Top 25 New Podcasts of 2022

Our ranking of top new shows for 2022 is based on average downloads per episode as measured by Podtrac across all podcast listening apps and ranks shows which were published for the first time between December 1, 2021 and November 31, 2022.  

#1 - The Trojan Horse Affair - The New York Times 

A strange letter appears on a city councilor’s desk in Birmingham, England, laying out an elaborate plot by Islamic extremists to infiltrate the city’s schools. The plot has a code name: Operation Trojan Horse. The story soon explodes in the news and kicks off a national panic. By the time it all dies down, the government has launched multiple investigations, beefed up the country’s counterterrorism policy, revamped schools and banned people from education for the rest of their lives.

To Hamza Syed, who is watching the scandal unfold in his city, the whole thing seemed … off. Because through all the official inquiries and heated speeches in Parliament, no one has ever bothered to answer a basic question: Who wrote the letter? And why? The night before Hamza is to start journalism school, he has a chance meeting in Birmingham with the reporter Brian Reed, the host of the hit podcast S-Town. Together they team up to investigate: Who wrote the Trojan Horse letter? They quickly discover that it’s a question people in power do not want them asking.

#2 - Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra - NBC News

Sitting members of Congress aiding and abetting a plot to overthrow the government. Insurrectionists criminally charged with plotting to end American democracy for good. Justice Department prosecutors under crushing political pressure. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra is the all-but-forgotten true story of good, old-fashioned American extremism getting supercharged by proximity to power. When extremist elected officials get caught plotting against America with the violent ultra right, this is the story of the lengths they will go to… to cover their tracks.

#3 Twin Flames - Wondery

We all want love, that happily-ever-after feeling of finding your soulmate. What if someone not only claimed they could help you find that perfect partner, they guaranteed it? Jeff and Shaleia, a young couple famous on YouTube, teach about ‘Twin Flames' — a deep, romantic connection with your perfect partner in their videos. It’s divine love, you’re designed for no one else, and they’re designed for no one else. But the path to finding your Twin Flame isn’t so simple. Some followers claim they were encouraged to cut ties with friends and family that are holding them back, and to claim their Twin Flame by any means necessary. From Wondery, Twin Flames is a podcast about what happens when the quest for love turns into a dangerous obsession.

#4 - Betrayal - iHeartPodcasts & Glass Podcasts

This is a story of a real-life fairytale gone horribly wrong. It’s a cautionary tale about a marriage so filled with betrayal and deceit, that many people are still recovering from its path of destruction. This is the story of Jenifer Faison. After 20 years apart, Jenifer reconnected with her college sweetheart, Spencer Herron. He was a two-time Teacher of the Year and Jen was convinced she married the perfect husband. On June 1, 2018, that all changed. Jenifer came home to find Spencer holding a search warrant. He had sexually assaulted one of his students. In the days that followed Spencer’s arrest, Jenifer uncovered a dark, secret life her husband had been living during their entire marriage. His actions shook a community, devastated his wife, and sent Spencer Herron to prison. Climbing out of the devastation would be a journey Jen could have never imagined.

#5 The Seduction - NBC News

It’s a twisted love story that unspools like a film noir, where lust and obsession lead to murder and a classic double cross. This original series from Dateline’s Keith Morrison takes us into the troubled mind of a young man, and the cold heart of a woman who needed her husband dead. If only she could find someone “man enough” to do the deed.

#6 - Fed Up - Wondery

When Emily Gellis hears rumors of people suffering horrible side effects from a trendy diet she springs into action. Armed with over a hundred thousand Instagram followers, Emily launches a social media crusade to expose F-Factor and its founder, Tanya Zuckerbrot. It’s the start of a feud that will attract trolls, lawyers, and, eventually, national media all because of fiber.

#7 - American Radical - NBC News

Rosanne Boyland hated politics. She was shy, and she rarely left her home in Georgia. But then her family got a shocking call: Rosanne had died at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in the middle of a crowd trying to force its way past a police line.

 From the depths of their grief, the Boylands vow to figure out what happened to Rosanne. Her brother-in-law, Justin Cave, reaches out to an old high school friend he hopes can help: MSNBC journalist Ayman Mohyeldin.

 

#8 - Internal Affairs - NBC News

It happened on a frigid winter night. First, a sudden moment of terror. Then, a frantic search to find a costumed killer. “Internal Affairs,” Dateline’s next original podcast series, takes us to northern Colorado, and into an obsessive and deadly romantic affair. Reported by Josh Mankiewicz, it’s a story about bad choices, a fatal attraction and men and women who proudly wore badges at work--while living lies at home. And when the day of reckoning came, the people with the badges had to investigate their own.

