Podcasts on families, stories, and relationships

These podcasts share stories and reporting on diverse family relationships

Podcast artwork for Refamulating, Slow Burn, Radiolab, What The Trans!?, and Family Proclamations

Interested in exploring podcasts on another topic? Check out our archive. May we suggest history, AI, or celebrity interview shows?

Curator:

👉🏽Blair Hodges (he/him)

Why this theme?

👉🏽 I was raised to believe that my "traditional" nuclear family wasn't just the norm, but the ideal way to live, and it would solve all of society's ills. In reality, there are so many different kinds of families and all of them have things to teach us.

Podcast Picks

Refamulating podcast cover art

Host Julia Winston delivers emotionally honest stories of real people with nuanced experiences of what family looks like today.

In this opening episode, Julia shares her own story of donating eggs to a gay couple, which blew up her idea of what it means to make a family.

Slow Burn podcast cover art

Season nine of Slate's remarkable Slow Burn focuses on a little-known ballot initiative from the 1960s in California. The state was deciding whether to ban gay teachers from the classroom. It would have huge repercussions for the entire country, connecting up with later efforts to legalize gay marriage and embrace marriage diversity in America.

This episode explores the violent backlash against gay rights pioneers.

Radiolab podcast cover art

In this classic short series by Radiolab called “Gonads,” journalists discuss the remarkable new science about biological sex which challenges traditional notions of the gender binary. It’s an excellent primer for everyone, thanks to America's lackluster sex education.

What The Trans!? podcast cover art

Trans rights across the world came under greater threat after the Cass Report was published in the U.K. It represented a selective and politically charged overview of research on transgender identities and medical transition possibilities.

In this episode, trans hosts package interviews and discussions about the report to give listeners a solid understanding of the science and the stakes.

Relationscapes podcast cover art

In this episode, guest Angela Tucker unpacks transracial adoption as a Black woman who was adopted by white parents.

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Community

🌎Simple English News Daily (or SEND7) is a 7-minute podcast that summarizes what's happening all over the world today. Start your day with seven minutes of clear, simple world news.

👔Realm’s hit podcast Business Dad, hosted by Alexis Ohanian, returns for season two with an exciting premiere featuring award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.

🔮Shit My Soul Says launched their third season. It’s a metaphysical comedy podcast that makes spirituality accessible, fun, and laugh-out-loud hilarious.

đź’–In Podcast The Newsletter, Lauren Passell recommends 21 of the best podcasts of 2024.

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Podcast news from Podnews

  • Spotify has launched the Spotify Partner Program, a way to monetize your shows on the platform. “More than 65% of eligible shows and networks have already enrolled,” says the press release.

  • Podnews publishes a calendar of podcasting events - and now, you can add that calendar to your mobile phone or desktop. Particularly, it’s useful to see what virtual events you can join, in your own timezone.

  • More attention to retention will be one of the trends in podcasting in 2025, says the founder of Pod Houston, Ozeal Debastos in his yearly prediction piece for Podnews. He also predicts an audience-centric shift in the forthcoming year.

Spotlight

No Place Like Home podcast cover art

No Place Like Home is the story of one of the largest public art campaigns in American history: Arts For Everybody. On July 27th, 2024, 18 communities across the country staged simultaneous performances hoping to answer one big question: can art help heal our divided nation?

In this documentary podcast, we go inside these communities, speaking with artists, leaders, and public health experts to learn how they are using art to transform society, with surprising results. This show is narrated by award-winning poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph.