is exactly they are doing, not doing, struggling with, and facing for the children of Vermont.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

62. One Doctor’s Mission: Safe Abortions in the South, Only Human

A male OBGYN raised as a born-again Christian in the deep south talks about his decision to provide safe abortions to pregnant people in the bible belt. Favorite quote: “People ask the question of when does life begin? Does life begin at conception? No, life begins before conception. Life is a process. You can’t have a dead egg and a dead sperm and get a live zygote.”

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

63. Hoofprints on the Heart, HumaNature

Wyoming Public Media, 21 minutes

This is the heartwarming story of a man and his… donkey. Yes, his donkey. And the amazing voyage that the two took together down through Central and South America. HumaNature is really good at telling stories about how humans interact with the world around them.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

64. Backyard lion safari, The Real Thing

This lovingly-crafted new show from Australian radiomakers Mike Williams and Timothy Nicastri was a 2016 stand-out for us. Its stories, which seek to reveal ‘the real Australia’, are funny and warm and will hook you, casually, by the heart. Episode 4 delivers the incredible true tale of an escaped lion terrorising a sleepy Aussie suburb, as recalled by the locals who lived it.

Chosen by: Editor, The Audit

65. The Cathedral, Reply All

When one year old Joel Green was diagnosed with terminal cancer, their parents did something strange–they poured their heart and soul into a video game to honor him. As a father of young kids, this episode hit me hard and made me realize I have to listen to podcasts in my own private space. I don’t want to have to explain to people on the street that I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

66. Tree Free, Flash Forward

Independent: Rose Eveleth

Novelties: a friend bringing a notepad instead of a laptop, a tracking system at work still on paper and not in a database. Is a paperless, treeless society a possibility in the future? Host Rose Eveleth doesn’t think so, but that doesn’t stop her from questioning.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

67. If You Could Do Anything?, Anxious Machine

The Heard

Rob McGinley Myers gets super-passionate about a big, new idea for audio storytelling. He talks about the future of journalism, makes comparisons to podcasts and the printing press, and goes on super-excited tangents in a way that’s infectious and charming. (Er, and then… nothing. What happens next, Rob??)

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

68. Being Blind on the Internet, Control Z

A story about a radio producer who is completely blind, and what it’s like to experience the internet without your sight — and if you knew you were losing your eyesight, how would you prepare your future internet world?

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

69. Home on Lagrange, 99% Invisible

I am a sucker for the overall aesthetic that optimistic artists during the space race envisioned for the future. There is so much hope and simplicity embedded in how they thought things were supposed to go in the decades ahead. Large utopian space cities orbiting the Earth, moon bases, space tourism–all things that at one point felt just around the corner. This fantastic episode focuses on the man who is largely responsible for making people feel like space was becoming an actual place to visit. Even if his ideas are now much further away than originally hoped, you’ll instantly recognize his vision if you’ve brushed up against any sci-fi books, movies or games in the last two decades.

Chosen by: Erik, writer at Bello Collective

70. The Natural State of Hitchhiking, Here Be Monsters

KCRW

This was the first episode of HBM that I had heard, and the storytelling in it is excellent and the adventures that Jeff Entman has while traveling through Arkansas was interesting and the mood was set well both by the music and Entman’s own voice.

Chosen by: Calen, writer at Bello Collective

71. Champagne on the rocks, Outside/In

NHPR

If you ran 1,900 miles, you’d probably feel like you earned a drink or two, right? Not allowed in Baxter State Park in Maine, where ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek popped a bottle of champagne after reaching the end of the Appalachian Trail in Mount Katahdin.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

72. The Science of Survival, Struck by Lightning, Outside Podcast

Outside Magazine

The series Science of Survival uses rich sound design, disastrous situations, and the amazing-yet-fragile human body to tell stories of survival.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

73. Science Vs.: Organic Food, Science Vs.

Australian podcast producer Wendy Zukerman made the move to NYC to produce Science Vs., and her show is still as delightful, silly, and insightful as ever.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

74. School, Part One and Part Two, How to Be a Girl

The Heard

As an avid listener of podcasts, and lately such an avid listener that I have to listen to a lot of stuff at 2x or 1.5x the speed, I crave the kind of stop what you’re doing, sit down, lose sense of time, and listen experiences. Both of these episodes were that for me, and my husband included: we did it wordlessly, intuitively, laying down to listen right when it started, like we were compelled to by Marlo Mack’s voice. These two episodes are about M, a transgender 7-year-old girl, and her mom Marlo as they navigate the waters of school. M starts at a new public school, and struggles with privacy and friendship, wanting to keep her secret because who’s business is it to care about her privates?, but also wanting to let her new best friends know because it’s part of her. And Mack struggles with similar questions: will the teachers openly talk about even the word “transgender,” will the kids even care or is it the parents to worry about, should my daughter come out now and let the chips fall where they may? Hearing this story is an honor I don’t take for granted, for Mack and M to so openly (and carefully) share this story, this narrative, this life.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

75. Anatomy of Doubt, This American Life

PRX/Chicago Public Media

A wrenching exhibit of women, rape, and unbelief. When she was 18 years old, Marie was raped by a man who broke into her home in the middle of the night. Everyone in her life doubted her, including her foster mom, and so the police doubted her too: enough to make Marie doubt her own sanity and memories. The only reason Marie’s truth was finally believed was because of an investigation states away in Colorado, two years later. There are so many layers to this story; complex, and deep, and unsatisfying, for humans can make such awful mistakes. (The print version of this story was written by Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project and and T. Christian Miller of ProPublica.)

