In the coming months, podcast listeners can look forward to new shows about procrastination, the history of K-pop, and entrepreneurial pop culture icons. New seasons of previously released podcasts are also in the works from the likes of NPR, PRX, GBH, WBUR, LAist Studios and American Public Media. Current surveyed producers about what you can plan on hearing in your earbuds — here’s what we found.
New Podcasts
The Limits with Jay Williams
Release date: January 2022
Producing organization: NPR
Number of episodes: Ongoing, weekly
Each week on the podcast, Jay Williams will go deep with icons from the worlds of sports, entertainment and pop culture to see whether he can get at the strategies and mindsets people need to grow empires out of their personalities. From rappers-to-moguls to talk show hosts–turned-CEOs, listeners will learn the ways that people play the game in order to win — and stay winning — in a world that asks you to fight.
A Hit Dog Will Holler
Release date: February 2022
Producing organization: PRX’s Radiotopia podcast network and Radiotopia Presents
This audio drama is about Gina, a podcaster who hears a monster making noise outside her apartment, and Dru, a soundproofing installer who believes the noises are all in Gina’s head — until she also begins hearing them. “This is a story about two African-American women who can’t leave, can’t stay,” PRX said in press materials. “It’s about America. It’s about time.” Written by Inda Craig-Galván and produced and directed by Gisele Regatão. The series will be released via Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed and home for debut limited series from independent creators.
Snooze
Release date: March 2022
Producing organization: LAist Studios
Number of episodes: 12 (Season 1)
From Megan Tan (creator of Millennial), a show for people who put things off.
Eons
Release date: Winter 2022
Producing organization: PBS Digital Studios and PRX
The new podcast will be a spinoff of the PBS Digital Studios series Eons and will be hosted by Michelle Barboza-Ramirez, Blake de Pastino and Kallie Moore.
It’s Lit!
Release date: Winter 2022
Producing organizations: PBS Digital Studios and PRX
A spinoff of the PBS Digital Studios series It’s Lit! will feature lively conversations with noted authors about their work, discussions about influential novels, and issues related to books and literature. The podcast will be hosted by Princess Weekes.
K-pop Rising (w.t.)
Release date: April 2022
Producing organization: LAist Studios
Number of episodes: 10
From comedian and writer Vivian Yoon, a new podcast about the history of K-pop.
History Mysteries: The Lost Revolutionary (w.t.)
Release date: May 2022
Producing organization: LAist Studios
Number of episodes: 10
Through new interviews and found audio, KPCC and LAist reporter Adolfo Lopez-Guzman investigates the mysterious and untimely death of young activist Oscar Gomez while sharing untold stories from the modern history of the Chicano movement.
Canción Exploder
Release date: 2022
Producing organizations: Adonde Media, PRX’s Radiotopia
This Spanish-language spinoff of Hrishikesh Hirway’s hit podcast and Netflix series Song Exploder will be executive-produced by Hirway and hosted by Martina Castro.
New seasons of returning podcasts
Rough Translation
Release date: December 2021
Producing organization: NPR
Number of episodes: 3
The podcast about cultural mistranslations and what we can learn from them returns in December.
Last Seen
Release date: January 2022
Producing organization: WBUR
Number of episodes: 10
Last Seen‘s second season will see the show relaunched as an anthology show with WBUR talent and freelance contributors telling stories of people, places and things that have gone missing.
All Rev’d Up
Release date: February 2022 (est.)
Producers: GBH, the Rev. Irene Monroe and the Rev. Emmet G. Price III
Number of episodes: 9 (est.)
All Rev’d Up explores where faith intersects politics and culture. Monroe and Price come from different Black faith perspectives and different generations but come together to talk about faith in a different way.
The Frontline Dispatch
Release date: February 2022 (est.)
Producing organizations: Frontline, GBH
Number of episodes: 9–12 (est.)
Frontline EP Raney Aronson-Rath sits down with series filmmakers for probing conversations about the investigative journalism that drives each Frontline documentary and the stories that shape our time.
How God Works with David DeSteno
Release date: February 2022
Producing organization: PRX Productions
This podcast is a journey through the intersection of science, religion and human experience. Northeastern University professor and author David DeSteno combines cutting-edge neuroscience and ancient wisdom to lessen the boundaries between science and religion and to find ways to make life better for all, whether they are religious or not. The first season debuted in October; guests include meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg, America magazine editor-at-large James Martin and author Michael Pollan.
Pinkalicious
Release date: February 2022 (est.)
Producing organization: GBH
Number of episodes: 8
Pinkalicious and her little brother Peter sing along to their favorite songs from the hit PBS Kids show Pinkalicious and Peterrific. Each episode takes listeners on adventures — dancing, singing and making believe with the pinka-tastic sister and brother podcast hosts.
Seizing Freedom
Release date: February 2022
Producing organization: VPM and Molten Heart
Number of episodes: 16
This podcast’s second season examines how the first African American generation after emancipation wrestled with lessons passed down to them after Reconstruction, and how it laid the foundation for the burgeoning civil rights movement. Complementary interview episodes explore how the legacy of this time period still affects the nation.
Embedded
Release date: March 2022
Producing organization: NPR
Hosted by Kelly McEvers, the next season of Embedded reports from inside a police department that’s wrestling with change. The Marshall Project is a partner in reporting the series.
The Uncertain Hour
Release date: March 2022
Producing organizations: Marketplace, American Public Media
Number of episodes: 6–8
The Uncertain Hour explains our weird, complicated and often unequal economy and why some people get ahead and some get left behind. Host Krissy Clark dives into obscure policies and forgotten histories to explain why America is like it is.
This Is Uncomfortable
Release date: April 2022
Producing organization: Marketplace, American Public Media
Number of episodes: 10–12
This Is Uncomfortable is a show about life and how money messes with it. Each week, Reema Khrais digs in with stories about the unanticipated ways money affects relationships, shapes identities and often defines what it means to be an adult.
Million Bazillion
Release date: June 2022
Producing organization: Marketplace, American Public Media
Number of episodes: 6–8
This is a podcast about money for kids and their families produced in collaboration with Brains On. Co-hosts Jed Kim and Bridget Bodnar answer the awkward, uncomfortable and sometimes surprising questions that kids have about money.
The Big Burn
Release date: August 2022
Producing organization: LAist Studios
Number of episodes: 8
Terrifying wildfires have become the norm in California — but it didn’t have to be this way. Jacob Margolis (host of The Big One: Your Survival Guide) explores the moments that led us down this fiery path and contemplates whether the lessons learned can save us from a perilous future. The podcast is Margolis’ follow-up to The Big One. The shows will share a feed, which will be home to an ongoing LAist Studios series focused on natural disasters — a new story each season.
Louder Than a Riot
Release date: Summer 2022
Producing organization: NPR
The podcast, which has focused on connections between the rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration, returns next summer with a new topic that NPR has yet to announce.