Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

The Best Comedy Podcasts Right Now

Look, every podcast thinks it’s a comedy podcast, just like everybody thinks they’re sort of funny. All too often, though, I’ll come across podcasts that are riddled with overdone jokes and feigned laughter for the sake of presenting a good time. But sometimes, at it’s best, a funny podcast can provide the deepest kind of laughter I have in me. 

Comedy podcasts come in all different shapes and sizes, too. Some of the best podcasts are good with improv, some are good with sketch, and some have hosts who are just generally genuinely funny people and are able to make every interview of-the-cuff hilarious. Here are some of our favorites. 

Comedy Bang Bang

An OG comedy podcast, Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang Bang is a hilarious, off-the-cuff riot. All of your favorite comedians are regulars on the show, as well as some of the best names in improvisation you may not know yet. 

Listen

The Sketch Factor

Much like Comedy Bang Bang, this Spotify original brings together some of the funniest people in the industry around Fred Armisen. The Portlanda creator’s subtle, mundane sense of humor shines in this sketch podcast. 

Listen

Dewy Dudes

The “scum-bro skincare” podcast is back after a short hiatus last year. The Dewy Dudes satisfy a few different niches at once: Interesting discussions about popular culture, interviews with fun people, and obsessions with how to take care of yourself and your skin. 

Listen

Throwing Fits

If clothes are more of your vice, you’ve probably already heard of Throwing Fits. Jimmy and Larry present “the only podcast that matters” with sprawling and hilarious interviews every kind of jawnz enthusiast on the planet. It’s required reading for every man today. 

Listen

Review Revue

A personal favorite of mine from Headgum. Comedians Geoffrey James and Reilly Anspaugh take the most ridiculous Yelp reviews they can find on the internet and spin a sketch from them right on the spot. 

Listen

The Daily Zeitgeist

It is awe-inspiring to consider the kind of work it takes to produce The Daily Zeitgeist. Every day, often with guests, Cracked co-founder Jack O’Brien delivers everything you need to know about popular culture, politics, and more “with a few laughs thrown in for free.”

Listen

Entry Level

Who can relate? Every week, Brooks Wheelan interviews different writers and comedians about the absolute worst jobs they’ve ever had. The stories are frustrating, for sure, but definitely funny every time. 

Listen

All Fantasy Everything

The funniest arguments are the passionate ones about the things that don’t matter, and that’s what All Fantasy Everything promises every week. It’s hard not to get involved yourself! What would you pick in 5 rounds of a fantasy draft of game shows? And how pissed would you be when someone steals Weakest Link as a last round sleeper? Ian Karmel hosts new comedians every episode in this fan favorite. 

Listen

How Did This Get Made

Actors, comedians, and friends Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas host this podcast about those special movies. You know the ones. The ones that are so bad that they somehow circle all the way back around and get good again. 

Listen

Dear Hank & John

There are all kinds of advice podcasts, or Q&A podcasts, but I would venture to say no podcast hosts have given more answers than best-selling authors Hank and John Green. Every week, Hank and John answer some dozen plus questions from their audience at a rapid-fire and funny pace. 

Listen

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
The best podcasts to listen to while working out
Workouts can be tough, but the right motivation can help, especially listening to the best fitness podcasts
Man listening to music while working out.

At times, it can be a little hard to find some motivation to hit the gym, especially when it's a pure cardio day, and you cannot, for the life of you, convince yourself to people-watch for 30 minutes straight. Workout music or playlists (or worse, gym music) can be very hit or miss at times and just won't cut it. So, what do you do?

Might we recommend that you skip the music altogether and try a podcast? A good podcast, is one that does its job, and captivates you from the jump, and during a workout, you want one that can do a few different things. Sometimes, a good workout podcast is motivating. Sometimes, it’s a good conversation about something you’re already interested in. And other times, the best workout podcast is one that tells you about something you didn’t already know.

Read more
My Favorite Murder, Son of a Hitman, American Scandal, and more: The best true crime podcasts to obsess over
Try out some of our favorite true crime podcasts and get hooked
Wearing headphones listing to a podcast on a laptop

Even with a plethora of entertainment at our fingertips, podcasts remain one of the most popular and effective forms of communicative storytelling on the planet. As podcasts remain popular, true crime podcasts stand out as one of the medium's most popular genres. The best true crime podcasts thrill listeners who want to inject a little excitement into their lives without facing any actual danger.

All of this crystallized around the first season of Serial, which transformed everyone who listened to it into an investigative reporter, part-time detective, or aspiring lawyer. Since then, that kind of amateur detective work has only become more common, and the internet has provided a safe space for people to speculate without directly harming those involved.

Read more
From Vinland Saga to Carole & Tuesday: These are the best anime series on Netflix to watch right now
Add these Netflix anime shows to your watchlist
Demon Slayer

Japanese anime and the many Western series that were influenced by the genre continue to get more and more popular. As they do, every streaming site is eager to lockdown plenty of exclusive anime titles that will draw fans of the format to their services. Netflix has long had a stockpile of great action movies, but it turns out that the streamer also has a pretty excellent library of anime series as well, which is in addition to their great animated shows. The best anime on Netflix draw from a wide array of influences, but should give every fan of the form something to chew on.

While there are plenty of great action series on this list, anime is home to a wide array of different kinds of stories, and all of those stories are represented in one form or another on this list. Netflix is even moving into adapting some of these anime into live-action, although opinions are mixed on whether that strategy is going to work out. Whatever you think about that venture, though, this list is full of Netflix anime titles that are sure to make every anime fan happy.

Read more