Top Society & Culture Podcasts

Decoder Ring is the show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.

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

The Spill is your daily entertainment news fix where we break down the biggest celebrity headlines. Join Laura Brodnik and her cast of expert pals like Em Vernem, Tina Burke and Tina Provis for brutally honest takes on pop culture, plus their recommendations that are actually worth watching. New episodes every weekday at 3pm.

Plus we have the latest pop culture headlines every weekday with the latest Morning Tea from Ash London, and on Friday we'll give you the best new TV shows and movies to binge this weekend in our Weekend Watch.

Trust Me is a weekly interview podcast about cults, extreme belief, and the fine line between devotion and delusion—told through firsthand accounts from the people who lived it. Hosted by two women who’ve been in cults themselves, Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth, the show features survivors from groups like Heaven’s Gate, the Manson Family, NXIVM, OneTaste and more–sharing personal stories of how they got in, how they got out, and everything in between.

Each week, they invite these guests alongside experts who can dive deep into seductive leaders, the darker aspects of organized religion, and the subtler shades of groupthink and the psychology of influence. Trust Me explores it all with unfiltered honesty, dark humor, and a lot of heart. This isn’t a sensationalized deep dive into cults—it’s a compassionate, first-person exploration of what it means to believe, to belong, and to break free. At the end of the day, wanting to believe in something bigger than yourself is one of the most human instincts there is.

On In Bed With the Right hosts Moira Donegan and Adrian Daub welcome a range of scholars and critics to analyze right wing ideas about gender, sex and sexuality – and to plumb the ways in which these ideas persist in and shape our present moment.

For the curious & compassionate. Firsthand Survivor Stories of escaping cults, high-control groups & people. 

The Cults to Consciousness Podcast (and YouTube channel) is Hosted by Shelise Ann Sola (a former devout Mormon / CSA survivor) and her Producer husband, Jonathan Rosales. Not anti-religious but firmly anti-abuse, they aim to shed light on manipulative practices and systems, while promoting understanding and accountability. C2C has attracted a kind and engaged community who thoughtfully support their guests. Hit follow to join them on their advocacy mission! 

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

Actor/comedian Connor Ratliff (The Chris Gethard Show, UCB, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) embarks upon a quest to solve a very stupid mystery that has haunted him for two decades: why Tom Hanks fired him from a small role in the 2001 HBO mini-series, Band Of Brothers.

The best documentaries from the BBC World Service. Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. From the global housing crisis to gerrymandering in US politics to the miracle doctor of Lourdes, we go beyond the headlines. Each week, all year round, we bring you the stories shaping our world. From the personal voices behind the headlines to perspectives on faith and spirituality and how work and money impact our lives. Discover how people find solutions to global problems and look at the world through the lens of its media. Powered by the BBC World Service’s global network, The Documentary Podcast is about the people living the story – helping you see the world with greater clarity.

What’s the greatest celebrity notes app apology of all time? Which celebrities are actually winning their breakups? And which stan account is finally giving up on their fave? Wanna know the answers, but don’t have time to scour the internet all day? Well, Peyton Dix and Hunter Harris got you. These two internet carnivores are ready to get into all of it.

Every week on Lemme Say This, you’re in for a conversation about the latest pop culture news dominating your timeline and sparking debates in your group chats. These best friends are chronically online so you don’t have to be. There’s nothing too niche or nosey. This is a show for Club Chalamet watchers and Love Island obsessives; a safe space for silly questions, your worst opinions and doing-too-much addictions. If you want the gossip, they’ve already got the 10-page Canva presentation handy. Welcome to the group chat.

Ear Hustle is prison slang for eavesdropping, and that’s what listening to the show feels like: a raw, often funny, and always surprising peek into the reality of life inside prison. 

Hosts Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods co-created the show that launched in 2017 while Earlonne was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, where Nigel was a volunteer teaching photography. Since Earlonne’s release in 2018, the show has expanded to include stories from prisons across the state, including the California Institution for Women, as well as stories about getting out of prison and starting over, post-incarceration.

From finding romance, to grappling with a life sentence, to trying to parent via 15-minute phone calls, Ear Hustle stories deliver what This American Life host Ira Glass calls a “"very real” and “untragic” take on prison life. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a network of independent listener-supported podcasts. Discover audio with vision at radiotopia.fm and learn more about Ear Hustle at earhustlesq.com. 

Decades after Ted Kaczynski was caught, society is still asking some of the same questions about him: Is Ted a genius who went astray? Or simply a madman who murdered three people in cold blood? Project Unabom takes an in-depth look back at the Unabomber saga and Ted Kaczynski's legacy from the perspective of FBI agents who worked to solve the case, his brother who turned him in, and Ted’s very own writings. 

New episodes out every Monday. 

Project Unabom is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Pineapple Street Studios. Listen and follow on Apple Podcasts.

https://apple.co/Project_Unabom