Having spent more than nine hundred and sixty-three hours listening to 2,765 podcast episodes in 2022 – I am what you might call a “professional listener” –, selecting only ten was not easy.
But after going through all my playlists and imposing completely arbitrary criteria on myself – like only talking about podcasts whose first episode came out after the 1er January 2022, or select only one podcast per producer – I still managed to compile a list of ten podcasts that should not be missed this year. An audio version of this top 10 also exists in Without Algothe podcast that recommends others.
“The Last Night of Anne Bonny”
Arte Radio, nine twenty-minute episodes.
A fiction in which Anne Bonny, woman pirate of the XVIIIe century, plunges back into his memories on the last evening of his life. Thanks to its prestigious cast (Catherine Hiegel, Alice Belaïdi), its original songs and its immersive production, Claire Richard’s podcast places Arte Radio in the big leagues of sound fiction production. Anne Bonny’s Last Nightworthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, has even been adapted in a second version intended for children: Anne Bonny, Queen of the Pirates.
“November 13: three voices
for a trial”
France Inter, twelve episodes of about fifteen minutes.
During the ten months of “V13” trialname given to November 13, 2015 attacksa reporter for France Inter, a victim of Bataclan and a defense lawyer exchanged voice messages on WhatsApp. Journalist Charlotte Piret drew a sound log from it: November 13: three votes for a trial. Thanks to the sound system of these voices, this podcast shows the emotional cost of such a trial from three different places in the courtroom. A moving documentary on justice and the other side of information.
“Armand Vaquerin,
the last round”
Atelier Frissonne, two episodes of about forty minutes.
In this sequel to Cannon on the temple (News Listening, 2018), the journalist Alexandre Mognol tries to have the end word on the death of the rugby player Armand Vaquerin in a bar in Béziers in 1993. Russian roulette accident or suicide? Thanks to the investigation file, this sequel entitled Armand Vaquerin, the last tour and produced independently by the journalist finally provides answers. She shines above all by her realization and her narration, which are simply excellent.
“After the Walls”
RTBF, ten episodes of about fifteen minutes.
Serge spent twenty-seven years of his life in jail for thefts, robberies and escape. At the microphone of Ambre Ciselet, he recounts his life as a criminal in after the walls, produced by RTBF, the French-speaking Belgian public service. Finely put in sound, this podcast of testimony questions the functioning of justice, in Belgium as elsewhere, and the notion of inclusion in society. An addictive soap opera with a luminous ending.
“We don’t run to the edge
of the basin”
Make Some Noise, five fifteen-minute episodes.
In this completely eccentric podcast from the imagination of architect Jacob Durand, an inspector from the Office of Architectural and Urban Investigations, the BEAU, investigates swimming pools disappeared. Real sound UFO of 2022, We don’t run to the edge of the pool reinvents the docu-fiction and manages to make architecture and captivating urban planning.
“Citrouillade Club”
Studio Brune, twelve ten-minute episodes.
Vean-Pierre the vampire, Pacôme the ghost, Momo the mummy and their friends live adventures in their little village. In addition to being a good podcast for toddlers (between 2 and 6 years old), Pumpkin Club by Romain Baousson is also a marvelous mine of songs original songs to sing with the family. Be careful though: they all stay in your head, so “Let It Go”.
“Troubled Waters”
Spotify Original, six twenty-five minute episodes.
In 2004, the Breton trawler Bugaled Breizh sank off the British coast in just minutes, killing five experienced fishermen. In In troubled waters (only available on Spotify), the journalists Emilie Denètre and Adèle Humbert are redoing the investigation to find out if it is a simple accident of sin or a more complicated matter, involving a submarine. A good sound production that will appeal to all fans of true crime.
“The Chamade”
Samia Basille, episodes of about fifty minutes.
In each episode, accompanied by guests, Samia Basille tells a story oflove which really took place in The chamade. Together, they comment on the different stages of this (often crisp) story and share their vision of the couple and love. A feel-good podcast that gives the feeling of letting an ear hang out on the terrace of a café and listening to the love debrief at the table next door.
“Fragments of Algeria”
Paradiso Media, six episodes of about thirty-five minutes.
In the middle of the wave of podcasts around the Algerian war published at the beginning of the year, there is one that stands out a bit: Fragments from Algeria, from Paradiso Media. Journalist Adèle Salmon collects testimonies from descendants of belligerents, whether they were members of the French armythe National Liberation Front (FLN), the Secret Army Organization (OAS) or harkis. A great gallery of portraits on the silence that surrounded this conflict within the families who lived through it, and on the scars it left decades later.
“Your brain, with
Albert Moukheiber»
France Culture, six ten-minute episodes.
In these little chronicles on our brainneuroscience doctor Albert Moukheiber cleverly plays with sound to demonstrate our cognitive biases (they are multiple) by example rather than theory. Your brain, with Albert Moukheiber manages to make cognitive sciences playful by making the listener a fully-fledged actor in the podcast. For that alone, he deserved his place in this top 10.