So you’re wondering how we pick the shows we profile on The Big Listen. Well, how’s about we shed some light on our process? First, we’re not here to be the mouthpiece for WAMU and NPR podcasts (though you may hear some of their work featured from time to time). The shows featured on The Big Listen represent a true mélange of what is out there in the podcasting world. Each week, the Big Listen team strives to feature little-known shows like Betty In The Sky With A Suitcase (a podcast made by a flight attendant while in the air!), as well as in-depth conversations with the hosts of popular shows like Death, Sex & Money and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.

Curating the show is an art, not a science. Our guiding principle is always to provide our listeners with a peek at podcasts that we think feature vibrant voices, engaging points of view and/or novel approaches to storytelling. If you have a show to contribute to our lineup, we welcome any and all recommendations. We’re at biglisten@wamu.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

Most Recent Shows

Monday, Oct 08 2018The Big Listen ended production in May 2018. While this site is no longer updated, all the content remains available for archive purposes.

Tegan & Sara, Podcast Super Fans (Encore)

Thursday, May 24 2018Musicians Tegan and Sara are podcast obsessives. This episode, we take a peek at their extensive playlist, plus hear about their own idea for a podcast. Also, the hosts of the LGBTQ show Nancy share their funny and tragic coming out stories. And the Pakistani American host of Beginner walks us through all the things she never learned as a immigrant, like biking and swimming. Plus: saving podcasts for posterity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Keep reading...

The Big Listen Finale! (Encore)

Thursday, May 17 2018This is the final episode of The Big Listen. Boo! Hiss! Our show is going off the air (read more on that here) and we’re shifting our focus to other projects. So this is last you’ll hear from us. But we’ve so enjoyed getting to share all the great shows we’re listening to with you. Thank you for spending some time with us. Keep reading...

Peering Into Nicole Drespel’s Inbox (Encore)

Thursday, May 17 2018Over the course of your life, you’ve probably had at least a dozen email addresses. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that at least a couple of those have been super embarrassing. Comedian Nicole Drespel can relate. Not only has she had deeply mortifying email addresses, but she’s also sent more than her fair share of ridiculous emails. Keep reading...