Radiolab - Podcast Rankings and reviews

I’ve been listening to this podcast for almost a decade now. Without fail, every single episode is so interesting and thought provoking. I reflect on stories quite often, the king who created the first automaton/robot for his dying son, Horseshoe crabs special blood, even Latif’s process for finding seemingly random incredibly interesting topics is wildly interesting! Love this show and love to share it. Thanks for doing everything you all do to create it.

The “Family People” episode is perfection from so many different angles: challenges of genealogy in general, meaning/significance of surnames, historical context, local traditions/language (e.g. the episode title), coming to grips emotionally with historical discoveries, psychology of name and place. Your reading of the names of enslaved people included in the slave owner’s estate, and then your reckoning that this was probably the only place many of these people’s names were ever documented—- this really struck me. Radiolab is always excellent, and this is one of the best.

I've had Radiolab on my Subscribe list for years and years. When it first appeared I began to orient my days to listen to their spot on Saturday on NPR! Now that it is a podcast, I listen to it regularly whenever I want! It provides a beautiful balance of science, humanity, wonder, curiosity, humor . . . all bolstered by research. I'm writing this at the end of 2023 between Christmas and the New Year after bingeing on the 2021 masterful series, The Vanishing of Harry Pace. What a great series to listen to again! Who was Harry Pace? Simply, he was one of the most determined and complex people of early 1900s who accomplished so much, launched the careers of some of the best known singers of the time, established the first black-owned record company while swimming in Jim Crow political waters, owned a huge life insurance company while obtaining a law degree . . . so much in this 9-part series. "It's a story about betrayal, family, hidden identities, and a time like no other."

I was so glad to have found this series and to have listened to it again . . . and I hardly ever listen to books or podcasts more than once. As a matter of fact, I'm still so excited about Radiolab that I'm heading to the website to make an end-of-the-year donation!

Viva Radiolab!

P.S. - Yes, Radiolab isn't the same as it was when it first appeared on the scene . . . when there were no competing podcasts and resources were more plentiful. Times have changed. People have changed. However, this podcast is amazing and they are able to offer it in relatively shorter time. The hosts are top tier, the research is solid, and the presentation is engaging! Oh, and the subjects are great! I am happy to support Radiolab!

I have been a big fan for a long time, since Jad & Robert were Hosts — definitely worth it to go through the archives (I subscribe only so I have access to the archives). The stories, banter between the Hosts and production of the old episodes are top notch. Some episodes even give me goosebumps (the rabies episode with a real audio clip of a woman in the throes of rabies). I’ve cried a few times too. I still sometimes enjoy the podcast with the new Hosts, Latif & Lulu, but I wish they would limit their use of the word “like”. It’s heavily peppered into their dialogue and I think it diminishes the content. A lot of other reviewers have mentioned that they sound childish and I would agree that they do sound immature, especially compared to the previous Hosts.

I could not believe what I was hearing in the “Born This Way” episode. I have never heard such irresponsible reporting. That in the year 2023, hosts of a scientific radio show could call bisexuality a choice, in a political climate where politicians are using the rhetoric that queerness is a choice to justify harmful legislation for LGBTQ people.

I have been told to my face that LGBTQ people choose their sexuality. It is NOT a choice and will NEVER be a choice.

Our (obviously privileged) hosts smirk at the seemingly backwards and outdated scientific theories of sexuality being biologically innate, crafting a narrative which ultimately boils down to: we don’t know everything there is to know about human sexuality, and human sexuality is complex and thus, it doesn’t really matter if we actually figure out where human sexuality comes from. What lazy “scientific” reasoning.

I have loved listening to Radiolab over the years on public radio, but no more for me anymore. People could use this material to justify harm to LGBTQ people. It is completely and entirely irresponsible.

Long time listener and subscriber. As many reviews have stated this show has tanked in quality over the last few years. I wanted to give the new crew the benefit of the doubt and time to adjust, but they have failed to uphold the intent behind this show. It was about cool cutting edge science and research, things that made you think and ponder…and they were really good at being impartial and curious…not taking ideological sides or approaching topics from a clearly biased perspective. They had a multitude of perspectives and tried to remain curious and open, and it doing so they were able to foster broad conversations that did make people consider their personal viewpoints and biases and perhaps even change now.

This cannot be said for the new hosts. It now feels like this show is a personal showcase for the hosts to pick social discussions important to them and then tell the audience what they should think and believe about said topic. That’s not science, it’s not a lab, and it’s not good radio. It just feels cheap and like a lecture. I miss the days when science actually meant investigating from a place of objectivity to find the answer…rather than whatever this is that picks a belief the hosts have and then tries to find a story to prove their beliefs.