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

76. Sudculture (part I of II), Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything

The wonkish, weird world of Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything has had some standout series — like the one on the gentrification of NYC, or his expose inside the sharing economy. But this two-part series on the growing craft beer scene in America is one of my favorites to date.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

77. Other People’s Food, The Sporkful

WNYC

Is food racist? This is the question our legendary eater Dan Pashman sets out to explore on a rapid fire five part series, released each weekday. Excellent work that brought in a multitude of voices, cultures, and food to recognize and talk through many of our superficially-unknown assumptions about what we eat.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

78. The Virginia Tech Massacre, Campus

CBC

9 years ago, Seung-Hui Cho opened fire at Virginia Tech, killing 32 innocent college students, making it the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. This episode set up CBC’s Campus two-part season finale where they recreated the horrific events using first-person narratives & a chilling, audio-rich soundscape while exploring the psychological (and physical) scars still remaining. As the U.S. continues to be torn apart with a seemingly endless string of newsworthy shootings, the Virginia Tech massacre sadly remains relevant.

Chosen by: Matt, writer at Bello Collective

79. On The Inside, Reply All

Reply All has produced consistently incredible, standout shows this year, but this 4-part series, On The Inside, is the best in journalism and audio reporting. It starts with an investigation of a blog written from inside a maximum security prison, and ends with bone-chilling conversations and questions about innocence, autism, and murder.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

80. Silent Evidence, The Heart

When Tennessee Watson was a kid in gym class, her instructor touched her inappropriately. The trajectory of her life was changed in one afternoon. This series takes us on a devastating journey into one woman’s decades-long attempts at understanding what happened, to confronting her abuser, to taking him to court and into the unwieldy justice system that lets rape and sexual abuse slip through the cracks. This is a must listen.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

81. White Like Me, The United States of Anxiety

WNYC and The Nation

It’s been a rough year in American politics — which makes it a great year for podcasts about American politics. During the campaigns, The United States of Anxiety set out to figure out where we’d be on November 9th and what brought us to this point in the first place. In this episode: white America.

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

82. My Damn Mind, This American Life

PRX/Chicago Public Media

An intensely captivating episode from This American Life, which was made in collaboration with the New York Times (you can read the article here, When the Hospital Fires the Bullet). The first act, and a majority of the episode, is about a Houston college student, Alan Pean, who was shot by an off-duty cop in a hospital during a manic episode. You’re sucked in straight away from this very idea of a patient being shot by a cop, and then TAL takes you through what led up to Pean’s manic episode until the shot was fired, then goes on to report deeply unsatisfying aftermath.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

83. “Heptapod B” from the ‘Arrival’ Score, Song Exploder

Radiotopia

Hrishikesh Hirway, the host of Song Exploder, always creates consistently interesting, detailed ‘explosions’ telling the story behind songs. In a partnership with New York Magazine’s Vulture, this series highlights Oscar-worthy film music.

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

84. Best of the Best 2016, Re:sound

Third Coast International Audio Festival/WBEZ

It wouldn’t make sense to have a best-of list without Third Coast’s best of the best! In honor of the prestigious annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition for audio documentaries worldwide, we offer these winners. (Congratulations to the winner of the GOLD, Mariya from The Heart)

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

85. In the Name of…, Out in the Open

CBC

I love Out in the Open because of its commitment to airing experiences that many share, but few discuss: divorce, for example, or periods. But I love this episode because its topic — names — doesn’t at first seem like something we hide. As always, host Piya Chattopadhyay (who has her own name struggles) comes at the subject from a diverse variety of directions, building a varied portrait of names and those who use, and choose, them.

Chosen by: Galen, writer at Bello Collective

86. Movements, ARRVLS

The Heard

Two radio producers do something so very perfectly Radio Producer: both keep track of moves across the country through sound, recording everything from thoughts to ambient noise, and then weave all the snippets into this tapestry. It’s lovely, and made me feel a little bit like a newborn.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

87. Shadowed Qualities, StartUp

Gimlet Media

To be honest, StartUp lost us a bit somewhere between their second and fourth season. And it seems like no one is more aware of that than the StartUp team themselves. In this mini-season, they go back to their roots to do what they do best: honest self-reflection on their own business. This episode is like eavesdropping on a therapy session — it’s almost too personal to listen to (almost).

Chosen by: Brittany, editor at Bello Collective

88. What to do with Clogheen?, Documentary on One

RTE Radio 1

A woman from the city Cork, Ireland inherits her uncle’s house & family hotel in a rural village in County Tipperary, a place she fondly spent her holidays and weekends as a child. Then she spends over two years trying to decide whether to live in it, run it as a business, or to give it up entirely. Owning land in Ireland, and the thought of giving up that land, is a complicated matter, with strings of imperialism, independence, freedom, and defiance all tied up into it. So Kathriona Devereux brings in a jury of family, friends, and real estate experts to help her with this difficult decision.

Chosen by: Dana, editor at Bello Collective

89. Galit, Heavyweight