#9 - All There Is with Anderson Cooper - CNN

Anderson Cooper takes us on a deeply personal exploration of loss and grief. He starts recording while packing up the apartment of his late mother Gloria Vanderbilt. Going through her journals and keepsakes, as well as things left behind by his father and brother, Cooper begins a series of emotional and moving conversations about the people we lose, the things they leave behind, and how to live on - with loss, with laughter, and with love. 

#10 - Dateline: Missing In America - NBC News

Are you the key to solving a mystery? That question is at the heart of this all-new original series from Dateline. Correspondents Josh Mankiewicz and Andrea Canning report on perplexing missing person cases brought to Dateline’s attention by our social media followers. Each episode will focus on one person’s story, as told by those left behind. Listen carefully to the details, descriptions and clues offered by family, friends and investigators. Something you hear might jog a memory that could help authorities crack a case.

#11 - Families Who Kill - Wondery

In the era of some of the most heinous serial killers of all time, one murderous family went curiously unnoticed: The McCrarys. Led by a psychopathic patriarch and his cunning son-in-law, this Texas clan roamed the country robbing, kidnapping, and killing up to 20 people, most of them taken from donut shops. “Families Who Kill: The Donut Shop Murders” recounts the wild and deeply disturbing story of an unhinged American family and the terrible brutality they unleashed. The podcast features the taped confessions of one of the killers, given when he was serving a life term in Colorado.

#12 Sympathy Pains - iHeartPodcasts

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.

#13 - The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley - Wondery

On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was found fatally shot in a car on a dark North Hollywood street. The prime suspect was her husband, famed actor Robert Blake. But Bonny, a longtime con artist, had plenty of enemies. She left behind a trail of men she’d scammed, and she had a volatile relationship with Christian Brando, the troubled son of movie star Marlon Brando.

Not since the O.J. Simpson case had the eyes of the nation been so fixated on a homicide. The search for Bonny’s killer took detectives on an eleven-month odyssey across the country and through Hollywood's underbelly of hustlers, drug addicts, and would-be hitmen. It would be the most expensive murder investigation in LAPD history to date.

This is the story of Robert and Bonny’s toxic relationship, her shocking murder, and his chaotic trial. Did actor Robert Blake kill his wife? Or was the murder someone else's vendetta?

#14 - Will Be Wild - Wondery

Will Be Wild is a new 8-part series about the forces that led to the January 6th insurrection and what comes next. Through in-depth stories from a wide range of characters – from people who tried to stop the attack to those who took part – hosts Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz explore the ongoing effort to bring autocracy to America, the lasting damage that effort is doing to our democracy, and the fate of our attempts to combat those anti-democratic forces. Because January 6th wasn't the end of the story, January 6th was just a practice run.


#15 - Sacred Scandal - iHeartPodcasts

Two decades ago, on a calm, dark Miami night, a nun was stabbed nearly 100 times on the grounds of a prestigious private academy and monastery, by Mykhaylo Kofel. As investigators started asking questions around this Byzantine Catholic School and the gruesome murder, they found more than just her killer. In a search for answers that stretches into some of the most remote villages of Eastern Europe, they uncovered allegations of sexual abuse, secret letters to the Vatican and other mysteries of faith. 

Sacred Scandal unravels the fuller picture that came to light in the wake of this crime. Led by a former student, told by those who lived through the aftermath, and Kofel himself, the show pieces together a complicated narrative that, twenty years later, still has those closest to it questioning what they truly believe... including a man who’s spent half his life in prison for the crime: “It’s so unbelievable. It definitely wasn’t me. I’m not a killer. No way. That’s not me.” — Mykhaylo Kofel, 2021

#16 - Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery - WNYC Studios

New Jersey politics is not for the faint of heart. But the brutal killing of John and Joyce Sheridan, a prominent couple with personal ties to three governors, shocks even the most cynical operatives. The mystery surrounding the crime sends their son on a quest for truth. Dead End is a story of crime and corruption at the highest levels of society in the Garden State.

#17 - What Happened To Sandy Beal - iHeartPodcasts

What Happened to Sandy Beal investigates the violent death of a young woman who dreamed of a career in law enforcement. The search for answers leads to accusations of conspiracy and cover up that have haunted her family for more than 40 years. Investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsen untangles the mystery at the heart of the case — and reveals a troubling pattern of behavior by local police.


