Nick Quah

The podcasts that spoke to me the most this year tended to be small and scrappy. The best was Dead Eyes, Connor Ratliff's quixotic quest to reconcile himself with the frustrations of life in show biz.

White noise streams are a kind of sonic wallpaper. For many, they help keep some parts of the brain distracted so that other parts may better focus on things, like writing, studying or sleeping.

The podcast world is abundant with shows about reality TV. Now a few podcasts are trying to capitalize on reality TV popularity more directly, by emulating the genre's conceits, mechanics and style.