10 Podcasts I’m Loving in 2026

Hey there, I’m Jess ✨. On The Signature, I share reflections on beauty, routines, travel, wellness, culture, and everyday life. For those drawn to a calmer, more intentional way of living, I send a free newsletter each month on the 7th. You're welcome to join.

The first podcast I listened to, on YouTube, was Serial by American journalist Sarah Koenig. It was over a decade ago and that first season, about Hae Min Lee's high school murder in 1999 was captivating at first listen. I am sure that, just like me, this was most English speakers first regular podcast.

Nevertheless, the formula of adapting to audio format came about later in my life, as Netflix's true crime documentaries (like Making a Murderer and The Keepers) were all the rage.

I started listening to podcasts more steadily in March 2020. Yes, it was because of the pandemic. At the time, I was living in Lisbon, Portugal and had a corporate job in the centre of the city, 20 minutes away from my home via Metro. I was one of the few people that was still heading to work for a few days after the pandemic hit but I ditched the public transportation and started commuting on foot.

From half an hour from door to door, I would spend almost an hour walking with my mask on and headphones in my ears, checking how empty the city was as Spring 2020 was settling in. I started with Portuguese podcasts but quickly left them to the side. I speak Portuguese but I don't always get Portugal's type of humour and talking pace, very different from what I am more used to.

Jump to 2026, I love how I easily incorporated audio into my daily life and routines ever since. I like listening to podcasts (or audiobooks) in the weekday mornings whilst doing my morning routine before heading to the office. Those precious 30 minutes a day make me move ahead on getting updates about news around the world, a review from the latest Formula One race or get in an episode of a great investigation.

As there were a few trials and errors in the past 6 years, here are the podcasts that made a positive dent, either on a daily basis or a series that is over but has since stayed with me.

In alphabetical order

🎧Art de Vivre

If you are a french speaker and love the slower pace of life

Most of the podcasts I listen to and will be recommending in this article are in English but this one in particular is in French.

Art de Vivre is hosted by blogger Daphné Moreau. Every fortnight, she shares her tools for leading a slower paced life, focused on rituals, travels, wellness and curated life musings. She has lived several changes in her life, moving from a Paris flat to a beautiful home in Bordeaux, where pace slowed down and so has she.

The episodes aren't very long and if you speak french but have not been practicing lately, listening to Art de Vivre's and its pace can make you also reconnect with the language.

🎧F1 Beyond the Grid

For Formula One aficionados

I am a major Formula One fan and I love knowing more about the backstage and history of the races, sport events and regulation decisions.

Produced by the Formula One Corporation, every week, British journalist Tom Clarkson interviews an important figure in the racing world, from team principals to engineers and mostly, the drivers.

I love the banter Beyond the Grid provides and how this calmer format allows us to know more about people we see for split seconds on TV every other weekend.

🎧Global News Podcast

If you want to be informed but I constantly feel overwhelmed with an avalanche of news all at once

For years I listened religiously to The Guardian's Today in Focus podcast and that is how I fell in love with listening to a focused piece of news instead of seeing all the news in a go. There was a change in anchors - I adored British journalist Anushka Asthana as a lead - and I just failed to connect with the new ones.

A few years later I discovered BBC's Global News Podcast which has a similar formula: one podcast, one piece of news. I listen to it almost every weekday morning, as I find news too stimulating to listen to at night. Weekly, they have a Happy Pod episode, with positive news around the world. A lighter moment in a crisis- and devastation-filled world.

🎧 Monster

For true crime lovers

This is a permanent production from IHeartPodcasts and Tenderfoot TV with several seasons, focusing on famous true crime cases such as The Zodiac Killer, the Atlanta Monster or the DC Sniper.

The season that really impacted me the most to this day, as one of the most daunting was the Le Monstre one, about the Dutroux affair, which terrorised Belgium 30 years ago. I was a little girl when it happened and it was one of those cases that although living so many kilometres apart, made me feel unsafe growing up.

