Top Society & Culture Podcasts

Mental healthcare in America is a maze — by design.

Imagine a sprawling house in which every room, doorway, and hall passage was designed by a different architect. Doorways don't connect. Staircases lead to nowhere. Rooms are cut off from each other. That's how reporter Will James describes our complicated system for treating people with severe mental illness – a system that, almost by design, loses patients with psychosis to an endless loop between the streets, jail, clinics, courts and a shrinking number of hospital beds.

Lost Patients is a deeply-reported, six-part docuseries examining the difficulties of treating serious mental illness through the lens of one city's past, present and future. With real-life testimonials from patients, families, and professionals on the front lines, Lost Patients provides a real, solutions-oriented look at how we got stuck here...and what we might do to break free.

Lost Patients is a joint production of KUOW and Seattle Times.

Tiffany D. Cross leads ACross Generations, a plainspoken and candid conversation with Black women from different stages in life. Each episode convenes a seasoned elder, middle-aged, and younger Black woman to discuss a single topic ranging from changing perspectives on sex to what you wish you knew about money in your 20's to the collective state of our womanhood in these contemporary times. Their unique perspectives through provocative, and introspective dialogue that can only come from the safe space that is created by Black women regardless of age.

By delving into subjects that affect women across generations, this podcast provides a space for commonality, familiarity, and honesty, through insightful and sage discussions. It weens  audiences of all backgrounds on the oracle that is Black womanhood by broadening perspectives and deepening understanding through wisdom, wit, laughter, tears, and joy.

Archetypes with Meghan - a podcast where we investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.

Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/

A podcast to help women discover (and rediscover) their confidence and style. 

Alison Lumbatis is a style psychology expert, speaker, best-selling author, and CEO of Outfit Formulas. Over the past decade, she's helped hundreds of thousands of women feel more confident in their clothes. 

Now, she's bringing these tools, frameworks, and real-life conversations to the masses. The Alison Lumbatis Show's mission is to help YOU feel more confident in your clothes so you can feel more confident in your everyday life. 

For episodes and more information on the podcast, visit AlisonLumbatis.com/podcast 

For more information about her outfit planning program, Outfit Formulas, visit OutfitFormulas.com 

The People’s Recorder is a podcast about the 1930s Federal Writers’ Project: what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today.

Each episode features stories of individual writers, new places, and the project's impact on people's lives. Along the way we hear from historians, novelists, and others who shed light on that experience and unexpected connections to American society today.

The People's Recorder recounts a forgotten chapter in our history.  Join us on an unvarnished tour of America.

The People’s Recorder is produced by Spark Media with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you really know about the menstrual cycle? In this award-winning podcast India Rakusen explores the whole bloody story, discovering facts that could change your life. Periods are just the beginning.

When Frank Farian first laid eyes on Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, he saw everything he wasn’t. They were handsome, young, and Black. But Frank had something they didn’t. He had power.

So, Frank offered them a devil’s bargain. Almost overnight, Milli Vanilli’s debut album went five times platinum and scored a Grammy nomination. But when the lie at the center of their success started to unravel, Rob and Fab would discover the hard way the difference between star power and real power.

From Wondery, Blame It on the Fame is a story about the lie that shot to #1 and what it cost to tell the truth. Hosted by Amanda Seales.

Binge all episodes of Blame it on the Fame: Milli Vanilli exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/blame-it-on-the-fame/ now. 

We’re an institution with a big vision to empower wildly influential citizen leaders with the perspective to build a prosperous future. Adding voice to our values, The Alder Podcast will explore timeless themes like the sacred privilege of liberty, how to live a legacy, and the ways good leadership can change the world. Stay tuned for insights that will help you learn, grow, and make a difference. For more information, visit www.alder.co.

NEW SEASON: Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team. Basketball, the Cold War, and rock band The Grateful Dead collide in this incredible true story. Presented by the late NBA star Bill Walton. Starts19 May.

Unbelievable stories from the world of sport. Amazing Sport Stories brings you the greatest twists and personal journeys from sport history. Listen for inspiring tales of courage, drama, myths and legends from all over the globe.

From minor-league underdogs to Olympic champions. These are sporting heroes you’ll wish you’d known about and now probably won’t forget.

Previous seasons include The Legend of Takhti, about the Iran wrestling hero who died under mysterious circumstances. Or The Black 14, about the group of Black American football players who took a stand against racism in the game. And Chasing Mountains, the story of five female mountaineers battling to make climbing history.

All told in mini seasons and one-off documentary episodes. #AmazingSportStories

Marsha P. Johnson is THE icon of the LGBTQ+ movement and one of the mothers of the fight for trans rights. Today, you can buy T-shirts emblazoned with her face or walk through a park named in her honor. This season on Afterlives, we hear from Marsha in her own words.

Afterlives is a documentary podcast series about trans lives we’ve lost and the ways their stories have reshaped our world. Host Raquel Willis brings Marsha’s story to life through rare archival interviews and intimate conversations with queer elders, friends, and historians.  Legend says she threw the first brick at the Stonewall riots, setting off the modern movement for queer rights. Immortalized by Warhol and known as “The Saint of Christopher Street,” Marsha was also unhoused, surviving through sex work, navigating violence, and resisting with joy.

More than 30 years after her still-unsolved death in the Hudson River, Marsha’s voice resounds louder than ever. As trans rights face renewed threats, Afterlives celebrates Marsha’s story and reflects on her enduring power as a trans ancestor.

As former high-level CIA operatives, John Sipher and Jerry O'Shea would create fake conspiracies around the world. Now, with the help of experts, they execute their own fun and fearless investigation into conspiracy theories past and present to assess what's real. And how. And why.

- Executive Producers: Adam Davidson, John Sipher, Jerry O'Shea & Jonathan Stern

- Associate Producer: Rachel Harner

- A production of Honorable Mention and Abominable Pictures