75 Podcast Ideas and Topics to Explore in 2023
Choosing the right topic for your new podcast is foundational to your show's success. If you're passionate and curious about your topic, you're more likely to attract loyal listeners and stay motivated to create consistent content.
In this article, we share dozens of unique podcast topic ideas to help you find the one you can stick with for the long haul!
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60 Unique podcast topic ideas
1. Celebrity interviews
Having celebrities on your podcast is a huge draw to new listeners and can help you get featured on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
2. DIY tutorials
Break down DIY projects for your podcast listeners. You can create a supplementary PDF tutorial and use it as a free piece of content to grow your email list.
3. Psychology
Many of the top podcasts discuss psychology and the human mind. To stand out among the competition, try to narrow the topic to a specific topic: personality types, age group, stage of life, Jungian psychology, etc.
4. Technology
Update listeners on the latest developments in a particular area of tech: podcasting, gaming, videography/photography, etc.
5. Product reviews
Help take the guesswork out of purchases by doing product reviews for your listeners. You can review practically anything, and this topic makes it easy to land sponsorship deals with brands in your niche.
6. Advice
Make an advice-column-style podcast by answering listener emails or even taking calls during your show.
7. Social media
Teach influencers or business professionals how to harness social media for their personal brand, business, or startup.
8. Beauty and fashion
Talk about the latest fashion trends and make it niche by focusing on a particular age group or style. You can attend live events and conferences to network with potential sponsors.
9. Nutrition or specific diets
If you're in the nutrition field, you can tailor your expertise to a specific group of people. Instead of a general nutrition podcast, consider focusing on nutrition for busy moms or individuals with a specific medical condition.
10. Podcasts about podcasting
Turn your passion for podcasting into a podcast! You can help other creators how to start a podcast and share other podcasting tips that have helped you be successful.
11. The outdoors and survival
The outdoors is a popular podcast topic with lots of opportunities for a unique angle. You can cover subjects like prepping, gear, or the best places to hike in various regions.
12. Have guests share their favorite things
Does your guest have a favorite thing that brings them joy or makes their life more fun and meaningful? You can add this question to the end of interviews as a segment or structure the whole episode around this one question.
13. Host-led workouts
Podcast workouts are surprisingly easy-to-follow and a convenient alternative to video workouts if listeners are at a park or a gym.
14. Guided meditations
Produce short meditations for various circumstances: bedtime, stressful situations, inspiration, etc. This type of content is evergreen; your audience can listen to the same meditations over and over.
15. Tech reviews
Review gear to make it easy for listeners to make their next tech purchase. This is the perfect podcast topic if you want sponsors to send you new gear!
16. Recorded counseling or coaching sessions
Are you a counselor or coach? With your client's permission, you can record their session. This kind of content is easy to put together in post-production, and because your clients are leading the way, you don't have to come up with as many episode ideas yourself.
17. Book recommendations or critiques
Review a book series, make recommendations, or summarize individual books like a podcast version of Blinkist!
18. Interview listeners
Interviewing your listeners is a great way to make your podcast content interactive and give your audience a chance to share their personal experiences around your topic. Because episodes are centered around listeners' stories, you'll have an easier time coming up with episode ideas.
19. Short stories
If you're a writer, consider sharing your short stories on your podcast. You can also collect interesting stories from listeners and read them (with permission). Depending on your style, you can narrate the story, or add production like sound effects, background music, etc.
20. Local news and events
Keep up with your city's local news and events and share local happenings. You can focus on positive-only news around your city or the latest happenings within your city's politics, sports, or economy.
21. Children's stories
You can read any story on your podcast, as long as it's within the public domain. You can read as a solo narrator or involve a cast and make it a full-fledged production.
22. Wedding and event planning
Create a wedding prep series that can be listened to like a course. If you're a wedding planner, this is a great way to market your services or sell an online course, too.
23. Form a podcast club
Want to host a club and keep everyone on the same page? Create a public or private podcast and use episodes as fuel for your next meeting.
Learn more about how to create a private podcast for your business or club.
24. 3D printing
3D printing is an up-and-coming technology with a lot of news to discuss. You can chat tech breakthroughs, reviews of different printers, various techniques, future possibilities, etc.
25. Storm chasing
Have a passion for tracking down a storm and understanding weather systems? Get specific by focusing on the science behind tracking a weather system, the weather in certain regions, personal stories, etc.
26. Alternative living
Help people understand the laws and associated complexities with alternative living (tiny homes, van living, off-grid, etc.).