🎧 Out of the Pods

For the Love is Blind lovers

Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee did not leave Season 2 of Love is Blind : US married to their pod fiancés but with a lasting friendship with one another which transformed into the Out of the Pods podcast.

Based in Chicago where they live - and for several years, in the same building! - they provide insights on the Love is Blind seasons (from the US as well as the UK's), interview contestants and share their life updates and learnings. Listening to them is like listening to two girlfriends having a chat. It has been endearing to see their friendship blossom and deepen year after year!

Breaking news: Nathalie and Deepti just announced a few weeks ago that they were ending the podcast. Albeit sad that they took that decision, we will still have the episodes in the archives to revisit anytime we like.

🎧 Scamanda

If you are into investigative journalism

Amanda is a woman who has a blog about her life. All is good and normal until she starts sharing about her cancer diagnosis and journey, fostering the sympathy (and money) of thousands of readers. Until we found that it was all a scam...

This podcast might remind you of the Belle Gibson case - which was the inspiration behind the Apple Cider Vinegar miniseries -, also centered around dismantling a cancer fraudster, using people's pity and sympathy for fame and financial gain.

🎧 Soul Music

For the music lovers

I just discovered this podcast thanks to Camilla Cabrini and her Doomscroll Detox series, on what she is doing to avoid doom scrolling. She is only on episode 4 of the series and it's already a blog article I look forward to every week.

Soul Music is a BBC podcast where each episode focuses on a specific song. Its writers, producers, performers, what happened after the launch, its lasting power in our lives and in the world.

It's just a slower paced podcast when the news are overwhelming and if you want to know more about song you love. If might make you love them even more. This episode about one of my favourite songs ever is a must listen.

🎧 Table Manners

For mother and daughter duos that work

I discovered this podcast through its Tiktok page that posts funny behind the scene bits and snippets from the interviews. I liked it until I realised who the hosts were: Lennie and Jessie Ware. Jessie Ware! Her album Tough Love was playing almost nonstop when Bruno and I met, so many of its songs have ponctuated the beginning of our relationship. Oh sigh! There's the connection! I turned my like to love for their podcast instantly!

Lennie is Jessie's mum and she is the chef. They host a guest or a duo at a time at Jessie's table, have a meal & a chat and they are an absolute delight. Not only they have very fun guests but the dishes always sound/look delicious. I want to recreate a few! If I could only recommend one episode, it would be one of their latest with dancer Johannes Radebe. He is a delight and from South Africa, so a double soft spot for me. Give it a go!

🎧 The High Performance Podcast

If you love in-depth interviews

This is not a podcast I listen to often but I have come across such amazing episodes I listened from start to finish I could not not mention it in this article. Hosted by Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes, in each episode we get to meet or know more in depth people who are considered high performer in their fields. From entertainment to sports, from engineering to the hospitality business, you have several profiles - mostly UK-based - that share their stories, their failures and mostly their achievements.

This podcast can sometimes feel like a therapy session and you just get hooked. Also the fact it does not have a loud background music makes it all the more intense. I particularly love that they adore Formula 1 too, so we have a vast array of interviews with drivers, team principals and engineers. The Alex Albon interview - which is one of the few that was so intense it has to have two parts - is one of the best I have ever listened to.

🎧 Up and Vanished

For true crime lovers

Last but certainly not least, the first season produced in 2016 best true crime series I have ever listened to. Because the ending is nothing like other true crimes shows or podcasts you have ever seen, as it starts unfolding in real time.

Payne Lindsey, the host, is based in Atlanta, Georgia and was inspired by Netflix's Making a Murderer to create a movie with a similar investigative style. As he lacked funds, he changed his project into a podcast and, for Season 1, he starts investigating the cold case disappearance of Tara Grinstead, a beauty queen and school teacher, also from Georgia.

With the help of online forums and local interviews, Payne manages to make a cold case come to life. He also adds a very nice Q&A feature to the podcast, where you know more about the backstage of some of the decisions and findings behind the case.

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