The 12 Best Teens Podcasts (2026)

Penn Badgley reading your most embarrassing middle school stories out loud sounds like a nightmare, but somehow Podcrushed turned it into one of the most comforting podcasts about adolescence ever made. Alongside co-hosts Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari, Badgley invites listeners and celebrity guests to revisit the heartbreak, anxiety, and weirdness of being a teenager. We're talking first crushes that went sideways, body hair battles, locker room humiliations, and the kind of social drama that felt world-ending at the time.

What makes Podcrushed work is that nobody treats those experiences as trivial. The hosts take every story seriously, then find the humor and humanity in it together. Celebrity guests like Madison Beer, Caleb McLaughlin, and Leighton Meester share their own teenage moments, and hearing famous people admit they were just as awkward and confused as everyone else is oddly reassuring. The chemistry between the three hosts is genuinely warm, and the conversations feel like hanging out with friends who happen to be really good at making you feel less alone about your worst memories.

The show ran for 198 episodes across four years on Lemonada Media before wrapping up in February 2026. It carries an explicit rating, so younger teens should be aware, but the content is heartfelt rather than edgy. With a 4.7 star rating from over a thousand reviews, the back catalog is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to laugh about the universal chaos of growing up.

There are plenty of podcasts about teenagers, but This Teenage Life is one of the few actually made by them. The show features rotating groups of teens sharing their real thoughts, stories, and perspectives on everything from friendship and mental health to independence and figuring out who they are. No adult host filtering things or steering the conversation toward a lesson. Just teenagers talking honestly about what it feels like to be in the thick of growing up.

The format works because it creates something like a support group you can listen in on. Multiple teen voices appear in each episode, and the range of experiences keeps things from feeling narrow or preachy. One episode might explore what authentic friendship looks like, while the next digs into the pressure of school transitions or how movement affects mental health. Listeners consistently say the show helps them feel less isolated, and the reviews are full of people saying they recognized their own feelings in someone else's story for the first time.

With 200 episodes and counting since 2019, This Teenage Life has built a deep catalog. New episodes drop monthly, and the show holds a 4.7 star rating from 228 reviews on Apple Podcasts. The production is clean and the content is rated safe for all audiences. If you want to hear what teenagers actually think and feel rather than what adults assume they think and feel, this is the podcast that delivers it straight.

Sadie Sutton started She Persisted when she was a teenager herself, drawing on her own experience with intensive mental health treatment for severe depression and anxiety at age 14. Now a psychology graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, she brings something most mental health podcasters lack: she actually speaks the language of her Gen Z audience because she grew up alongside them.

The show tackles a real gap in the mental health conversation. As Sutton puts it, Gen Z talks about mental health more than any previous generation, but a lot of what circulates online is incomplete, unproven, or just not practical. She translates evidence-based psychology, particularly DBT skills and cognitive behavioral techniques, into language that feels accessible rather than clinical. Episodes cover panic attacks, loneliness, habit formation, the trap of external validation, and the difference between social media mental health advice and what actually works. She mixes solo deep-dives with guest interviews featuring therapists and researchers.

With 274 episodes released weekly and a 4.8 star rating from 187 reviews, She Persisted has clearly found its audience. The show has accumulated over 300,000 downloads and reached millions across social media. What makes it stand out in a crowded wellness space is that Sutton never pretends she has it all figured out. She is open about her own ongoing journey while encouraging listeners to take ownership of building a life they actually want to live.

The brilliance of 10 for Teens + Tweens is right there in the name. Host Stephanie Valdez keeps every episode to roughly ten minutes, which turns out to be the perfect length for a podcast aimed at young people with packed schedules and short attention spans. You can listen on the way to school, between activities, or right before bed, and walk away with something genuinely useful.

Valdez covers the topics that matter most during the tween and teen years: building confidence, navigating friendships, understanding your own emotions, dealing with social media pressure, and developing healthy habits. She tackles tough subjects too, from self-love struggles to media literacy, but always in a way that feels encouraging rather than heavy-handed. The tone is warm and direct, like getting advice from a cool older sister who actually remembers what middle school felt like.

The show comes from Empowerful Girls, and while the branding leans toward girls, the content is broadly applicable to any young person working through the challenges of growing up. With 145 episodes releasing biweekly and a 4.7 star rating from 361 reviews on Apple Podcasts, the audience response has been strong since the show launched. The short format means you can binge several episodes in a sitting or just pick the topics that resonate. For teens and tweens who want personal development content that respects their time, this one nails it.

