Top Society & Culture Podcasts

Podcrushed — the podcast where Penn Badgley reads your middle school story -- explores the heartbreak, anxiety and self-discovery of being a teenager. Hosts Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari bring you stories and conversations about middle school - from childhood crushes, to battles with body hair, to schoolyard scuffles. The results are sometimes awkward, sometimes heartwarming, and always relatable.

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

Join Emily Tisch Sussman as she sits down with a diverse group of women to explore how their personal experiences led to their pivot and eventually their success. She Pivots challenges the typical definitions of success and explores the role our personal stories play in our professional journeys. The series will celebrate those who have made bold moves with a view towards inspiring others to pursue their own non-linear paths. Be sure to subscribe and follow us on Instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast.

When both his popular culture podcast and long-term relationship come to an end, journalist Brendan finds he has the time — and freedom — to pursue his dream: a travel podcast where he goes places and learns about them by getting invited to a stranger’s house for dinner. A friend joins him at each destination and they drink, dance, and eat their way from Montréal to Mexico City, often learning as much about themselves as the place they’re visiting. Not Lost is both a delightful travel escape and an insightful look at people — locals and visitors alike — trying to make sense of a constantly changing world.

Not Lost is a co-production of Pushkin Industries, Topic Studios and iHeartMedia. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

For the past 7 years, Tarek Ali has always prefaced his talks with, “I never come to be right, I come to start the conversation.” And on this podcast, he continues THAT conversation. The thought-provoking conversations w not only inspire self-reflection and challenge societal norms, but also provide you with the tools for self-improvement. Tune in every week to hear Tarek have THAT conversation, either alone or with an insightful guest, as we grow closer to our highest potential—together. We talk mental & physical health, society & culture, financial literacy, business, social injustice, relationships, and so much more. Listen anywhere you get your podcasts & please RATE and REVIEW the podcast so THAT conversation can reach and heal more people.

Subscribe to subscriber edition -->  Leapintohealing.com 

Jonathan Bennett a.k.a. Aaron Samuels from Mean Girls has added another a.k.a. to his name, as host of your new favorite podcast, Pridecast. Pridecast encompasses the inspiration of LGBTQIA+ community as it shares impactful stories to inform, educate and inspire through personal storytelling, based on real life experiences from trailblazer Jonathan and his remarkable guests.

Here’s what the cast of Mean Girls is saying about Pridecast: 

"Is Pridecast a carb?"

—Regina George

"Pridecast is so fetch!"

—Gretchen Wieners

"Pridecast is like a cake filled with rainbows and smiles that everyone can listen to and feel happy."

-Crying Girl That Didn’t Go to North Shore High

Pridecast was created in collaboration with LA Pride which, for over 50 years has been one of the largest LGBTQ events in the world. The celebration, which takes place over one weekend each year, champions equality, diversity and inclusion in the LGBTQ community and beyond. It’s a celebration too big for just once a year. That’s why we createdPridecast...your weekly dose of inspiration hosted by Jonathan Bennett who’s guaranteed to deliver the fun, energy and laughs.

In the 1940s, a group of Mormon dreamers started a town in the Mexican desert. But what began as a utopian vision quickly turned sour when the founding family’s son, Ervil LeBaron, struggled for control of the community and unleashed a multi-generational crimewave – the ripples of which are still being felt today.

From bank robbery to drug smuggling, auto theft rings to multiple murders, a deadly cult evolved into a sophisticated organized crime family. In Deliver Us From Ervil, journalist Jesse Hyde tells the story of Ervil LeBaron and the unlikely ensemble of reporters, cops, survivors and family insiders trying to halt his bloody legacy.

Deliver Us From Ervil is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio.

Welcome to BEING Studios Audio Reality®: reality TV for your ears. This season, it’s BEING Trans. Over the course of the season, you’ll meet Jeffrey, a transgender man and standup comic navigating a relationship with his partner, Emma. You’ll meet Mariana, a trans woman from Guatemala who is tackling tough issues at a local LGBTQ center along with her coworker Kadence. You’ll meet Chloe, who’s new to Los Angeles, and new to dating as a trans woman. And you’ll meet Sy, who’s figuring out their relationship and family dynamics with their husband Robert since coming out as non-binary trans. Over the season, you’ll get to experience what it’s like BEING trans. 

