Lady to Lady – Comedians Tess Barker, Brandie Posey, and Barbara Gray bring on a different guest, usually a forth lady, each week. In a talk show style format, the ladies and their guests give advice, play games, and have some pretty hilarious conversations. Those guests have included notables like Gaby Dunn and Minneapolis native Kulap Vilaysack. It’s like hanging out with cool older friends, but if those friends were professional funny people. Note: this podcast has strong language and mature themes.

Oh No Ross & Carrie – Skeptics Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy are like the mythbusters of fringe science claims. With the slogan “we show up so you don’t have to,” listening to ONRAC is the safest way to answer all your ‘what would it be like if…’ questions. What would it be like if I joined a cult? What would it be like if I consulted a psychic medium? Ross and Carrie have done all that, plus a bunch more, and they’ll tell you all about it.

Radiolab – This is by far the most intense and serious show on this list, but the incredible story telling makes it worth the listen. The writing and “radio-style” production combine to make this a really immersive and engaging podcast. The episodes often feature a few different stories connected together through a theme, giving you several different ways of looking at the same thing. The people, cultures, and events featured are often somewhat obscure things that you may have never thought about before. Radiolab episodes are really well made audio-documentary. (It’s like This American life but way better and you don’t have to listen to Ira Glass speak.)

99% Invisible – Each week, Roman Mars takes on a seemingly boring thing that you’ve always taken for granted and makes it one of the most fascinating things you’ve ever learned about. With the slogan “exploring the hidden side of everything,” Mars and his team tell engrossing stories about the origins or unexpected origin stories of everyday objects – you’ll pretty much never look at anything the same way again.