There’s a new No. 1 podcast in America, Apple says
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — “The Daily” has been dethroned. “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which was #3 on Apple’s list of most popular podcast shows last year, moved up to first place this year.
“The Daily,” from The New York Times, was #2 this year, followed by “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” which wasn’t in the top 10 at all in 2024.
Apple, which has an outsized place in the podcast ecosystem, released the top 10 ranking and several related lists on Tuesday.
Two other shows broke into the top 10 this year: Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy,” at #7, and “The Ezra Klein Show,” another New York Times podcast, at #10.
“Crime Junkie,” “Dateline NBC,” “SmartLess,” “This American Life,” “Huberman Lab” were all returning hits this year.
Rogan remains the envy of the podcasting world, with two-to-three-hour-long sessions that routinely draw many millions of listeners and viewers.
“The Joe Rogan Experience” currently ranks #1 on YouTube’s weekly podcast chart, as well, closely followed by “The MeidasTouch Podcast,” hosted by three brothers who are outspoken opponents of President Donald Trump.
Rogan’s remarks about Trump have been closely scrutinized this year, since the podcaster endorsed the president for re-election but has been critical of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement effort and other controversies.
While a few of the most popular podcast hosts, like Rogan and Klein, spend lots of time talking about politics, many of the top shows on Apple’s list are about unsolved crimes and other mysteries.
And several of the new breakout shows this year are celebrity-driven chat shows, like “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” and “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce.”
Apple’s ranking of the top individual episodes of the year shows a range of topics: The #1 episode was from “The Telepathy Tapes,” #2 was from “Crime Junkie,” #3 was Taylor Swift’s appearance on “New Heights,” #4 was Elon Musk’s visit with Rogan, and #5 was a Trump-focused episode of “The Daily.”
A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free here.
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