"Ah, 2025-yet another heck of a year! In the audio realm, as elsewhere, inventiveness is essential during challenging times-so when video-chat podcasts predominate, celebrity-hosted podcasts won't stop proliferating, and our old friend public radio is under attack, high-quality audio shows, against all odds, persist. Jonathan Goldstein's wonderful " Heavyweight," done wrong by Spotify in late 2023, came back swinging, at Pushkin; Lauren Chooljian, of NHPR, returned with a justice-is-served follow-up episode to her excellent 2023 investigative series, "The 13th Step"; " This American Life" remained the industry standard, and has found success with a new subscription program; "Fresh Air" turned fifty and is going strong. And the ending, late this year, of two of the genre's all-time best series-"WTF with Marc Maron" and the Melvyn Bragg era of " In Our Time "-provided a moment to reflect on the medium's distinct power to educate, interrogate, and entertain, sometimes all at once."
"In an era of post-podcast-boom funding cuts, two independent projects have bravely voyaged toward the cutting edge of audio, fostering both community and surprising results. Audio Flux, an organization founded two years ago by the veteran producers Julie Shapiro and John DeLore, provides regular prompts for short-form, often experimental audio, and presents the best "fluxworks" online and at conferences and festivals. This fall, it débuted "The Audio Flux Podcast," a "zine for your ears" hosted by Amy Pearl, to showcase the highlights, including Yowei Shaw's " To Cry or Not to Cry," inspired by her layoff meeting at NPR. "Signal Hill," an audio magazine founded by Liza Yeager and Jackson Roach, has released two issues this year (accompanied by reportedly good parties) and combines long-form and shorter work, often beau"
High-quality audio shows persisted in 2025 despite funding challenges and industry shifts. Established programs and legacy hosts delivered notable final seasons and milestones while adapting new models. Jonathan Goldstein's "Heavyweight" returned to Pushkin after a problematic Spotify arrangement. Lauren Chooljian of NHPR released a justice-focused follow-up to her investigative series "The 13th Step." "This American Life" maintained industry leadership and expanded a subscription program. "Fresh Air" reached its fiftieth year. Independent initiatives such as Audio Flux and Signal Hill pushed experimental formats, fostered community, and showcased short-form and long-form audio work at festivals and online.
Read at The New Yorker
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