Also available now: All episodes of BEING Golden, another audio reality production of BEING Studios.

Source: BEING Studios Audio Reality®

We are facing a crisis. With the continuing pandemic, stress over climate change and natural disasters, and socio-economic uncertainty it’s not hard to understand why millions of Americans say they don’t feel OK. But there is a growing amount of proof in a simple treatment available to everyone: just stepping outside.

On Human/Nature, host Marcos Trinidad, a nature expert with roots in North East L.A., will inspire you to go out and explore and connect with nature in your city. 

This podcast will empower you to reclaim your attention. Spending time in nature isn’t just good for our minds — in this tech obsessed culture — it’s the ultimate form of resistance. 

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Lucy Worsley investigates the crimes of Victorian women from a contemporary, feminist perspective.

Out of the Shadows is a podcast about America's tangled history of immigration hosted by award-winning New York Times writer Erick Galindo and entrepreneur and best-selling author Patty Rodriguez.

Season 2: Dreamers
Last season, we tackled Ronald Regan’s 1986 amnesty act, Season 2 will trace the origins of DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a contentious executive order to protect undocumented young people from being deported. Issued by former President Barack Obama in 2012, DACA was meant to be a temporary stop gap on a broken immigration system. Welcome to Season 2 of Out of the Shadows - Dreamers.

Season 1: Children of 86
Immigrants and their children have long lived in the shadows of America, their destinies aren't just shaped by where they come from but by their particular place in history.

In 1986, the lives of millions of immigrants and their children were changed by one lucky stroke of a pen by an unlikely ally, President Ronald Reagan. This podcast will examine the ripple effects the bill had on first-generation kids of immigrants who are navigating intergenerational mobility and transforming the cultural landscape. 

This is an untold story of luck, timing, triumph, opportunity, survival, and of course, hope. 

In this limited series, Jamie Loftus investigates and interrogates American spiritualism, a century-old tradition of communing with the dead that takes place in camps full of mediums across the country. Who is drawn to these camps, how did the religion come together, and why are the tarot card readers and the seance-havers fighting? Ghost Church is a look at grief, religion, and loneliness, with on-site reporting and interviews with everyone from spiritualist psychics to Protestant pastors to a very lonely carnival employee. 

Most of us have gotten at least a little emotional at some point recently. It’s natural. But why do we have emotions and how much should we pay attention to them on any given day? Can we learn to skillfully choose which emotions to listen to and which ones to just let move on by?

In More Than A Feeling, the latest podcast from Ten Percent Happier, host Saleem Reshamwala goes on a real life quest to find the answers to these questions. He’ll experiment with neuroscientists, dive into stories with historians and philosophers, and document how musicians, therapists, hairdressers and airplane pilots work with emotions. 

Saleem sifts through the human condition to find stories and insights that will help us define our most fundamental relationships: our relationship to our own emotions, and to each other’s.

Listen to More Than A Feeling on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/more-than-a-feeling/ now.

Hosted by Laura Beil (Dr. Death, Bad Batch), Sympathy Pains is a six-part series from Neon Hum Media and iHeartRadio. For 20 years, Sarah Delashmit told people around her that she had cancer, muscular dystrophy, and other illnesses. She used a wheelchair and posted selfies from a hospital bed. She told friends and coworkers she was trapped in abusive relationships, or that she was the mother of children who had died. It was all a con. Sympathy was both her great need and her powerful weapon. But unlike most scams, she didn’t want people’s money. She was after something far more valuable. 

A Country Queen and A City Queen set out on a journey of adventure, education, and a bit of self discovery as they find out how it all works. Drag Superstars Jaida Essence Hall (S12, Winner) and Heidi N Closet (S12) get to the bottom of just about everything. From drag to science to love to hot dogs, these insatiable divas want their burning questions answered...however crazy they might be!