The Confident Tween and Teen Podcast with Laura Orlando zeroes in on one specific thing: building genuine confidence during the years when self-doubt hits hardest. Each episode is 10 minutes or less, packed with practical tools and mindset shifts that tweens and teens can actually use right away. No vague motivational fluff here — Orlando gives specific strategies for handling negative self-talk, dealing with social media comparison, managing overthinking, and building courage step by step.

With 142 episodes updating weekly, there's a deep archive covering insecurity, goal-setting, self-acceptance, anxiety, and resilience. Orlando's approach is refreshingly realistic. She doesn't promise that confidence means never feeling scared or uncertain. Instead, she frames it as a skill you build through small, consistent actions — which is honestly a more useful message than most adults get from self-help content.

The show carries a remarkable 4.9-star rating from 58 reviews, with listeners consistently praising how authentic and applicable the episodes feel. The short format makes it perfect for listening before school or during a quick walk. Parents report listening alongside their tweens, and several reviews mention that adult women find the content valuable too, which says something about the quality of the advice. For any tween who struggles with comparing themselves to others, feels like they're not enough, or just needs a regular reminder that building confidence is a process rather than a destination, this podcast delivers exactly what it promises — practical help in small doses.

The Moth is famous for its live storytelling events where regular people stand on a stage and share true, personal stories without notes. Grown takes that formula and aims it squarely at the messy, confusing space between being a teenager and becoming an adult. Co-hosts Aleeza Kazmi and Alfonso "Fonzo" Lacayo, both graduates of The Moth's Education program, guide listeners through stories about first crushes, identity crises, family secrets, cultural clashes, and all the other chaos of figuring out who you are.

What separates Grown from typical coming-of-age content is the storytelling craft. These are not rambling anecdotes. The stories told at Moth events are shaped, practiced, and performed with real dramatic skill, and they hit different because of it. The hosts add context through their own conversations, street interviews with young people, and audio diaries that capture unfiltered moments. Kazmi and Lacayo bring their own perspectives as young people on the cusp of adulthood, which keeps the show grounded in authenticity rather than nostalgia.

Named one of the most anticipated podcasts of 2023 by Vulture, Lifehacker, and Forbes, Grown has released 45 episodes across two seasons. The show updates biweekly, holds a 4.3 star rating from 181 reviews, and the content is clean. For teens and young adults who love a well-told story and want to hear people their age talk about real experiences with honesty and vulnerability, Grown is something special.

Tai Asks Why features 15-year-old Tai Poole interviewing NASA scientists, university professors, stand-up comedians, and researchers about the biggest questions in science and life. Produced by CBC and winner of a Webby Award, the show stands out because Tai isn't playing at being a host — he's genuinely curious, occasionally nervous, and always willing to admit when something confuses him. That honesty makes the conversations feel real in a way that adult-hosted shows sometimes miss.

Across four seasons and 47 episodes, Tai has tackled everything from extraterrestrial life and climate change to the science of laughter and why we crave certain foods. Episodes run 25-35 minutes and follow an interview format where Tai brings his own research and questions to each expert. Sometimes his brother Kien joins in. The show works because Tai asks the kinds of questions that tweens actually want answered — not the safe, predictable ones, but the messy, complicated ones about anxiety, memory, and what math is even for.

The 4.2-star rating from over 1,200 reviews reflects a dedicated audience that appreciates hearing a young person lead serious conversations. For tweens, there's something powerful about hearing someone close to their own age hold their own with world-class experts. It makes science and big ideas feel accessible rather than intimidating. The show updates seasonally rather than weekly, so the episode count is modest, but every single episode is substantial and worth the listen.

MindShift Power Podcast bills itself as the world's only international podcast dedicated exclusively to teen issues, and the scope backs up the claim. Host Fatima Bey pulls in voices from over 100 countries across six continents, creating conversations that go far beyond the typical American-centric teen media landscape. Episodes feature a rotating mix of teenagers sharing their own stories alongside educators, innovators, and professionals who work directly with young people.

The range of topics reflects that global perspective. One week might focus on climate activism from a teenager in Southeast Asia, while the next explores educational equity in sub-Saharan Africa or mental health stigma in the Middle East. But the show also covers universal teen concerns like entrepreneurship, navigating technology, building self-confidence, and planning for the future. Bey brings real energy to the hosting role and has a talent for making guests feel comfortable enough to speak openly and honestly.

With 126 episodes releasing weekly and listeners across more than 100 countries, the podcast has grown steadily since its launch. It holds a perfect 5.0 rating on Apple Podcasts, though from a smaller review base. The show is available on over 55 streaming platforms, making it genuinely accessible worldwide. For teenagers who want to understand what their peers are dealing with in other parts of the world, or for anyone who thinks teen issues deserve a global conversation rather than a local one, MindShift Power Podcast fills a gap nobody else is really covering.

