What comes to mind when you picture a Wondery podcast? For a long time, true crime was the network’s bread and butter. Sensational titles and scandalous topics came to define their output, with shows like Over My Dead Body and Twin Flames earning fans but few critical plaudits.
But the success of franchises like Dirty John eventually gave Wondery the capital it needed to branch out into other genres. The variety on this list is a testament to their efforts in history, business, and pop culture. And despite losing the hit comedy podcast SmartLess to Sirius XM earlier this year, Wondery maintains a committed listenership willing to pay for exclusive shows and an ad-free listening experience.
In its first season, Dr. Death, the hit Wondery podcast from reporter Laura Beil, delved into the story of a Dallas neurosurgeon who left a trail of devastation in his operating room. We expect doctors to heal us. But Dr. Christopher Duntsch, aka Dr. Death, betrayed the trust of his patients by causing significant harm in 33 of his 38 cases. The unsettling combination of incompetence and malice behind the tragedies shocked listeners while highlighting the systemic failures that allowed Duntsch to continue practicing, despite repeated warnings from patients.
Despite Duntsch’s enigmatic persona, the podcast humanizes his victims, underscoring the randomness of his malpractice and the inherent vulnerabilities within the U.S. healthcare system. Beil’s narrative skilfully navigates the intricacies of medical negligence, prompting reflection on the trust we place in healthcare professionals during our most vulnerable moments. Now in its fourth season, the show is a sure cornerstone of Wondery’s catalog.
Start here: Three Days in Dallas
Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese journalist killed in 2017. The bomb placed in her car exploded so forcefully that they recovered its debris from a nearby field. Who Killed Daphne? investigates her murder and brought her work on The Panama Papers back into the world’s attention.
That leak had revealed clandestine financial dealings involving many global elites and governmental figures, including some of Malta’s top officials. Caruana Galizia, known for her relentless pursuit of accountability, published evidence of this corruption on her blog — and was killed for it. Her murder prompted Reuters reporter Stephen Grey to initiate an investigation, struck by the similarity to the murder of his friend, Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh. Who Killed Daphne? follows Grey as he attempts to uncover the truth behind her assassination. The hit true crime podcast is a labyrinth of politics, illicit transactions, and vendettas, ultimately framing the narrative as a classic follow-the-money investigation.
Start here: Now I’m Really Going
Even The Rich is a comedy podcast whose subject is a bit controversial. Celebrity culture is under constant scrutiny for its vapidity and celebration of consumerism. But comics Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams study their subject with a reverence some academics find hard to muster.
Each short season of the show dives into a piece of celeb lore, from Britney’s conservatorship to Marylin Monroe’s legacy. These heavily researched episodes are broken up with breaking news bulletins, though theysetend to focus on break ups and scandals. At its best, Even The Rich makes important observations about social phenomena, such as women’s rights after #MeToo, and will appeal to fans of Rehash and Binchtopia.
Start here: Saint Dolly | Backwoods Barbie
Our critic Jake Greenberg called The Shrink Next Door one of the best podcasts of 2019. The show is a compelling psychological thriller about celebrity psychiatrist Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, who disappeared mysteriously one summer. The relationship between Ike and his patient-turned-good fiend Marty Markowitz becomes an obsession for the show’s host, Joe Nocera.
As Ike’s old neighbor, Nocera starts investigating a story of manipulation and control that goes on for many years. The Shrink Next Door is tightly written true crime that pulls audiences into the intricacies of doctor-patient dynamics. With a meticulously crafted narrative, Nocera and his team unravel the complexities of Ike’s exploitation of Marty, creating an electric and engaging series that illuminates the power dynamics at play within psychiatry.
Start here: Welcome to the Neighbourhood
By this stage, you might be noticing a pattern. Scandals. Deception. Scammers. Wondery makes podcasts about liars, and listeners love them. Indeed, one of the best things about Wondery’s programming is its responsiveness to pop culture trends. Scamfluencers follows this form by covering real cases of social media swindlers, from fake religious preachers to lethal ballet companies. The internet has presented scammers with countless ways to con people out of their money, compounded by our inclination to build parasocial relationships online.
On each episode of Scamfluencers, co-hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi cover a new case of deception. Not only does the show highlight the ingenuity of these con artists; it reveals how naive we can be when it comes to staying safe online. The episodes about wellness are some of the best, reminding us of some of our favourite scam podcasts like The Dream.
Start here: The Shark Tank Sharlatan
Most business podcasts are focused on the future. Business Wars, on the other hand, dives into the tumultuous histories of the most successful companies in the world. In a free market, competition is a necessity, and this show charts the rivalries that pushed business like McDonalds and Nike to become the best in their field.
Business Wars is as much a history podcast as it is about business. Told in the “historical present,” a style that you either love or loathe, every episode is more like a bedtime story than a business case. It departs from other Wondery shows in the genre, like Flipping the Bird, by focusing on the human characters behind these corporations, even if they can come across a little flat. But enough about soda. For a low stakes romp, Business Wars is a family-friendly insight into your favorite brands.
Start here: Coke vs Pepsi
American Scandal
American Scandal starts with a controversial premise: the United States was shaped by lies. It’s a big statement that’s just as hard to debunk as defend. But American Scandal has effectively pursued this claim by releasing hundreds of episodes about affairs, corruption, and scams. Their subject matter ranges from politicians to social justice scandals, highlighting the fact that you can find a few bad eggs in every kind of organization. American Scandal manages to be both entertaining and informative, packed with drama yet smoothed out by the even narration we’ve come to expect from Wondery titles.
Start here: Steroids and Snake Oil
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Alice Florence Orr is a staff writer and assistant editor for Podcast Review. She is based in Edinburgh. You can connect with her on Twitter or read her work on aliceflorenceorr.com