27. Urban farming
If you have experience in this area, plenty of people are anxious to know how to grow their own produce. You can discuss which crops are the easiest to grow, how to store them, what tools to use, etc.
28. Paranormal phenomenon
Take an investigative look at paranormal mysteries—believer or skeptic! Compile stories you've heard, interview listeners with personal spooky stories, or interview people who conduct paranormal research.
29. Entrepreneurship
Know your way around starting a business? Roughly 30% of millennials have a small business or side gig, and lots of people need help scaling it. With this topic, you can easily market yourself as a coach and sell one-on-one sessions to listeners.
30. Self-help
Create a self-help podcast for a specific group of people. You could focus on self-help for creatives, psychologists, business owners, CEOs, retirees, etc.
31. Branding
Branding is such a huge part of a successful 21st-century digital marketing strategy. You could discuss ways to build a diverse marketing plan and brand a business.
32. Movie or TV shows recommendations
Delve into your favorite (or least favorite) films from various genres. You could review plots, critique performances, and share recommendations.
33. Caving, rock climbing, rappelling
If you're an adventure junkie, you're probably a valuable resource for others looking to start the same activities. You can use your podcast to share your expertise and personal experience and create a community at the same time.
34. Sports
Give the history of a sport, interview athletes, or recap the latest game. Discuss famous plays, and record-breaking athletic performances, or chat with listeners about their thoughts on a current team or player.
35. Writing
Help people become better writers by sharing your experience in the field. You can teach listeners to write grants, scripts, blogs, or just develop a daily journaling practice.
36. Retirement
People in retirement are often looking for a new hobby or just advice on the new phase of life. You can create content to help retired folks find work, navigate finances, or start a new endeavor.
37. Five-minute podcast summaries
Create your own podcast summarizing bigger, successful podcasts in under five minutes. This format might appeal to busier people who want to listen to podcasts, but don't have the time to stream full episodes.
38. Pop culture
Pop culture is a never-ending source of podcast episode ideas. This is a popular podcast category, though, so aim to be specific and find a unique take on current events.
39. ASMR
ASMR can make a great podcast topic if you don't want to do a lot of talking. Make episodes on anything from cutting soap videos on YouTube or whispering sounds to help people fall asleep.
40. Birdwatching and birding
Teach people how to identify different types of birds and where to go to find them. You can focus on a specific location or keep it general.
41. Home improvement
Help listeners troubleshoot common house problems, fix things themselves, or make home improvements with DIY projects. This topic makes for perfect content marketing for a hardware or home improvement store.
42. Art
Dissect various kinds of art, including its history, origins, the biography of the artist, or share different points of view of the same piece of work.
43. Interesting facts in under ten minutes
Produce condensed, information-packed podcast episodes that get straight to the point.
44. History
Research facts about historical figures, share biographies, or educate listeners on a particular time in history. History podcasts were some of the first shows to make it on iTunes.
45. Science
Break down complicated scientific topics in a way everyone can understand or make more niche content only a select group would appreciate.
46. Animals and pets
Make a podcast educating owners of unique pets on how to care for their animals. Or, create content for the animals themselves (calming noises, etc.).
47. Improv
Play improv games with cohosts and guests! You can also share tricks of the trade and how to get better at the craft.
48. Medical
Are you a healthcare professional? Consider making a podcast related to your field of expertise. You likely have knowledge people would pay to hear.
49. True crime
True Crime is the third most popular podcast genre. You can tell stories in narrative form or add production elements, a cast, etc.
50. Daily life hacks
Help listeners simplify their lives with productivity hacks. Hacks can relate to anything from cleaning to where to find the best deals.
51. Cooking
Teach your listeners how to cook food from different cultures, the secrets to certain dishes, how to meal prep, and other food-related skills.
52. Investing and finance
Consider helping listeners navigate the complicated waters of personal finance and investing. You can also talk finance as it pertains to specific issues like retirement, remodeling, or other big purchases.
53. Digital marketing
Give listeners actionable advice on how to improve their marketing. This is a good podcast topic for anyone in public relations, marketing, or branding.
54. Cycling
Share the best places to cycle, gear recommendations and reviews, or stories of your own cycling adventures.
55. Music
You can take this type of podcast in many different directions: music reviews, the best of certain genres, highlighting more obscure indie artists, etc.
PRO TIP: Never use copyrighted music on your podcast, even if it's just a short clip of a song. Learn more about podcast copyright laws to ensure you keep your music podcast legal!
