The 7 Best Gen Z Podcasts (2026)
Gen Z didn't wait for permission to start podcasting. They just did it. Fresh perspectives on mental health, social media culture, career anxiety, and building a life when the rules keep changing. Raw and unfiltered in the best way.
The Comment Section with Drew Afualo
Drew Afualo became internet-famous for absolutely roasting misogynistic commenters on TikTok, and her podcast takes that same energy and stretches it into hour-long conversations. The Comment Section brings in a new guest each week -- celebrities, comedians, influencers -- and the two of them scroll through the cursed wasteland of their tagged comments and DMs together. It sounds chaotic, and it kind of is, but in the best way.
With 210 episodes, a 4.8-star rating, and nearly 2,000 reviews, the show has built a loyal following since launching in 2022. Each episode blends pop culture commentary, personal stories, and in-depth advice on the stuff Gen Z actually cares about: navigating online harassment, building confidence, dealing with relationship drama, and figuring out who you are when millions of strangers have opinions about you.
Drew's hosting style is magnetic. She's loud, she laughs constantly, and she has zero patience for nonsense, but she also knows when to get serious and when to let a guest be vulnerable. The conversations go deeper than you'd expect from a show built around reading mean comments. Video versions are available exclusively on Spotify. It's part comedy show, part support group, part roast session -- and the balance somehow works perfectly for anyone who's ever wanted to hear someone articulate exactly what they were thinking when reading the worst take on the internet.
We Can Do Hard Things
Glennon Doyle teams up with her wife Abby Wambach and her sister Amanda Doyle to create what they call a support system for braving the everyday, and with half a billion total plays and a 4.8-star rating from over 40,000 reviews, it's a support system a lot of people clearly needed. The show releases twice a week and covers personal relationships, social justice, self-improvement, and whatever else the trio feels like wrestling with that day.
The three hosts have distinct roles that click together naturally. Glennon brings raw emotional honesty and a writer's instinct for finding the exact right words. Abby adds the competitive athlete's perspective -- direct, no-nonsense, sometimes hilariously blunt. Amanda grounds everything with humor and a willingness to ask the question everyone else is thinking but won't say out loud. They interview authors, activists, artists, and experts, but the best episodes are often just the three of them talking through a problem together.
Gen Z listeners connect with this show because it treats vulnerability as strength without being saccharine about it. The conversations about identity, relationships, and systemic issues feel urgent and honest. They've raised $56 million in global aid through their platform, so this isn't just talk -- there's action behind it. Some episodes are investigative deep dives into systemic problems; others are lighter lifestyle conversations. The mix keeps things from getting heavy enough to feel like homework. It's the podcast equivalent of having the coolest, most emotionally intelligent family dinner you've ever attended.
There Are No Girls on the Internet
The title comes from an old internet saying that erased women's presence online, and host Bridget Todd has spent nearly 400 episodes proving how wrong that statement always was. There Are No Girls on the Internet explores how marginalized communities have shaped internet culture from its earliest days, and it does so with a mix of investigative journalism, cultural criticism, and genuinely entertaining storytelling.
The show runs on a two-episode weekly rhythm: Tuesdays bring deep-dive investigations into tech controversies, AI ethics, digital privacy, online movements, and the ways platforms shape our lives. Fridays offer news roundups that catch you up on the week's biggest internet stories. Bridget hosts with help from her production team, and the show sits on the Outspoken network under iHeartPodcasts, giving it solid production values and wide reach.
What makes this essential listening for Gen Z is that it takes the internet seriously as a place where real power dynamics play out. Bridget covers surveillance tech, LGBTQ+ representation online, right-wing influencer pipelines, and women's experiences in tech spaces with the kind of nuance that most tech coverage completely misses. She's funny when the subject allows it and appropriately angry when it doesn't. The show has maintained a 4.1-star rating from nearly 860 reviews over six years of consistent output. For a generation that essentially lives online, this is the podcast that helps you understand the infrastructure underneath the feeds you scroll through every day.
