Road-Trip-Worthy Podcasts

May 30, 2025

Welcome to the golden age of spoken-word audio. The podcast industry is booming, with voracious audience demand emboldening producers to further explore the bounds of what’s possible in this nascent medium. Podcasting has expanded beyond basic interview-style or informational constructs, embracing emotionally engaging long-form narrative storytelling. Highly produced serialized podcasts tell a single story over multiple episodes, sometimes blending fictional elements and deeply reported investigations into real-life events.

Despite declining attention spans hampering other media forms, regular podcast listeners tune in for an average of 54 minutes per day, which is up from 33 minutes per day five years ago. Market researchers say the industry, worth $30 billion in 2024, is expected to grow to more than $100 billion by 2030. Almost half of listeners say their favorite time to tune in is behind the wheel, so Briefings curated a list for those long summer road trips that will educate, entertain, and emotionally move.

Backfired: Attention deficit

An exploration of the unintended consequences of the attention-deficit drugs prescribed to 15 million Americans.

The Modi Raj

This limited series from The Economist tells the origin story of Narendra Modi, one of the world’s most powerful leaders.

Cement City

Two documentary journalists move to one of the struggling Pennsylvania towns that politicians obsess over.

The Curious History of Your Home

A domestic historian shares the untold and often epic stories behind the everyday objects in our homes.

Noble

A compelling murder mystery that takes place in 2002 in a small Southern town that turns out to be full of secrets.

The Telepathy Tapes

A look into the complex workings of the minds of autistic people who are unable to verbally express themselves.

Photo Credits: Klaus Vedfelt, Anders Blomqvist, freemixer, Yoann JEZEQUEL Photography, Polychronis Giannakakis/Getty Images