56. Alternative health
There's no shortage of alternative health modalities and plenty of people are interested in the topic. You can share your own experiences, favorite products and services, or interview experts in the field.
57. Day in the Life
Highlight the typical day of someone you find interesting—even yourself. You can make a whole podcast about a certain kind of person or change it up with every episode.
58. Food
Interview popular or local restaurant chefs, review various dishes at high-end restaurants and let fellow foodies in on the best homemade dishes, sauces, desserts, etc.
59. Behind the scenes
Do you have an interesting job or interest in a particular field? Bring listeners behind the scenes to experience what it's like to be part of the industry.
60. Travel podcast
Share the best little-known travel spots, what to do when you get there, and personal stories of your own travel adventures. You can also interview listeners on their own suggestions and travel stories.
PRO TIP: Make your podcast niche by narrowing your target audience. Ask yourself what your average listener looks like (age, interests, location, etc.).
15 Podcast format options
Your podcast's format is the structure of your podcast episodes, and the format you choose can impact the kind of content your produce. Here are 15 options to help you brainstorm.
1. Roundtable conversations
A roundtable podcast features three or more cohosts discussing a topic, taking listener calls, or interviewing a guest. This can be a fun podcast format, but coordinating schedules can get difficult if you have more than a few hosts.
2. Social commentary between host and cohost
This common podcast format allows for casual banter between podcast hosts. As a bonus, it doesn't require a lot of editing in post-production, and cohosts split the responsibility for coming up with new content.
3. Host-led interviews with experts in various fields
Whether you have a podcast about science, films, animals, or healthcare, you can find experts and entrepreneurs to bring a new depth of insight to your episodes.
4. How-tos and tutorials
Create in-depth audio tutorials on any number of topics. You can keep it centered around one topic for the entire podcast, do a series, or change it up every episode.
5. Unedited deep-dive interviews
Instead of interviewing a guest and piecing the best parts together in post-production, consider recording long-form interviews that don't require editing.
6. Deep-dive exploration of a topic
This format gives you an opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition and dive deeper into your topic than other podcasts.
7. Dynamic storytelling by a single narrator
Have a knack for storytelling? Narrate true or fictional stories from any topic you feel passionate about. Keep in mind, this format can require more planning and research than other topics.
8. Improvised comedy between two or more hosts
Put a twist on the average comedy podcast and play improv games. You can even find ways to make it interactive and involve your listeners.
9. Single-host commentary on news & politics
Share your thoughts on local or global current events and politics. You can change it up by taking listener calls or incorporating interesting segments within your episodes.
10. Daily updates
Create shorter, daily episodes to keep listeners up-to-date on various topics. Obviously, this format works best for topics that change daily (like news, tech, the stock market, etc.).
11. Top 10 lists
Make things easy for listeners by doing research for them. You can rate everything from food or travel spots to beauty products or tech.
12. Q&A
Q&A podcasts are a great way to involve your audience, increase listener engagement, and make highly relevant content.
13. Scripted fiction read by a cast of characters
Put together a cast and tell a story podcast-theatre style. Audio dramas are typically heavily produced, so they can require a bit more work to put together.
14. Scripted nonfiction read by the host
If you tend to freeze when the recording light goes red, heavily scripted podcast formats might be for you! You can use this format for virtually any topic.
15. Repurposed content
Repurposed content takes some kind of pre-recorded media and transforms it into podcast format. This is an excellent option for churches to publish episodes of their sermons, or a speaker to post speeches made at conferences, retreats, etc.
Alban Brooke
Alban Brooke is the Head of Marketing at Buzzsprout and the co-host of Buzzcast. Have any questions about this guide? Reach out on Twitter.
FAQs
What are the 10 most popular podcasts?
According to a 2021 survey by Edison Research, the top 10 podcasts are:
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Crime Junkie
- The Daily
- This American Life
- My Favorite Murder
- Stuff You Should Know
- The Ben Shapiro Show
- Call Her Daddy
- Morbid
- Office Ladies (full list here)
How do I choose the best podcast topic?
Start off by choosing a subject matter aligned with your interests that you won't get tired of talking about. Then, find a unique approach to your topic so you stand out from the competition in your genre.
Can I change my podcast's topic?
You can make small changes to your podcast topic without confusing your listeners or doing a significant rebrand. But if you want to change your subject matter totally, consider making a separate podcast altogether.