As the global podcast market continues to grow, adding an estimated $33 billion to its market cap by the end of the decade, there is a shift away from lengthy, loosely structured talk shows toward tightly produced, story-driven audio docuseries. Usually told in fewer than a dozen episodes, these are deep dives into a single subject, company, scandal, or scientific controversy.
Episodes are constructed like a limited TV series or documentary. Publishers, especially in Europe, are pushing these high-end productions to attract subscriptions. The subscription audio product launched last year by the German new paper Die Zeit is mostly driven by exclusive documentaries and miniseries, with the first few episodes typically free before a cliffhanger moment triggers a paywall. Here are Briefings’s picks for audio series that pack a big reward for a modest time investment.
Lights On
A deeply reported exploration of whether consciousness is a fundamental building block of the universe.
Invisible Hands
The tracking of how a radical set of ideas led to free-market capitalism, reshaping global economies, politics, and society.
Fela Kuti: Fear No Man
A critically acclaimed telling of the life and legacy of the Nigerian musician and activist credited with inventing Afrobeat.
Broomgate: A Curling Scandal
How a new “super broom” tore apart the competitive curling community and nearly destroyed the sport, in the words of a comedian and semiprofessional curler.
First America
A recontextualizing of the current political moment that looks at the founding of the United States from the perspective of Indigenous nations.
