Podcast Boys Club: Only 21% of Top-Charting Shows Have a Female Host (Exclusive)

“Up and Vanished” (2018 – ) 

Metacritic score: n/a 

Payne Lindsey’s true-crime podcast first became a successful two-part special on Oxygen, exploring the disappearance of Georgia schoolteacher Tara Grinstead. And then it became a series, with Payne and his team exploring a new cold case in each episode.

Oxygen

“Alex Inc.” – based on “StartUp” (2018)   

Metacritic score: 49 

Zach Braff played a journalist who quits his job to start his own podcast business — in a short-lived ABC sitcom very loosely based on Alex Blumberg’s “StartUp” podcast about the founding of his own Gimlet Media podcast network.

ABC

“StarTalk” (2015 – ) 

Metacritic score: 55 

Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson adapted his hit podcast into a long-running talk show on NatGeo, with a wide variety of guests beyond the science (and even sci-fi) field.

National Geographic

“Dirty John”  (2018 – ) 

Metacritic score: 58

Connie Britton and Eric Bana starred in the first season of this true-crime anthology series based on the Wondery podcast about love gone wrong. The second season starred an ill-fated coupled played by Amanda Peet and Christian Slater.

USA

“Lore” (2017-18) 

Metacritic score: 60 

Aaron Mahnke’s podcast exploring the true histories behind horror legends like werewolves and vampires inspired an anthology series that blended dramatic scenes, animation and narration and ran for two seasons on Amazon.

Amazon Prime

“Limetown” (2019)

Metacritic score: 62 

Jessica Biel starred in this Facebook Watch series that told the fictional story of the disappearance of 300 people at a Tennessee neuroscience facility. But the show failed to capture the creepy immersiveness of the original podcast and lasted only one season.

Facebook

“The Ricky Gervais Show” (2010-12) 

Metacritic score: 62 

The creator of “The Office” adapted his radio show (with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington) into a podcast, and then into an animated HBO series that made its potty-humor jokes literal.

HBO

“Comedy Bang! Bang!” (2012-16) 

Metacritic score: 67  

Scott Aukerman adapted his comedy podcast into a parody talk show that ran for five seasons on IFC. 

IFC

“Homecoming” (2018 – )  

Metacritic score: 76 

Julia Roberts starred in the first season of this show, based on Gimlet’s fictional podcast about a secret government program to transition U.S. war veterans back to civilian life. Janelle Monaé took center stage in Season 2.

Amazon Prime

“2 Dope Queens” (2018 – ) 

Metacritic score: 87 

“Daily Show” alum Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson adapted their hit comedy podcast into an HBO series that hits a broad range of topics.

HBO