Zach Sang Show
Zach Sang started in radio as a teenager, bounced through Nickelodeon, and somehow landed in the position of being one of the best music interviewers working today. The Zach Sang Show has nearly 1,000 episodes and a 4.6-star rating, and it's become a mandatory stop for artists dropping new albums or making career pivots. The show updates biweekly with in-depth conversations that go way beyond the standard press junket format.
The guest list is stacked. Pop stars, rappers, actors, producers -- pretty much anyone making noise in entertainment culture ends up on Zach's couch at some point. But what separates this from every other celebrity interview podcast is Zach's preparation. He clearly listens to full albums before the interview, reads the back catalog, and asks questions that make guests visibly surprised. You can see the moment when an artist realizes this isn't going to be another "so tell me about the new project" conversation.
Zach's own Gen Z identity makes the show feel different from older interviewers covering the same terrain. He understands internet culture natively, references TikTok trends without explaining them like a news anchor would, and treats pop music with the same seriousness that music critics used to reserve for classic rock. The conversations about career trajectories and personal life experiences often reveal more about artists than their own official documentaries do. For music fans who want to actually understand the people making the songs stuck in their head, this is the interview show that consistently delivers.
The Viall Files
Nick Viall went on The Bachelor four times, which either makes him the most romantic person alive or the most stubborn. Either way, he parlayed that reality TV fame into The Viall Files, which now has over 1,200 episodes and nearly 26,000 ratings. The show drops content almost daily: Mondays are "Ask Nick" advice episodes, Tuesdays and Thursdays cover reality TV recaps, and Wednesdays feature "Going Deeper" celebrity interviews.
The Ask Nick segments are the heart of the show. Listeners call in with dating dilemmas, family conflicts, friendship drama, and career crossroads, and Nick gives advice that's surprisingly thoughtful for a guy whose claim to fame involved roses and helicopter dates. He and his wife Natalie Joy co-host together now, adding a couples dynamic that gives relationship advice more dimension. He's direct without being cruel, and he's not afraid to tell a caller they're in the wrong.
Reality TV recaps cover The Bachelor franchise, Bravo shows, Below Deck, and whatever else is generating discourse that week. Nick brings an insider perspective that casual viewers don't have -- he actually knows how the editing works, which producers manufacture which storylines, and why contestants behave the way they do on camera. There's a paid Viall Files+ tier for superfans, but the free content alone is overwhelming in the best way. For Gen Z listeners who grew up on reality TV and want someone who takes their viewing habits seriously, this podcast treats the genre as worthy of real analysis rather than guilty pleasure dismissal.
Cancelled with Tana Mongeau & Brooke Schofield
Cancelled ran for 132 episodes between 2021 and September 2025, and during that time Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield turned internet chaos into appointment listening. The show earned a 4.5-star rating from over 5,000 reviews by being exactly what it promised: two influencers who attract drama like magnets, sitting down to talk about it with zero filter.
The format was equal parts celebrity tell-all, current event commentary, and personal diary entry. Tana brought the storytime energy that made her YouTube famous -- wild anecdotes about parties, relationships, and the bizarre parallel universe of LA influencer life. Brooke provided a steadier counterpoint, though her own stories were just as unhinged when she got going. Together they had the kind of chaotic best-friend chemistry that either completely hooks you or leaves you exhausted.
The show captured a very specific moment in internet culture where the line between personal brand and actual life had essentially disappeared. Tana and Brooke talked about that tension openly, which gave the podcast a self-awareness that set it apart from other influencer shows. Tour experiences, relationship drama, social media feuds -- everything was fair game. The podcast concluded in late 2025 after a strong four-year run, so the full archive exists as a time capsule of influencer culture during its most chaotic period. For Gen Z listeners interested in what that era actually felt like from the inside, the back catalog is worth exploring.
Next Generation Catalyst Podcast
Ryan Jenkins is a generational consultant who has spent over a decade studying how Millennials and Gen Z think about work, leadership, and career building. The Next Generation Catalyst Podcast distills that research into 100 interview episodes with Fortune 500 leaders, bestselling authors, and workplace experts. It holds an impressive 4.9-star rating from 66 reviews, which is a small but passionate audience that clearly values depth over volume.
