The Kallys® – Best Podcasts of 2025: The Ultimate List
The Kallys® are an annual set of made-up awards (aren’t they all?) that celebrate my favourite creative works from the calendar year just gone. It’s a fun way to reflect on my favourite arty experiences and share them with others. I give you full permission to pass these suggestions off as your own when someone comes to you for a cool recommendation. I hereby present The Kallys®: Best Podcasts of 2025.
Much of my podcast listening happens on my morning walks, so I tend to stick to some tried and tested podcasts that satisfy my brainbox (and, crucially, stick to podcasts with regular release schedules – I am something of a creature of habit).
But every now and again I branch out and find a new audible broadcast to add to the collection. So this year’s list features some familiar friends, as well as some newfound additions.
These are the best podcasts I poured into my ears this year.
1 \ What Did You Do Yesterday?
My friend Gareth suggested this podcast because he knew I was a fan of Irish comedian David O’Doherty. So this podcast, with its silly central premise, was right up my alley. In essence, The DOD teams up with English sportscaster Max Rushden, and together they get a guest (unsurprisingly it is often comedians or sporting type people) to recount the minutiae of their day 24 hours prior. Hence the name of the podcast. Sounds mundane. It is. But that’s the best part. The more mundane it is, the funnier it gets. Wait till you hear about what Gary Lineker had for his breakfast. If you’re in need of something light & slightly silly, with amiable hosts, then this is the kind of podcast you’ll love.
2 \ Heavyweight
This podcast was absent for a while on my feed as it fell foul of podcasting cutbacks. It was recently resurrected and If you haven’t listened to it before, then this is a perfect time to jump in. To warm us up on their new feedthey republished some of the original stories, with the nifty addition of a fresh coda. In recent months a handful of brand new stories have surfaced, with fresh tales of people who carry a heavy weight. And it’s up to Jonathan Goldstein to solve the mystery, which can range from relocating long lost relatives to tracking down age-old apologies. All done with ambling charm and self-deprecating wit. This is a podcast that feels incredibly human, while also managing to satisfy that part of our brain that seeks a resolution.
3 \ The Missing Crypto Queen
This podcast was recommended to me on LinkedIn of all places and here’s what it taught me about B2B marketing… (If you’re looking for those kinds of tenuously linked type of posts, then might I recommend LinkedIn Lunatics on reddit?). In actual fact, this is a well-told and well-researched BBC investigation into OneCoin (a pyramid-shaped cryptocurrency scam of mindboggling proportions) and the mysterious disappearance of its founder Dr. Ruja Ignatova. I won’t spoil anything though, because this is one of those podcasts where it is best enjoyed as it unfurls. Recorded and released over a period of several years (and, even now, the story is not fully told) this feels urgent and reflective of the age we live in.
I used to be an avid listener of Reply All (which has one of the best standalone episodes of all time. Even the Guardian nods along sagely to that claim), and I have followed its two hosts, PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman, in their respective audio escapades since that show fell apart.
Vogt has gone on to create Search Engine and the recent Berghain episode is all kinds of absorbing and odd, while also being a cool peek inside a nightclub subculture unbeknownst to many of us. It’s a cracking listen, so much so that it is now being turned into a movie with Bowen Yang.
And Goldman’s podcast Hyperfixed continues to be a delightful series of dives into strange minutiae, with the bonkers world of illegal cat-drug trading among his very best. A two-parter that will take you down a rabbit (cat?) hole you didn’t see coming.