#18 - Scamfluencers - Wondery

You never really know someone…especially online. In today’s world, the power of influence can be the quickest path to money and fame, and it often ends in ruin. These are the stories of the world’s most insidious Scamfluencers. And we are their prey. On Wondery’s new weekly series, join co-hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi as they unpack epic stories of deception from the worlds of social media, fashion, finance, health, and wellness. These influencers claim to be everything from charismatic healers to trusted financial insiders to experts in dating. They cast spells over millions. Why do we believe them, and how does our culture allow them to thrive? From Black Swan Murder to a fake social media influencer to an audacious Hollywood Ponzi schemer, each season will take the listener along the twists and turns, the impact on victims, and what’s left when the facade falls away.

#19 - The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon - iHeartPodcasts

Welcome to the Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon produced by HBO Max and iHeartRadio. This show is the go-to audio destination to unpack and discuss everything Game of Thrones for casual and die-hard fans alike, starting with the new HBO Original series, House of the Dragon. Join our hosts Jason Concepcion (X-Ray Vision) and Greta Johnsen (WBEZ's Nerdette podcast) every week as they share insights, fan questions, exclusive interviews with the cast and crew, and a whole lot of thoughts and opinions. It’s the only podcast with the inside scoop on all things Game of Thrones. It is also produced in association with Crooked Media.

#20 - The James Brown Mystery - CNN

A strange phone call reveals a question from the grave – was The Godfather of Soul murdered? Almost 40 years ago, a songwriter found herself in musician James Brown’s inner circle. The relationship would nearly destroy her career. Decades later, she’s trying to solve the mystery of James Brown's death…and her own life. When she makes a call to CNN reporter Thomas Lake, the two stumble into a world of secrets, intimidation, and suspected foul play. 

#21 - Who Killed Daphne? - Wondery

When a car bomb kills Daphne Caruana Galizia on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Malta, the hunt for her killers exposes secrets with consequences that go far beyond its shores. In the aftermath of her death an international team of journalists comes together to continue her work. Along the way they start to uncover clues that might lead to her killers. From Wondery, comes a new story about power, corruption and one woman’s fight for the truth. 

#22 - Lost In Panama - Kast Media

In 2014, Dutch friends Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers disappeared while hiking a jungle trail in Panama. Two months later, investigators found their remains, as well as a backpack with a digital camera filled with photos that hinted at a darker story. What happened to Kris and Lisanne? In this investigative series, journalists Mariana Atencio and Jeremy Kryt retrace the last steps of the doomed women. Their search for the truth immerses them in eight years’ worth of conflicting evidence, testimonies, and rumors, as on-the-ground witnesses in Panama come forward for the first time. This explosive new evidence sets off a real-time race to reopen the case, and finally get justice for Kris and Lisanne.

#23 - - The Letter - Lemonada Media,  KSL Podcasts & Workhouse Media

In August of 1996, longtime friends on the verge of adulthood - Zachary Snarr and Yvette Rodier - headed into the mountains a few miles from their Salt Lake City homes, where they planned to spend the evening taking pictures of the rising full moon. But a 19-year-old stranger carrying a gun happened across them, changing dozens of lives with one fateful decision.

The crime sent shockwaves through the community that continued to reverberate long after the media turned its attention to other tragedies. But no one expected what came next - The Letter.

#24 - Sold a Story - American Public Media

Millions of kids can't read well. Scientists have known for decades how children learn to read but many schools are ignoring the research. They buy teacher training and books that are rooted in a disproven idea. Emily Hanford investigates four authors and a publishing company that have made millions selling this idea.

#25 - American Hostage - Wondery

Based on a true story, American Hostage stars Jon Hamm as Fred Heckman, a beloved local radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker, Tony Kiritsis, demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program. Kiritsis has tied a shotgun to his banker’s neck in grim fashion, but through Heckman's radio show he gradually becomes a media sensation and unexpected anti-hero during a nail biting 63-hour standoff.

 In addition to the Top New Shows year-end ranking, Podtrac also publishes these monthly Rankings:

Top New Shows of 2022 Ranking Methodology

  • To qualify as “new”, a show must have published its first episode between December 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022.

  • Ranking is based on average downloads per episode from December 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022 as measured by Podtrac.

  • Episodes marked by publisher as Bonus or Trailer episodes are excluded from the calculations.