The show's format is simple: Ryan interviews one guest per episode about a specific workplace challenge. Topics include talent acquisition strategies for Gen Z workers, learning and development innovations, company culture design, diversity and inclusion efforts, and the future of work. Episodes typically run 25 to 45 minutes, which is short enough to finish during a commute but long enough to go beyond surface-level advice.
What makes this podcast different from other workplace shows is that Ryan approaches generational differences with data rather than stereotypes. He doesn't treat Gen Z as a monolith or reduce the conversation to "kids these days and their phones." His guests are high-level decision makers who share practical strategies, not vague motivational platitudes. The show ran primarily from 2013 to 2021, so the back catalog serves as a detailed record of how workplace attitudes have shifted as Gen Z entered the labor force. For young professionals trying to understand how employers think, or for anyone curious about why generational dynamics actually matter at work, this is one of the most substantive options available.
Gen Z came into podcasting without much reverence for how things were "supposed" to be done, and the results are more interesting for it. The format skews conversational, the topics range from mental health to internet culture to career anxiety, and the tone tends to be honest in a way that older podcast generations sometimes avoided. If you're looking for the best Gen Z podcasts, the category is broader than you might think.
What makes these shows different
Gen Z podcasts lean into vulnerability in a way that would have felt unusual ten years ago. Hosts talk openly about therapy, medication, financial stress, and the specific weirdness of growing up with social media as a constant backdrop. The production style tends to be looser than traditional radio-style podcasts. Fewer scripted intros, more natural conversation, occasionally a tangent that goes somewhere unexpected. That looseness is the point. It signals authenticity, and listeners respond to it.
The subject matter is all over the place, in a good way. You'll find shows covering digital wellness, ethical consumption, dating in the age of apps, and whatever discourse is happening on TikTok that week. Interview formats are common, but the guests aren't always celebrities. Sometimes it's a therapist, an activist, or just a friend with an interesting perspective. The shows that work best manage to be both funny and substantive. They'll make you laugh about something absurd and then pivot to a genuine conversation about anxiety or identity without it feeling forced.
There's also a community element that sets these shows apart. Many Gen Z podcast hosts actively engage with their listeners through social media, incorporating questions, stories, and feedback into episodes. The line between host and audience is thinner than it is in most traditional podcasts. That interaction shapes the content in real time. A listener's DM about imposter syndrome at their first job might become a full episode topic the following week. It makes the whole thing feel more like a conversation you're part of rather than something being delivered to you.
Finding shows worth your time
If you're after Gen Z podcast recommendations, start with what topics actually interest you rather than just browsing "popular" lists. The category is broad enough that a show about career advice for twenty-somethings and a show about internet meme culture are both "Gen Z podcasts," even though they share almost nothing in common. Think about what you're actually dealing with right now. If you're navigating your first real job, a show about workplace dynamics will hit harder than a general pop culture roundup.
Platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts have plenty to browse. You'll find Gen Z podcasts on Spotify easily, and most are free Gen Z podcasts, which matters when you're sampling several to find the right fit. Reddit threads about Gen Z podcasts can surface shows that algorithms miss, so those are worth checking too. For Gen Z podcasts for beginners, look for shows with consistent episode structure, where you know roughly what you're getting each week. That makes it easier to figure out if the vibe works for you.
What keeps people coming back
New Gen Z podcasts keep launching, so the top Gen Z podcasts 2026 list will look different from last year's. Hosts grow, formats evolve, and sometimes a show that started as two people talking in a dorm room develops into something with a real audience. Some popular Gen Z podcasts have built loyal followings specifically because the hosts grew up alongside their listeners, sharing the same cultural reference points and anxieties in real time.
The common thread across the best shows is that the hosts sound like they'd be saying this stuff even if nobody was recording. That's harder to fake than it sounds. When you find a show where the hosts feel genuine, where they admit what they don't know and laugh at themselves, you've probably found something worth sticking with. The must listen Gen Z podcasts tend to be the ones that make you feel less alone in whatever you're going through, whether that's figuring out finances, processing a breakup, or just trying to make sense of a world that seems to change every six months.