Teen Life Podcast comes from Teen Life, a nonprofit organization that has been running support groups for adolescents since 2006. That hands-on experience with real teenagers and real problems gives the show a grounded quality that sets it apart from podcasts where adults theorize about teen issues from a distance. The hosts have actually sat in rooms with struggling young people week after week, and that shows in how they approach every topic.

The podcast covers the full spectrum of adolescent challenges: understanding the teenage brain, navigating social pressure, dealing with anxiety and depression, building healthy relationships, managing screen time, and communicating with parents. Episodes also address the adults in teens' lives, helping parents, teachers, and youth workers understand what young people are going through and how to actually be helpful rather than just worried.

With 250 episodes in the catalog and weekly releases, Teen Life Podcast has one of the deepest back catalogs in the teen podcast space. The show holds a 4.4 star rating from 25 reviews on Apple Podcasts. Episodes run at a comfortable length and the tone strikes a balance between being informative and being warm. It is not flashy or celebrity-driven, which is actually part of its strength. This is a podcast built by people who do the unglamorous daily work of helping teenagers, and that authenticity comes through in every conversation.

BeingMe comes from BeMe Health, a platform built specifically around teen mental wellness, and that specialized focus gives the podcast a clarity of purpose that broader mental health shows often lack. Hosts Juan Bendana and Ruthie Tessler bring on a mix of mental health professionals, athletes, celebrities, and most importantly, other teenagers to talk about their own mental health journeys and what actually helped them through difficult periods.

The show won a Bronze Signal Award and a Gold for Listeners Choice in the Child and Family category, and that recognition reflects what listeners keep saying in reviews: this podcast meets young people exactly where they are. Episodes cover the real stuff, from anxiety and depression to the overwhelming transition out of high school, social media's effect on self-image, and figuring out how to ask for help when you need it. The conversations avoid both extremes of being either too clinical or too casually dismissive about serious mental health topics.

With 38 episodes and a semimonthly release schedule, BeingMe is a smaller show than some others on this list, but the quality is high and the 4.7 star rating from 15 reviews shows a dedicated listener base. The production is polished without being slick, and the content is rated clean, making it appropriate for younger teens too. For any teenager who wants to hear honest conversations about mental health from people who actually understand what it is like to be young right now, BeingMe delivers that with care and credibility.

The Green brothers, John and Hank, are YouTube OGs who started the Vlogbrothers channel back in 2007 and have been a fixture of internet culture ever since. John wrote The Fault in Our Stars. Hank co-founded a dozen educational ventures. Together on Dear Hank and John, they answer listener questions about life with a mix of genuine wisdom, brotherly bickering, and the occasional update on Mars exploration and AFC Wimbledon soccer results. The format is beautifully simple. Listeners write in with problems big and small, and the brothers offer advice that ranges from surprisingly profound to deliberately ridiculous. There is something comforting about hearing two accomplished adults admit they have no idea what they are doing most of the time. Over 440 episodes and a 4.9-star rating from nearly 8,000 reviewers speak to how beloved this show has become. It releases biweekly, with episodes running about 45 minutes to an hour. The show has a warmth to it that is hard to manufacture. John and Hank clearly like each other, clearly enjoy making this podcast, and that energy carries through every episode. If you grew up watching Vlogbrothers or just want a podcast that makes you feel a little more hopeful about the world, this one delivers consistently.

Puberty has changed. It starts earlier, lasts longer, and happens with a smartphone in hand, which means the whole experience looks nothing like what previous generations went through. This Is So Awkward, hosted by Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett, takes that reality head-on. Natterson is a pediatrician who literally wrote the book on puberty (The Care and Keeping of You), and together the hosts tackle the physical, emotional, and social upheaval of ages 8 through 18 with a mix of expertise and humor.

The show is technically aimed at parents, but teenagers themselves get a lot out of it too. Episodes cover executive function development, body changes, consent conversations, fad diets and supplements, sensory integration, and the complicated dynamics of teen friendships and social hierarchies. What makes it work is that the hosts never talk about adolescence as a problem to be solved. They treat it as a real, specific developmental stage with its own logic, and they give listeners scripts, strategies, and frameworks for actually navigating it.

New episodes drop weekly, and the show has built a substantial following since its launch. The combination of medical credibility and conversational warmth makes it accessible without being shallow. For teenagers who want to understand what is happening to their brains and bodies, or for parents trying to figure out how to stay connected during the most turbulent years, This Is So Awkward provides evidence-based guidance wrapped in the reassurance that yes, everyone finds this stage of life confusing.