Podcast Corner: The 10 best international shows of 2024
Some of Eoghan O'Sullivan's international podcast picks
A six-parter about Stevie Wonder’s incredible five/seven-year stretch between 1972’s Music of My Mind and 1979’s Confetti Cannon, no podcast had a better soundtrack or more enthusiastic host in Wesley Morris.
Season 10 focused on the creation of Fox News and how the upstart station took hold in the US. Elements of the TV show Succession are clear, no more so than on the opening episode of the podcast, looking back at the 2000 presidential election.
Another show that’s clocked up 10 seasons, focusing on the biggest companies in the world, such as Amazon, Tesla, and Meta. Its latest season was about various aspects of the Disney conglomerate - it’s far bigger now than simply the House of Mouse.
The most delightful series on the list, Sam Anderson travels from his living room to Iceland, Mexico, and Japan, pondering in a broken world, what can we gain by looking another animal in the eye?
Should we be surprised that Ted Danson, whose career resurgence over the past 10-15 years has been a delight to behold, is also a brilliant and affable podcast host? This chat show isn’t the most probing, but like Cheers, is a great hang.
From the Overlap, this is a football history podcast headed by Jonathan Wilson. Like The Rest is History, it’s a potted history of key moments in football, like Nigeria’s 1996 Super Eagles, a four-parter on Arrigo Sacchi’s revolution, and the infamous ‘Ta-ra Fergie’ moment.
Peter Bogdanovich and the Icons of Cinema: Director Peter Bogdanovich talked to his great and iconic peers, linking them with modern greats. He died before the series was completed, with Guillermo Del Toro taking over. One for the movie buffs.
The celebrity trial of the century, Amber Heard’s case against Johnny Depp led to a social media outcry and untold repercussions for the actress. Alexi Mostrous talks to former spies, data scientists, and disinformation experts about the sordid, sorry case.
Childhood friends Miquita Oliver and Lily Allen join forces for a laugh-out-loud bantercast that has proved a mainstay in our feeds this year. Nothing is too off-limits for the pair.
OK, OK, so this show finished in the last week of 2023, but most of us only got around to it this year. It’s a cross-continental crime investigation that talks to undercover agents, crime journalists who have had their lives threatened, and Garda bosses, all focused on the Kinahan cartel.
